With all the constant moving from place to place over the last week it’s a big relief to finally get back to a place where we can dwell for a week… Or two… Monkey Republic!

With the night at the casino behind us we sorted out tickets down to Sihanoukville for the same day, packed up and checked out. It was a scorching hot day in Phnom Penh, by far the hottest I’ve ever been in my life and of course the bus was running late… Huddled together in the shade pouring sweat from places we didn’t know we had – dreaming of getting back to the beach was all that kept me standing.

We had a nice bus, not VIP but plenty good enough and the six hours passed in no time. Excitement about seeing the Monkey bunch again set in as we started to make our way into Sihanoukville as did the feeling of being somewhere where everybody knows your name.

We were met at the bus station by one of the Monkeys named Stuart, he was handing out flyers to all the tourists. We had never met him the last time we were here but heard all about him and vise-versa so he phoned ahead had saved us a couple of rooms, turned out to be a bloody good job because we somehow managed to pick the slowest Tuk Tuk driver in the world and every other tourist passed by and beat us to Monkey… Didn’t matter much though because we arrived and were met with a warm welcome from Big Chris and Jimbo (of Sessions Bar fame), Georgie went ape shit (excuse the pun) and the last of the rooms were in the bag… As is the policy – all newcomers get a free beer on arrival and as is my policy, everything else can wait if there is free drink bounding around.

Georgie got straight on the phone to Duncan and Lee to announce our arrival and demand their attendance while Big Chris decided it was indeed a time for celebration and got us all a beer tower… Although not to attempt another beer tower challenge (last time we were record holders for quite some time).

Lee and Duncan turned up and we kept the beer towers coming until the wee small hours, Jimbo danced like a loon behind the bar as usual and despite a few minor renovations everything was as we left it and we wouldn’t change that for the world!

It was so good to see everyone again and be back at Monkey but it’s a big shame all the others who were there last time weren’t again. New party picture boards are up all over the place and it’s good to see that we are plastered all over them, looking fancy in our costumes and Georgie in her rather amazing homemade jellyfish and flower outfit (pink and glitter party and seaside party).

With the Monkey bar running dry and the staff wanting to get to bed so we left them to it and took Toby along the nearby casino, Fortuna casino – the cheapest casino we have ever been in and seeing as we are a super tight budget it almost made actually going to it seem like a good idea… The fact I was having serious trouble standing and even seeing didn’t bode well but we took a single crisp $10 note, halved it and somehow with roller-coaster luck on roulette and blackjack managed to stay until 7:30am… Free beer, cigarettes and food kept coming promptly on demand and although something inside me felt super sleazy staggering out of a Cambodian casino at 7:30am pissed up to the eyeballs, something else felt damn good… Eight hours of food, beer and gambling for $5 each… That’s how we roll.

Today’s picture of the day is taken in Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh. It’s a common thing to see monks going about their business in most South East Asian cities but they always manage to stand out in their bright orange robes, especially this fellow with his matching brollie… Enjoy

8/8/08 We got up at 10 ish yesterday morning and packed our bags all set for our boat down the mekong and into Vietnam. We opted for the express boat and not the slow boat so we could at least have a bit of a lie in, a short tuk tuk ride along the river front and we were at the boat stop having our passports checked and filling out our immigration cards. The boat was a fairly big bus type affair with a small open area out back just right for smoking on, so I was pleased… It was pretty grim weather for the first half hour but as soon as that passed we went and sat out back and watched the world go by the whole way to the border and just loved being on a boat for the first time on the mekong. The mekong river is fucking huge! its almost too big! It must be half a mile across in places and some of the big boats that glided past wouldnt look out of place on the salty sea. It took about 2 and a half hours to reach cambodian immigration and all it was was a small compound on one side of the river with a hut and a window, all stamped up we got back on the boat and headed about half a mile down river and to the other side for the vietnamese immigration which was even less… We all lined up and in turn passed our passports to one guard who checked them then waved up through to a little pagoda type thing where we sit and wait for our stamps, then back on the boat for another hour until we reach the small town of chou doc. We passed loads of stilted houses on the riverside and just about every child screeched hello and furiously waved it was lovely and after hearing from alot of people that the Vietnamese people were actually really feisty and mean we were pleasantly surprised. We pulled up at a floating resturant which is part of a hotel on the river and decided to check a room out there, it was lovely, big, clean and only $7 so there we were all settled and sorted on our first day in Vietnam… We had a little wander around the markets outside our hotel and got some top class grub at the floating resturant but not much else as it was getting late. We hoped to go to a nearby hill called sam mountain the next day if the weather was good but it wasnt so we lied in and got a bus further south to the biggest town in the mekong delta called Can Tho… P.s. Sorry im a few days behind im catching up right now! swinging in a hammock on a glorious day in a tiny little resturant in a very rural part of the mekong delta…

