Indochina, in general

I'm not entirely sure if Indochina is even politically correct...

• we invented a couple of games to pass the time and amuse ourselves (alright, amuse myself). the first was spot the gecko - they were everywhere and looked like fancy decorations until they moved. the second game was dog with a collar - Bee actually promised me a beer if we saw one - we saw at least 3.
• I also enjoyed the new and strange fruit that was served every chance they got. dragonfruit was one of the more unique fruits I've ever seen - bright pink/purple on the outside and white on the inside with little black dots - it tasted kinda like kiwi fruit. the other one I liked has a name that I never bothered to learn as I thought that pale yellow giant mandarin was much more appropriate.
• they love their volleyball and shooting ranges.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

I've been a bit slack due to enjoying the end of my holiday and then having to work, but here is some observations regarding Ho Chi Minh City...

• everyone has a job
• very disorientating and a lot more hectic than Phnom Penh. the graciousness shown on the roads in Cambodia definitely isn't there, but we found we were able to walk around a lot more without being hassled which was a pleasant change and we got to soak up a bit more of the city.
• at dinner on our first night in town i won a raincoat, ate free birthday cake and made a baby cry!
• visited the Cu Chi tunnels. they were very impressive and resourceful. the backward sandles to mislead the enemy as to which way they were walking were simple but brilliant.
• there were more guns to fire there, but i declined the opportunity - didn't feel quite right funny enough.
• our tour group included a highly religious catholic from Costa Rica named Fernando. he just so happened to be the Costa Rican ambassador to Korea. we swapped cards. he told me that he could get me into some North Korean sites if i ever wanted to visit Korea and to give him a buzz. curious? tempted? i'd say i am.
• on the way back into the city we got a good taste of the state by getting taken to a handicrafts factory where the employees were all handicapped. we were then led to a warehouse full of handicrafts at 10 times the price of what you'd pay in the market and told repeatedly that it's all owned by the government.
• long live Chairman Uncle Colonel Sanders

Photos will be appearing soon i hope...

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

had to kill a couple more nights in Phnom Penh until our visas to Vietnam became valid...

• visited the zeppelin cafe again. i requested i'm stranded by the saints but our zen dj was unaware of the track so he lost a point with me, but he was able to play some husker du instead so i was still happy.
• we also visited a restaurant that is run by an organisation that assists former street kids. they've won an order of australia for good deeds to humanity, which was a nice touch. the food was delicious too, which was an even nicer touch.

Kep, Cambodia

some musings from Kep...

• the place is littered with the shells of rich residences built first by the French and then the Cambodian elite before the Khmer Rouge evacuated the whole town and looted what was left. the bush/jungle grows around them and it's facinating to see such recent ruins left to their own device.
• $8 = 3 crabs and 3 beers. the crabs were cooked in a shack right on the water and flavoured with the local green pepper grown at Kampot and were that delicious that i felt like i was cheating on Murray Cray. the first day we were there we sat in our shack eating this as a tropical-esque storm passed over - it was extremely impressive.
  
• we took a couple of bikes for a ride and i went off on my own for a bit and managed to both get a puncture and drop the chain on my bike.
• we were also still able to get a message from the o&k grand final to hear the sensational news that Tarra had won the flag and my brother Craig had done alright. i was pretty rapt with the news and a little sad i was going to miss the party... but the crab and $1 beer helped a little.
• i'd also seen a beer advertised over here called "Victory", but despite my best efforts i was unable to track one down and literally "join in together for a Victory beer"!
  

Cambodia, in general

Just another observation...

• the kids over here love to wave and say hello when they see us, even if we are just driving past in a tuk tuk. it reminds me of how when we were kids we used to try get the trucks to sound their horns and the enjoyment we got from that. so i make sure i always wave back and say hello.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

some snippets from Siem Reap...

• we saw a dog that was half Inspector Rex and half Murder She Wrote. it was brilliant.
• 50 cent pots of cold beer.
• took a Cambodian cooking class, for which we traveled a little bit out of town and down a few wonky dirt roads. to our surprise there was a nice hotel there with the class conducted just a short walk down the road. they also took us to visit one of the families at the local village for which we gave them 2 kilos of rice as a thank you. they were a young couple 23 years old, with 2 kids and a third 7 months on the way. they were extremely poor and i was grateful we were able to visit and hope the rice helped. if the husband works laboring in the city he will work an 8 hour day for $2.50. later in the arvo (during our class) the 7 month pregnant lady rode past us off on her way to search for snails near the lake to use in her cooking for her family and hopefully some extra that they can sell.
• Angkor Wat. deserves to be the 8th wonder of the world. impressive, huge and nearly 900 years old.
  
• our tour guide for Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom was Socur with an old, mad Englishman named Shah (of Indian heritage and born in Sth Africa) rounding out our group of four. Socur joined us for lunch and it was interesting to have a chat with him. he had a good sense of humour (well i found him funny!) and his english was pretty good. he only works 2 days a week, because of the oversupply of english speaking tour guides and his wife, 18 month old daughter and him all live with his mother in law - apparently it's not a happy situation, but he's thinking of trying to move to Qatar to work.
• "Angkor What?" was probably not as impressive as Angkor Wat, but it was a good pub none the less.
  

Cambodia, in general

a couple further observations of the country in general...

• i love how tuk tuk's use cd's as reflectors
• the inventiveness of kids is gold - so far we've seen thong soccer, thong bocce and what i'm pretty sure was some version of thong marbles