TravelStream™ news feed for member roadtrip on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/roadtrip en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:32:54 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1158239940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1158239940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1158239940/tpod.html Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:32:54 -0400 London to New York, the long way round, the overland adventure of a lifetime! travelling through 13 countries and covering over 30000 miles.

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Yangshou, China

I arrived in Yangshou, all weary eyed and tired after a 17 hour bus journey. I clambered out of the bus and was immediately met by a tout offering his 'family hotel'. I just told him I already had somewhere to stay, but after pestering me I eventually gave in and just went to have a look at the room. This decision turned out to be the biggest mistake of my travels so far!I had a look at the room, a twin, with a TV and it was actually quite nice, but then came the manager who gave me the hard sell. He wanted Y80/night (about a fiver) and as I was still half asleep I didn't even bother to haggle hard, agreeing on Y75/night...fool! I didn't have enough cash on me to pay for 4 nights so he drove me down to the ATM, very eager to take my cash...When we got back he then offered to give me some information about what I could do. I thought that would be cool, but it turned out he wanted to plan an itinerary for each day I was in Yangshou, with lots of excursions. He gave me the hard sell for over 30 minutes, saying that today he had a 'special price' as it was the hotel's birthday, and generally just feeding me rubbish. Again, being 'off-guard' I agreed to do a boat trip down the Li River and to visit the Buddha Water Cave for Y400 - I got totally screwed really, and even before I agreed to it my gut feeling was to say no, but I stupidly said yes.The Li River boat trip was in the afternoon, later that day, so I had little time to recover from the bus ride. I was given lunch - basically this meant taking me to a local cheap eat place and giving me some food (real cost about 40p). I was then pushed onto a local bus to the village from where the boat leave from, not knowing what to do when I got there or anything. When I initially asked about the bus, the manager said it was 'nearly full' which I interpreted it as being a tour bus of some kind, but it was actually the local bus! Again he was just feeding me with crap...I was met by some Chinese lady who put me on the boat, and we set off, in the pouring rain. It wasn't that impressive really; scenery was beautiful, the small hills just jutting out of the landscape looked crazy, but nothing I couldn't have seen elsewhere in the area. Yet again the driver didn't speak any English so I didn't have a clue what he was saying when he was explaining the scenery to the other Chinese tourists.Later that day I had a walk around the town, down to 'Foreigner Street' and it was complete chaos; yet again it was another town that has been inundated with Chinese tourists, well tourism in general. Everywhere you turn it's the same old story, people hassling me to buy things, and I was just getting tired of saying 'No'. It's been the same story across China, getting hassled off people all the time, but I hear Vietnam is even worse!As it was the 'hotel's birthday', the manager told me that there would be free beer that night (which must have been one of the deciding factors for staying there..), but it turned out to be one beer from the shop around the corner. He then pestered me to go for a 'special massage' which I declined of course, and then he just fell asleep. I headed for a bar down on Foreigner Street where I joined a killer pool competition. There were about 12 of us in it and I ended up winning that round! I then had to play best of 3 with the winner of the first round which I missed, who turned out to be Scottish. I won the first game, lost the second but won the third!! I was pool champion of Water Buffalo bar for that week, the prize was a few beers are a t-shirt with the Water Buffalo Logo on! Not a bad end to my first day in Yangshou.The next day I had planned to visit the caves the next day, with the idea of checking out of the hotel the next day. The guy who met me at the bus station was meant to take me there on the bikes, but he was 'too busy' and ended up getting some girl to escort me there. I wanted the guy to come along to take some pix of me, but as it turned out, I had a private tour as no one else was there, so the guide took some pictures for me. The caves were wicked, although I hit my head countless times! People lived in them when the Japanese invaded. I had a mud bath in there too which was very bizarre; there was a huge pool of mud and when you lie down in it you float. It's a strange sensation as it doesn't feel like water, and very relaxing. Normally there would be dozens of people in the mud but luckily I had it all to myself. That evening I battled through the Chinese tourists (well not quite but the street does looks like a stream of black hair..) again to get to the Water Buffalo bar to claim my free beers.The following day I packed my stuff up and tried to check out, but I was met with the friendly words of "You fu*k me!", which I thought were a little harsh. hehe. The manager wouldn't let me check out unless I forfeit Y100 because he had turned loads of people away that morning as the