We caught a long-tailed boat to Siem Reap from Battambang on 4 December 2012, leaving shortly after sunrise. The boat ride was noisy and hot but the backdrop of rural Cambodian river life was beautiful and interesting. As we motored up the Tonle Sap and away from Battambang we saw families living in or along the river in simple floating villages, houseboats or stilt houses. I couldn't imagine how it would be to live such a remote life and to grow up on the water....

The bus journey from Phnom Penh to Battambang was relatively comfortable, that is if you didn't look out of the front window at the suicidal overtaking and terrible road conditions. We saw our first fried crickets at one of the stops and tried some delicious green mango (artfully cut up and almost better than the ripe mango). Upon our arrival in Battambang we were set upon by a túk-túk driver and a moto driver who followed us all the way to the hotel reception...

We caught the bus from Can Tho in the Mekong Delta to Phnom Penh at 5.30am. Shortly before we boarded the bus we had withdrawn some money from an ATM. Just as the bus was ready to depart we realised that the ATM had withheld my bank card! Panicky and tired from the early start, I ran back to the ATM whilst Steph prepared to throw herself under the wheels of the bus if they tried to leave without me. I had tried to mime 'please wait, the ATM kept my bank card' to ...