Catch up day

Wednesday 9^th February 2011

MP3 track of the day: Stop and Stare - One Republic

Weather: Hot and humid … and I didn't even go out until 5pm.

I would have liked to have slept in a little longer, however at 9am I was awoken by two British girls – who I was sharing my dorm with – getting ready to go out and teach English. They were very apologetic; they told me that they would have got their stuff ready yesterday but they didn't know someone else (i.e. me) would be coming into their dorm at midnight. I said it didn't matter and I used the time to have my first good look at my surroundings. I was very impressed; this was the cleanest room I had stayed in since Thailand and I was even more impressed with the hot water shower. I had a very, very long and hot shower.

I eventually emerged from the bathroom and got ready for the day. Today was a catch up day which involved the internet and not much else. First of all though I had to get something to eat. Not wishing to waste my day, looking for a place to eat breakfast, I opted for a local restaurant. I had a bacon butty and a hot chocolate for $2.50. Breakfast was delicious however I did think that $2.50 was a little expensive, compared to Laos, and so maybe I need to look around a little more ... or maybe Cambodia is generally more expensive than the rest of South East Asia. Only time will tell.

I made it back to my hostel, got my computer and surfed the internet … until 5pm! I don't know where the time went. I completely updated my blog, uploaded a few photos and sorted through the photos from Don Det. I answered all my fan mail, a few emails about my volunteer work and spoke to people on Facebook. I finally finished my 'day of surfing' by investigating what was happening within the world by viewing the BBC news web pages (Mclaren have launched their F1 car for the 2011 season … and it looks good).

Itching to get out of the hostel I finally gave my computer a rest, put it away, and went for a short walk around the city. I went out to get some money however I also discovered a few other interesting things:

• Mars Bars are only seventy cents. That's the cheapest chocolate, that I've found on my travels, so far … think I'll stock up.

• Cambodian male adults spend their leisure time within parks. They have what looks like a elongated shuttlecock that they kick to each other.

• There is a KFC in town. I haven't had fast food for over a month; whats more KFC has big whole pieces of chicken which sounds good right now. When ordering meat, within a South East Asian dish, you normally end up with either not much, small pieces or not the best cuts of meat. I was so tempted by the KFC logo that I was debating on having it for tea, though I did eventually fight the urge.

• Siam Reap is quite well off. The buildings are well maintained, my hostel is lovely (I keep on thinking that I have the wrong price for my room) and generally the whole area has a air of richness to it, at least compared to smaller Cambodian towns that we went through yesterday.

• The people seem friendly enough, especially the children. I had quite a few hello's as I walked past. However I also had quite a few people shouting at me asking if I wanted a tuk-tuk, massage or anything else they thought that they could sell me (that didn't happen in Laos).

• There are quite a few cake shops!

I walked back and forth along the main road taking in the atmosphere before it got dark. On my way back to my guesthouse I went back to said mini-mart to get lots of water, and snacks, for tomorrow. Tomorrow my plan is to visit Angkor Wat … but how would I get there. Motorbike was a no, no so that left bicycle or tuk-tuk. As I'm traveling on my own tuk-tuk would be a lot more expensive ($15.00 to $2.00 to hire a bike) as I would have no one to share the cost with. A bike would give me more freedom once at Angkor Wat however I wasn't sure how to get there, or traffic and road conditions. Plus if I wanted to see sunrise and sunset I didn't fancy riding a bike in the dark. This was one of the worlds most important sites … the lost temples of Angkor Wat and I knew that, later in life, if I skipped on $10 or so now I would regret it. Therefore, once back at the hostel, I inquired into a tuk-tuk and agreed a price. I didn't actually agree there and then to hire said tuk-tuk, I decided to wait until 9pm to say yes; I wanted to see if I could drum up others who might want to go. Someone else did want to do with me; Carolin – a French student going to study in China – said she would like to go with me, however there was a slight complication. Angkor Wat is actually a large site containing many temples, there are two tracks (the small circuit and the grand tour) that you can do around the temples. Tomorrow I was going to do the 'small circuit' and spend more time in each place, however Caroline had already done the small tour today and so wanted to do the grand tour tomorrow. As I was planning to spend three days within Angkor Wat it didn't really matter if I did the small circuit today or tomorrow and so I changed my plans, which has saved me $7.50.

