Part XXX - Sure to be blocked by mail marshal

Absolute friggin madness!!

I am now back in Malaysia. The teaming metropolis of KL no less. 3 nights ago I was right up near the top of Thailand in a seedy hotel, just across the river in Laos making up my razzudock how I was going to get to Singapore before the 30th. I knew it was doable but wanted a couple of spare days to chill out and sightsee / relax near my destination. I am now a 5.5 hour bus ride away from Singapore leaving 2 whole days to leisurely explore this insane monument to capitalism and no need to stay in Singapore which I don't like anyway. Excellent!

The 2 day slow boat ride up the Mekong was rather laid back. I was really hungover the first day, well, probably still drunk when I got on! I stumbled on late, yelled out 'Hello fellow travellers!' then curled up under the seats and went to sleep for a couple of hours. It was surprisingly comfortable down there. My fellow travellers were a diverse but good bunch. Swiss fulla, English fulla, a Japanese chick and too uninteresting Danish girls. Took bloody ages though. 10 hrs the first day followed by a stop off in a small village perched on the side of a mountain range, then another 9 hours to the border town. I could have done the whole trip in 7 hours by speed boat but it looked pretty damn unpleasant. They're sleek little boats, taking about 6-8 people and apparantly chew through 250L of fuel for the return trip. Saw quite a few of these fanging past, 4 cylinder car engine going full noise the whole way making a hur of a racket. Fun for a couple of hours I thought but not 7! Especially when it rained for a few hours on the first day. We convieniently got into town half an hour after the border post closed. As a daily route, this is obviously no accident. Was running low on kip too and there aren't a lot of ATMs in Laos, certainly not in small towns but got across to Thailand with 100baht to spare $4 NZ. Woo hoo.

I got my self on an over night bus to Bangkok which was reasonably comfortable and no crap karaoke videos, just the thai language version of U571. It was still entertaining except it was hard to tell the germans from the americans due to the fact they all spoke Thai! Got into Bangkok at 5am but the local buses we already running so headed straight off to Khaosan Rd, everything running smooth. I decided to once again walk to the railway station. Mainly for the excercise after 10 hours attempting to sleep on a bus. I didn't take the scenic route through Chinatown but have concluded that yes, it is still a long way. Sorted a ticket for a train all the way to Butterworth (right beside my beloved Penang) in Malaysia on a train with sleeper, sweet. Just a few hours to kill in Bangkok. I then walked to Siam Square, a major shopping district which, unconveniently didn't open for another 2 hours. No biggie, cos its actually on one of the 2 bus routes I know so got back to Khaosan for a whole 7baht (40c).

I went to this awesome exhibition at the Bangkok gallery. (This is why the Tao led me back to the Khaosan area and not shopping!) I nearly forgot it was on but I saw a poster for it. A contemporary chinese painter called Xi Shang. This dude rocks! Works on a similar vein to what I'm up to at the present which was really inspiratational. The woman at the gallery told me he'd be there in person after 2. Alas, my train was at 2:45. I tried in vain to get there first but events conspired and I missed out.

The train ride was pleasant. All 22 hours of it! I was sitting next to a fulla from New York and a guy from Gambia. Great conversation was had the whole way, well, other than night time where I was in blissfull slumber in my bunk. Probably more comfortable than most of the beds in Laos. Kapoc affairs they are, that are as compacted as a dirt floor!

The transfer in Butterworth was sweet too. Got to the gate of the station and a guy says "taxi?", I said "no, bus" so another guy took me to a bus. Which left almost straight away and rapidly headed off along the toll way, only one stop and 6 hours later I'm in the middle of KL with time on my hands. Went for a walk through the night market before and the shopping looks pretty good, its going to be an interesting couple of days.

XXIX - A dire warning.

Louang Prabang is a nice little village situated on a peninsular at the confluence of the Mekong and some other river. A world heritage city apparently. The french must have hated giving the place up. No scummy alleyways here. Just quaint little paved lanes and tidy villas. Except the villas are now inhabited by Lao families and have ducks n chickens n stuff in the yard. The locals race their dragon boats up and down the Mekong. They get a good speed up too considering the impressive flow of one of the worlds great rivers. The Lao people don't seem to work a lot, I dunno if its a holiday or whether they always sit around drinking beers and playing that game with steel balls that you thow in the sand. The game the 'Whare' tried to sell to the nation. Phousie mountain is cool. Its a small hill with temples on right in town. Nice little rocky out crops and little shrines. They've got a buddha footprint. Seems to be a fixation over here. Every country must have their own buddha foot print! Except the Buddha would have to be about 30 feet tall to make such a print.

