Cambodia

The first thing to say about Cambodia is that the visa on arrival is processed by about ten different officials who are very serious about their task. Arriving at Siem Reap airport, passengers are told the form given out by Air Asia is no longer used and a new form has to be filled in. While this is being done, applicants are overlooked by a row of uniformed men on a raised platform. Payment is then made, passport and photo handed over, and the checking process begins. Each man checks a different piece of information from the application form and gives it his stamp of approval. Eventually, the passport makes its way along to the end of the line and is returned to its holder, ready to be shown to an immigration official who then stamps visitors into Cambodia.

Siem Reap is a small city and the gateway to Angkor Wat and the other temples around it. A lot of the roads are in need of repair, with big puddles forming when it rains. The people are quietly spoken, somewhat shy but friendly. Around every temple there is someone persistently trying to sell postcards, books, scarves, drinks etc etc. A polite "no thankyou" often does the trick, but not always !

Cambodia is a country that has been through a lot. Hundreds of years ago the vast temple complexes were built and the territory of Cambodia stretched far beyond its current borders. Neighbouring countries have encroached, brutal wars have been fought, and the era of the Khmer Rouge reduced everything to year zero with the brutal atrocities that followed the overthrow of a corrupt regime.

Visiting the killing fields outside Phnom Penh and the S-21 prison complex in the city, where so many people were tortured, puts into context the fact that so many people alive today have lived through what happened. What ended only 12 years ago with the final demise of the Khmer Rouge. Surviving members of the leadership are now undergoing trial for the genocide. Pol Pot died, of course, and cheated justice.

Reading achievement

I have finally completed the 905 page epic that is "Hawaii" by James A Michener. I found this tattered copy abandoned in Munich Airport nearly two months ago, repaired it, and read it bit by bit. It tells the story of Hawaii and its people, from the formation of the islands until the years following the Second World War. Tiny print in this paperback edition, which appears to have been printed in the early 1960s and will now be passed on to the book shelf at the Central Boutique Angkor Hotel in Siem Reap.

Fish pedicure

I'd seen these big fish tanks in Bali, but they're even more common in Cambodia. So-called Dr Fish, which give you a pedicure by eating your dead skin. They peck away at feet and legs while you sit and have a beer. It's supposed to be very therapeutic. $2 US in Siem Reap, where I'm with another good friend from Wellington. I'll spend the final four weeks of this big trip with David, travelling through Cambodia and Vietnam before having a relaxing few nights in Thailand.

Photo Post : Kuala Lumpur

Petronas twin towers.

Looking down from the bridge, connecting the towers at the 41st floor.

Masjid Jamek mosque.

Kuala Lumpur's monorail.

Photo post : Bali

Kuta Beach. The sun was shining soon after a heavy rain shower.

Memorial to the 202 people who died in the terrorist attack on Kuta nightclubs. Most of the victims were Australian.

So there's a blind cafe in Bali too ! I think I'd prefer to see what I'm eating here.

Bali

Walking down the street in Kuta means encountering an endless succession of hawkers who are best ignored, for they don't understand a polite "no thank you".

Hawker : Hello boss...
Me: (no response)
Female hawker : Hello sir massage...
Me : (no response)
Hawker : Hi mate (in an Australian accent), what are you looking for ?
Me : (unaware I was looking for something, no response)
Hawker ; Where you going ?
Me : (thinking that's none of your business, no response)
Female hawker : (stepping into my path and holding out hand) Hello mate (Aussie accent)
Me : excuse me (meaning, get out of my way)
Hawker : Hello sir (holding out a leaflet)
Me : No thank you
Same hawker : come and take a look at my shop
Me : No thanks
Same hawker : t-shirts, Billabong...
Me : How many times do you want me to say no ?

Singapore (and getting here)

Singapore's cheap, efficient and air-conditioned MRT provides a blessed escape from the humidity outside its train carriages. There's also entertainment on board in the form of hilarious jingle announcements. In a kind of 1950s/60s style sing song, like they would have had in Britain and the United States, passengers are urged to give up their seats for the less able. There's also a little ditty on the platform which goes "train is coming, train is coming" in a tune not dis-similar to that of the BBC's tacky tv game show Blankety Blank. Get the picture ?

I took the MRT from the airport into the city centre last night to find my budget hostel accommodation. At least it has air-con and free internet.. but it's a big step down from the luxury of the final days in India.

Because of a special schedule change to pick up Australian athletes from the Commonwealth Games, my plane from Mumbai left at 6am (with a 3am check in) and went via Delhi. Once there, an organisational farce unfolded as first no-one greeted passengers disembarking to go into transit for two hours, then security wouldn't let us through re-screening because they didn't have our flight on the list, and Qantas had to write out boarding passes by hand so they could get an official security stamp. The rigmarole was repeated when it came time for boarding again, and our optimistic departure time of 10:10am ended up being somewhere closer to 11am. Paperwork wasn't in order. There was no printer to give a hard copy of the passenger manifest, and the cabin service manager ended up having to write one out by hand using the boarding pass stubs.

There were lots of people in yellow and gold tracksuits, who had spent the previous two weeks competing in the Commonwealth Games. They all had to sit in economy. There were a couple of officials with me in business class, and one of them gave me a lapel badge designed for the Australian team.

I'm in Singapore for a couple of nights before moving on to Bali for four nights. This morning I caught up with a businessman friend, Richard Tan, who I met when I was in Singapore a few years ago and have kept in touch with since. We had tea and cake, then some delicious soup for lunch and just spent the time chatting.

Yesterday I reached the three-quarters mark. I've got one quarter of my trip to go. It feels as though time is hurtling towards the end, but I've got more than a month still to enjoy in South-East Asian countries.. plus I'm looking forward to being joined for most of that time by my friend David, who is flying out from Wellington and will meet me in Malaysia.