I had a meal from the hostel and went to sleep early. I had to be ready by 5am tomorrow to be able to see sunrise at Angkor Wat (I would be staying until sunset so tomorrow was going to be a long day). I had another lovely hot shower before packing my bag for tomorrow and heading to the land of nod.

Tomorrow Angkor Wat and I am very excited.

Toodle Pip!

P.S. The people working at the hostel are lovely. The owner is so helpful and I had a race with his son to the fridge. Basically, when I ordered my dinner, I had ordered a can of coke. My food had come but the can was still sitting within the fridge. I have two legs and so I went to pick up said can, however the son saw me, apologized twice, and started to run to over-take me to get to the fridge first. I matched him for speed and we both ended up at the fridge laughing. I love moments like this; it restores your faith in a country and gives you something to remember.

Final Day in Laos

Monday 7^th February 2011

MP3 track of the day: Whatever - Oasis

Weather: Hot

Due to having an early night last night I was up waaaay too early for our arranged breakfast meeting with Tom and Dorianna. Not wasting anytime I got dressed and then emptied my bag and re-packed it, ready for my boarder crossing tomorrow. Once this was done it was time to leave and so Joe, Rachael (with all their stuff) and I went across to the sunset side of the island. Joe and Rachael dropped off 12kg of washing at a laundrette (12kg!!! I don't think I own 12kg's of clothes at home, let alone whilst traveling) and we eventually turned up to find Tom and Dorianna not ready.

Apparently, after we all went our separate ways last night, Tom and Dorianna had met these Aussie guys and had stayed up until 2am drinking whiskey … which must have seen like an amazing idea at the time, however currently they were having second thoughts. Joe, Rachael and I sat down for breakfast and awaited their arrival. We had a quick meal before saying goodbye. Tom and Dorianna are thoroughly nice people and I wish them well for the rest of their travels.

After they had departed Joe and Rachael put their bags in their new home before following me as I finished off my photography. I then purchased some snacks for the journey tomorrow before finally packing all my stuff away and heading out for lunch. Yet again we found ourselves in our favorite restaurant; I had a little 'kip' to burn so, along with my chicken baguette, I had a plate of deep fried spring rolls (which were okay … better than the fresh ones).

We then generally mooched around the island chatting about everything and anything until it was time for tea. Having just recovered from being ill I was a little skeptical of trying new restaurants, however this is just want we did. We tried a place near to Joe and Rachael's new accommodation and I have to be honest the sweet 'n' sour chicken was pretty good. Still with 'kip' to burn I had a chocolate pancake for pudding and felt pretty full afterwards. The food had taken quite a while to arrive (which is typical Laos … you just wait) and so it was 9pm by the time we left the restaurant. Joe and Rachael invited me to watch a film at their place however I declined, I wanted to get as much sleep as possible for my long trip tomorrow. We said our goodbyes and hopefully we might meet up in Phom Phen within a week or so.

Walking back on my own I was scanning my brain to think if I had forgotten to do anything … nope all was good. My only problem would be is if I overslept and missed my ferry tomorrow morning as I didn't have enough 'kip' for another day here. Once back at my guesthouse I set two alarms and went to sleep.