Vang Vieng was pleasing enough that I stayed for almost a week. I checked out one of the caves and got a dire warning from some german girls walking out. "You should take a guide or you'll die!" Pah, We Kiwis don't need no damn guide. The caves were ok, a cave is a cave. I had a bit of a look around. The problem with caves is they're so quiet I realise how bad my ears ring. Makes the outdoors all that much better though. There was a nice little out crop in front of the cave, partway up the mountain so I did some really excellent Qigong while admiring the scenery. One could procure themself poppy tea and and other organic substances, direct from the bar. If one was so inclined. We tried to watch the rugby... saw 5 mins of the second half before it got scrambled. Neil at the guesthouse reckoned it does this all the time. Lao TV company probably didnt pay the bill.

The trip to Louang Prabang took about 6 hours and wound itself through some impressive scenery. Enough to rival NZ actually. Massive mountains enshrouded in clouds. Huge cliffs. There was one I really wanted to climb. It had 'climb me' written all over it. Some fulla crashed his hilux off the road and we all stood around looking, as you do. Could see an indicator and a bumper a bit further down. The vehicle was probably a hundred meters down in the jungle.

We stopped in a small village for refreshments. There was a dude casually wandering around with an AK slung over his shoulder. Didn't look army either. I wanted to take his photo but figured if I asked he'd probably just take my camera and if I took a photo surreptitious like, he'd shoot me. It took all the restraint I could muster not to ask though. Two tourists got killed on that road back in 2003 apparently, got robbed. tried to run... Saw an army check point along a bit further with a machine gun pointing up the road.

Laos is choice. I could write lots about it but can't be bothered. Too busy enjoying the place. Got a 2 day slow boat ride up the Mekong starting tomorrow to get to the Thai border. The great race is on, must get to Singapore before the 30th!

Part XXVIII - Welcome to the jungle

Laos. Most bombed nation on the planet!

Vang Vieng is a nice little laid back town up in the mountains. I'm liking it a lot. I have a nice guesthouse called Pans Place which the Tao led me to. Quite literally actually, they had a yin yang on the gate which kind of pulled me in. Run by a kiwi guy and his Lao partner. They have the Osho tarot deck in the lounge for all to use and its a really nice deck. The place has an excellent homely atmosphere. I had an immensely satisfying game of chess, despite the fact that I lost. Neils bombardment at the start was intense and unrelenting, but my men's morale was high and it took him a long time to mop up the insurgency.

Over looking the town are some impressive limestone karst formations, a bit more solid and mountain like that the Krabi variety. There are some cool caves in there too. It gets really hot here during the day but cools off nicely in the evening. There are activities here like drunken pub crawl down the river by inner tube. It is nice being back in an area with topographic variation. Being on the flats just doesn't do it for me. Especially flats full of muddy water! By day there are bird calls everywhere, by night, the sound of crickets and other strange insects. They have something in places like Laos and Sumatra that Thailand has lost in its rampant development. The land is stronger here, has a stronger influence. Well, being mountainous its a lot harder to tame. Can't really argue with a mountain. Has a vibe not unlike New Zealand really, a certain closeness to the land. I think of Welly, surrounded by the green belt. Walk 5 mins from most parts and you can be in the bush.

The ride here by local bus was interesting. It was a patu old bus that could barely climb the hills. I was sitting next to a one eyed old man. We passed an army truck towing what looked like a world war 2 era artillery piece. There's a write up about a US attack in the Vietnam war in the area. 300 odd peasants were sheltering from the relentless bombing in a large cave. A US jet fighter fired 4 missiles at it and killed them all. The people are seemingly chilled out here though. The US has done this kind of thing to so many nations, it makes me wonder the percentage of the worlds population secretly harbouring anti-US sentiment. Well, they're starting to find that out now I guess... Hopefully they're not on my flight!

I watched the Da Vinci Code last night. It was rather amusing, cheesy as. The doco "the hidden history of Christ (I think)" I saw on Sky years ago that the book was based on was far more interesting. The movie was basically retelling it with 'intense' music and bad dialogue. Any righteous defenders of the movie out there?

