we feel like we are now working our way towards home, coming out through Cambodia back to thailand for our last few weeks. We are all getting excited about coming home :)

We finished vietnam with a trip to the chu chi tunnels, where everyone lived underground during the war. it was a real eye opener to see how tiny the space was, just crouching for 50m through the tunnels was plenty. a group of 'cool' americans were saying how they would do the full 100...yea right, they were out before anyone!! ha ha!

Carry and I also treated ourselves to a massage...with a difference. It was carried out at the blind institute, a way for them to make a living. Now that was an experience. Paul opted to stay back and watch the futy. Carry and I turned up, everyone coming towards us...obviously blind. They seperated us with a curtain and from then on it was full on pinching and slapping. I could not hear the slapping on carry, but I sure was receiving it. It was so unusual and quite painful! As soon as we walked out, we wondered what the hell each of us had been thorugh. That was one to remember! Our last night was spent bowling...I lost badly. Paul first of course...dam him!! Matthews vs Layzel!! We had the best dinner ever that night, on the street...cooked by the old ladies. Amazing!!

I am of course still ill, with a rediculous cough that will not budge. Carry and Paul love hearing it and I have not heard them complain once :)

From here we went straight over the Cambodia boarder by bus to the capital Phon Penh. Of course the coughing on the bus was enjoyed by all!Our first night was at 'floating island' that was a deralect old builday floating on the water...it was wierd. as though it had shut down and no one told us. but nicce and cheap. In the capital we were paying about $4 for a room with 3 people in it. bargin!!

We went to the S21 museum / old school which was used to torture citizens. Cambodian and vietnam have been real eye openers and learnt so much. It makes you look at the locals differently, as it was quite a recent war, im sure everyone knows someone effected...

On our way to Sien reap on the bus, on a normal toilet stop there was a cafe, serving tortise in its shell with eggs...i cant get that image out of my head. not a million pounds would get me eating that! paul thought it was a bat in a melon case and carry though the eggs were tomatoes! poor little tortoise! In Siem reap, it was straight down to business visiting Angkor wat. We cycley the 'short' route. this ended up being over 25km in the blazing heat!! we had a lot of probs that day, it felt like nothing was going to plan, but we got around it in the end, after leaving to cycle there at 5am in the dark with no road or bike lights, through the massive pot holes! that was fun!

By now my cough was so annoying i was back on new medicine which after I took, found out it was for insommnia too. i took it stupidly in the day and could not wake up, and when i did felt like a log. never doing that again! Id prefer to cough!! :)

Our last day in Siem reap, Paul and i were casually walking along the dusty road, and head an almighty squeal. when we turned around, it was a live big pig strapped upside down to the back of a motorbike. poor piggy!! it was not happy! We liked siem reap, it was a nice small place, no need for a stupid map all the time. we settled and got our favourite bakery :)

But then it was time to get back to thailand. We have had enough of the scorching heat and dirty ness, we need a beach and sea to cool off in! So we got a bus to the boarder. The roads are supposed to be bad, but ended up alright. But instead, the bus was overloaded, with travellers being given plastic chairs to sit on down the isle and everone had thei luggage on thei laps. it was a nightmare. From there we got the bus to bangkok and a night train down to the south to get a ferry over to the islands.....