tuk tuk!!!!!

we are in phnom penh which is very similar so far to siem reap just a lot bigger. instead of getting the nice air con tourist bus we took the local bus which was cheaper, actually arrived on time and the driver played cambodian music really loudly the whole way - much fun!

so far we have walked around the city a bit and been into lots of galleries and shops/cafes run by ngos. there is a a lot of focus here on street children and its great to see the charities in action after seeing so much poverty. is really depressing wanting to help but not knowing what to do.

in siem reap there are so many children trying to sell things and some are so young and just follow you around or sit with you and its so hard saying no to them. at all the tourist places as soon as you get out of the tuk tuk or van children swarm around selling everything. they told us they go to school in the morning and then start working and seriously some are less than 5!

i feel guilty that when ive had enough i can just leave.

we are staying here for a few days and our new friends from siem reap are joining us soon so that'll be good.

oh and things i forgot to say - just west of bangkok on the river trip we saw a whole load of monkeys and so many babies clinging to their mothers stomachs, lots of cool lizards -blue and quite big and so many huge butterflies! the thunder storms are amazing, so loud and it rains for hours and hours but its really exciting (except when you get stuck in it!). we went swimming in a waterfall and the fish come and nibble you, its ok when they're tiny but the bigger ones do it too and at first its slightly scary but i felt very exfoliated after.

im not sure what day or date it is (this computer says its the 14th) so to gemma and ellen - Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday la la la la happy birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!! hope you both had a wonderful day and lots of love and i would send a card/present but i doubt it'd get to you from here so maybe when i get to australia.

also as the connection is really bad here i havent got time or money to send individual messages so again....

gemma - thanks for the many messages, im glad to see you are missing me lol. it would be really cool if you could make notes of key things i miss while away for example hollywokes story lines, etc. hope you are ok and not crying yourself to sleep every night! miss you x

serena - i miss you and our broadway nights:( make sure your free for a massive 'all of the above' session at christmas time. love you lots!

martin and bryn - if you steal anything from my room you'll be sorry (speakers are ok) i'll miss you guys over summer x

lots of love and curri/bussi to everyone xxxxxx