I had every intention of going exploring today but this hasn't happened as yet. I'm sure there was something other than caffeine in my breakfast coffee which sort of trapped me in the cafe on the cushions out back. Was interesting though. Had a good chat with this Israeli chick who comes from the north where the Hezbollah rockets are falling. A good time to not be there. Its quite a luxury to come from a country with no borders to defend. No compulsory military training.

Hmm.. its raining now. No exploring for me today. At least its not so damn hot! I add some pics to this when I get better internet facilities.

XXVII - Lao P.D.R

Sunset over the Mekong - Nong Khai

I am now in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. A communist state apparently. I not sure what is actually communist here, seems all very capitalist to me although with very few beggers for a tourist area. There are lots of tourists but they seem to be a respectful bunch. A different breed than the bulk of the back packers in Thailand. More late 20s and 30s people here with a few old hippies too. I met my first ever Danish person although his accent is very London. He told me this is because Danes don't tend to travel. Vientiane is not unlike Phnom Penh, french colonial style but a bit neater with more European restaurants. French, Italian and a plethora of bakeries. There is an impressive arc d'triomphe style monument which provides an excellent view of a very green city. Along the Mekong there are tables set up on the grass for a pleasant evening meal.

I hired a decrepit old scooter which I was only prepared to do about 50kph on cos any more and the gearbox would emit the sound of imminent destruction. I headed out to the Buddha Park (Xieng Khuan) yesterday. This require my Sumatran style direction finding. "Sabai dee, Xieng Khuan?" [point]. Got there though, no worries. Not that diffcult seeing I had to drive down the Mekong until I found it. Xieng Khuan is the original location of the cult the mystic dude set up. The place is incredible, better than the new place on the Thai side. The statues at Sala Kaeu Ku are taller but Xieng Khuan has a better atmosphere. There is a lot more grass and it generally has a more park like atmosphere. Its right beside the Mekong so I enjoyed a beer lao there, looking out past a heard of cows, the river and Nong Khai on the other side. The cows all had bells around their necks which added to the atmosphere. There were quite a few monks hanging out in the grounds so I had a chat to them and a bunch of school kids working on their English.


The place was excellent for a bit of Qiqong although just as it was getting really intence some ants decided to attack my foot. This is an ongoing problem over here, it happens everytime I try to do some gongs on the grass. They gave up pretty quick due to sudden death however. After half an hour or so of gongs the sun was getting low and the whole place took on a surreal quality.


There is a strange umm, temple I suppose, there. There are steps up to the top affording an excellent view of the park. There is a hatch down into the 3 middle levels of the building with heaps of statues in there. It seems to represent heaven, earth and the underworld or what ever three levels of existence the dude is preaching. In the lower two levels there are no lights and very little light gets in the tiny windows. It is very creepy in there, especially the lowest level. Most of the statues are barely visible at all, although I saw a skull on one of the figures.


I'm off to Vang Vieng today by local bus. That'll be an interesting mission.

XXVI - A mystic, shamanic fushion of Buddhist and Hindu symbolism

Sala Kaew Ku is a must see!

I jumped astride a bicycle and headed out to Sala Kaew Ku which is an impressive sculpture garden about 6 k from Nong Khai. It was set up by a Lao born fulla who merged buddhism and hinduism which have the same roots anyway and added a bit of mysticism and shamanism. I take it this means he ate lots of mushrooms. The place is huge with massive concrete scuptures of buddhas sheltered by the naga. Of multi-armed deities and dancing girls. 4 faced brahmins, skeletons, animals, the place is incredible. The most inspiring place I've found since reaching Thailand. I thought maybe I was just getting tired and hard to impress but I met my fellow cancerian Marianne and she agreed.

After finally having my fill of the Australian TV channel I headed out for a midnight cycle under the intense full moon. Actually, I wasn't really watching Blue Healers, I had the TV on to drown out the nauseating pop rock from upstairs... honest. Its a nice run along the river front. There are bars and restaurants all along the Mekong but no one in most of them or maybe 2 farang here, another there. Sometimes a small group of Thais. There are obviously a fair amount of farang here. The usual shameful old men with their young thai partners. It surprises me the lack of tourist development here seeing this is the main land route into Laos. It would seem most travellers head straight to the border. They are seriously missing out. Nong Khai is a quiet sleepy place but very pleasant. The locals are pleasant too, not being over exposed to tourism and the associated w_ankers that ruin it for everybody. The rapid flowing Mekong River gives a sence of doing when one is actually sitting at a restaurant doing absolutely nothing.