Today is our last day in Phnom Penh before we head down the Mekong into Vietnam, we had a few lazy days doing nothing at all after Toby left except for last night after dinner we got in a tuk tuk to come come back to our guesthouse and just after we got in and commented on how nice this particular tuk tuk was he crashed the bugger straight into a parked car… He managed to smash the car up a treat but us and him were completely unharmed and without a scratch and the poor fellow even had the goodness to sort us another tuk tuk before dealing with his boo boo. This morning we planned to spent a few hours at Naca orphanage so we picked up some books, pencils and a big sack of rice before we went. We got there and straight away the little children were all over the tuk tuk and pulling us in to watch their dance they were putting on, and to laugh at my facial peircings!.. We played with the kids and they loved fiddling with the cameras and when I showed them a video on my phone of us sledging back in England they formed a crowd and watched it about 50 times!!! Georgie got crowded by a bunch of little girls reading to her and playing with her hair. It was a lovely few hours and really nice to be able to help although im sure they would appreciate a sack of toys more… They all posed for pictures from the people running the place all in their little costumes and generally run about making noise and being little children which is quite a rare thing out here, most children you see are trying to sell books or postcards on the streets some are still out at 11 o’çlock at night… We stayed for most of the morning and im sure Georgie would have stayed all day if she could but they were all busy with their play and we crept away back to Okay guesthouse to sort things out for tomorrow and get ready to get back on the road again. From Saigon to Hanoi will be the longest we have travelled yet and we only have 30 days to do it in so maybe for the next month at least it will be a bit more “travelling”…

The last two days with Toby were mainly mispent at the markets around Phnom Penh. Firstly was the Russian market a maze of stalls selling everying imaginable “to a chorus of hello mister you look” After the food stalls and tacky souveneirs was the knock off dvd section and they had everything you could ever want and more all for a few pence. We spent far too much money and far too much time sweating it out but im sure Georgie would say the exact opposite! Yesterday we went along to the centre market to shop for nik naks because Toby is soon on his way back to the UK and kindly offered to take a big bag back for us to save on postage costs. The centre market was much of the same but a little more roomy and some amazing food stalls outside. Georgie saw Toby’s offer as an opportunity to buy as much as Toby could carry… And thats exactly what she did. We got some pretty cool stuff and some little pressies and souveneirs for the poor lad to lug back to Bangkok then on to Hong Kong before flying home. Both nights we spent in the local english pub playing pool and darts and drinking a plenty, also hatching grand plans of our next adventure together. It was reall sad to say bye to Toby and its going to be christmas before we see him again but its been pretty fucking good and we are really looking forward to coming home and seeing everybody…

The last two days with Toby were mainly mispent at the markets around Phnom Penh. Firstly was the Russian market a maze of stalls selling everying imaginable “to a chorus of hello mister you look” After the food stalls and tacky souveneirs was the knock off dvd section and they had everything you could ever want and more all for a few pence. We spent far too much money and far too much time sweating it out but im sure Georgie would say the exact opposite! Yesterday we went along to the centre market to shop for nik naks because Toby is soon on his way back to the UK and kindly offered to take a big bag back for us to save on postage costs. The centre market was much of the same but a little more roomy and some amazing food stalls outside. Georgie saw Toby’s offer as an opportunity to buy as much as Toby could carry… And thats exactly what she did. We got some pretty cool stuff and some little pressies and souveneirs for the poor lad to lug back to Bangkok then on to Hong Kong before flying home. Both nights we spent in the local english pub playing pool and darts and drinking a plenty, also hatching grand plans of our next adventure together. It was reall sad to say bye to Toby and its going to be christmas before we see him again but its been pretty fucking good and we are really looking forward to coming home and seeing everybody…

