Hello all!!

When we left you we were heading to Phnom Pen which is the capital of CAmbodia. The journey down was pretty eventful to say the least! Crazy roads, even crazier drivers. Everytime we got off the bus for a break we were jumped on by the local kids selling everything from fruit to fried SPIDER!! oh yeah! we were both quite freaked out when we first saw on of the little children with this huge turantular crawling on her shoulder...no doubt to be cooked pretty soon after!

We didn't really do much when we got to phnom pen as we were due to leave at the crack of dawn the next morning for a 13 hour bus trip to the north east of cambodia, to a town called Ban Lung!

So as you can imagine the journey was LONG!!! These guys here are so chaotic...but then relaxed at the same time...there were people jumping on and off the bus as we were leaving phnom pen and it took us about 2 hours just to leave the city! But no-one seemed concernd about this as if running late was just expected! Apart from that, the journey was pretty smooth...until the final few hours when the road turned into an unsealed dirt rollercoaster!! We were being thrown around in our seat with dust everywhere!! But with the driver deternined to make it there on time...he didn't seem to care how uncomfortable anyone was! It was a miracle he could even see asnything with the amount of dust in the air!! Anyway, we got there in one piece, battered and bruised slightly! But our bags, which were in the not-so-sealed comparment at the bottom of the bus were completely caked in dust...so much so that dust even managed to get into nics bag and into her freshly washed clothes...kinda funny really...or so I thought at least!! :)

That evening we went for a wander with a couple of american guys we met on the bus and hunted out some $2 meals! There was also a crazy concert going on in some field there which everyone was going on about...so we went along for a bit!

Next morning we were up n out pretty early so see the sights around ban lung. We hired a motorbike and a guide a went to a couple of really nice waterfall and a big crater lake. The waterfalls were the highlight I think...although nicky will want to forget the moment when she slipped off a rock and landed on sme chap stones on her behind...leaving nice big bruise...surprising considering how much meat is on it!!! :)) It was really nice when we got to the lake cause all of our guides family were there so he asked if he could borrow our camera and get a load of pics of them which we could print out for him! It was a really nice moment! They even wanted us in the photos!

Next day we just chilled out completely to recover from all the travelling and activity of the past few days...was good to recharge the batteries!

We went back down toward phnom pen the next day to a town called Kratie which is famous for being the home of the endangered fresh water irrawaddy dolphins in the mekong river! On our journey down we got our first taste of how they like to cram the buses to the rim...with little stools handed out so that people can sit in the aisles!!!

We decided to hire bikes to get to the dolphins as the lonely planet said it was a gentle 60minute ride out...let me tell you, 16km in 35degC heat is anything but gentle!!! But it did only take us just over an hour to get there! But it was definitely worth it cause all along the journey we were being greeted by the locals and expecially the little kids! They're so friendly!! we also got to see about 10 dolphins out on the river...so was SO cool! As you can imagine, its kinda hard to capture them on camera so forgive me if the pic don't do them justice!

After the dolphins we headed over to a spot along the river which is very popular with the locals for swimming....my god was that an experience...we've never seen anything like it! All these huts were built out onto the river like piers where people lay and eat in between having a swim...it was actually really cool! Once thing which wasn't so cool was the way the local treated this area...we were less that 1km away from these endangered dolhins but everyone was just throwing all sorts of rubbish and wasted straight into the river....plastic bags, bottle, cans, food...such a shame!

Anyway after that marathon ride, we were pretty dead so we just chilled out that evening. We met a couple of dutch girls that day who told us how they were staying at our hostel but had to move cause there were so many bugs in their room jumping on them in the middle of the night...we had seen a few but nothing too crazy...but we werent so lucky the second night...these cockroaches were just appearing from nowhere and at one point whilst we were just laid watching tell one landed on nics head!! neither of us have EVER moved so quick!! It was about 5cm in length...easily the biggest I've ever seen!! I think I wet myself a little at that point....and it goes without saying nic let out a prettybig scream!!! :))

Next morning we were on the road again back to phnom pen to actually see the capital where we stayed at a really great guesthouse which was just like a home away from home...it was a family run place and the lady was really mothering and made sure we were well looked after and fed!

So on our first day we hired bikes and went on a tour of the city which was really cool. WE checked out the Toul sleng museum which is a old school which was converted to a prison during the khmer rouge regime. It was used to torture and kills thousands of people that pol pots people thought were rebels or just had an opinion about anything! It was really heartbreaking to see some of the images of the victims of that place and to read real life accounts of the people who's loved ones were taken there. The cells where the prisoners were kept have been kept exactly the same with alot of the torture equipment still there! It was a real eye-opener...unbelievable how evil some people can be!

After the museum, we decided to brave the crazy streets of phnom pen and bike to the river to check out the grand palace which we just snapped from the outside cause we were too tight to pay the $6pp to go inside :) hey, thats an entire days food budget over here!!!

NExt day we visit a orphanage and school for the poor children of the surrounding districts of phnom pen. We decided to buy a load of books, pen, paper, crayons, paint etc etc that the kids would find useful and it was great to see them diving into the bag to get drawing or playing with the playdo! unfortunately we didn't get to see a lesson as the school was closed for the new year celebrations but the kids who lived there were worth the visit.

FOllowing day, surprisingly, we were on the road again...heading to the seaside town of Sihanoukville! We headed straight to the beach to see if we could get a room along the seafront and realised that they had jacked the prices up for new years to as much as a whopping $20 a night!! Well we weren't having that so we found a nice place just off the seafront thanks to our tuk tuk driver....for $4!! :)) IT was actually quite nice...and less than 5 mins walk from the beach!

The beach was pretty crazy as it was completely packed with holidaying cabodians fully clothed in the sea! We found a little quieter spot to just chill out and have a little snooze...thats the life hey?! That evening we went to an amazing indian restaurant which we were a little dubious about cause we hadn't seen anyone in there all day and evening! But it turned out to be really nice and we hit it off with the south indian owner who was telling us all about his visits to england as a sports journalist!! Plus the food was amazing...it has only been about 3 weeks since I'd had indian food...but I was craving it!

Next day we wanted to chill at the beach but the big thunderstorm at about 1pm kinda killed that!! SO we just chilled out at the hostel and waited for the FA cup semi final to come on tele...ok so I waited not nic!! :)

Following day we headed to Kampot which was to be our gateway to Vietnam...which is where we'll pick up our story next time kiddies!

We tried to put pics on today but this internet is so slow that it just took ages and then crashed so we'll get them on asap!!

Final thoughts on Cambodia...stunning temples...crazy environment...and amazingly friendly people!

Love to you all

J & N xxxx