My muse is returning! All it needed was something truly inspirational.

XXV - A provincial Thai Experience.

Buriram is like the Thai equivalent of Palmerston North. I had this pull to go there for some reason. On the map it was the closest centre to the khmer ruins of Phnom Rung but this wasn't particularly why I chose it, there was just a strong pull to go there and not the nearby larger centre of Khorat which I actually had a map for.

The train ride up from Bangkok was rather pleasant. A couple of beers as the train wound its way up a mountain range with the occasional Buddha statue poking out through the trees. Upon scaling the mountains the top plateau was just more of the same rice paddy landscape all over SE Asia.

I got to Buriram and roamed the streets for about 10 mins in search of a cheap hotel. My shizer guidebook said there was but didnt deem it necessary to give locations. I met this thai fulla who gave me a hand. He dubbed me on the back of his bicycle to a restaurant in a slightly farang area. There isn't really any form of tourist area in Buriram, no back packers go there. There is around 500 farang living in the area though on retirement visas. I talked to this English guy Peter and managed to sus out a motorbike and Wanita at the restaurant let me stay at her place. This is a nice place in a middle class neighbourhood that used to be owned by her 'boss' a Farang who died recently. Aek the dude I met first came over and we had some beers, then cruised around to his house and met his wife, mother in law, sister inlaw and young baby who live in a two bedroom flat next to a Wat. We drank beers and sat in the car listening to Scorpions.

The next day I cruised out to see the ruins of Phnom rung. Aek tagged along on the back and we visited Wanitas family in a small village near the ruins. Phnom Rung is set on top of a hill in a nice park with shady trees about. We checked out some other ruins in the area too and a bird resort. I stayed at Aeks place the next 2 nights and night we got on the p1ss big time over a tasty meal and some of the locals came around to say gidday.

Aek designs gardens, interiors and swimming pools so on Monday he took me on his rounds looking at a pool that was being built and another house being built. All over the place he would point out these houses, farang here, farang there and it would always be some massive house. Lots of european guys come over here for their retirement and get Thai wives or partners. I suppose they come over so they can live like kings on their retirement savings. We went to the university and a local government admin office. We went to visit a monk too.

The last night we had a tasty feast of Vietnamese, Thai and western food.

Getting to Nong Khai by bus wasn't straight forward but was no problem. I had to change buses at Khon Kaen and then again at Udon Thani. Easy enough, people show you where to go at each bus station. I was never aware of which town I was passing through the whole way as there was no english script anywhere except brand names I went to a restaurant in Ubon Thani. The woman there spoke no english but she understood my heavily accented thai and served up some delicious pad thai.

Dragon fruit is tasty. Its pink and sort of looks like and artichoke (I think) but inside its white and not unlike kiwifruit.

I am now in Nong Khai on the mighty Mekong River. There is a nice view from the restaurant at my guesthouse across the Mekong at Laos, where I shall be tomorrow. If all goes to plan. Got a really nice guesthouse called Mekong Guesthouse and its cheap. Its actually a really expenisve place but they have a dorm with TV and warm shower! As I'm the only person staying in the dorm its not really an inconvenience.

Getting medication in Thailand is really easy. Dr Aaron prescribes himself anti-malarial medication. Goes to chinese run chemist and buys it. No expensive beaurocrat in the middle.

XXIV - A casual stroll through Bangkok

Bangkok is not a pedestrian friendly city. The whole place is criss crossed with busy thoroughfares with no over bridges. I went for a walk anyway, deciding the exercise would do me good. I ran into P_rn (imagine having a name that gets blocked by mail marshal) the masseuse after being away from Bangkok for 3 weeks and she asked how I got so big. The result of too many baguettes in Cambodia... Nah, I'm actually back to normal after wasting away on Thai food.

The railway station is approximately 4k away from Khaosan road... well, on the map it is. So I headed off in the right direction and found myself in an area of prayer shops followed by a bunch of appliance shops then the Bangkok equivalent of Dick Smith. A street lined with stalls peddling capacitors and diodes and stuff. Then a bit further along there were guys attacking old TVs and stereos with soldering irons. I inadvertently found myself in the flower market which was rather impressive. Some really interesting plants and spectacular umm.. flower arrangements.

