Day 232 Vietnam really loves their Communism. Only Larkhall has a better display of national flags. Every house, shop and hotel in this city has one. I've gone right off it which surprises me as I ran as the Communist candidate in the 1988 school election (came third). The people here are horrible and are completely disinterested in tourism. All the road signs, menus, shop signs - everything - is in Vietnamese with no English translation. Now I kinda know, w...

Welcome to bloody Vietnam. We set off from Cambodia feeling upbeat only to find ourselves abandoned 2 hours later at a dusty border town with two fuming Germans and a giant Swiss bloke with buck teeth. Our once-friendly guide left quickly saying ominously "Good Luck" and leaving us in the incapable hands of a non-English speaking bloke called Nam. As in Viet Nam we assumed. We had paid for through tickets to Ho Chi Minh and realised slowlyy that our...

Last day in Cambodia.Boiled alive last night in our awful little $15 a night room with no air conditioning.Subjected the kids to a breakfast of boiled pork and steamed rice in a pineapple.No chance of pancakes or eggs.We managed to give our passports three days ago to a shabbily dressed bloke in a hammock along with $265 for our Vietnam visas and bus tickets to Ho Chi Minh.We haven't seen the bloke since - seriously.Rufus has been back to his office/hammock twice...

Day 228 Getting a Vietnamese visa in the middle of nowhere over Chinese New Year has proved virtually impossible. We're kinda stuck in our paradise-eco-village and I am feeling a little trapped and hemmed in. I can only do rural Cambodia for a few days and can't kid myself any longer; I'm still a city girl at heart and I really want to put on jeans, wedges, lip gloss and wander about the shops. I've canoed and slept in a straw hut and quite frankly now, am b...

Day 223 Woke up, decided I couldn't put my in-laws through anymore full moon raves, jet skis and day-long happy hours so got up and out and headed for Kampot. In my usual style I make these decisions quickly, with about a 30 minute turnaround. We had to wrench the morning Mojito from Gill's hands and find pacing Ronnie and push them back into their rickety bungalow to pack speedily. Normal people would have cracked up at this. Up, out, packed, bill paid, tax...