Flights, Frights & Fine Weather

Due to the extremely slow standard of Cambodian internet, I have to limit photos. As a result, of the 500 pictures since the last post, I'll only be sticking up a handful. I won't be putting up any of the photos of The Killing Fields or Tuol Sleng Prison Museum, as some will probably find them too disturbing. To be at the Killing Fields at the very end of the rainy season was awful. Bits of people and clothes coming up through the ground everywhere...words can't, and won't describe that day)

OK, so it all starts in Singapore, we had a few more excursions around the place before we left, including a trip up to Arab Quarter:

- the cultural pockets in this place are amazing. Although we were very glad to be leaving and getting back on the trail.

Enter the flights...

The first flight from Singapore to Bangkok was not so bad. Turbulence for the most part, but you still felt that you would make the next meal when you land...

This was not the case for the second flight.

A bad monsoon broke out before we proceeded to the plane from the gate.

It was obvious flights were no longer leaving. As the lightning approached closer and closer, first 10 miles away, until it was coming down around the airstrip.

We are called to board....

What the fuck???

(My irrational fear of flying that happened on the Australian leg reared it's ugly head, then turned into rational fear)

What happens next is not a joke:

The pilot runs down the stairs, out of the plane, out into the runway, and proceeds to spin around with his head held back, taking in the clouds.

From this seemingly insane way to judge if it's safe to fly up directly into a storm, he concluded it was.

As you can guess, the flight was a ridiculously turbulent one, with the constant sounds of thunder happening around the plane. In my unprofessional opinion, it's a wonder we got here at all.

Anywhoo!

We knew the first thing to do was to get drunk:

- funny enough, I had led us back to the same place I stayed in three years ago by chance!

We had picked the place next door, so when I arrived, I changed my mind and went with the old place. They remembered me! And you too, Raychel & Smeels, if you're reading this. They also thought both of you were my girlfriends, so I had to set that one straight :) Actually come to think of it, it's probably because of that misconception that they remember us at all!

- Tha Mon, took us around a bit while we were here. Nice guy.

- the family gave us an auld whiskey and a toast on our second night there.

- the little dude. He was gas. It wasn't long before I trained him in on some facial expressions:

We went from The Killing Fields to a market, to fill our minds with the living again.

After buying my Kris Kindel(That's right folks!!) it was off to the post office, which is notoriously unreliable, but we couldn't carry any more stuff around, so we took the gamble.Mam, expect random parcels with my name on them, just throw them in the corner of a room for me. Cheers! x.

Dave bought a Cambodian musical instrument, which three or four women tediously and meticulously wrapped for him:

Dave and his new image:

We had to pay a wee bit extra for out Vietnam visa, as we didn't want to waste time hanging around the extra days for it:

We had a gawk at some older temples around Phnom Penh, I may stick up pics at a later date, but here's a few of when we went to the national museum:

- the building was almost as stunning as the treasures inside. We also made friends with some monks there!:

- we decided to go and see the Royal Palace & Silver Pagoda together. Twas great fun hanging outwith the monks. We were mutually intrigued by the other.
I'm running out of time for pics here, as they've asked me not to upload anymore.

The Silver Pagoda is so impressive, the floor is 5,000 tiles of solid silver, with a huge Emerald Buddha in the centre. On front of that, is a life-size solid gold Buddha, with over 2,000 diamonds encrusted in it, the largest is 25carats!

Here's a couple of buildings in the Royal Palace enclosure:

- that's the steps to the Throne Hall, a lot of places, such as this, didn't allow pics.

I usually leave a post with a funny or strange pic. But this time it's a picture of poverty:

Two kids, living in a small hammock(It looks to be a monks robe, probably given to them by a passing monk at some stage) hanging of a public telephone. Cambodia as a child mortality rate of 20% for under five years of age. It's awful sad to see the stark contrast in Phnom Penh.

We're off to Siem Reap tomorrow. So will be back on in about two days hopefully.

Bye for now.