Hey you crazy kids,

It has been a while since my last entry so we have a bit of catching up to do!

Still missing Koh Tao, I guess that is one of the few bad points when travelling. You get to see some really amazing places but its always hard/sad to leave them behind. Still, i'd rather it was that way than being relived to leave somewhere for being rubbish!

Bangkok was not too great though. Khao San Road was tremendous fun. Great markets, shops and bars. And the street vendors selling noodles and bbq were just delicious and so, so cheap. Like how is this for a dinner for two: 6 bbq skewers, 2 chocolate and banana pancakes and a litre of coke from the seven eleven. About one fifty for the lot! Yum, yum! Away from Khao San, Bangkok was largely disappointing. the National Museum and the Grand Palace were both well worththe visit, but the city itself lacks any sort of charm whatsoever.

Kanchanaburi was pretty much the opposite. Not much to do at all in the town but it was a charming little place. The Bridge on the Kwai was fairly unspectacular but felt really significant for us, especially after visiting the Thai-Burma Railway Museum and the war graves. The real fun was outside of town though. We swam in hot springs and underneath waterfalls. Erewan National Park was nothing short of spectacular and deserves a photo album all on its own! It was only spoilt by a fat old Russian bag in a leopard skin swin suit who insisted on draping herself over anything and everything just for a picture. And I dont even want to mention the 50+ year old in the thong! (oh dear, i just did). Thankfully, neither managed to make it into any of our pictures despite their best efforts. Also an honorary mention to the little fishies which kept on nipping you while you were in the water. A bizarre feeling, not an entirely comfortable one either. It kind of tickled.

So back to Khao San for a night to pick up our passports then it was off to Cambodia. As stories go this is a pretty good one.

Now, we were both more than aware of the various scams run accross the borders of Thailand and Cambodia, including dodgy border crosspoints, visas with no dates on them, buses being replaced by pickup trucks. So we were pretty relieved when a large air-con coach picked us up in Bangkok. All was ok until we reached the border. We entered Cambodia by foot with no trouble, although it was painfully slow and disorganised. From here we collected our currency and boarded a shabby little bus to take us on our way.

This is where it gets interesting (oh good!).

After only a few minutes we were dropped off at another coach stop and told to jump on the back of a pickup truck, along with 23 other people and their luggage. It will take me a long, long time to work out how the hell we managed it but we did. Apparently the road was broken and was only accessible by 4x4. 5 mins and we would be on a bus.

Bull.

2 hours later and we were shepherded onto another (smaller) pickup truck, along with luggage and two spare wheels! At this point a number of the group were getting pretty fed up with being messed around. thias time the story was that the break in the road was a further 50k away but a bus would pick us up as soon as we crossed this point. we already knew this bus did not exist, of course, but what choice did we have? A number of passing Brits verified the story about the road, so we clambered back onto the pickup and continued.

Thank goodness we were not on a bus. The road was not so much broken as it had disappeared altogether. The main road is nothing more than a dirt track and at this particular point was surrounded (for as far as you could see) by paddy fields. An overnight storm had washed the road away completely and left the most monumental traffic jam ever. I wish I had more piccies so you guys could appreciate the scale of the mess!

So he we are. In the middle of nowheresville, Cambodia, with no hope of crossing the road and no indication of how long we would be stuck there. As night fell we were starting to resign ourselves to a night crammed on the back of a pickup, being eaten alive by the local mozzies.

However, after about 2 hours the cavalry arrived on 2 tractors and a Caterpillar. We all watched on as the Cat ploughed a new road and the tractors rescued the more ambitious trucks, which were at this point about 4 foot deep in mud. We then waited our turn and hopped back on the truck to cross the 'new' road. It was a bit hairy, but sat up on the roof of the truck, while the locals and the tractor boys cheered you on, it was quite fun!

Safe to say we made it. We had to walk the last little bit while the truck navigated a rather precarious point of the crossing. We almost left Row behind, but I got to do my brave rescuers routine (like go back and find her!) and we all made it safelt to Siem Reap some 2 and a half hours later!

Was it worth it? Not for Siem Reap. There is not much here at all really and its a bit shoddy. The Temples at Angkor are stunning, with Angkor Wat the best that I have seen so far! Taking this into account and looking at the experience in retrospect (it was kinda fun, in a nervous/exciting way) it was definitely worth it, although neither of us are hoping for a repeat when we head to Phnom Penh tomorrow!

Row has reignited her love affair with the mosquitos. She is being really brave this time though, Im so proud! It's not all one way suffering either as ive got a touch of the old gut rot again. Its not too bad but it means no beer and no meat for a while which is terrible!

We have loads of new pics to check out from Thailand, Cambodia and a special gallery for Erewan. Plus more random humour (Cambodian style) and the return of everyones favourite monkey! Should be enough to keep you all amused till next time!

Keep smiling,

Tom.