South East Asia / India

20th - 26th September, McLeod Ganj

2007-10-06T09:16:00.000-07:00

After a somewhat uncomfortable overnight bus-ride I arrived in Dharmasala.

Arriving was like a breath of fresh air! After the dirty sprawl of Delhi, seeing the rolling hills on one side and the snow dusted (near Himilayan) mountains on the other made me happy. I was thanking Buddha that India wasn't all that bad.

The monestary was a fifteen minute walk down a path, but for the beauty and peacefulness of the spot it was worth it.

The town (Mcleod Ganj) is nice, it's where the Dalai Lama lives, and is predominantly Tibetan. The town was set up as a refuge for all Tibetans forced out by the Chinese.

I made friends with some German girls that were architecture students and had just come back from the north where they were helping construct a hospital they'd designed for a village.

There were good shops and surprisingly good coffee... latte to rival Auckland's finest. We spent too much time at Carpe Diem which is a really chilled cafe run by some cool guys from Nepal. We watched the 20Twenty world-cup final there, I had to explain the rules to a bunch of Swiss and the locals went mental when India won. There was also a jam session which was cool (except for the free styling Canadian) and breakfast each morning usually lasted until the afternoon.

One day a monk led us to a waterfall. During the walk I was gazing at what could have made a nice photo when the ground fell from under me. I'd fallen off the edge and luckily slapped my forearms against the side to keep me from falling further. I was glad, I don't fancy getting air-lifted to an Indian hospital. The waterfall was nice, straight from the glaciers, so our unplanned swim was short lived.

We went to a teaching by the Dalai's 2IC which was enlightening.

I got sick with a cold and a cough.... who comes to India and gets a cold? No shits, a cold. I was even constipated. In India. I think September was backwards month.

19th - 20th September, The World's Arse

2007-10-06T08:40:00.000-07:00

Delhi is horrible.

I spent the first day with a rickshaw driver visiting some of the sights.... the park where Gandhi was cremated, some place with a big tall pillar thing, the Bahai Temple of Worship (that looks like the Sydney Opera House) bla bla bla.

Thing is, I found the people and how they were living far more interesting than the sights. I saw a naked old man that was so skinny he looked like he was about to turn to dust, other people lying on the street looking dead, people shitting and pissing, a few cows, had a child run after my rickshaw 'cause she wanted my pepsi, and an abundance of other beggars with an array of deformities.

I was talking with a man during breakfast that ran a Tibetan monestary in Dharmasala. He suggested that I go and stay, it sounded nice so I booked a bus for the next day.

My malaria pills had been giving me crazy dreams. That night I woke up and thought I'd slept-walked to the port (Delhi has no port). I freaked out, fossicked for the torch in my bag and realised, with much relief, that I was still in my room.

The second day was similar to the first. Visited the Red-fort then tried to stray from the tourist spot and go for a meal down one of the busy local streets. I got half way down and turned back, it was too much.

I went back to catch my bus. Before boarding I gave money to a wheel-chair bound midget beggar who had weird stubs for feet and hands... he talked like a cartoon elf.

18th September, Delhi

2007-09-26T04:11:00.000-07:00

Just three and a half hours after leaving Bangkok I was in Delhi.

After collecting my bag and making my way through customs I eventually found my driver, among hundreds of others, holding a sign with my name. We left the terminal and he led the way to his car.

My first impression was crazy, it was so different to anything I'd experienced. It felt like stepping back in time. It was hotter and more humid than Bangkok, it was busy, dusty and loud... The taxi's I found unexpected - I didn't realise they would be the old British models like in the photo below (wasn't quite this busy).

Also, I find the people to have such an old-fashioned style, like they've come from the 60's.

Beggars would approach us when we stopped at lights, and there were so many people, young and old sleeping on the footpath... I think Old Delhi was the worst.

I was surprised at the vegetation - it was very green, but everywhere else was so dirty... rubbish piled everywhere... old tyre's stacked on to rooftops of decaying old buildings.... cows finding food wherever they could.

An hour later we were at the Tibetan refugee area which was where my hotel was.

17th - 18th September, No sleep 'til.... Delhi.

2007-09-24T04:09:00.000-07:00

Reluctantly I had to leave Ko Tao. I was to take a ferry to Ko Samui where I'd spend one night before flying at 6am the next morning to Bangkok and then on to Delhi.