So my time in Laos is up … and I'm quite glad. The people here are nicer than in any other South East Asian country I've traveled in. They won't try to rip you off (well not as much as the Thai's) when you purchase goods and they are always honest if you have mistakenly given too much money for something. The country is beautiful, however there isn't a lot to see. Cash is king here however the lack of working ATM's made we worry a lot. In other countries I've always taken ATM's for granted and I've never really thought about withdrawing cash before. Speaking of cash Laos has been my cheapest South East Asian country to date (basically because I don't drink and there wasn't much that I wanted to do) with an average daily budget of £13.00.

The country has to be careful that places like Vang-Vieng and, to a lesser extent the 4,000 islands, don't become it's main tourist attraction as that will give the country a drinking brand which I'm sure the local people do not want. However the main problem with Laos is that there isn't a lot to see; If I hadn't had to wait for my voluntary work to start in Cambodia I could have done this country within two weeks and saved an extra two weeks for Vietnam. I can see why some people say that Laos is their favorite South East Asian country as its still got it's rustic charm; however, with the influence of the Chinese, tourism and drinking tourism, I don't think it's going to last that much longer.

Toodle Pip!

And on the seventh day he rested

Sunday 6^th February 2011

MP3 track of the day: Sitting on the dock of the bay - Otis Redding

Weather: Hot

I had good intentions for today, really I did. I was going to get up early and finish off my photography from yesterday starting with a small photo shoot of the town, followed by the view on the sunset side of the island before waiting until sunset to get even more photos. The plan didn't start well.

Due to the bonfire last night I was up late; I didn't feel that energetic, and neither did Joe or Rachael. We went to our favorite restaurant for breakfast – I had a chocolate pancake and a coconut shake … yum – whilst awaiting the arrival of Tom and Dorianna. At Breakfast Joe and Rachael mentioned that they didn't have much kip left but had plenty of American dollars; I was in the opposite boat and, as I'm heading to Cambodia in two days time, (and the Laos 'kip' is worthless out of the country) we decided to do a little trade setting me up for my trip ahead.

It didn't take long for Tom and Dorianna to turn up however they did have a little problem. Last night, after the bonfire, Tom went to cycle back to his bungalow, on his rented bike, only to find that it had been taken. Tom's a bit like me and you could see that he was worried about it. We all tried to reassure him that, due to the bike rental operators not giving out bike locks, this thing probably happened all the time. Added to this that we were on an island (and so the possibility of someone making it off said island, with the stolen bike, was very slim) Tom started to feel better and a very British conclusion was accepted. Tom wouldn't tell the bike owner that his bike had been stolen.

We all sat down and, after breakfast, continued to play cards late into the morning. None of us had the energy, or the will, to do anything else and I didn't mind as, just being within this heat, would hopefully help me to adjust once I reach Siam Reap. We played cards for so long that, when we did eventually finish and leave said restaurant, we went straight into another restaurant for lunch.

After lunch we all went our separate ways with me back at my guesthouse reading a book. At 5pm Joe and Rachael came to meet me and we all went to Tom's and Dorianna's bungalow to watch the sunset (which allowed me to get a few photos). Tom and Dorianna were moving on the day after and so they offered their bungalow to Joe and Rachael, who were staying on the island longer than I. Rachael loved it and so we decided to meet up tomorrow morning, for breakfast, and to swap the keys.

The sun had set, we were all pretty hungry, and so we headed back to the restaurant where we had breakfast this morning. The place was rammed, which was a little strange as I had never seen it so busy before, the food was good and so I think the word had spread. Five of us placed our order and waited. Bless her, the owner must have been rushed off her feet, and our food took quite a while to arrive. The meal also wasn't the best I had eaten there, but never mind.

After this we were all still pretty tired from the day before and so headed our separate ways. Just like this blog the day went very quickly, which was quite surprising considering nothing was achieved. I'm just waiting to head into Cambodia. I will get those photos done tomorrow though.

Toodle Pip!

Photography

Saturday 5^th February 2011 - (I've been away five months today)

MP3 track of the day: photograph - Nickleback

Weather: Very cloudy in the morning – no good for photos – but clearing mid afternoon.