hotel was full! He just blatantly lied to me! I know full well the hotel wasn't not full as I rarely saw anyone else in the place. I pleaded with him but he refused and then quickly left. So I decided to stick it out in the hotel, even though I could get a dorm bed down the road for Y20/night. I just decided to spend as little time there as possible. I grabbed a coffee i the town before hitting the Internet to call home for my Mum's birthday.The following day I decided to get a bike and head out into the paddy fields to check out the surrounding area. The manager promised me that as I was a guest at the hotel I could use their bikes, which he claimed were "good, with twist gears". After riding to the cave a few days previous I knew that the bikes were totally rubbish, and even if I wanted to use them again, I didn't see them again after that day- scam! Anyways, I headed out in search of a decent bike and after an hour or so I found one at Bamboo Inn, a really friendly place right in the centre of Foreigner Street. Y20/day wasn't too bad, so I made my way out into the countryside with the aid of a map.I tried to follow the map but it was pretty bad and I got completely lost! After about 2 hours of riding I was in the middle of nowhere! It was all good though as the landscape was amazing, and I passed through lots of little villages, which most people would never get to see. Sometimes the path would end suddenly so I would have to put my bike on my shoulder and walk through the paddy fields, or at one point over one of the hills. I think getting lost made the trip more exciting as I was completely away from where all the other cyclists go, and so I could enjoy views on my own. It was scorching hot all day and I was completely saturated with sweat, lovely, and I burnt my hands! I must have forgotten to put sun block on my hands! Doh!The next day I went for another ride but in a totally different direction, and yet again, due to the poor map I got lost (honestly, I'm not a retard, I can follow a map..usually). Then to make matters worse, I got a puncture! I was just riding along thinking how bad it would be to get a puncture in the middle of nowhere, and then, I get one! I pushed the bike back to the main road to the nearest village where I managed to find a guy who could repair it. Y3 later and I'm rolling along again, this time along the road to get to where I wanted. I was in search of the 3 coloured ponds, which apparently are, as you may well guess, 3 different colours. When I eventually found them, after cycling right past them, they didn'ty seem like 3 different colours really, although they were unusual. The sunburn on my hands got worse that day, bright red but no blisters.In order to save some cash in Yangshou I didn't eat in any of the cafes on Foreigner Street. They may still be cheap in comparison to the UK, but having been in China for a while, I knew I could eat far more cheaply at the places the locals eat. So for the whole time I was in Yangshou breakfast consisted of peanut butter and jam sandwiches for breakfast (I found a brilliant little bakery which did really good bread and pastries!), then for lunch it was noodle soup (Y2 = 14p). Dinner was usually a stir-fry, where you just grab a plate, fill it with what ever ingredients you like, choose some meat, and they throw it in a wok for you and serve it with a bowl of rice, all for a mere Y5 (35p). I think it is far better to eat like this anyway; not only do I get dirt cheap food, but I get see more of the culture, unlike the western style cafes where there a English menus, serving all the usual dishes. The places I go to don't have menus, they don't speak English, but it's an experience.I booked a train ticket to Kunming from Guilin (bus from Yangshou to Guilin) through thr manager of the hotel. Again another big mistake. He told me that they only run every-other day, which may be true, but it sounded to me like a ploy to make me stay another night! He dropped me off at the nus stop, gave me my ticket, covering the real price with some paper with the hope I wouldn't check it before leaving, but I did. I paid Y280 but the face value of the ticket was Y169. I expected to pay a little commission as I always do, but he screwed me again. I didn't challenge it as I couldn't change anything, so I asked for my room deposit back, and he promptly gave me a Y100 note from a side pocket of his bum-bag (which I'm sure was actually part of his body as he never took it off). There are lots of fake notes in China, so I checked it as best I could; the watermark and metal strip were there, but it felt a little thicker than normal, but I thought it was just because it was new. My gut feeling was that it wasn't right, but I didn't say anything and I later found out when I came to use it that is was fake! Talk about rubbing salt into the wound!Yangshou proved to be one of the best experiences in China, but also my worst of travelling so far. The scenery was amazing and I really enjoyed the bike rides and the cave, but it was spoilt by getting scammed by my hotel.Bus to Guilin, then a 22 hour train to Kunming, the adventure continues...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1156639980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1156639980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1156639980/tpod.html Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:39:03 -0400 London to New York, the long way round, the overland adventure of a lifetime! travelling through 13 countries and covering over 30000 miles.