I arrived on the island and took a transfer taxi to an area that's relatively close to the airport, not realising that it's really expensive and accommodation was scarce.

After walking down the main road for a while I visited a guesthouse where a German guy overheard me enquiring and suggested that we share his double room. That was good enough for me, and pretty lucky too, so I dropped off my bags and headed back down for dinner.

After dinner and a few beers we decided to head out and visit some of Samui's bars... 6am's not that early.

We stopped by a convenience store to buy some walking beer before arriving at a bar where we ordered a bucket, as you do in Thailand, of whiskey and coke. Perhaps not too sensible as a bucket of Thai whiskey tends to go straight to your head.

From that bar we went to another, then another, then another. Met some random Brits and Irish and talked shit with them. The bars were crazy, lots of working girls and lady-boys around the place. Saw an older gentleman walking down the street with a Thai girl on each arm. The island is completely different to Ko Tao, so much bigger and more commercial - made me glad that I'd opted to spend my remaining days relaxing on Tao.

All of a sudden it was 4.30am and my taxi was arriving to pick me up at 4.50. I downed my last drink, possibly unnecessarily, and raced back to the guesthouse where I had just enough time to grab my bags before jumping in the taxi.

I was in a great mood checking in at the airport, chatting to a few of the other passengers who were so boring having just woken up. From what I remember, Ko Samui airport is really strange. The check-in area is a hut and from there you take a weird open-sided bus to somewhere else (memory hazy) and then another before boarding the plane. Once in the sky I started sobering before landing at Bangkok where I felt like shit.

I had the day to wait for my connecting flight so I'd previously decided to visit one of the major attractions that I'd missed during my previous visits; the Grand Palace. Annoyingly Thai airways didn't let me check in my bag so I had to lug it around with me all day.

After getting off the bus at Khao San Road I sat at a cafe for breakfast. My hangover was punishing. I forced down my omelette and juice and sat there for about an hour, by myself, I may have fallen asleep.

Eventually I got up the energy to make my way to the palace. It was alright, I think it would have been more enjoyable if it hadn't been so hot, I didn't have my massive bag with me and I didn't feel like curling up and dying in a corner somewhere.

The hours soon passed and so did my hangover. I made my way back to the airport, checked in and waited to board my flight to Delhi. Was just a little scared.

12 - 17th September, Chilling with my homies

2007-09-21T02:30:00.001-07:00

In the evenings I'd been tagging along with the Aussies I met on the boat. They'd spent a bit of time on the island already and knew the goings-on. They took me to a Psytrance party... got me drunk... sat in horror while I ate animal flesh... etc.

Once the diving course was over I moved to cheaper accommodation near them; my own bungalow on a hillside looking out to sea. Pretty basic, but peaceful and with a beautiful view - at night the illuminated squid boats would light up the sea.

The rest of my time spent on the island was ridiculously lazy. We'd wake up, sit at the restaurant playing uno, drinking, eating, sitting and eating until it was time to go out for dinner. Afterwards we'd sit and drink at bars along the beach.

Chris took the piss out of me at any opportunity and Cybelle cut my hair, very well, which was nice.

We made friends with the Austrian Petanque team who were about to go to the world championships in Pattaya, some locals (actually from Burma) and another Austrian who'd spent some time in India.

One of the 'athletes' from the Austrian Petanque team was bitten on the neck by a snake at our restaurant. Not poisonous though.

It was fun, I had planned to spend time at Koh Pha Nang and Samui but opted instead to relax the days away with these guys.

Dogs were everywhere. I was lying on the beach when one came and stood on me... one leg on my stomach and another on my 'bits'. It then bit my book and started play-biting my arm. I got up and threw a stick and tried again to ignore it. It eventually got bored and went up to a German couple and grabbed the guys towel for a tug-of-war. It was really funny. In the end I had to help him out so I walked up and threw a stick.

Walking back to my bungalow each night was a mission. I got lost every night. The paths were hard enough to follow even in the daylight, and in the dark it was just a little scary. Some nights a dog would escort me home, one night a pup walked me back, slept on my deck then escorted me back the next morning.

9th - 12th September, PADI-Thai

2007-09-21T01:52:00.000-07:00

After arriving on Ko Tao I hired a scooter and went searching for a dive school. I decided on 'Buddha View' which was OK, perhaps not as personal as smaller schools... Because they offered subsidised accommodation, and as the world-cup had just started I opted for the fancy-ass room with Cable TV. The room was mint, I had my own massive deck and for the first time on my trip; hot water!!!

