Friday 20th October

Up early for a trip to Sihanoukville on the coast. Our party of 250 piled aboard 6 buses and we got a good view of rural Cambodia as we headed South west for about 260km (160miles).

The journey was not without some hairy overtaking moments and featured a tire change but the traffic moved well enough and we were booked into our very pleasant hotel and sheltering from the rain at the hotel swimming pool by 1pm. The downpour was torrential for a while but the skies cleared before we had to head out from the hotel and that's really the last rain we've seen.

The run here featured a trail along the beach with good views and a couple of turns through a fishing village who'd likely not seen anything like this before. Some of the running was on sand but a few sections involved rock hopping which wasn't to everyone's taste. We then swam and enjoyed the sunset with beer before returning to the town and enjoying a very fine meal at a little restaurant a few meters away from the hotel gate.

Thursday 19th October

Once again there was overnight rain, but less torrential and like yesterday the day dawned steamy with low visibility. By mid morning however it was brigtening and our friends had safely arrived so we headed out to the "Russian Market", a dense mix of ordinary market stalls (vegetables, meat, live fish, moped parts, books, clothes, bags) and tourist traps (wood, silver and bonework predominated).

A few purchases later we went back to prepare for the "cyclo-hash". Hashing is normally a running activity where a "hare" lays a trail with flour or chalk markings and other "hounds" follow shortly after to follow the trail which leads to beer at the end. Usually this is done by running/ walking. A cyclo is an old fashioned bike conveyance with a driver pedalling a passenger seat. Put the two together and you have 200 foreigners being chauffeured around through traffic with much amusement and chaos.

Once the "run" was finished we headed out on a sunset cruise on the Mekong with dinner at a huge venue on the edge of town.

Wednesday 18th October

Our first experience of Phnom Penh was wet after heavy overnight roads flooded some roads. The atmosphere was hot and steamy as we looked out on the confluence of the Mekong and Tonle Sap Rivers from our hotel the Star Royal. First job was to get Vietnam visas so Tim walked about 2 miles through town to the embassy taking in the sights (and smells - reminded me of Africa). After doing the paperwork he was hailed by two Australians on the same Ankhor Trail trip who were passing in a tuk-tuk (trailer with 4 seats towed by a moped) and headed with them to a bar near the hotel. Tracy joined us and we wiled away the afternoon with beer, food and watching the world go by the waterfront.



The traffic in the city is pretty crazy to the uninitiated with a plethora of mopeds and tuk-tuks mingling with the cyclists, cars and trucks. However speeds are low and everyone seems to miss one another and get around tourists crossing the road. Seeing a road junction where noone stops is impressive. They just seem to weave around one another.

The Flight

In an effort to give a bit more detail I'll fill in each of our days one by one. First off was an indeterminate amount of time in the air and airports en route from LAX to Taiwan, Bangkok and finally Phnom Penh. This took us about 48 hours as we left Monday morning (16th) and were in Cambodia for Wednesday morning. Notable memories include:

1. China Airlines is pretty good with excellent entertainment consoles at each seat. But only if you are 5 foot 4 and smaller plus do not have a broken leg.

2. Taiwan airport staff could not have been more helpful with getting Tracy around.

3. Airline food has not improved any.

4. Cambodia is a very wet place. As we flew in all you can see is water. I guess this is the end of the rainy season and the water backs up the Mekong River and floods. As the floods recede (they have started already) rice is planted in the paddies. This makes the county really green and lush right now.

5. We met our friends in Bangkok at 1am, saving us from 5 hours of airport hell and replacing that with a shower and 3am beers (hey, it was 4pm or so back home!).

Pictures

A pic of the main temple I grabbed off the web. Dunking my camera in a rice paddy means I am depending on friends for pictures till I buy another in Bangkok. We might stop back later in the trip at Angkor though.

Finally...an update

So far the trip has been so busy that I haven't been online but here goes:

The flight was as OK as 19 hours could be, not much leg room on the section to Taiwan but we were efficiently whisked around airports with Tracy in a wheelchair. Struck lucky in Bangkok, we were going to sit in the airport for 5 hours but met our friends who had a room at the very nice airport hotel and had a shower and a 3am beer instead (our bodies said it was the middle of the day) with the 14 or so hour time difference.

Cambodia looked like one big flood as we flew over as the rains are finishing late this year, but after rainy nights in Phnom Penh it's been very warm and sunny. The capital is a pleasant place and we relaxed on the first day before our friends caught up with us and we did the sights. We also spent a day at the seaside then headed to Angkor Wat. It's as great as everyone makes out but needs a lot of walking so Tracy has not been able to fully enjoy. She did crutch several miles yesterday and saw a lot. Then she retreated to the spa. I'm heading back right now for another day.

I will fill in more details in the next couple of days, we fly to Bangkok tonight.