Travelling around Asia for two months is such fun and it is particularly interesting how easily one adapts to the local environment; standards are lowered, raised, or perhaps are just not based on reality anymore!

You know you have been in Asia too long when:

• you are no longer bothered by being bitten by mosquitoes and forget about the existence of malaria!
• it is possible to express what you need to say to a local in three words; usually it takes 15 or more words back home (but this could just be significant occurrence to someone like myself that has a motor mouth!)
• your inner dialogue frequently becomes pigeon English
• AUD$6 (4 pounds, USD$5.90) becomes a total splurge for dinner and you believe that you are ‘treating yourself’
• seeing street dogs no longer trigger a fear of rabbies; you even start to think they are cute and go to pat them
• you haggle for everything you pay for
• you harden to beggars
• sweating all day becomes the norm and you stop having three showers a day
• you start using the phrase ‘same, same, but different’ to the locals before they say it
• writing an e-mail to family, or friends back home becomes a task that requires a great deal of concentration; you have to remind yourself to write in proper English and it is a struggle at times
• you start thinking it is sweet, and the norm, to see old, western men with very young local girls
• you laugh at women tourists who attempt to wear make-up in such humidity and heat
• the locals keep on asking you how long you have lived here for.

Oh Asia is such fun to travel around and many aspects of it make me laugh, very hard!

You know you are in Asia when:

• massive fireworks are sold in super markets and you see local kids running around with metre long contraptions of them hoping they won’t go off near you!
• restaurants have a second or third storey balcony, however they do not have any railings to stop people from falling down
• it is perfectly acceptable to fall asleep whilst working on the job whether it be in a hotel reception, market stall, or in a tuk tuk (a photo of a tuk tuk is inserted above)
• locals yell at you from across the street trying to sell you something, or trying to convince you to ride in their tuk tuk – you cannot always hear them due to the traffic noise, but, oh, they do try!
• you see daily breaches of OHS&W that make you gasp – workmen soldering with no eye protection, appropriate shoes, or clothing
• it takes you over 3.5 hours to travel 100 kilometers (62 miles)
• cigarettes cost AUD$0.40 (27 pence) a packet
• you can purchase ‘genuine’ Gucci, or Rayban sunglasses in the supermarket for AUD$4 (2.60 pounds)
• you realise where many of the seedy, dodgy westerns have disappeared to
• you can lay on the beach and  have a manicure, buy a book to read and purchase sunglasses without having to move a muscle!

I awake with a dreadful headache and feel totally knackered, thus the entire day is spent hiding away in the hotel room watching ‘Mad Men’ episodes with the air conditioning pumping! The sunstroke appears to have drained me of any of my usual energy.

The following day is spent lazing about too. In the afternoon Hi (Mr tuk tuk driver) escorts me to Kbal Chhay Waterfall, which is north of Sihanounkville (see photo to the left). Riding through numerous little towns on the way is interesting and again I observe the variety in the local’s home – some stately homes clearly indicate some people are very well off in this country, however this appears to be limited to a few, as most people seem to live in smaller houses and wooden huts. The gap between the rich and the poor is too great here, as in many other developing countries. It is hard to see at times, yet the locals who seem to have very little in material possessions, always appear relaxed, happy and are able to spend time with their family. They appear to have more leisure time than us in the West and also more opportunities to nap – sleeping on the job in Cambodia is very common! It appears to be acceptable to sleep whilst selling food on the street, in one’s tuk tuk, inside a shop, on the street, or inside hotel lobbies on settees.

After a half an hour drive we reach our destination – the waterfall is quite empty as it is the end of the dry season. A few children are keen to sell more bracelets, plus other trinkets and follow me whilst I explore the surrounding area. Again I feel anger towards their parents as I have experienced many times in Cambodia, however I remind myself these people are very poor and will try anything to make money. I ask the children why they are not in school and they inform me they have a day off today. I hear this a great deal! Also that they only go to school in the morning or afternoon, whatever time of the day it is not!

The ground surrounding the waterfall is burnt orange and it reminds me of the earth up north in Western Australia. The waterfall is pretty, albeit very small. Locals bath themselves in what water is available and children play games splashing each other. As grey clouds quickly move overhead Hi whisks us back to the town. No more than two minutes after we leave the heavens open up and it pours very heavily with rain. Hi is sweet and stands out in the rain pulling down the side protectors in the tuk tuk to prevent the inside of the carriage getting wet. He is soaked at the end of this task, however does not complain. As we drive slowly through the pouring rain he periodically calls out ‘okay?’ to make sure I am still there! I yell above the thunder saying ‘yes okay’. It is definitely an experience!