Before starting the course I toured the island on my rental. It's pretty small and many of the roads are just dirt and big rocks... felt a bit dodgy taking the bike over them without a helmet.

I sat in my room to watch the Italy vs. NZ game, was very exciting.

The course took 4 days. The first was just a lesson, the second day was in the pool, the third day was out at sea just to a few metres and on the last day we were meant to go down to 18m... my gauge was telling me I was at 25m and while I was fussing over it I missed a black shark that was right in front of us. Was so annoyed, everyone else in the group saw it except me!

We had another dive to just 12m where we took off our fins and played around standing at the bottom of the sea. Was so much fun, could just jump up, do a double somersault then land on my feet again. Couple of guys did a big matrix style fight, was quite funny.

The water, coral and sea life were amazing I'd recommend Ko Tao to others wanting to learn.

8th September, to Ko Tao

2007-09-20T04:26:00.000-07:00

From Hat Ton Sai on the west-coast, I decided to make the overnight trip to Ko Tao which is a small east-coast island. This meant parting ways with Jonus who couldn't make it that far before flying back home.

The trip consisted of a few hours in the bus and 11 hours by boat. I was thinking that an overnight passenger boat's got to be pretty flash... nice beds, bar, food. Turns out that it was more or less a freight-boat (complete with squealing pigs in tiny cages). The upper level housed mattresses sprawled down each side for the sleeping human cargo.

I had a 2 hour wait in the town of Surat Thani before boarding. Bought some ice-cream from a Swensens (reminding me of the Swensens that used to be in Newmarket) then wandered through the stalls. One of the vendors was selling crickets, silk-worms and ants by the gram - piping hot, ready to eat. I was annoyed that I'd wasted my appetite on the ice-cream.

Before boarding I met a crew from Melbourne who were also on their way to Ko Tao, enter: Chris, Steph, Monique and Sybelle who, as it turned out, I'd be spending a bit of time with in the days to come. I thought they were Kiwi's originally as Chris was wearing a huffer tee with the NZ map on the front.

The trip was fine, woke up semi-refreshed at the port the next morning.

7th September, Hat Ton Sai

2007-09-19T05:03:00.000-07:00

It was time to leave the island and on Meredith and Tim's recommendation we headed to Hat Ton Sai (Koh means island and Hat means coast).

The ferry ride landed us at Rieley beach where we could either pay 200Baht for a taxi-boat or trek over the hill to reach our destination. We decided to walk, which was a bit of a mistake given our massive bags we had to lug over. It turned out to be more of a climb, a really sweaty one.

The area is famous for rock climbing due to the amazingly steep rock faces that jut out from the sea. This means 1) the surroundings are stunning 2) there's rock climbers everywhere. The first point we could deal with but it turns out that rock climbers are dickheads. Actually I can't say that as we didn't talk to any but I just assume they are. With their light frames and nerdy rope things.

Also the beach was quiet with only one bar, full of rock climbers. It was really, really nice and we each had a big bungalow to ourselves for about $7NZ a night... but it was just a bit boring.

Ended up leaving the next day.

3rd - 6th September, Koh Phi-Phi

2007-09-14T01:13:00.000-07:00

After making my way back to Thailand I headed down to the Andaman coast for some beach time.

I took an overnight bus from Bangkok all the way to Krabi. I needed a sleeping pill as the roads and drivers were making me really anxious. We did some damage to the front of the bus by going over a bump at one stage but all was fine apart from that. Met a couple of cool Germans and the world's most boring Canadian on the way. Was really glad the little man inside the luggage compartment didn't steal anything from my bag which apparently happens very often (ref: Duncan Blair).

From Krabi I took a ferry to Koh Phi Phi which is a couple of islands where 'The Beach' was filmed. The surrounding islands are beautiful and the main inhabited island is nice, esp as there's no cars or motorbikes - just small walking lanes everywhere. There's just so much rubbish on the beaches though, it sux.

So many Israelis! To the extent that I'd be walking with another guy who's blonde down a lane and a vendor would call "shalom!" out to us, perhaps the two least looking Israeli people in the world.

Had some nice seafood, saw some cool fire shows, had a Thai massage and drank a lot of beer.