The following morning we were woken by Toby knocking on the door and when we opened it he was only holding a tray of coffee’s which was bloody nice, we sat about drinking them and deciding what to do and we settled on going to the shooting range…
We had some breakfast and then off we went in a tuk tuk . It took quite a while to get there as its right on the outskirts of the city past the airport, then we turn off the main road and continue down a dirt road for a mile or two. As we got close there were what looked like soliders training in a feild nearby all armed to the teeth and running and diving about. we pulled up at a large open sided building with guns all hanging on one wall for you too choose from, Toby had his heart set on blowing the shit out of a chicken but they said no, then they said yes but for far too much money so he decided not to do it but seeing as we had come all that way and I had never fired a gun before I picked up an AK47…
First up was single shots and to be honest I was expecting more from it, maybe im just a marksman at heart but I was expecting more kickback from the rusty old thing. Then the chap gave it a little squirt of oil and flicked a switch and away I went in fully automatic, now that I was pretty impressed with in a scary sort of way. Then it was Geogies turn with it and she was a little dubious about it but with a little encouragement she was armed and ready, she only had a couple of shots and didn’t really think much of it so after that we hopped back in our tuk tuk and headed back to Okay guesthouse.
That evening we managed to talk ourselves into going back to the casino, but the staff had our numbers and after 3 or 4 free beers each having only put in $60 between us and were all up quite well they said “sorry beer finish” and before they had finished saying it we had all pressed the cash up button and when we got our cash we left briskly with our winnings all with a feeling of this time we had beat the house…

The following morning we were woken by Toby knocking on the door and when we opened it he was only holding a tray of coffee’s which was bloody nice, we sat about drinking them and deciding what to do and we settled on going to the shooting range…
We had some breakfast and then off we went in a tuk tuk . It took quite a while to get there as its right on the outskirts of the city past the airport, then we turn off the main road and continue down a dirt road for a mile or two. As we got close there were what looked like soliders training in a feild nearby all armed to the teeth and running and diving about. we pulled up at a large open sided building with guns all hanging on one wall for you too choose from, Toby had his heart set on blowing the shit out of a chicken but they said no, then they said yes but for far too much money so he decided not to do it but seeing as we had come all that way and I had never fired a gun before I picked up an AK47…
First up was single shots and to be honest I was expecting more from it, maybe im just a marksman at heart but I was expecting more kickback from the rusty old thing. Then the chap gave it a little squirt of oil and flicked a switch and away I went in fully automatic, now that I was pretty impressed with in a scary sort of way. Then it was Geogies turn with it and she was a little dubious about it but with a little encouragement she was armed and ready, she only had a couple of shots and didn’t really think much of it so after that we hopped back in our tuk tuk and headed back to Okay guesthouse.
That evening we managed to talk ourselves into going back to the casino, but the staff had our numbers and after 3 or 4 free beers each having only put in $60 between us and were all up quite well they said “sorry beer finish” and before they had finished saying it we had all pressed the cash up button and when we got our cash we left briskly with our winnings all with a feeling of this time we had beat the house…