Believe it or not but last night I was freezing cold. I was only given a small blanket and I left the room fan on all night to keep away the mosquito's. I went to my bag, pulled out my sheet sleeping bag, and lay it on my bed ready for tonight. Due to the temperature of the water I had the worlds quickest shower. It was so quick that I reckon I was probably showered, dried and dressed before an F1 car could go from 0 to 120mph. I went to my local restaurant to have a spot of breakfast (chocolate pancake … yum) and was surprised to see the rest of the group in there as well. Yesterday most of the group had decided to go fishing – with the idea of cooking whatever they caught on a BBQ later tonight – however it was 10am and I would have thought that, with fishing, the earlier the better. I sat down and ordered my food whilst chatting to the group.

Once finished we did indeed break into smaller groups with most people going in search of a fisherman, and a boat, to hire. I wanted to take a few photos of the island (plus I ain't really bothered about fishing) however, looking at the sky, it was a complete sheet of white. I decided to retire to my guesthouse, read a book and wait for the skies to improve.

It took until 2:30pm when eventually 'blue' over took 'white' as the dominant colour within the sky. I jumped up, put my book away, and headed out for a walk around the island with my camera and whatever water I had left. The islands almost circular in shape, however the path was in a 'tear' shape meaning, that at parts, I didn't get that close to the coast. It didn't matter though.

The first bit of the walk was within the touristy area of town. Eventually I cut inland and headed straight through a lot of local farm land. The road was long, and straight, with little shade; at this point it had occurred to me that maybe having lunch, and stocking up on water, might have been a better idea than to head straight out with my camera. Never mind. The landscape to the left, and right, of me was beautiful; the sun was hot and the land looked barren and scorched, apart from small clusters of trees that climbed ever higher with their branches full of brightly coloured green leaves. I took quite a few photos of this area whilst remaining in shade whenever possible.

The road was long, much longer than I had anticipated. I cursed myself for not bringing more water, food or even a map with me. At this point a local Lao guy came past me on his bicycle, stopped, and offered me a seat on the back of his bike. I declined the offer politely trying to use my drama skills to indicate that I actually like walking (which people over here find bizarre). I eventually made it to the tip of the 'tear'; to my left was a bridge, to another island, that costs 20,000 kip (£1.66) to cross. To my right was the path back to civilization on 'Don Det'. Low on water, and hungry, I took the path back towards town. This path was a lot more shaded than the previous one - which was a blessing - and there was a sign for a cafe selling cake. Now I had been told that this cafe was supposed to be very good and so I thought I might stop there for a little refreshment. That was until I arrived at said cafe and noticed the customers it attracts; deadlock hair, bad music and cigarettes (which I was sure wasn't tobacco) seemed to be the standard dress code for this place and it just seemed too 'hippie' for me. I moved on. It wasn't long after that I saw buildings appear and sure enough I was back in town. Looking at a guesthouse to my left I saw loads of local people and quite a few police. I wondered what was going on.

I made my way to my favorite restaurant for a chicken baguette and a coconut shake … I felt a lot better. I was making my way to a local internet cafe when I met Terra (who hadn't gone fishing and instead had spent the day reading her book on the beach). She also needed to visit the internet and so she tagged along. During my walk today I had decided that, though this island is quite pretty, I was ready to move on and out of Laos. I had therefore decided to move into Cambodia a day earlier than planned and so I needed the internet to amend my hostel booking before purchasing a bus ticket. All went well and I got out of the internet cafe as soon as possible due to the cost. With my hostel booking amended I purchased my bus ticket for Tuesday 8^th February.

The time was around 5:30pm and the sun was setting; the guys BBQ was going to happen at Terra's guesthouse and so we set off in that direction. Midway I stopped and told terror that I shall be along later; I raced back to my guesthouse, picked up my camera, and headed back out into the fields to take some sunset photos … which came out okay. After that I went back to my guesthouse, dropped my stuff off, and got changed before taking the long walk, out of town, to Terra's guesthouse.

