Saysudai from Phnom Penh!
From Vientiane Erin and Tony headed for the Thai islands. I went south to the 4000 islands at the bottom of Laos. Not as magnificent as I thought they would be but a great place to chill out. Very hot. Lao lao mojito not good. Meet a young Australian girl with whom I am travelling with at the moment.
From the 4000 islands we crossed the river and travelled some dirt road to the border of Laos and Cambodia. Arrived in Phnom Penh last night. Feels like I have done more over the past few days but I guess transit travel erases whole days.
Today: booked a ticket to Siam Reap tomorrow morning, shopped the Russian market and visited the Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre (Killing Fields).
The place is quite humble despite the huge atrocities it is reknowned for. The craziest thing is the young children begging for money/water/yumyums through the fence around the area. I wondered if they knew what they were standing on the other side of. Then had to barter and haggle with our tuk tuk driver to take us back to our guest house. I think travelling another culture and history really highlights the irony of humanity.
Tomorrow: off to Siam Reap to see Angkor Wat. Looking forward to it. Have also been promised an air conditioned bus. No longer consider promises to be any more than a slight possibility of being somewhat satisfied (especially when it comes to air con). However, it could be okay and it's only 6 hrs. From there- probably head straight down to Sihanoukville for a Cambodian beach experience and then meet with my travelling companions on a Thai island.
Hope everybody is well at home. Looking forward to vegemite, public transport and toilets that really aren't that bad and friendly faces (that don't want money from me)!