We were talking with a lady from one of the guesthouse's who was telling us what it was like when the tsunami hit, pretty crazy that over 1,500 people died on that small island alone. She showed us some quite disturbing photos. There was still a lot of rebuilding going on and there's now tsunami escape routes signposted around the place.

Took a boat trip round the islands on one of the days and hired a kayak on another. As well as a fair bit of snorkelling the boat trip consisted of a stop at Monkey bay where the monkeys jumped on the boat as soon as we landed, I got fright and some Israeli's laughed. It was funny watching one of the monkey's still scrounging around on a boat as it was departing. It was trying to weigh up what it should do as it got further and further from land... it finally decided to leap from the stern, arms flailing above its head, and swim back to shore.

Cormac Flynn is a gaybo.

2nd September, Back to Thailand

2007-09-11T07:27:00.000-07:00

Well, I had to leave Sihanakavivouliville eventually to fly back to Thailand.

I booked the bus to Phnom Penh for 9am the next morning... it turned out, however, that my last night was to be one of the biggest I'd have there. I met a Pommy guy, an Aussie girl and a German girl before heading down to the Frog-bar (which never closes) at the beach. We were escorted by the dog 'Monkey' from the guesthouse who slept beside us while we drank.

Frog, Dog, Monkey... with me?

I've been playing the crappest pool since leaving NZ, but after a few drinks I managed to step up my game to win the pool comp and $10 which subsidised most my night. Ended up having the most random conversation with this British guy that I beat, I think he had a similiar sense-of-humour to me which is how I came to laugh the spring-roll out my nose.

Stayed at the bar with them and another girl from Melbourne before leaving at 7am... this gave me an hour to pack, half an hour to sleep and a few minutes to get to the bus.

I was so drunk and sleepy and the guy beside me was so fat and smelly and it was so hot and my head hurt and the horn from the bus (which they constantly honk ) was so loud that I felt like getting out and walking. I eventually made it back to Phnom Penh where I had a final look-round and where the rain decided to piss down while I was in my tuk-tuk.

My hangover subsided by the afternoon and I got back to Bangkok safe and sound that night.

28th August - 2nd September, Sihanakouville

2007-09-04T07:03:00.000-07:00

This place was cool. Maybe I'll live here.

I had more time in Cambodia than was needed for Siam Reap and Phnom Penh so, on Meredith's recommendation, I decided to visit Sihanakoville on the coast.

I stayed at a place called the Monkey-Republic which is owned / run by some Poms that seem to be in it for the lifestyle. There were some really cool people there, got ridicously drunk each night and at one stage I laughed most of a spring-roll out my nose. When happy hour ended at our guest-house we'd go over the road to another happy hour, where a handle of beer was 25 cents... Both bars had a kitten that I would inevitabally end up playing with. We'd then go to a bar at the beach and occasionally end up in the water - sadly this saw the death of my second MP3 player. Lucky I have one more which I managed to fill with music from a place that loads music for tourists.

One of the days I went for a boat trip out to the islands... went snorkling and then headed out to a really nice beach where they cooked freshly caught fish for us.

27th August, The Genocidal Tour, Phnom Penh

2007-09-04T03:55:00.000-07:00

The next morning I arranged for a driver to take me to some of the more recent relics of Cambodia's past.

The first stop was the Killing Fields, or as the government calls it the 'Genocidal Centre'. It was quite a haunting place, the first stop is a glass-walled building that stands in front of you. As you get closer you see it's filled from top to bottom with human skulls. I think the first level are the skulls of girls aged 10 to 20. There are remains of the victims clothes at the bottom, the fact that some of the clothes are branded drives home how recent this part of their history is.

Looking at the skulls you can see whether the victim was shot or bludgeoned to death... the Khmer Rouge wanted to save bullets so the guards occasionally had to kill with farm tools or rifle butts etc.
I noticed bits of bone and clothing still sticking out from the ground where I was walking.

What's crazy is that next door is a place that tourists can pay to shoot an assortment of guns and explosives.... what the guide book doesn't tell you is that they'll actually bring out a live cow for you to shoot with a rocket launcher! What kind of person would visit a place like the Killing Fields then go "Right, now I feel like blowing up a cow!".

Next stop was the S21 Detention centre where all the prisoners were taken and tortured before being taken off to the killing fields. Again this told some pretty shocking stories of Pol Pot's reign. I didn't know that among other ex-pat's at least one kiwi was tortured and killed there.