In the evening I seek out a pedicure and manicure for which I pay $1.50 each for the pleasure – cheap, cheap. The girls in the salon call me ‘sister’ and ask a lot of questions about where I am from. Whilst I am chatting to them three locals enter the store and proceed to spend the next hour applying make-up and doing their hair whilst gossiping. They inform me they are about to go out to a few bars – it appears some things are the same no matter which country a woman is from! I secretly wonder if these women are on the hunt for a foreign man, however I say nothing. Their extremely short skirts and skimpy tops imply they would like to attract some level of attention from the opposite sex though!

Everyday whilst lying on Otres beach I have looked out to sea and admired the local wooden boats that make the journey from Serendipity Beach to the nearby islands. Today I decide to go on a day tour to explore Bamboo Island and two other smaller neighbouring ones. There are only seven of us on the day tour and our friendly guide informs us they sometimes have more than fifteen on this rickety boat – heaven knows how that works! Every time one person alights onto the simple contraption the boat rocks violently to that side of the sea and I each time this happens I pray I do not end up in the water!

I enjoy travelling along the calm sea with the wind blowing in my face, as it reminds me of sailing on my Father’s yacht as a child. We stop to snorkel near the first island and I am ashamed to say, but this is the first time I have snorkelled properly in my life! I usually wear glasses for seeing long distance, thus as I snorkel all I am able to view is the blurry outline of rocks and no fish! Although I am informed by the other people that there is not much to see here, so perhaps there is nothing wrong with my eye sight!

Most of the day is spent on the heavenly Bamboo Island swimming, relaxing and napping. The beach is practically empty and I enjoy having this picturesque place to myself. As a group we trek through the rain forest to the other side of the island where we find another amazing beach, although this one is full of noisy foreign backpackers drinking their way through the day. We have another obligatory swim – it is challenging to resist when having clear, blue water at one’s finger tips.

The afternoon’s snorkelling session is much more successful than the first, I manage to see numerous stripped fish, pretty coral and fortunately avoid meeting any black jellyfish that stung one of the girls in our group.

Later in the afternoon the ride back to Serendipity Beach is a quiet one, as we are all hot, relaxed and enjoying the cool breeze. After an hour of arriving back to my hotel I start to feel woozy and figure I am just hungry, thus food is sought very quickly. However the world starts spinning and realise I have probably have sun stroke. Apparently applying two layers of sunscreen is not suffice to ward off being burnt and getting too hot. After guzzling a few cans of Spite and two liters of water I begin to feel the world around me settle! Sleep comes easily.

The next few days consist of sleeping in, having Hi drive me to Otres Beach and then picking me up late in the afternoon, dinner at my favourite restaurant and lastly sitting on Serendipity Beach watching the sunset. This is the beach holiday I had envisioned whilst planning this trip! Just pure heaven!

The sweet local who works at my hotel calls his Uncle Hi (a tuk tuk driver) to take me to Otres Beach. Hi first claims he will charge me $10 for a return trip, which I laugh at as I was informed to only pay $3-4 for the service. I bargain him down to $5 and I am happy with this. It is clear Cambodians are much poorer than Thai people and I do not have a problem giving them a few more dollars than what I ‘should’.

Hi whisks me away on lovely little trip to the beach, which consists of driving out of the town on cement roads and then along an extremely bumpy dirt road to the top of a hill. Whilst trying hard to avoid the holes in the road, Hi still manages to find some and I make a loud ‘Ohhhh’ sound as my buttocks lift 20 centimetres off the seat! I try hard to stop myself from lifting, then decide it is too much fun bouncing up and down, so I just go with it. Every time I make a ‘Ohhh’ noise Hi turns around and laughs, says he’s sorry, then drives really slowly across the next bump, then he turns around to ask me ‘okay?’ making sure I am fine. He is a sweet man, probably in his fourties and he promises to pick me up from the top of the hill in three hours.

