Holiday in Cambodia

What you need, my son...

Is a holiday in Cambodia

Where people are dressed in black

A holiday in Cambodia

Where you'll kiss ass or crack

Pol Pot, Pol Pot, Pol Pot, Pol Pot

Dead Kennedys - Holiday in Cambodia

Election day in Thailand today, and things are getting ugly down South and round Bangkok. A bit of confusion between Trang and Trat meant our plans to get to Ko Chang in one day had been scuppered as we now had no connecting flight. So last minute we bought a flight to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We said our sad goodbyes to Andy and Anna (though there is a slight possibility we may hook up again in Cambodia); it's been great travelling together. After a quick stopover in Bangkok we are now in a new country.

In Cambodia nearly everything (for foreigners at least) is paid for in US dollars, the local currency (Riel) is for the cents; we made sure we got some low-denomination dollars when we changed our Bahts at the airport as we knew change could be a problem.

Cambodia looks a lot poorer than Thailand. Phnom Penh is very low-rise, dusty and more unkept than Bangkok. We saw some slum areas and a few beggars (in nearly a month in Thailand we only saw one beggar) on our way to the hotel. Also the guide book says the medical situation is a bit of a shambles and for anything serious you need evacuation. We have a good insurance and are well stocked up on medicines. Our hotel is in the backpacker part of town, and on the street here things are better, though not quite luxurious. The hotel is great: modern, clean and with a small indoor swimming pool (more like a cold Roman bath). And yes, Lucas fell on his knee again.

Lesson learnt today: I shall not sneer at farangs for eating western food; our first meal in Cambodia was at a pizzeria.