Another crazy thing is that these sights have been sold by the Cambodian Government to a Japanese company who are profiting from the entry fees!

Later in the day I visited some other areas of the city including the Russian markets (not Russian whatsoever). When I came out I was looking for my driver who wasn't at his tuk-tuk. Turned out that he was having a couple of beers with his mates. He invited me to join him for a few... it was his shout so I was happy. Just a little worried as to how much he'd had before driving me back though.

26th August, Temple to Phnom Pehn

2007-09-04T03:46:00.000-07:00

So My Monk and Mr Boi dropped me off at Phnom Penh the next day. However, being on the back of the bike for the hour long journey meant the pasty skin on the under side of my arms got badly burnt. I also had red spots covering one of my hands (from god knows what), one of my legs was swelling up behind my knee, maybe a bite, and the humidity was getting to me.

I decided to break my $5 a night budget and check-in to the Renaksi, which at $30 is the most expensive hotel listed in the lonely planet. It was nice, the grounds were beautiful, the room was massive and breakfast was included.

I checked into my room at around 3pm and didn't leave 'til the next morning.

25th August, Siam Reap to Phnom Penh

2007-08-31T06:06:00.001-07:00

After the ordeal of that morning's run in with the hotelier I sat back and relaxed into the 6 hour bus ride to Phnom Penh.

Part way through the trip I started talking with a Buddhist Monk who was sitting on the seat in front of me. After chatting for a while he asked if I'd like to spend a night with him and his monks at his Temple an hour from Phnom Penh. He said he'd show me round and introduce me to his novices who'd appreciate someone to practice their English with.

After accepting the offer we got off the bus early and arrived at the Temple. I dropped off my bags in one of the buildings which was their sleeping quarters while passing a few monks on the way. They were trying not to stare, but would occasionally glance over and smile.

We then headed down to meet the 'Chief' Monk, or 'Head' Monk, I don't know what they call him... anyway, he was really old and we had to address him by kneeling down and praying three times. After which a nun (old, old lady) poured us a cup of tea and I sat and drank with him in silence as he spoke no English and my Khmer's a bit rubbish.

Before and after drinking tea with the chief we had to wash ourselves by scooping water from this massive ceramic pot and use it to clean our face and body. I later realised that this is how most Cambodians wash, and do so two or three times a day.

From there My Monk took me for a guided tour of the temple grounds. There were animals all throughout the area, I stood on a kitten at one stage. I wasn't allowed to enter the first building which was a dining hall where the Monks "eat rice" which is the literal translation for the Khmer term for eating a meal. But in their case it is literal as they do, only, eat rice... as well as a few vegetables.

The next visit was the main temple, it was big and beautifully decorated. Once inside we had to approach the statue of Buddha and again kneel down to pray three times. The walls were covered from floor to ceiling with bright paintings depicting different stories featuring mainly Buddha, but also Brama and Bramas, which according to My Monk weren't as cool as Buddha. Outside were two massive flagpoles that he called black-buddhism (don't ask me what that means) Lightning was starting to flash from all directions at this stage, and he explained that it would sometimes strike the flagpoles.

We wandered around the rest of the grounds where he showed me the nuns shacks, these were tiny rooms made from corrugated iron that sat upon stilts. The nuns would make rice in the morning and meditate in the afternoon. We had to be quiet as they were meditating as we walked past. Also around the outskirts of the grounds he showed me tombs which he called stoppers (I think to stop bad spirits from entering the grounds).

We wandered back to the temple where we were met with a moto (scooter) driver who had just come back from the markets where he'd been to buy me dinner. I ate the bag of beef skewers and coleslaw on the temple steps while monks started to gather round. It didn't seem quite right eating beef at a Buddhist temple...

We sat for a while and chatted in English, although the Monks were novices their ages ranged from what seemed to be 12 to 80. Some could speak a little English, while others none at all. They gave me a childrens learn-to-read book which we read together, I helped them with some pronounciation while they taught me some words in Khmer. Night started to fall as we were sitting there and I was really surprised when one of the monks pulled out his cellphone to light up the page, cellphones seem very un-monk like!

It became too dark to keep reading so we walked back to the sleeping quarters. The lightning was becoming more and more intense. It was surreal.