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Beijing, China

So the time came for me to leave Mongolia, I can't say I wanted to as I enjoyed my time there so much. However I'm travelling the world and I have to move on at some point, China next stop. The train from UB to Beijing was a pretty straightforward affair, and the border crossing was way quicker than the Russia-Mongolian crossing! Even though they had to change the bogies (wheels) of the train to match the width of the tracks in China, it still only took 5 hours or so. The Chinese decided to make their train tracks a different width to everywhere else so that if they were invaded the train network could not be used... hmmm, right. Anyway, I arrived in Beijing and as soon as I stepped off the train I felt an immediate buzz about the place. I just felt very comfortable there, not sure why, perhaps coming through Russia and Mongolia (UB) it simply felt more safe. I shared a taxi, after some faff finding one, with a South-African couple who were in my compartment on the train. The directions I had on my leaflet for my hostel were pretty poor but I eventually got to my hostel. The same night I got in touch with the girls from the second trek in Mongolia and headed out in taxi to meet them on the other side of Beijing; the taxi driver knew roughly where to go (and obviously didn't speak any English) but after 40 mins of pretty lights and neon signs we were no closer to getting there. I managed to get the driver to call the girls to get more directions and I eventually rolled up at the restaurant with a taxi bill of 3 quid - Beijing taxis are cheap! Happy days. The following day I headed off to the Great Wall with Cat and some German guys; the girls had contacts in Beijing and had arranged to go to the Great Wall with a private driver- luckily there was space for me too! We drove to a less touristy spot of the wall Simatai with the aim of walking the 10km along to the next village, which we did! The climb was intense at some points and the sweat was pouring off me, but the views were breathtaking! I can't believe they built the wall like they did, it's crazy! It stretches out along mountain ridges, up 70 degree slopes and is still standing today! If you ever come to China, you cannot afford to miss this! After bouncing around Russia and Mongolia for 6 weeks I decided that I needed to chill out for a while before heading off into China. I also needed to sort out my Vietnam visa too, which I thought would be easy, and it was after I spent 3 hours wandering around looking for the embassy! Stupid maps! The hostel I was staying at (Leo Hostel, right near Tianamen, and 3 quid /night) was fantastic; good atmosphere, reasonable food, fantastic staff and loads of other travellers (Big shout to Danny, Mel, Megan, Paul, Will, Hayley, Charlotte). I ended up eating out most nights with people I met in the hostel, but it was still dirt cheap. I had the famous Peking Duck a couple of times! It's way different to back home, sliced duck and the usual pancakes, but it comes with soup made from some of the bones, and the rest of the duck bits are deep fried, including the whole head! I wasn't brave enough to eat the head, but I did each scorpion at the night market! It looked pretty menacing but after the initial crunch it wasn't too bad, just salty. One day I was sitting on the internet when the Aussie guy (Danny) who was in my dorm in Moscow rolled in. He didn't even do the Transiberian like me so it was crazy meeting him again! This seems to be pretty common though, I've bumped into quite a few people for a second time now. I guess people are just following the usual routes...I did a few of the usual tourist attractions, The Forbidden City and The Summer Palace. The Forbidden City was very disappointing as it was covered in scaffolding for restoration work for the 2008 Olympics, but was pretty boring anyway, not to mention swarming with tourists! The Summer Palace was a different story; really tranquil gardens and scenery and definitely worth the 1 hour bus journey across Beijing to get to it.For my final night in Beijing a load of us from the hostel went out to bar street (Well Danny and Paul wanted to watch the Aussie football but it was a good excuse to have a load of beer). We ran into Jim who I met in Mongolia, so we sat and had a few drinks before going to a club. It was a crazy night, as always with me, and everyone was steaming. Justin took his camera so I've got a few pix of the night and hopefully I'll be able to put them up on here soon.I woke up the next day as rough as a badgers backside, and had to take a overnight train to Pingyao on a hard seat. The adventure continues...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1159944660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1159944660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1159944660/tpod.html Mon, 25 Jun 2007 04:49:22 -0400 London to New York, the long way round, the overland adventure of a lifetime! travelling through 13 countries and covering over 30000 miles.

