BACK TRACKING - Letters from Kampuchea 1st Post

Hello! I forgot to post my first blog on here, so I am doing a back track :)

Are you ready to Time Warp?

Time is fleeting, madness takes its hold...

So it's only 3.30pm Cambodian time (5.30pm Brisbane) on Monday afternoon and we've managed to stay up for about 36 hours now, with only 10 minute power naps to keep us going! Don't worry, the $1.00 beers have helped get us through.

We've gone from Brisbane to Kuala Lumpur and happily spent 8 hours on a Malaysian Airlines flight with a choice of 20 new release movies, tv shows and games - all accessible through a remote control - best thing since sliced bread. We then spent 4 hours in KL airport. There are three main things I noticed most about KL (airport, as I'm not fit to judge the rest of the country yet) 1. the sun didn't rise until about 7.30am 2. It smells. It's a weird sort of smell, like a cross between a cupboard at my nanna's that hasn't been opened since 1940 and urine. 3. They are the proud owner of a bar in the airport called Cheers, where everybody knows your name.

After trying to have a kip in some awesomely designed recliner chairs, it was time to leave for CAMBODIA! Or CAMBOOYA!! as I like to call it. See the clever use of Camb (the first syllable in Cambodia) and BOOYA! As in supremely awesome. I knew you would.

Malaysia Airlines have looked after us fantastically, feeding us and entertaining us at every opportunity. Unfortunately, there was a f*ckstick of a Frenchman on our flight making this strike 2 against French men when traveling abroad (see the first travel blog on Vietnam, namely in Sapa). They are extremely rude (ordering the flight attendant around like a dog, refusing to listen to the obligations of people sitting in the exit rows (thankfully he was moved because I sure didn't trust him to step up to the responsibility of saving me in an emergency!) and then cutting in front of us in the visa line - f*cker (luckily, it was the line for visa's NOT for fighting, or Chutney)).

So we made it to Kampuchea, through the visa line (we had to bribe the customs official US$1 to let us through without a pre arranged passport photo!), then through customs, which consisted of:
Customs Official with Gun: "Anything to declare?"
Us: "No"
Customs Official with a Gun": "Head straight through"
No bag search, no X-ray - nothing. I think John and I must be the luckiest people ever when it comes to customs - touch wood.

We had arranged to be picked up by our hotel - the Flamingo in central Phnom Penh. It's not too bad, comfy, clean, maybe a little bit over priced (which happens when you book before you get here) and FULL of SLEAZY Britich Expats, scamming all over the local girls (but from what I've seen, it seems to everywhere in Phnom Penh). I LOVE what I've seen of South East Asia, I mean LOVE it. The locals are fantastically friendly, the food is AMAZING (just to overuse CAPS here like a 14 year old on MSN... lyk OMG LolzorZ!) and the things to see and do are completely out of anything I would see in my normal world. There's just one thing - I HATE (there's the overuse of CAPS again) the underbelly and seediness of the older male expat community. They are vile. Like Kyle Sandilands - on crack.

Unfortunately that comes with 3rd world and developing economies, even developed economies if you look in the right places in Australia. So I'm going to continue to love South East Asia like it's my home away from home. With cheap beer & food, rich & proud culture, and interesting people - like Kim - the owner of The Flamingo who we met this afternoon.

We're heading to some touristy places tomorrow, the Killing Fields, S21, some pagoda's and the Royal Palace and Elephant rides. The day after, it's off to see the RIEL (see my pun there? No? Look it up) Kampuchea with our new friend Daka.

Peace, Love and Rainbow's.

Shanngelina.