At the time I couldn't help myself from constantly saying "wow" to the flashes of lightning, and earlier I had been saying "wow" when My Monk was showing me the around the Temple. It was quite funny when the next day he would show something and ask "wow?"

My Monk described himself as'"My Monk" apparently his name was Mr Sella, but he always referred to himself as "My Monk"... I suppose it makes sense in a way but it confused the crap out of me as I originally thought he was referring to his novices, i.e. "My Monks". Or even at one stage I thought he was saying "My Mum". Got there in the end.

My Monk was generous enough to offer me his bed (solid wood) while he arranged a hammock beside it for himself. However, before blowing out the candles we were again visited by the group of novice monks. I was offered a coffee which I declined but later noticed a boy drinking his coffee, cold, from a bowl with a spoon... We discussed Cambodia and how it was so poor, what New Zealand was like, how much money i earnt a month! and a pile of other topics, the only topic that wasn't brought up was the country's history. They had a big book on Angkor Wat which one monk got me to read from, I think a few of the words may have been a bit too advanced for his English, such as "Neolithic". They were there for hours and only left when I finally laid down and closed my eyes.

We awoke around 6am with the everpresent monks making thier way into the room again. We bathed again, but this time with bottled water and went to meet his friend, the moto driver, for a tour around the province.

Our first stop was a couple of old Temples and schools where we met some of the locals, this was when he started asking: "Wow?" It was good to be away from the main roads as I could start to see the country and people as they are rather than stall after stall that you see on the main roads. One moto drived beside us with what must have been close to 100 dead chickens hanging upside down all round the scooter. I'm sure a couple were still alive too.

We then boarded a ferry which landed us on a rural island. My Monk bought me some orange beef jerkey on the ride and I noticed it was 'Red-Bull' branded ... I guess it's a by-product from the taurine they use.

The island was nice, it was a lot quieter than the mainland. Occasionally I would mention to My Monk that it was very peaceful and he would give me a strange look. I think he thought I was referring to peace as the opposite of war.

We visited a few temples, one with a massive reclining buddha inside which was amazing. I prayed to it again, but this time my back-pack kept hitting me on the back of the head which was annoying. We fed some giant cat-fish and I met an undertaker. At one stage I needed to take a piss, I did, but stayed as close to the road as possible as to avoid standing on one of the many landmines that are still sprinkled throughout the country.

On the way back to the temple we passed the scene of a crash where a lady was standing on the side of the road looking absolutely distraught. I didn't see what had happened but a lot of families ride together on their moto's (I've seen six people on one scooter!), usuallly the baby will sit at the very front. I hate to imagine who could have been hurt or killed in the crash.

The strangest thing of all would probably have been the Porsche Cayenne that drove by us on the island. I suppose it's the same in all poor countries but the disparity between rich and the poor is crazy, although the rich seem to be Chinese Cambodians rather than the Khmer.

Before being dropped off at Phnom Penh we stopped at the drivers house for tea. There were four or five children as well as two parents, a sister and grand-parents living in a tiny shack. We sat and watched a chinese super-hero soap opera on their TV that was running from car batteries. Although I did see the grandmother pick up a baby bottle from a dirty brown puddle and wash the crap off (in that same puddle) before putting it back on the table. That was a bit grose.

That was all.

25th August, leaving Siam Reap

2007-08-31T05:12:00.000-07:00

I met Meredith and Tim for breakfast before saying our goodbye's as I had a seat booked on the bus to Phnom Penh that morning.

Before leaving the hotel, I tracked down the hotel man to pick up my washed clothes. He informed me that I had shortchanged him the day before by $1.50. I'm sure this was wrong, the mix of Riel and $US does get confusing but I think he was just trying to milk what he could from me (he was angry that I didn't book my bus tickets with him). I stood and argued for a few minutes but ended up giving in. I know I shouldn't of but it was $1.50 and I had to meet T & M.

After breakfast I walked back to the hotel to pick up my bag that was ready and waiting in my room. I put my key in the door and the lock wouldn't turn, I tried it a few times and still no luck. That fucking fuck-head had fucked up my lock.

I sprinted downstairs as I was running short of time. I knew this was another scam and could see it in his lack of surprise when I told him it wouldn't open. He sent up one of the staff who tried keys from a big ring. She tried one after the other but of course none would work.