As I approached the rest of the group were there and a fire had been built on the beachfront towards the back of the guesthouse. The upshot was that no fish had been caught today (apparently the fishing trip was rubbish) and so the owner of the guesthouse had gone out, on our behalf, to purchase some fish for us to cook. I was no longer feeling dodgy, however I didn't fancy taking the risk so soon after being ill; I declined the offer of eating the meal. The meal was ate, alcohol was consumed and generally we were all having a great time. We were out well past Laos' curfu but it didn't seem to matter; I was getting a little tired at 1am so I excused myself and left early, braving the long, dark walk back to the guesthouse. The walk was pretty scary; luckily I had brought my torch with me but still there was little light and all buildings were boarded up for the night. It's strange how places can look so different in the night that they do in the day.

All went well and I was soon as snug as a bug in a rug in my bed.

Tomorrow the plan is to get up for more photography (I want to do a bit of urban photography plus get a couple of shots of the sun setting on 'sunset beach') before meeting the others for more fun and games. Busy, busy, busy.

Toodle Pip!

'Worry 'o'Meter' on full

Thursday 3^rd February 2011

MP3 track of the day: Don't worry, be happy - Bobby McFerrin

Weather: Hot throughout the day until the night when it became cold

Last night was interesting to say the least. Not only was the bed uncomfortable but it felt as though I was staying on 'Old MacDonald's evil twin farm'. I had seen chickens, mosquito's, moths, dogs, geckos, frogs and I think I herd a rat within my bathroom last night. I couldn't be sure as, before I went into said bathroom, I turned the light on from the outside. I waited thirty seconds before opening the door slowly … no sign. Whilst in the bathroom I did hear things running inbetween the prefabricated walls. I was ready to leave. It now made perfect sense; at first I thought the owner – nice though he is – was a little mad (and I would have been a little mad if I had lived my whole life within this small, isolated village) as he was laughing at me every time I told him my room number. It was kind of like 'oh yes, you are staying here … chuckle, chuckle, chuckle' and nothing changed when I went to pay my bill this morning.

I met Joe and Rachael next to the mini-van that was going to take us, and three others, to the river 'port'. The guesthouse owners 'other' son then took over and used his boat to get us safely back across the 'Mekong River' before guiding us to where the V.I.P coach was going to pick us up from. Currently life was good; I was away from the 'farm from hell' and on my way to, apparently, paradise island. This state of 'worry free' only lasted until the V.I.P coach arrived. Joe and Rachael put their bags within the holdall first and got the last two remaining seats. South East Asia's motto is that 'There is always room for one more' and so the driver started to put plastic chairs down the isle and I was allotted one. Now you may be thinking that my 'worry 'o'meter' went sky high based on the obvious health and safety situation (i.e. If we crash I sitting on a seat that wasn't attached to the vehicle and so I would probably die. Or if there was a fire the seats would be blocking the main exit route and so I would probably die.) but you would be wrong. It went sky high because I was told that 'Don Det's' accommodation – the island in which I would be based for the next couple of days – fills up pretty quickly and here I was sat on a coach crammed within backpackers all heading for the same spot.

There was nothing that I could do. I just sat back in my plastic chair and chatted to the Aussie girl to my left. The girl was nice; she had just spent the last two weeks in Vang-Vieng getting drunk and now she was coming here. This didn't help with my impression of the place. Luckily the journey wasn't long and we managed to chat all the way.

