Hello!

It's 10:26am and what a day this is turning out to be! Today we are travelling from Siem Reap to Battambang but instead of taking the usual bus we decided to take the boat! This is giving us the opportunity to see the beautiful Cambodian countryside from the water and for one day only become part of the Cambodian water village community. As we sail along we occasionally come to a part of the river lined with floating houses. The buildings are very well built and sit alongside shops, schools, churches and temples. It really is a floating village!

Yesterday was really chilled after a tiring day previously exploring the temples. When we woke up we had breakfast before booking the Cambodian Circus for the evening, something recommend by a friend in Dubai. We then set out on our one and only mission for the day which was to find a new Go Pro Case! Unfortunately my case had somehow managed to get a scratch on it right across the lens. This meant all my photos had blur on them but luckily I noticed it pretty much straight away so was able to take them again! We walked for around 20 mins to a mall I had seen the day before and managed to find a shop selling lots of Go Pro stuff! I bought a new case for $40 and although I'm not sure on the price, I didn't really have a choice :)

After that we returned to the hotel and I enjoyed my free massage! A rather surreal experience as she seemed to quite enjoy walking on my back!! We then just chilled in our room and went for a pizza before getting ready to go to the circus.

During the afternoon I managed to spend some time talking to Tara and arranging our plans for October half term! We decided a while a go that we wanted to go to Jordan together for our first holiday and yesterday we actually booked it!! I am so excited to travel together and to go to somewhere like Jordan is just amazing! We both share the same passion for seeing the world and having new experiences so I'm sure this is just the start of many more to come! Our plan it to fly the day after finishing school and then have 5 nights... 2 in Petra, 1 at Wadi Rum, 1 at the Dead Sea and another somewhere else. I cannot wait and I'm sure those people that have read my blogs since back in 2011 will know that to travel with someone special and share experiences of a lifetime is all I have ever wanted to do! :)

With a massive smile and spring in my step last night we went to the circus. It was really good and told a very interesting story of Cambodian history alongside crazy and at times mental acrobats, tricks, dance and music! We both really enjoyed it and afterwards thought it was about time we graced pub street with our presence!

We went to about 4 bars along 'the strip' and enjoyed a drink in each of them. We enjoyed talking to some locals, one of which I am sure was a Ladyboy! The Cambodian people have a really good sense of humour and have all been really friendly, we have found them very different to the Vietnamese!

One girl we spoke to was selling little wristbands made by her mother. She was really funny and enjoyed taking the mick out of us so we did the same to her. I was amazed when she said she was only 14 as she was extremely confident and spoke amazing English! It was at this point I realised how different our lives were going to be just because of where we had been born. I was in her home town, thousands of miles from my home, having the time of my life and booking future holidays whilst on a holiday... All she wanted was to sell me a wristband. There was however one thing that we had in common... a huge smile and lots of laughs. We were both happy at this point in our lives and I guess that's all you can ask for. I bought 2 wristbands from her said our goodbyes. She went away happy and I went away having been humbled and thankful for everything I have and I work for.

This morning we woke up at 6:00am, again, and after a short bus journey reached a river joining to the huge Tonalè Sap lake. As we set off on our sail down the river we passed our first water village. Locals were already up and going about their daily business and the sky was a bright clear blue! It wasn't long before we reached the lake and I was shocked to see how big it was! As we sailed out of the river and onto the open water all I could see was water! Left, right, straight ahead and all the way to the horizon there was an uninterrupted view, it was amazing!

This openness of it all also meant big waves so for around 30 mins we endured a lot of spray and eventually the sides of the boat were put down. After a short while we turned off again into another river and as I type we are continuing our journey. At it's widest it is only 200m and all long the shore there are thick green reeds, bushes and trees! There are fishing wheels sat in the water too and as we approach another village I'm going to say goodbye for now. I'll probably enjoy sunbathing on the roof a little more as we continue the journey through this beautiful part of the world.

Tom x

Good morning!

As I write I am travelling through the Battambang countryside on an open air single track Bamboo Train!

Fast approaching is another 'cart' so I'll be back in a minute!!

So we have just dismantled our cart and I'm now stood on the side of the track waiting for another cart to pass in a minute before we can carry on! This is a crazy but rather ingenious design! I'll try and explain it for you... Basically the tracks along the ground are in one long straight line, or at least they are meant to be straight, from one village to another. Wheels, that look like lifting weights, sit on top of the tracks and on top of that is a single Bamboo 'bed' around 2m square. At the rear of the bed is a small engine with a belt linking it to the rear set of wheels. The engine turns the belt, which turns the wheels and off you go!! We have just rebuilt the 'train' so as I continue my ride I'll fill you in on the last 24 hours.

The journey to Battambang continued to be beautiful and although it was really long I loved every minute! Seeing the local people living on the river was brilliant and almost every child we saw smiled and waved!

On arrival in Battambang we needed to find somewhere to stay and I wanted somewhere cheep with a pool!

