Alright, how's it goin? Alrigh'? :)

I am currently in Phnom Penh, Cambodia but am leaving tomorrow to go to Takeo the orphange.

I will again take you back to Laos from where I left off my last blog. So I believe i finshed on Tubing ( I still have the bruise and 'Baywatch' on my tummy). So we left vang Vieng and headed to Vientiane the capital of Laos and did nothing, it was 2 days of chilling and justa stop over to get visa's for Cambodia and bus to Si Phan Don, where the 'Dolphins'are. We booked a sleeper train, 15 hours of through the night sleeping, or so I thought. What I have realised, is that in Laos you do not assume anything... a 45 min bike ride is actually 2.5 hours, a sleeper train (which I stupidly assumed would mean a single bed to myself) meant sharing with a German guy called Sebastian... he constantly grinned, i think a little scared at my overly enthusiastic "hey roomy" introduction... I was nervous... what else was I meant to say " I don't do spooning, I don't do chats into the early hours and I especially do not want to be woken up witha ''Hail Hitler". We were on the top bunk and there was a spare bed below, I asked the woman bus steward can I go on the bottom, so to speak, and she said yes but only with my partner.. WTF??... I tried explaining we didn't know each other, but she disliked us from the beginning and was having none of it. There were 3 spare beds and she wouldn't let me move. So When the lights went out, which was at 8:30pm and no reading light avail, so obviously they wanted us to be quiet for the whole 15 hours... I jumped bunks... sneaking from bunk to bunk and at every stop dived back into bed with Seb ( to his roomy's)... I was exhausted.. I slept with one eye open incase she drew back the curtain and started hurling abuse at me... so that was that trip.

Si Phan Don - Lonely Planet Guide states : becoming popular with travellers,as a place to chilla nd relax, seeing travellers swinging from hammocks on the Turqoise waterfront" from this I envisaged, turquoise waters, do'n'think this was too much to expect... the waterw as a s***ty brown colour, Mosi infested,boiling hot and humid, no ATM, no electricity after 10pm , my friend who decided to gracefully hop on a hammock, endedup on her back with a huge thud... hysterical... Irraddy Dolphoins?? I don't think so... beach??? Nope, shingles in a meter square and ants... lots and lots of frickin' ants! So we stayed here for 1 night only and made our way to Siem Reap in Cambodia.

the bus journey was ok, although found myself unwittingly at a bus station for 2 hours in a town I swore I would not visit before I left - Skuon AKA "spider town" - remember my little panic attack Jane? :) Well I was there. So far not seen any Aping ( plates full of deep fried Turantulas)!!!!

here we stayed for 3 nights. 1st day we came across Borei, rock n roll tuk tuk driver... OMG he was so funny. He is literally the only one to have this idea, everyone seemed to know him and some obviously envious. It is an ordinary tuk tuk, with music (which sounds normal,but it isn't )where we could plug in our iPod. He rode side saddle, doing the "rock"sign with his hands, shouting to every car, walker, tuk tuk, "rock n roll" and everywhere we went we were greeted with smiles, laughs and a reciprocol hand gesture...(Rock, not the bird) very funny. So we paid $3 each and he took us to the floating village - which was awful to see. The families were so poor and kids jumping from boat to boat begging - kids the age of 4 swimming with snakes (pythons) around their necks begging and mothers dragging themselves along the tourist boats, with baby in toe. But our guide told us not to give to them money as encourages it.. so instead we went toa local store and bought lots of food, went to the school and distributed it to the kids.. they were so grateful. I also had a few private tears when I was cuddling a puppy as was told his parents and siblings were killed for food and probably happen to him too... OMG I was so close to jumping ship with him under my top..

That night we went for a few drinks and food and met up with Borei again - who also took a shine to me, but like the last would love the banter and everytime I would insult him or shout at him he would throw his head back and laugh this naughty, mischeivious laugh doing this triumphant rock n roll dance.... knob.:) He would ride side saddle and when some love song come on he would look back at me and sing my name, calling me darling.... WTF? We arranged for Boreio to take us to Angkor Wat - which in hindsight not the best idea as he hadn't been to sleep the night before, think he may have been still wasted and still shouted and danced like it was 5pm not 5am. AW was spectacular altho one temple, u kind have seen them all. We very enthusiastically got up at 4am and was at the temple for 5am to see sunrise at AW.... however it was cloudy and all we got was a single pink line across the sky - raving. But at least it meant we could be finished by lunch time, as it was SOO hot!! On way back - Borei decided to take us to the very local market, don't thik they had seen a westerner before to introduce us to his mum who was gutting fish, which were coverd in flies. The stench of this market was unreal, it was actually turning my stomach. Cambodia is really poor and so many street kids/beggers. At the temple u are greeted with kids trying to sell you little gifts and in unison like zombies u hear "3 for one darrr..llar" "ladyeee, you buy from me.... only one darr- lar" freaky.

So after 3 days we left Siem Reap and 6 hour bus journey later... I am now in Phnom Penh. Today we went to the Killing Fields.... OMG- horrific. If you do not know about this, I think u should google it. It is on par with nazi Germany anf I think everyone should know about it -- Pol Pot a Khmer (Cambodian) took all people from PP and sent them to the rice fields in the countryside and treated them like slaves. He used torture of horrific means and then eventually killed 1.7 million in the killing field. Babies were swung by their feet and their heads bashed against a tree, then threw into a mass grave, women were raped, and killed and were found years later in a grave with theirs babies skulls next to them... at the killiong fields we were walking around and u could see the actualclothes and teeth of the victims starting to show int he ground, floods have washed away layers of earth exposing them... It was sickening. The genocide museum which was in the S-21 torture prison showed harrwoing photo's and the faces of all the victims..... Not nice but a must see and must know, in order to stop things like this from happening again, it was only 30 years ago!!! Because of this period - over 50% of Cambodia are under the age of 30 years old.

OK guys well thanks for sitting still and reading. I wil update after my time at the Orphange!!! and will get some pics up then x x x
Keep the messages and commets coming I love them!!!!
Sara - sorry to make you cry last time... I couldn't make it up if I tried!!! :) x x x x x xxx x x