As I was one of the last ones on the coach my bag was one of the first ones off. Joe, Rachael and I raced to 'port' to catch the first boat to the island of 'Don Det'. The captain of the vessel had placed mine, and Rachael's, bags right on the bow of the ship. As we were docked it didn't really matter as, if it was to roll off, it would end up on the sand … as long as he moved my bag into the boat before we set sail all would be well. More people boarded with their bags being put inside the boat … Rachael's had been moved into the boat as well where as mine was still, disconcertingly, left right on the front. I was quite proud of myself that my 'worry 'o' meter' didn't move from 'heart failure' to 'off the scale' until the captain started pushing the boat out into sea, still without moving my my bag. I closed my eyes and lowered my head into my other bag, only for my head to rise again and see the captain eventually move my bag to a safe location. The boat was still crammed and so my 'worry 'o'meter' only fell back to 'default level for South East Asia'.

Dry land! We had made it to dry land. I could have kissed the very small beach (which is called 'sunrise beach' as, funnily enough, the sunrises from the direction the beach faces) that I found myself upon. Looking around I could see white people on the beach in front of me and, slightly up hill, pubs to the left and right. This wasn't really what I wanted to see. However this wasn't the time, we had to get accommodation quickly. The first place we tried was nice but expensive, second full, third full. It wasn't until we found our fifth place that we got a good cheap deal. The accommodation was 'basic' with outdoor cold showers and toilets. The rooms had twenty-four hour electricity (which was a real bonus), an electrical fan located right above the bed and a mosquito net. It wasn't that clean, the bathrooms weren't the nicest however at 30,000 kip per night (£2.30) we didn't think that it was going to get any better. We took it.

I went into my room and checked the electricity, the cleanliness of the bedding and for holes within my mosquito net. I had a few small holes – which was understandable – and one giant one located at the bottom right-hand corner of the net. I went into my bag to find my 'mosquito net repair kit' – which consisted of a roll of duck-tape – but it seemed as though I had lost it. I searched high and low but nope, it was gone. I went through my bag to see if I had anything else; I emptied my own 'mosquito net kit' in which I found three safety pins and a bit of string … ummm. I put the net back together by attaching safety pins to the middle, and sides, of the hole. This obviously wasn't enough to close the whole however, after threading the string through the safety pins, I pulled the string tight and the hole closed up. I had fixed something. I was rather proud of myself.

As you can imagine, this had taken quite a bit of time. I had been given a couple of 'knocks on the door' from Joe and Rachael seeing if I wanted to go for lunch, however my reply was always 'just five minutes more and I'll be ready'. We hadn't eaten any breakfast and so I think they were getting hungry; I 'pac-safed' all my stuff up and we headed along the track, away from 'sunrise beach' to find a restaurant. We found loads and we eventually stopped at a place with a very cute kitten and puppy. Both Joe and Rachael are massive animal lovers, which is fine, however it can get very annoying when I'm trying to eat. They stroked the animals for a little while (with me standing well back) before we went up the stairs and into the restaurant; I ordered a 'vegetable noodle soup' which I felt was a good step-up the food chain from yesterdays bread. It arrived boiling hot, which was great, and for a little luxury I had my first 'Pepsi' in four days.

Whilst eating, as predicted, a swarm of young animals came near our table. Joe and Rachael were fine with it whereas I didn't like it at all. I think they could see that I wasn't massively impressed and so, bless them, they tried their best to keep the animals to their side of the table. The view from our table was pretty impressive; we overlooked one of the many branches of the 'Mekong River' where we saw some pretty burnt people tubing. There was a beautiful island in front of us, with lush green vegetation and huge bright green-leaved trees standing tall against a light blue sky. Looking at the trees in more detail their branches were formed like an 'umbrella', unlike in the UK where branches are erected quite a way down the main trunk. The food was great and afterwards we headed out for a stole around the island with me particularly searching for good 'photo spots' for tomorrow. Joe and Rachael were chatting about the activities they fancied doing; almost all of them involved water in which I wasn't that bothered about. I wondered if I had come to the wrong place, maybe I should enter Cambodia sooner than planned because there isn't anywhere else I can go (I'm now right at the border).