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Hue, Vietnam

The 12 hour bus journey wasn't that painful; as it's low season in Vietnam, the bus wasn't that busy so I had a double seat to myself. We were dropped off at bus company's office, and conveniently there was a guesthouse there ready to suck in people off the bus. My main reason for stopping in Hue was to visit the DMZ (De-militarised Zone) which was the divide between North and South Vietnam. It is home to the Vinh Moc Tunnels, which were dug out by the Vietnamese to live in during the conflict (Google it for more info). I spoke to a couple on my Halong Bay boat trip who had taken motorbikes there for $10 return (considering its 115km there, 230km total, I think $10 was a bragain!), so I sorted out a ride there through the hotel. Before heading off we grabbed some food at a restaurant, which was cheap and super tasty (Just check out the picture of my Vietnamese Spring rolls!)The ride there was pretty interesting, passing through small towns and villages, the evidence of the recent typhoon clearly visible by the damage to trees and buildings. It was glorius sunshine one minute then a dark cloud loomed on the horizon, and before we knew it, the heavens opened! We pulled over outside a shop and our drivers bought us ponchos to wear; oh good did I look wearing a blue bin bag, the sleeves of which came up to my elbow! The rain didn't last long and we were soon at the tunnels. We bought our ticket (50p) and headed down to the entrance where we joined a tour group. We headed inside the tunnels which were dark and damp, and for some reason I decided that I wanted to head down one of the unlight tunnels to see what was down there. Everywhere else was signposted, but one turning was not part of the normal route, so I headed into the darkness with my little torch, Shi-ru following behind. After about 5 mintues of walking in the pitch black we didn't come across anything interesting, so we headed back, by which time the tour group had disappeared! We managed to follow the signs out, but we weren't sure if we had missed any of the tunnel or not, so we jumped on the back of another tour group who guided us around almost exactly the same path as we had just taken, so we ended up doing it twice! (value for money....)On the way back we stopped off at the bridge over the river that forms the DMZ. It's no longer in use as a new road bridge stands next to it. On one side was a new memorial, depicting a woman with her child, waiting for her husband to return from the other side.....We also stopped off at a military cemetery on the way back, where hundreds upon hundreds were buried. Just a tiny proportion of the total amount who were killed in the war.That evening we headed out to be greeted by a street festival; it was coming up to the lunar new year (I believe) and the children dance in the streets, in full consume to try and make some money. I cant quite remember the exact details though.The following day turned out to be action packed, well, very busy!I agreed with my moto driver from the day before to do a city tour, taking in all of the major sights. The first port of call was the Old Citadel; much like the forbidden city in Beijing, only severely affected by war, with many of the buildings totally destroyed. Next was the Tu Hieu Pagoda, the story of which eludes me (as with most of the following attractions....). Next was the site of an old American bunker, followed by the Tu Duc Tomb, which had also suffered the effects of the war. Next was the Dung Kanh tomb, followed by the Thieu Tri Tomb which was the largest of them all, albeit in the worst condition. On the way back to the city we stopped at the former house of Ho Chi Minh, where he lived from 1898-1900. Thrilling stuff.....yeah right...I was only stopping in Hue for a night, so I took the afternoon bus to Hoi An just after lunch, an easy 4 hours. And it was easy, I had all 5 seats on the back row to stretch out and sleep, perfect!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1163074980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1163074980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1163074980/tpod.html Wed, 03 Jan 2007 05:53:07 -0500 London to New York, the long way round, the overland adventure of a lifetime! travelling through 13 countries and covering over 30000 miles.

