Day 4

Another early morning because it was bus time again to Phnom Penh. We found out early on though that this may not be the case, Gizl had been up most of the night emptying here digestive tract from both ends and consequently wasn't feeling like spending 6 hours on a bumpy bus. Tried to organise her on the much nicer bus which left later but it was full, so she was pumped full of Immodium (diaharrea reliever) and we hoped for the best. That was when it went bad. We were about to hop on the bus but Gizl deteriorated rapidly. One minute she looked fine, then the colour in her just vanished, even her lips were white. Then she went down like a sack of potatoes and it wasn't looking good for us making the bus. We got her up and she was doing relatively ok (she could at least hold herself up) and we were at the entrance to the bus, but they were not letting us on and there was a lot of yelling going on. Later on, Gizl told us that she could not see or hear what was going on at all during this entire time. At this stage we had decided to take her to hospital and try and catch a later bus. We had her sitting down and were about to get the bags off the bus when the locals were rubbing her shoulders and neck with this local tonic. Amazingly, the local tonic worked wonders and suddenly the colour was back and she was seeing, talking, and walking fine. She got on the bus to rapturous applause from all the people she had entertained for the last 10 minutes. I have to say, she did a great job at sucking it up, she gave us a good scare. The bus trip had no further drama. We arrived back in Phnom Penh, got a room, and went to do a little exploring. The market was shocking, the smell almost unbearable, so we headed for the safer western style malls and just had some comfort food. Phnom Penh continued to not shine at dinner also, we had a bad meal, I didn't even eat any, which is a big statement. Early to bed as we were still short on sleep and had an early bus to Vietnam to catch.

Day 5

6:30am (not as ouch) and we got on the nicest bus we had so far. The niceness lasted 1 hour. It then broke down and we didn't have air conditioning for the rest of the trip. My last meal of Cambodia was the noodle soup which was brilliant. I for one (not sure about the girls) am totally happy that I have had a Cambodian experience, it was quick, eye-opening, and overall it gave me an appreciation of the opportunities we have living in Australia.

You will all have to wait until next time for the Vietnam story. I move into Vietnam the only one of us still holding onto his spewing virginity for this trip, wonder how long it will hold up. The Vietnam experience will actually be different, because we have separated. Bec and I are travelling up the coast, while Lins and Gizl are shopping around Ho Chi Minh City. I hope these updates hold you until then.