Golden Mekong Hotel Phnom Penh

... as all of the gardens - that were filled with elephant and dog-shaped hedges - complete with paper teeth and eyes. We conversed with many friendly monks and learnt much about ourselves. Namely that Gen V. is a tree. We also picked up alot of basic local dialect (Socks-a-per-day - 'How are you', and suis-s'day - 'hello' and the word for turtle which Miss Yeates can't remember but has something to do with a ...

... in HCMC - only word to describe it is is mental! It makes NYC seem like a sleepy village - no joke! Had dinner in Allez Boo which is a backpacker bar. When we got back to our guest house, which is run by the nicest lady, I forgot that we had to climb hundreds of stairs to get to our room! I honestly thought I was going to get a nosebleed from the altitude.

On reflection, I wish I could have spent more time in Cambodia because ...

... Toul Slang which is heavily fenced up, Choeung Ek is less security conscious and like everywhere else in Phnom Penh, this place got its share of beggars hassling tourists for money.The little boy that followed me surprisingly spoke more than one word of English, more than the usual "give me money" commonly found in the streets of Phnom Penh.This smart little boy keeps repeating "Papa, I have no pencil,I have no books, I no school, give me some money".He ...

... 1979. They were ruthlessly tortured, treated worse than animals and most died in the prison or got executed at the Killing Fields. It is a somber exhibit of the worst possible human cruelty. No one was spared, men, women, children, old and young, foreigners and monks. They were summarily tortured and killed.

On the way to the Killing Fields, a well-fed local woman in a tuk tuk parallel to ours decided to get rid of her phlegm and spat outside, on my side ...

... Just the thought wrenches my stomach.

Luke and I were thoroughly saddened and exhausted from a day of death and destruction, so we took it to the house and pretty much called it a day. That night we had plans to meet up with Mike Rios, a friend of Wes and Savin’s that lives here in Phnom Penh. We had pizza and some beer. Oh yeah, they have Beerlao here. Man I’ve missed that stuff. Terry, Heather, Luke, and myself met Mike at Liquid at 7. It is in an expat village ...

... on a few education conferences. Shame really but Sothin told me that there are two other English teachers I can work with except that one is in the hospital in Vietnam and one has yet to decide if he wants to work with me.
So needless to say I haven't received the warmest of welcomes from the staff. Then there's my host family, a 55-year-old widow named Maan and her two adorable grandchildren, Nita who is 9 and Sopea who is 5, a handful with his ...

... to find out...
Anyway we had a really nice meal in a cafe nearby and relaxed on our first night in Cambodia. It seemed a cool place, much poorer than neighbouring countries. There were a lot of poor looking people, rubbish dumped at roadsides and the roads were full of holes, yet there were a lot of really big new 4x4 trucks, Lexus cars and a few jaguars on the streets.

We awoke to discover that Pete had been feasted on by an army of bedbugs all night!! Poor Pete ...

... Khmer Rouge regime between 1975 & 1979. They are still seeing the effects of this today. Pretty sad really.

At the Guesthouse we are staying at Noma Says the resident dog, "Lucky". reminds her of Nessie...yes love....

Tomorrow we try to get our Visas for Vietnam so we can get outta here.

Keep in touch,
Mark and Noma

PS Mum and Dad, can you please text me your work email addresses. Also, did the foxtel box get sent okay?

... from there to Kratie, as the job advert said would be mandatory, would involve “discussions” with her Military Police husband. Mao informed us that this actually meant that moving would not be happening. Why did she apply? She has wasted our time.

• Had ...
  Phnom Penh, Cambodia awfullook

... I got to eat some great food...pulled pork sandwhich, corn on the cob, and a donut. There was a hot dog eating contest, but only 5 minutes long and the winner only ate 5 hot dogs (he was a US Marine). Lots of music, some dancing, some acrobats, but no fireworks. The Ambassador did get in the dunk tank which was pretty funny.

I can't believe it's time to leave this country. But, again, its always nice to leave knowing you have something to look forward to. Laos, here I come!