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Krattie, Cambodia

A quick stop on the way to Laos to check out the dolphins, nothing more to say really...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1163593200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1163593200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1163593200/tpod.html Wed, 03 Jan 2007 05:51:18 -0500 London to New York, the long way round, the overland adventure of a lifetime! travelling through 13 countries and covering over 30000 miles.

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Sen Monorom, Cambodia

Rolling hills, lush greenery and cool evenings, sounds almost like the UK, except for the dirt roads and elephants.It was a long bus journey there, but it was worth enduring the bumpy, dusty ride, crushed into the back of the bus.I spent five days up there, checking out the biggest waterfall in Cambodia, and taking in a short elephant trek into the forest. The scenery was beautiful, but alas, I had to move on, again.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1162560180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1162560180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1162560180/tpod.html Wed, 03 Jan 2007 05:49:34 -0500 London to New York, the long way round, the overland adventure of a lifetime! travelling through 13 countries and covering over 30000 miles.

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Phnom Penh, Cambodia

A weekend of partying, that's it. Alcohol, and women's clothes for some reason, all in the name of fun now of course.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1162300380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1162300380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1162300380/tpod.html Wed, 03 Jan 2007 05:38:40 -0500 London to New York, the long way round, the overland adventure of a lifetime! travelling through 13 countries and covering over 30000 miles.

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Sihanoukville, Cambodia

After Siem Reap I headed back to Phnom Penh in order to get a visa for Laos and then head North, however the embassy was closed so I had to kill a few days, so I decided to hit a beach.Didn't get up to much, snorkelling trip to Bamboo island and lots of alcohol followed by a late night swim, it was like having a bath...but salty, not soapy.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1161956100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1161956100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1161956100/tpod.html Wed, 03 Jan 2007 05:32:52 -0500 London to New York, the long way round, the overland adventure of a lifetime! travelling through 13 countries and covering over 30000 miles.

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Siem Reap, Cambodia

Well, there's not much to say apart from this place is completely surreal; ancient temples dating back hundreds of years, some untouched, some consumed by nature.I hired a moto driver to take me around the temples for a couple of days.I witnessed the most amazing sunrise at Sra Srang lake, check out the photo of the lady praying whilst the sky is a blaze with colour.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1161689520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1161689520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1161689520/tpod.html Fri, 10 Nov 2006 08:52:09 -0500 London to New York, the long way round, the overland adventure of a lifetime! travelling through 13 countries and covering over 30000 miles.

