Cambodia

Alright Bloggers,

Ok - abit of a funny story, well sort of. Remember on my last blog entry we were making our way down from Phnom Penh to Kampot so we could get this "magical Hogwarts Express" style train through the Bokor National Park to Sihanoukville? Well we arrived in Kampot where there is pretty much nothing to do, got settled into our guesthuse for the night all excited about the big train ride the following day. We asked the guy at the guesthouse the best way to organise a ticket for the train and to our horror were advised that the train hasn't actually run for 2 years! Apparently the tracks are all worn out and there is no money to replace them. To be fair we are using a Lonely Planet which was published in 2004 but we were still pretty disappointed.

We got a taxi to Sihanoukville the following day instead (there are no buses before you think I'm flashing the cash) but in typical Cambodian style they cram as many people as possible in every vehicle. You pay by the seat so Mark and myself splashed out an additonal $3 for a seat and a half each meaning there was Me, Mark and some old dear in the back. This meant there were four people in the front, two in the passenger seat and two in the drivers seat. It was pretty wierd sat in the back looking the these four heads in front of you trying to guess who was pushing the peddles and who was steering.

Sihanoukville is really, really nice we were both really surprised that Cambodia could have such great beaches - just goes to show that Lonely Planet doesn't get it all wrong. So we have just kind of been relaxing on the beach and having a few beers with some peole we have met in the evenings. I must admit I caved in the other day and bought first travellers accessory, one of those friendship style bracelet things (although when you buy it for yourself does it still count as a friendship band or does it mean your trying abit too hard to look cool?) Anyway the girls came in with a very strong pitch of "buy a bracelet get a fruit salad free" so how could I say no. She even let me choose my own colours and design and then chatted non stop for an hour while she perched at the end of my deck chair making it, the Cambodian kids have got a real sense of humour.

Naturally I'm all psyched for England's World Cup debut tonight, we went to watch the Germany match last night and I survived that so there is hope for me still - COME ON THE LADS...!

Our next stop - Vietnam.