Update - Just done a quick on and off the tracks again! This is bizarre!

When we got off the boat there were loads of locals trying to get us to go to their hotel, or at least one they knew. We decided on one with a jacuzzi for $5 a night per person, bargain!

Hello...

It's now 1:20pm and I'm on the penultimate leg of my Asia Adventure 2016! Martin and I left Battambang at 11:30pm and as we approach the Cambodia/Thailand border we are driving through a massive thunder storm!

After checking in at the hotel last night we immediately went to explore Battambang and the local area. Our Tuk Tuk driver was a really nice lad and pretty much told us our itinerary for the late afternoon to enable us to see the highlights of Battambang pretty quickly.

We drove out of the city towards a rock that stood out a mile on one of the flattest landscapes I have ever seen. On the top of the rock was a golden temple and this was our destination. At the bottom we got out of the Tuk Tuk and jumped on the back of 2 motorbikes to get to the top. Half way up we stopped at a cave that had a very gruesome story to tell. The Khmer Rouge mentioned previously used the cave during their years of horror to throw people into after killing them. After Cambodia was liberated thousands of bodies were discovered at the bottom, exactly where we were stood! It wasn't a nice experience and we didn't stay around too long, we got back on the bikes and headed for the top!

As we arrived on the top of the mountain I was blown away by the unbelievable vista in front if me! I could see for hundreds of miles across a perfectly flat landscape, it was magical and we loved taking pictures! It was a little like the scene from the Lion King where Simba is held up to the sky at the top of Pride Rock!

The amazing golden temple on the top was second best to the view but it was pretty impressive in its own right. I again took a few pictures as the sun set before jumping back on the bike to go down to the bottom for the main attraction!!

Just as we got to the bottom of the mountain it began. Millions, and I mean millions, of bats flew out of a cave directly in front of us! It was incredible! They flew like running water into the sky, turning and twisting into the distance. This continues non stop for around 30 minutes every night and they return at 4am.

After taking it all in we returned to the city and enjoyed a beer in the hot tub with our 3 friends from the boat, 2 Dutch and one half English/Dutch! We then got dressed and decided to head out for an Indian which was great and I enjoyed a Korma as usual. Martin and one of the other guys had 2 bowls of Tomato Soup each with a Naan Bread in a bid to end their never ending battle with the toilet!!

During the meal it became pretty clear that Battambang wasn't going to provide us with the night out we were looking for. We were the only people around as we walked the streets looking for a bar and on arrival at what was 'the place to be' we doubled the number of customers! We still enjoyed playing cards though before calling it a night :)

This morning I decided that as the bus wasn't leaving until 11:30am I had enough time to explore Battambang a little more. Leaving Martin and the rest of the guys in bed I got up at 7:30am and met the same Tuk Tuk driver at 8am.

Our first stop was the very unique Bamboo Train on which I was writing earlier. I enjoyed the train and although it was a little bizarre it was worth it. Once we reached the other end I was harassed by beautiful local children all wanting to sell me a bracelet! Again I had a moment of realisation and wish I could have helped all of them more. I spoke to them for around 5 minutes and was happy to hear that they go to school. We posed for a group selfie and I decided to give them all $1 each, I wasn't fussed about the bracelet but their little faces had got me! By the time I had changed my $10 note to $1's the group of children had grown to what seemed like a small army! I simply couldn't give them all $1 so I bought 3 bracelets from the ones that had spoken nicely to me. I kept one an gave the other two back to an olde girl who I bought a drink from.

In one way I fell well and truly into the trap at the end of the train but in another way I felt I had done my bit.

We turned the cart around by simply picking it up and doing a 360 degree turn before setting off on our journey back. It was at this point I started to write and getting off and on 5 times we reached the station again!

My Tuk Tuk driver was waiting an off we went to our next stop, a crocodile farm! In all honesty I wish I hadn't gone to visit this as I feel I have fuelled a cruel and horrible trade. After holding a baby crocodile, which was pretty cool, I went over to see the mummy and daddy crocodiles! I was saddened to find 600+ crocodiles in tanks that weren't very big at all! It really was a farm and I guess it was kind of a 'Crocodile Battery Farm!' I didn't like it and made my excuses to leave.

Back at the hotel I had a quick bite to eat before getting my bags and starting this journey.

We are now in Thailand and will reach Bangkok in around 4 hours. I was thinking earlier that Bangkok is now the only place outside of Europe I have been to more than once having visited with Mum and Dad when I was 16. Something tells me it may be a little different on this visit!

The Cambodian border was interesting to say the least but we have made it through. Our bags were taken from the bus, we had to get on a motorbike and walk across... All pretty surreal when nobody spoke English but I managed to work out what to do by speaking to a Thai/French lady who is also on the bus!

Anyway... I think this might be the longest blog to date so I'm going to sign off. I'm looking forward to exploring Bangkok again and checking into our nice hotel tonight, complete with swimming pool again :)

Bye for now x