I have been in Cambodia three weeks now. I have been about a week each in shianoukville, penom phen and siem reap. Compared to my Vietnam run, my pace here has been very slow. As i probably mentioned last time i wrote, i have kind of got addicted to playing pool. That's what i do most days. Since pool tables are usually found i pubs, i have also been drinking allot of beer. A bit to much. Even if a pint is just under two dollars, it all adds up, its actually my main expense over here. I usually wake up late in the afternoon, enough time to catch a couple of hours of sun but not enough time to get a proper tan. The last week I have been having this bad cold so i have been skipping the beer and just drink water. I feel better for it, my pool skills have improved and i wake up early enough in the morning to catch the sun at its strongest. I'll try and stick to my new routine from now on. I cant seem to get a proper tan tough, I just get freckly and red.

Because of my slow pace over here i probably have to skip going to Laos. Thats a shame because everyone seems to be recommending it. Saying stuff like, "you think Cambodia is layed back, then just wait till you get to Laos". Someone even said about the work ethics in south east Asia, "In Vietnam they plant the rice, in Cambodia they watch it grow, and in Laos the just listen to it". I think that means the Vietnamese work very hard, the Cambodians are not as hard working, and the Laos people don't work at all. It kind of makes sense, as in Cambodia on every street there is always a group of motodrivers hanging around at all hours of the day. I think most of them only get one or two customers a day. So they might spend a whole day just waiting for a tourist in need of transportation to come along. Its the same thing with the markets where the locals go to buy goods. There you will find loads of people selling the same thing, but you don't see many people actually buying anything. The sellers just seem to be hanging around waiting all day. I don't know, in my eyes it seems very inefficient. I mean surely these people waiting around could do something more productive with their time. Then again maybe they cant.

All in all i like Cambodia because it seems pretty laid back and the touts are not as in your face, as in Vietnam. Cambodia also has its gruesome recent history that i found very interesting, the khmere roughe and their year zero revolution. I read a book about it and went to all the sights. Scary stuff. I haven't seen the temples here in siem reap yet but i have heard they are among the biggest and most beautiful in the world. I could see myself coming back here someday. Of all the places I probably enjoyed sianoukville the best, its the only beach resort ín Cambodia. People say the beach is not as beautiful as the ones in Thailand, but that shianoukville makes up for it by being less touristy and developed. There was a surprising number of westerners in sianoukville that just got stuck there for months. Ususlly when you ask people how long they been in town they say about two days. But the average in sianoukville seemed to be more like two months. Its a nice place to get stuck in.

When i get rid of this cold i will go check out the temples, after that I'll head by bus to poipet at the border and then over into Thailand, bangkok.

Cheers.