I continued on and found myself in Chinatown which was good, I was heading in the right direct despite the minor botanical diversion. I never actually got lost but couldn't have given my exact location either due to a dearth of street signs and a seemingly endless maze of alleyways and markets with the occasional really busy road to cross. One is expected to automatically know what that really busy 4 lane road is called too. Much like Great St Road in Auckland, except there are lots of really busy 4 lane roads all over Bangkok After a period of respite in the Internet cafe I headed off and there was the railway station, right where I expected it to be, I just took an infinitely more interesting route than my planned thoroughfare down New Road.

I now have a train ticket for Buriram tomorrow morning and its at a civilised hour even. A 6 hour train ride with a few bevvies, sounds good to me.

I headed off in search of the nearest wharf so I could get the ferry back. There's a cool looking church hidden away in the alleyways around there, I wanted to go in but the gates were locked. My course took me to this execrable highrise hotel area with d!ckheads everywhere and a wharf cattering only for boat charters and a special ferry to get across to the unsightly hilton on the other side. Two doddering old pensioners were boarding at the time. I though about jumping on for amusement purposes but figured they wouldn't believe I was a guest and I'd only be stuck at the hilton anyway.

With that awful place behind me, I found the proper wharf and jumped on a ferry. Some how I managed to get the tourist boat. Not an overly bad thing, it was just a bit slower and had some dude calling out the attractions on a megaphone. He mixed up the wharf numbers though so I got off at the wrong place. The good thing is that they forgot to charge me. Bonus. Cost me nothing to get to the railway station and all the way back! Actually another bonus. As I headed up river by foot I went through market after market with not a farang in sight. I was seeing the Bangkok the locals see and it was a pleasing experience. There were hundreds of people peddling Buddhist charms that have been dug up in the rice paddies.

I found fortune teller alley. There was a large marquee with rows of Thais toting Universal Waite Tarot decks. This is obviously the deck recommended by the 'Thai School of Tarot'. Fair enough, its a good deck.

A con artist found me. He was friendly and wanted to have a chat, so I figured why not. His brother is a Professor working in NZ. If one is wont to believe such tales. I myself had a nice chat to the man then went on my merry way. Thais never stop you in the street for a casual chat and he was very well dressed to be sitting on a stool on the sidewalk among the charm peddlers. He casually steered the conversation to making money while travelling if you know what to buy. Very smooth. I'm sure he makes a lot of money from the greedy and stoopid. Must have been an annoyance wasting 15 minutes talking to me for naught. I figured he might do a bit better if he didn't look like the mafia...

A planned detour took me to a park for an excellent session of Qigong and Taiji, facing the palace complex with impressive storm clouds behind it no less! Then it was back to Khaosan Rd across the busy road I managed to part the flow of, a few weeks back. This time there was no biblical antics, I had to dodge and run like everyone else.

There is another Kiwi staying at my jap hippy guesthouse. I didn't pick it though cos hes got an Aussie accent after spending the last 10 years there. Was good to have a chat to a fellow kiwi even if he sounds like an ocker. Only the second kiwi I've met this whole trip! There is a black German girl staying there too. First one of them I've met also, dads from Sudan. She doesn't have the staunch German manner, was practically bouncing off the seat telling me about India. Must get there in the near future.

XXIII - ADSL, ATMs and 7-Elevens

Bangkok again. Back to civilisation at last!

I crossed the border yesterday at Koh Kong after a mission of a ferry ride. The night before departure involving a bit of a p1ss up at a bar run by a French expat. This young brit came in who is easily the most irritating person I've ever met. Was quite amusing to me actually as I sat there, pen in hand, reviving my flagging muse. I don't think he said a single sentence that wasn't a celebration of his great knowledge. He complained about the lack of good wine in Cambodia so of course, the barman (being French) got him some really good Bordeaux which he agreed was very fine (being a connoisseur of course) then whined about the price. Myself, like any Kiwi was quite happy chugging back 3000r (75c) handles of Angkor Draft which is actually a rather worthy beer, not unlike Tui. None of the formaldehyde and other toxic substances found in Thai beer.