There is also another aspect that I have to factor into any activity, or length of stay here and that is, of course, money. My financial state isn't anywhere near as bad as Phonsavan; I'm along way off from delving into 'Buzz's life savings' however here is my predicament. There are no ATM's on any of these '4,000 islands' plus the 'Kip' is worthless out of Laos. I therefore have to have enough money to pay for living here, and my coach ticket to Siam Reap, and cover my visa costs to get into Cambodia without withdrawing anymore money as I have no idea if there is a currency exchange place at the Laos border. This is my biggest annoyance with Laos, you cannot expect anything and there is no information to help you. Communication would go along way here.

It was hot walking around; we had seen quite abit of this small island and I had many 'photo' locations for tomorrow. We headed back to the restaurant we had lunch in, ordered a few drinks and played cards whilst chatting and overlooking the river. The animals were back, which still annoyed me, however I wasn't eating this time. We chatted for quite a while and at one point the owners son, who must have been two / three years old came waddling over, without said owner in sight, to play with the puppy at Joe's feet. The animals we perceive as 'pets' within the UK aren't treated with the same respect here and, to prove such a fact, the toddler kicked the puppy … twice. Rachael took the child by the hand and told him 'no'; which granted was the moral thing to do (you don't kick animals) however he wasn't her child and it seemed as though, in her eyes, the puppy was more important than the infant.

The sun was fading and the heat was getting lower. We paid up and left the restaurant stopping at an internet cafe (very expensive and very slow … however if they can have internet here, why not an ATM?), before heading off for another walk. We headed to the other side of the island to see 'sunset beach', which was very nice. We came back into town and we ate at our guesthouse's restaurant. I went one level up again and had chicken soup … which was okay however it was huuuge. It was so big that two could have eaten the meal and I felt bad leaving so much. We were served by the owners youngest daughter who, I think, understands English the best. She was very hard working and always had a smile on her face; I apologized for leaving so much and she just smiled; she was very sweet.

Within the restaurant we met 'Terra' (pronounced 'terror'), the Canadian chick, and Rute (pronounced root) who was from Israel. I had met these two in Pakxe and we met the others (Tom and dorianna, a couple from Blackburn, and a German girl plus a French Canadian guy who's names escape me) at the Reggie Bar. When we were playing cards within Pakxe we all said that we would met up at the Reggie Bar, today, at 8pm and so it came to pass. We chatted and played cards until the Laos curfew kicked in at 11pm (which normally wouldn't be a problem however there isn't much to do here and so a few extra hours would have been nice). We all said goodnight and Joe and Rachael arranged to meet the rest of the group, for fishing, at 10am. I wasn't bothered about fishing so I made my own plan of reading, photography and blog to fill my day. Thinking about my plan for tomorrow really made me think about my plan for my time here; like I said earlier there isn't really a lot to do and I do wonder if I would be better chilling within Siem Reap one or two days more. Also, looking to the left and right of me I could see drunk westerns trying to leave the bar, working out which flip-flops were there's. There was also a heavy cloud of smoke within the bar which, I'm certain, wasn't tobacco smoke.

Apart from a couple of lights at bars and guesthouse that we passed there was nothing illuminating the path back to our accommodation. This would have been fine if it wasn't for a sudden drop, on my left, into the 'Mekong'. However I wasn't really thinking about this, I was more thinking about whether I wanted to stay here a short or long time, my money situation and the amount of mosquito's that were hovering around each and every light that I saw on my way to my room. Once in my room I closed the window, and door, before turning the light on for a split second for me to erect my mosquito net. With the light back off I got into bed, got changed and tried to go to sleep. I wasn't tired, not really. I wasn't really worried about anything either, my 'worry 'o' meter' was set back at 'standard South East Asia' ... it's just that I wasn't tired. Well actually I did worry about giant spiders being in my room.

Toodle Pip!

P.S. - Question of the day: If one of the worlds main producer of rice is South East Asia, then why haven't they herd of rice pudding?