Hello, friends.

We left Siem Reap on the 8th (not sure what day that is) to head for Battambang where we met up with Zoe's Cambodian Aunt, cousin, her uncle and old man gramps. We made the journey (eventually) by a clapped out little boat. When we first got on the boat, there were about 30 seats and they were all already full, but luckily they had put out plastic chairs inbetween spaces of other chairs so we both had a seat each. Just as we were setting off we realized that there were also people sitting on the roof - how cool!(we thought) so we climbed out the windows (no glass) and joined them. This was great fun, especially on the first part of the journey where the boat crossed the Tonle sap- big lake with waves. We had a fabulous view of the water when big waves flowed over the bow of the boat and flooded in every now and again. We got to see lots of floating villages and nice scenery. Every now and again the boat would stop and pick up some more passengers. By midday, the sun was beginning to burn down so we thought we'd go inside for some shade. By this time the inside was totally rammed, so we had no choice but to continue our travels on the roof. About 7 hours into the expected 5 hour journey, the engine broke, though we used this as a good time to meet people. 8 hours into the 5 hour journey we arrived, and met Zoe's family.

The next day, being the 9th, whatever day of the week that was, was spent in a village in Sisophon. Zoe's aunt was holding a memorial/festival for her family to remember her brother and father who both died in the Khmer Rouge. There were quite a few old people who kept rubbing our fresh white skin and talking to us in Khmer, expecting responses. We nodded and smiled, inbetween staring at their skanky teeth. All the old women had shaved heads, and one of them insisted on slapping us every time she walked past. What a laugh. There was some official ceromonial business that went on, involving people (and zoe's grandpy) being washed in flowers and perfumed water. The official ceromonial business also included plenty of eating, which we were pleased to play a part in. Some monks came too, and did lots of chanting. They later left on their motorbike taxis, with the donations of cigarettes, sprite and money. The festival continued the next day, with lots more eating, a few more monks and plenty more whitey-skin-rubbing.

Today we saw the re-release of our chav inhibitions. This time we each hired a motorbike with a driver, to take us on a tour of all the things worth touring in Battambang. We saw some Wats, some bats and a few temples. The "roads" between these places were typically Cambodian, made of dirt and with pot holes the size of cars. Though Sarah had hired a driver, she felt the need to show him how it's done, and the highlight of her day was when he let her drive. Though, he only let her drive on the roads that had two types of holes. He explained it like this:

"Cambodia road have tree type of hole. Small hole, big hole, and medium hole. You drive on good road, these have two type of hole; small hole and medium hole. I drive on bad road, these have tree type of hole; small hole, medium hole and BIG hole."

He had to drive on the way to the Pineapple farm, partly because sarah was uncontrollably excited, and partly because the track had three types of holes. He also had to drive on the way back from the Pineapple farm, partly because sarah (and Zoe) had eaten so much pineapple the acid hurt their tongues, partly because they drank too much ricewine (aka rankwine) and partly because the track had three types of holes. We also went on the 'bamboo train' which isnt really made out of bamboo. Its some other sort of wooden plank a bit like a double bed in shape and size, with an engine at the back. It sits onto Cambodian style train tracks, which are like any other type of train track only with each line varying in height and distance from the other one at any one time and with very obvious joins. So we put the mopeds on the "train" and hopped on, chanting bamboo train in an excited manner. We both agree that the bamboo train appears to be the fastest mode of transport here in Cambodia. We love it.

Back in Battambang central now, our tongues are still hurting from eating too much pineapple, and our brains are STILL hurting from managing the 3 different currencies they deal with here(you can pay for something in Thai Baht, and get change partly in US Dollar and partly in Riel). Before we leave Battambang for Phnom Penh (capital city) tomorrow, we are going to try to get Zoe's 4yr old cousin, now fluent in Khmer to teach us to speak some useful phrases.

- Zosia, Tom and Shev please let us know how your ucas applications are going

- Sarah's gran and grandad many apologies for the deleting of your first message; Zoe had an uncontrollable clicking accident. We appreciate all the messages from everyone.

Untill next time,

Bye.