The past few weeks have been manic - I went to Si Phan Don in south Laos and chilled on a hammock over the mekong river for a few days, we saw river dolphins and accidentally stumbled across a cow giving birth which was pretty horrific. I spent a few days in Ratanakiri in the east of Cambodia, we cycled to some nice waterfalls, one you could stand under. That was fun but it hurt like hell and the guy next to me got hit on the head by a fish which was pretty funny. We also went to Yeak Laom, a beautiful volcanic lake in a shape of a perfect circle. The water was so clear and it was full of these tiny little shrimpy things that stuck to you. Something like that would normally freak me out but it actually felt quite nice, they eat your dead skin :0S Anyway when I got out all the cuts and bruises on my legs had been magically healed!

On the way to Phnom Phen the bus stopped at Skuon aka the town of spiders. Here the locals are famous for hunting out huge spiders and deep frying them to eat as a snack. I really didnt want to get off the bus but the driver kicked me off. People were walking around casually with massive spiders on their shoulders like pets. I made the mistake of showing that I was scared and this evil kid started chasing me around trying to throw one on me - it was probably the longest 15mins of my life!!

I hated Phnom Phen. It's like most capitals but everyone is constantly trying to rip you off and the other backpackers were weird. I went to the S21 prison and the killing fields - it was so sad, espcially when you realise it only happened 30 years ago. Your constantly reminded of how cruel the Khmer Rouge were as theres so many burnt out buildings where ever you go. It's really sad to think alot of the older people here lived through all that tourture and starvation.

Since then I've been volunteering at an orphange in Takeo. Theres about 50 kids here and they are awesome! They are so intellignet and fun to be around. Their English is really good so it's easy to play games and the days are just flying by. They are so grateful and I've been teaching some of them English using a book I got in the market, their like little sponges!

The past few days have been a public holiday, it's called Bonn Pchum Ben and everyone spends it with their family and prays for the dead. The orphanage was closed so I went to the beach with a Belgian girl I met. We hitch hiked to rabbit island together on the back of a truck. It had a big basket with 4 piglets in, they absolutely stunk and kept biting each other so the sound of them screaming was horrific. I also got sun burnt so bad that it hurt to even walk - blistered shoulders and a 15kg rucksack do not go well together! Anyway when we eventually got there it was pretty much deserted just a small beach and a few huts. I only lasted two nights though because there was no shower (you had to wash in the sea) and there was just a big hole for the toilet. There was also this killer spider above my bed and I couldn't sleep. The next day it had been replaced by the biggest gecko I've ever seen, it was green with red spots! The beach was beautiful though, the water was so clear you could see you feet even when you were up to your neck and there were no waves so it was like a big swimming pool.

Back at the orphanage now so looking forward to seeing my new buddies again....