Update 1: Anyone that has read the e-mails this is old news!

It seems like a million years ago now that I was saying a very nearly teary goodbye to the folks in November. After a few days spent seeing the sights of Bangkok we took the bus to Cambodia and Siem Reap. An interesting journey when there are no actual roads as such to Siem Reap on the Cambodian side of the border.

A week was spent in Siem Reap which would have been a couple of days shorter had it not been for me and Stu both getting a fairly hefty dose of food poisoning. Siem Reap itself though was fantastic and the temples of Angkor (Cambodia's main attraction) are incredible. First of all some of them were built nearly 1000 years ago which is impressive enough but the size of some of the temples are massive and the intricacy of the designs that are carved into the stone are so detailed it has to be seen to be believed. We spent 2 days being taken around by our driver in his tuk-tuk going to loads of different temples and even waking at 5am on the second day to watch the sun rise up behind Angkor Wat, the biggest and most impressive of all the temples. My personal favourites though were some of the smaller ones that were not so heavily populated by tourists and also the one in the middle of the forest that the trees have grown on the temple itself with the roots and branches intertwining with the stone.

Siem Reap had charm in abundance and you could not help to be won over by all the little kids that would run over to you smiling wanting to reel off a whole series of facts about the country you had come from in the hope you would end up buying the various things they wanted to sell. A boat trip to the floating village on the biggest lake in S.E. Asia and dinner in a restaurant with its own crocodile pit were other highlights.

Next stop was Phnom Penh and my first impressions were the opposite of Siem Reap and not too good. As soon as we arrived we were much more heavily swarmed by people wanting to take our money and there were far more beggars on the street. The staff in the guesthouses and restaurants seemed far less friendly and the city was just lacking in character. We visited the Killing Fields where thousands of people were murdered and buried during the Khmer Rouge period and although it's very quiet and peaceful there now, the tower of skulls, bones still protruding from the ground and the stories of how the prisoners were treated quickly brings the reality of what happened not all that long ago back. Next stop on this rather depressing day was the S-21 prison which had been a secret prison where the entirely innocent victims were kept before being taken away and killed. The rows and rows of the victims faces hits hard when you start to think of just how many innocent lives were taken.

After one more night in Phnom Penh and my opinion of the place having improved somewhat we left and headed down to the beaches of Sihanoukville on the south coast. A short stay there ended up turning into 2 weeks as the thought of packing my stuff up and leaving was never as appealing or easy as a day spent on a sunny beach. Lots of tanning, drinking, eating and partying at Chiva's shack went on over the 2 weeks with a couple of good boat trips thrown in for good measure. It really felt here with the chilled out vibe that it was probably how the beaches on the Thai islands used to be before they became such a tourist hotspot. I think Sihanoukville will probably head the same way but while I was there it was fantastic with a great beach, great people to meet and very friendly and fun-loving locals.

Next stop Thailand and more beaches over the festive period!!