Anyway, I was rather pleased that I didn't have a hangover. All was well getting to the ferry. I jumped up onto the roof with my fellow travellers and the freight which is the pick of locations. Its stuffy and claustrophobic inside the cabin. There were pigs and chickens coming along for the ride too. The sun was shining and I did some sunbathing for a while. Then slowly the clouds came over, then the wind got up.... then the sea got rougher and the rain came down so I headed into the cabin. Bad move. The nausea grew and grew so I dug some Sea Legs out of my pack which were probably 10 years old. This didn't cure my nausea but it gave my arms a crazy pins and needles sensation. So that's why they have expiry dates... The dude wouldn't let me out the door but I opened it anyway for fresh air then he left his post so I went out and sprawled on the narrow gangway, clinging to the rail as the wind howled and waves crashed about but it was a lot more pleasant than inside. After a while it settled down a bit so I jumped back on the roof where this old pommy character was still hanging out. This was definitely the place to be for the remainder of the 5 hour journey. The options being, sit in side where its warm and feel sick, or lie down up top where its really cold and feel fine. There was a nasty looking storm further out to sea but thankfully it stayed out there, the boats are long narrow affairs more designed for river runs than tackling the ocean. In Koh Kong there was a restaurant called Kiwi with a large Kiwi symbol on it. I had a Kiwi brand knife too incidentally, it too had a symbol of a flightless bird but was made in Thailand.

A moto ride to the border, then a 1 hour minibus ride took us to Trat. A large and rather neat Thai town. I've been impressed with the standard of the Thai urban environment actually. Most of them have nicely paved roads and tidy gutters. Department stores, supermarkets, Internet cafes. Its all very developed. All very western but with traditional markets too. I went for a stroll through the morning market. There was all sorts of interesting seafood there, still flapping or scuttling about. Fish, eels, squid, crabs, prawns... all sorts. I managed to procure myself some tasty noodle soup. There was no signage and the old woman spoke no English but she pointed to some noodles and I nodded and a couple of minutes later I had a really tasty pork noodle soup. My guesthouse even had a warm shower. My first warm shower in more than 2 months and it was bliss! Just as well, it was too fkn cold for a cold one. I don't know why but for some reason it wasn't very warm at all along the south coast. I actually put my polyprop on one evening.

Who ever invited Skype should be lynched! Some European twat just walked in, called out loudly "do you have Skype" then proceeded to yell at the top of his lungs into the microphone. The staff have told the arrogant $%^& off twice now. Now where did I leave that AK47! : )

Here are some ramblings from Sihanoukville I didn't get around to sending.

Sihanoukville is Cambodia's leading resort and only port. Its not all that but its ok. Actually I haven't looked at much of it, don't really feel the need. Its raining today as I sit in an Internet cafe which is actually a thatched hut. Half a dozen cows just walked past the door. Yesterday, I chilled out at the beach on a bamboo recliner as a lad of maybe 7 served me beer Laos. A worthy lager if ever there was. There was a few old Europeans fullas about with their half Asian preschoolers. I started to pass judgement then thought hmm.. that could be me, although highly unlikely. Heh, 'what shall I do with my retirement? umm... I know, I'll have a family!" A lot of the Cambodian women are rather attractive, there is a bit of Indian ancestry here in some of them, although they all start to look a bit tired as they age. The pressure of all that subservience mayhaps?

I have a nice room with bathroom and a sea view for $3, cant argue with that! Gets a good view of the sunset. There are a few islands off shore to look at too. It appears to be the best room in the hotel. The benefits of travelling the off season.

Well, its now the next day and its still raining, heavily at the moment I might add. I still have time to catch the fast boat to the Thai border today but I have a morbid fascination with being at the beach in the rain. And better to be on the land than out on the open sea me thinks.

Some um, Greek, has changed MSN Messenger to Greek and as I cant read Greek I can't change it back. How amusing. I recall having the same problem when I changed my mobile to German for a lark and then couldn't send texts cos T9 would change the word to things like achtung and shizer. Yes, I am rambling on as its raining and I have nothing better to do.

There is now a swift flowing river outside where the street used to be carrying large stones with it toward the sea. Its really cold, well I feel cold and the chick that runs the cafe is shivering although the BBC reckons its 25 degrees here at the moment. I must have finally acclimatised.

I was going to write a dissemination on Cambodia but I shall let the experience digest for a couple of days.