I went back downstairs and made him come with me to the room. I explained that I needed to be at the travel shop in 10 minutes and needed my bags straight away. I told him that I'd kick it open if he couldn't get it done for me. He said he'd call the police. I told him that I'd have more of a right as effectively he was stealing my property. I started banging my open palm on the door which echoed loudly through the hotel, a few people opened the doors which made him a bit nervous.

He told me to stop and that it was my fault as I had lost my keys... that got me - I don't know if I've ever been angrier. I yelled at him to "open this fucking door right now" or I'd kick it in. I would've done it, but the back of my mind was imagining what a Cambodian prison would be like.

He said ok, ok, and came back a minute later with a young boy carrying a few tools.

After a bit of a wait, pacing up and down the hall-way we were in. I brushed past him, grabbed my bag, and took off. Ran from the hotel and on to the back of the nearest scooter. I made it there 15 minutes late which turned out ok as the bus was late anyway.

24th August, Markets, Siam Reap

2007-08-27T05:50:00.001-07:00

After a few days in Cambodia I've started to settle in. The people (most of them) are really friendly and you feel safe walking around. It could be quite different given the lack of police enforcement and volume of guns, rifles and grenades that are spread throughout the country. There's billboards asking Cambodians to hand in their weapons, saying: "We don't need them anymore".

Today, Jonus and I visited the Siam Reap markets, bought a couple of touristy t-shirts and ate with the locals. The chicken had more anatomy attached than I'm used to and the fish soup was very fishy.

It's funny, you see signs of the french occupancy in their food more than the architecture or anything else. Most of the street vendors will sell baguettes and you can pick up snail and frogs legs too. I'm still plucking up my courage to go for the snails, not so keen on the frog.

Before setting off that morning we had baguettes with small scoops of ice-cream, sweetened condensed milk and nuts scooped into the middle. It was so nice! I've been looking for them since but have had no luck.

We took a 3/4 hour drive to a resort to use their swimming pool as it was SO hot. We got there and the water was green... gutted, wasted $4 on the tuk-tuk ride.

Later we met up with Meredith and Tim for a meal and many drinks. Had the funniest kid that came up to us selling postcards... he told us that the population of New Zealand was 4 million minus us 4, the capital is Wellington and our Prime Minister is Helen Clarke who's "not so pretty"... we were sold.

23rd August, Angkor Wat, Siam Reap

2007-08-27T05:01:00.000-07:00

Today I took a tuk-tuk to a Wat - what?

Hahahaha, hmm. The Temples of Angkor Wat and its surroundings are quite amazing, we organised a tuk-tuk to take us around which was a far better idea than cycling... people were suffering in the heat and humidity.

Saw the area where they filmed Tomb-Raider (one of my favourites) and a couple of other films, it's very Indiana Jones feeling. It's as you can imagine... old, stunning, big. Would love to be the french explorer that re-discovered it in the 19th? Century.

In the evening we showered and went out looking for a good place to eat. Walking down some random Cambodian street and I hear "Andrew, Andrew"... Tim and Meredith had spotted us!

We ate with them and afterwards had a few 60c beers in a bar with a crocodile. Tim was keen as mustard to pick it up for a photo but we were told that it was a bit bitey and quite quick. They were going to Angkor the next day so we organised to meet up the next night.

22nd August, Thailand to Cambodia, Siam Reap

2007-08-27T03:58:00.001-07:00

Off to Cambodia...

I was picked up in a mini bus with a couple from London and a Mother / Son from Waiuku. The Kiwi lady had visited some pretty interesting places; Iran, Rwanda and Uganda were among her favourites.

We travelled to the border where a 'guide' organised our Cambodian visas for us. I knew that the price was US$25 and that it was easy to do myself but he said that he had to do it... I protested but he said that if I did it myself I would have to take a bus later in the evening as I would hold the group up... the rest of the group looked at me as if I was some stingy dick worrying about $10 so I just said OK.

Cambodia was in stark contrast to Thailand, you see the poverty as soon as you cross the border. Whereas Thailand has tar seal, Cambodia has pot-holed dirt roads, the people were skinnier and I wondered why some were pedalling bikes with their arms until I realised it was because they had no legs; victims of land-mines. There were burnt out shells of buildings which may or may not be remnants from the civil war and most of the vehicles were overloaded. So many toyota camrys!

The next part of the bus scam, which I think I've actually read about before, was the currency converter. We were told by our guide that there were no ATM's in Siam Reap (there are) so we had to change currency at his special man near the border. I don't know what rate I got my Riel for but I'm sure it was shitty. And the thing is we didn't need to anyway as US dollars are more common than Riel.