Yesterday we got nice and early for the bus and tried to get some sleep on the way, still feeling the night before and Cambodia’s bumpy roads don’t help the cause. We got into Phnom Penh around 3pm and went straight to Okay guest house where we said we would meet Toby, popped out for a bite and then by chance I was walking through the main restaurant area and there he was all tall and curly. We went to our room and Georgie went ape shit… natch!
It was wicked to see him again and after a while catching up and hearing stories of Vietnam we all jumped in a tuk tuk and went to the lakeside for sun set drinkipoos and curry. Whilst sinking a few quiet cans on the veranda looking out across the lake someone had the brilliant idea of finding a casino…
We were pointed in the direction of Naga World casino, a very big and proper casino in the middle of Phnom Penh. I was not allowed into the main area with all the proper tables as I was in a vest but we were allowed in the electronic section and all sat around electronic roulette, demanded our free beer and away we went. I probably had my suspicions before and should have acted upon them but Georgie is a FIEND… Im pretty sure there is no actual real “proper” gambler but still Georgie is just a FIEND when she is in front of a roulette wheel, gagging to go inside the big room I was made to cash in my winnings, and go get a T shirt on but when we got back and took a stroll around it was soon apparent the stakes for the tables were too high and Georgie was too keen!
So back to the electronic roulette tables and 20cents bets. We had a plan to milk it for all its worth and spent several hours demanding free beer and smokes and getting them down us as quick as humanly possible… In mine and Toby’s case it was going pretty well, we were slamming the beers back and playing small but Georgie was getting more drunk and more rowdy and skint far too often. We ordered some complimentary french fries and after an hour and a shit load of beer they hadn’t arrived… This rubbed Toby up the wrong way and he asked to see tha manager and proceeded to cause a scene, a few classic things were said such as “I will make go and make them, it don’t take a hour and a half to make french fries, Im not betting another penny until I get them, go and wake the lazy bastards up, we will take our money to another casino!”
10 mins later 2 plates of fries turned up, and this continued all night… Oi another beer please… erm excuse me more fries please. The more beer they brought us the worse we got but who’s to blame really!? We say them. Anyway a wicked night was had and Toby and I done alright but Georgie the Fiend didnt do so well but it didnt matter we went back to our guest house all drunk and rowdy and ordered some pizza delivered to our 3rd floor guesthouse room and all sat on the bed and scoffed it up…

Our First morning in Phnom Penh was a well deserved lie in, only till about 10 or so but it was good honest sleep and not passing out because we drank too much. We had asked our tuk tuk driver to meet us at 11am and take us to the killing fields museum and S-21 museum, so after breakfast we wandered outside and there he was, its election time at the moment and the streets were crammed with people hanging out of brightly coloured trucks and cars or stuffed onto mopeds all in bright T shirts chanting and waving flags but our driver managed to squeeze through and get us along to the killing feilds in good time. There isn’t much to say about the killing fields really, it is what it is, although it was the most peaceful place in all of Cambodia we have seen so far a heavy and grim air hangs over the field of unearthed mass graves and the monument in the middle filled with skulls and bones they have excavated towers eerily like a picture with eyes that follow you around a room. We walked and saw all there is to see but as is always the case it takes a while to really sink in, we hopped back in the rumping old tuk tuk and poodled off towards S-21 back in the middle of the city. We could tell instantly as we approached the grim grey buildings that thats where we were outside was a sea of tuk tuks and as we paid our tickets and walked along to block A the first thing to grab you again is how quiet and serene it is. Again its not something that is easy to describe but something you know or you don’t. We walked around all 3 blocks and all 3 floors looking at the cells and torture devices but its the pictures of the peoples faces that carries the most weight, the fact that every face tells a different story, some have a defiant look in their eye, some look terrified and some look as if they gave up long before the pictures were ever taken… Personally I wouldn’t go back, Im glad I went but I missed the point, I walked away knowing more than I did and maybe thats the point but for me it was too grim all it made me feel was angry and the more we saw the worse it got. I understand the poor people in the pictures had no hope and got no justice but I couldn’t help feeling like that place kept the wrong sort of memories alive, a tourist infested grim reminder is a very different thing to a monument of remembrance for the people. We left S-21 and went to the riverside area for some grub and a wander but a big rainstorm blew over and we retreated to our room for a few hours to chill out. That evening we wandered back down to the lakeside to find our friends and by jove we did just that, it was like a little reunion. Sitting in the bar stretching over the lake as the sun set was beautiful and we sat chatting to all the people from monkey Brooke, Brooke, Hannah, Rachel, Bethan, Cloe and Finn then went out for a last meal together as they were heading to Lao and we were off to Siam Reap tomorrow…