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Battambang, Cambodia

As Cambodia is fairly small the bus journeys are short, bonus, though they are always early morning. So 5 hours on the bus, squashed between two monks, and I arrive in Battambang to be greeted by the most fierce crowd of touts so far. As I was the only foreigner on the bus they all pounced on me as soon as I stepped off the bus, offering places to stay. Two guys started arguing over me as I had looked at one before the other, and it was pretty close to fists, so I quietly slid away and jumped on a moto with another tout. $4 with fan and cable TV, happy days, but it just goes to show how much you could save by travelling with someone else.Battambang is a very small city so I wandered aimlessly around the streets, around the market, passing monks and streams of children pouring out of a school. I unusually headed for a restaurant from the Lonely Planet (generally they're too expensive, and street food rocks). The Smoking Pot, interesting name, but nothing in it, seriously, just the best food I've had in Cambodia (in hindsight). Cambodian curry is excellent and if you ever get the chance go for either the Amok, or Lok Lak, both delicious!The following day I negotiated a moto driver for the day to take me to visit the nearby temples and killing fields (cave). I guess you're probably not interested in what they're all about, and to be honest, I wasn't too enthused, but I did the 'rounds' anyway. I took in a few temples, some in ruins due to the Khmer Rouge regime, but some standing proud on a cliff top. The killing fields, well in this case it was a cave, was again, harrowing. As you enter there is a cage full of skulls and bones, but when you look closely you could clearly see how their skulls were split open. Basically, the Khmer Rouge threw the people off the top of the cave you can see in one of the pictures. It was about a 40/50 foot drop onto rock, little chance of survival... I met an old British lady there, well into her 70's, who was very distraught about the whole scene, and broke down into tears. As I don't know the full story it didn't provoke the same feelings.It was a good day out; driving through obscure villages where everyone would wave and say hello to me, especially the kids. It felt like I was back in Mongolia again where the people I met were so friendly and would always bear a smile. Smoking Pot again that night for some more great food, boat in the morning to Siem Reap, the home of the world famous Angkor Wat, and if you don't know about it, google it...I managed to grab a few pastries from the bakery across the road before getting a moto down to the pier for the boat. I had imagined this large boat where I could chill out on the deck, read and relax, but it was nothing of the sort. I arrived with plenty of time to go yet the boat was already full, but I managed to wedge myself between a couple of bums. The people kept coming, and the boat kept filling up, so much so they just put any new arrivals on the roof. So we set off, cruising down the river and they start picking up even more people! The boat was already stuffed and sitting low in the water yet they were still ramming them on! It was meant to be a 5 hour journey but turned out to be a painful 7.5 hours, the only consolation being some cool scenery.Next stop: Siem Reap, touts and temples, the adventure continues....My new top 5 lists.....Best cuisine:1. China2. Vietnam3. Cambodia4. Mongolia5. RussiaFriendliest people:1. Mongolia2. Cambodia3. Vietnam4. China5. RussiaEasiest country to travel in:1. Vietnam2. Cambodia3. Russia4. Mongolia5. ChinaFavourite country so far:1. Mongolia2. Cambodia3. China=4. Vietnam=4. RussiaMore to come....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1161383400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1161383400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roadtrip/london2newyork/1161383400/tpod.html Fri, 10 Nov 2006 07:09:50 -0500 London to New York, the long way round, the overland adventure of a lifetime! travelling through 13 countries and covering over 30000 miles.

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Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The bus ride from Vietnam to Cambodia was easy. They all seem to be easy these days? I guess after the long journeys of China all these short journeys seem easy.After a little queue at Vietnamese customs I was through and walking across no-mans land into Cambodia. Visa was easy, $20 on entry, but then they try and rob you of a $1 for some yellow form that has "important information". I'd heard about this scam off someone in Vietnam, so I just bit the bullet and refused to pay (I know it's not wise to argue with border guards, but, well....). I grabbed a yellow form and casually walked through the x-ray machine and into Cambodia, no hassle, no worries, and a buck up. A short journey into Phnom Penh and we were dropped at a guesthouse as usual, actually boxed in by the foyer and plants, but I managed to push my way through and escape the scam. I jumped in a tuc-tuc with a few other people and we headed over to the "lake side" as someone had recommended it to me. We ended up staying in the guesthouse it dropped us not before checking out the others around too.I didn't get up to much in particular in Phnom Penh. I did however do the usual tour consisting of the Killing Fields, S21 prison and yet another shooting range. If you know anything about the war in Cambodia then you'll know all about the killing fields and S21, and how the Khmer Rouge killed thousands upon thousands. It was a pretty harrowing experience but something I would have appreciated more if I had known more about the regime.After firing the M16 in Vietnam I opted for the handgun this time. They claim that the shooting ranges in Cambodia are there to "reduce ammunition supplies", but they're just raking in the cash. I let rip 5 rounds on a Colt 45 which had a surprising kick!The rest of my time in Phnom Penh generally consisted of sitting on the veranda of the guesthouse, chilling out looking across the lake. I needed a rest....Next stop Battambang, temples and another killing field, with the main reason to take the boat to Siem Reap which is claimed to be the most scenic in Cambodia.My first impression of Cambodia was good, although more expensive than Vietnam, it had a good feel about it. Phnom Penh was way smaller than the other cities I had visited and hence I enjoyed it more, but I guess staying lake side meant I didn't feel like I was in a big city whatsoever.The adventure continues....(Apologies for the brief entries as I'm trying to catch up...)
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