4,000 Riels = US$1, which is why I am annoyed I have no-one to play poker with, say half-a-million buy in?

The next part of my bus scam was when I found my connecting bus was not quite what I was expecting. It was full of rubbish, had people on the roof, livestock... I may exaggerate slightly but it was bad. My guide then said that if I wanted to go with the rest of the group in the taxi I had to pay another 2,000 Baht. Bus = 6 hours or Taxi = 3 hours... I was fucked off. I expressed my anger with him while the rest of the group waited inside a building. Reluctantly I accepted and gave him his Baht. I didn't realise that the group was watching me from inside and it was a bit awkward when I came back in.

We also met up with a German named Jonus at this stage, he'd studied at an English public school so his accent was hard to pick.

The road through to Siam Reap was shocking, the dusty pot-holed road turned to a slippery muddy track. Cambodia's landscape is very flat, and is prone to flooding which is why the roads are elevated. The fact that this is monsoon season means water covers most of the countryside, only the water buffalo and fishermen seem to benefit from it. Those on scooters were sliding all the way along the muddy road or having to push their bikes along. The drive was chaotic, we narrowly avoided a couple of head-ons, managed to push a scooter into a ditch and nearly knocked over a couple of dogs.

We had our car washed half way down the dirt road, I tried some cake made from a vendor on the side of the road while we were there, it was strange - covered in hard icing.

We had dinner at the hotel and after myself and Jonus went for a wander around the city. We were walking down a dirt road in the dark when we came across two ladies coming from the opposite direction. One, who was stumbling, had a drip coming out her arm, the other was walking beside her holding the bag nice and high. I can't imagine that was the most sterile place to receive intravenous fluid.

Before going to bed I had a shower, when I came out I noticed the man-hole cover was open in my room. This was dodgy as I'm sure it was not open beforehand. I went and told them but had to close it myself in the end.

21st August, Bangkok City, Bangkok

2007-08-27T03:15:00.000-07:00

One night in Bangkok... it is busy.

I got up ridiculously early, around 6am, to go discover Bangkok. After a bit of a walk around the area I flagged down a non-english speaking taxi driver and tried pronouncing where I wanted to go. He had no idea. In the end we agreed on Khao-San Road which is the real backpacker area. That was fine as it's close to most of the sights.

I got a tuk-tuk driver to take me to view the sights, I had him for half the day and saw some spectacular temples & Buddha's, got fitted for a suit, booked my tickets to Cambodia (which I later found was a scam, and I was overcharged... beginners mistake) before being dropped back to Khao-San Road where I walked round the markets for a few hours.

Turns out that when you zip off the legs of my zip-off pants, the shorts are short... too short. So I bought some new ones, so as to avoid offending the locals with my pasty chicken legs.

I had another two meals and a couple of beers, as I am greedy and it is all dirt cheap. Then walked to the river where I got over charged for a long-tail boat ride trip round the canals. I was the only one on the boat, which could fit around 30 people, and my long-tail boat driver seemed quite incompetent - I had to help him stabilise a couple of times. But we arrived back safe and sound and it was definitely worth doing. There are houses on stilts that look as if they're about to sick in to the water (some already have) and we saw some giant lizard thingy... I bought myself and the driver a beer from an old lady in a boat.

Went back to hotel and had a swim to wash Bangkok off me....

20th August, Arrival, Bangkok

2007-08-27T02:58:00.001-07:00

Shit, blogging... never done this before.

Well, I landed safe and sound in Bangkok. I had the good fortune to be sitting next to someone that was not fat, smelly or inconsiderate. Joe, who's a high-end recruiter / head-hunter was about to embark on a 3 week trip round Vietnam. So the flight was good, I got to watch plenty of shows, movies and play a few games.

Arriving in Bangkok was full on, the new airport is massive and there were plenty of touts prepared to rip me off. I managed to get a taxi for 400 baht which was a bit better than the drivers initial offer of 900.

I arrived at the hotel which felt like walking into the past, it's an old art-deco building (the oldest hotel in Bangkok) and has been maintained in what seems to be absolute original condition. To add to the old feeling I was given an envelope with a letter from Meredith and Tim when I signed in, felt like receiving a telegram or something. They were there earlier that day and had written a few pointers for me.