When I reach the steps at the bottom of the hill, I look across the stunning beach and instantly decide I will be coming here for the rest of my time in Sihounkville – the sand is white, the sea is crystal clear, there are a few restaurants with beach chairs and it is not overrun with tourists. I walk 500 metres and decide to sit at the Bamboo Shack. I lay on the beach chair which is about three metres from the water and decide this is heaven! All I can hear is the sound of the waves hitting the sand and I am not harassed by touters. Perhaps one comes every 20 minutes, however when I ignore them they leave quickly and do not ask me again that day. I begrudging leave the beach after three hours and meet Hi at the top of the hill before the sun sets.

Dinner is eaten at my favourite restaurant and then I sit on a lounge chair on Serendipity Beach and watch the sun set. This sets up a routine that lasts for many days!

Rain stops and starts all day long. It is accompanied by a cool breeze, thus these conditions prevent another lazy beach day. However instead the town needs to be explored on foot and I walk to the quite deserted Sokha Beach. The road to this beach is lined by forest and I enjoy the greenery after being in Phnom Pehn.

It appears more locals hang out at this beach than tourists, thus I decide this is not my new destination and I need to find another one to frequent. The owner of my first hotel informs me that Otres Beach is lovely and it can be reached by tuk tuk, however I need to arrange the driver to pick me up as it is quite secluded.

In the evening, I find the amazing Sea View Villa Restaurant  and Guesthouse that I have read about on TripAdvisor – the food lives up to the positive reviews. After requesting a ‘no butter, no oil’ meal I am delighted to consume another healthy dinner! The Cambodians love to put butter and oil in everything! As I am leaving I decide to have the Chicken Mango dish here every night whilst staying in Sihounkville!

When I open my curtains in the morning and see the sun is shining, I almost leap in the air with joy! Two days of beach weather in a row – what a delight! Firstly, I move hotels to stay in the Deva Raja Villa Hotel, which charges AUD$15 a night for a double bed, air conditioning, private bathroom, fridge, TV and a lamp. It is very clean and seems more homely. This appears very special compared to my bare bones room last night at the Bacchus Guesthouse. I found the reviews on TripAdvisor to  be the opposite for these guest houses, which was odd! Deva Raja was condemned heavily and others rave about Bacchus.

I spend the afternoon on the beach only to discover that children are also touters, a fact I am quite disturbed by. Particularly because they are all unaccompanied on the beach either trying to sell products, collecting bottles, or blatantly begging. I try to ignore them and decide not to give them money as it is negatively reinforcing their parent’s behaviour by sending them out on the beach in the first place. This is hard as I do love children… I decide I need to find a new beach to relax at as the touters do not create a terribly peaceful environment. I see why some people do not like Serendipity or Ochheuteal Beach.

Later on I observe signs that ask tourists not to give children any money as there is a local project set up to encourage their parents to make products to sell in shops to visitors in order to allow the children to attend school. I am thankful such a project exists as sending young children out to work alone creates so many issues I will not even open that topic, or else I will rant until the cows come home!

Sihounkville itself boasts some quaint building, tin sheds and a fair amount of rubbish, which is disappointing as the beach itself is beautiful. The people here are very poor and I think this explains the desperation in the touter’s techniques. My trick of ignoring touters appears to work quite well, although I do feel like the Wicked Witch from Oz!

Today I awake early to catch the Mekong Express Bus to Sihounkville, Cambodia’s popular beach town. The bus company are meant to pick up from my hotel, however they are running extremely late and my panicked hotel manager runs around his office continually calling them to ensure they have not forgotten me. The whole time this is occurring I sit calmly on my rucksack (translation – big backpack), as know I can always catch the afternoon bus. It is at this point I realise how relaxed I have become! Three cheers for having had six weeks off work! However there is still more holidaying to go!

The four hour bus ride to Sihounkville is spent listening to tragic Cambodian versions of popular Western songs, Karoke-style with cheesy film clips. From my experience in Thailand and Cambodia, the locals seem to love a good-old love story gone wrong! I watch a few film clips and then cannot bear to watch the terrible acting anymore, however I am forced to listen to the music for the whole trip as I am sitting adjacent to one of the two speakers on the bus!

Once we arrive at the Sihounkville bus station, we are engulfed by tuk tuk drivers. After much negotiation, one driver takes a few of us to our hotels and I discover mine is very basic, although it is extremely close to Serendipity Beach. I immediately decide I will have to investigate finding a new pad to stay in for tomorrow night!

Citing clouds and fearing a rerun of the previous beach escapes earlier in the trip, I literally run to the beach and lay on the sand in the sun praying for no rain! I figure I can explore the town later! I am approached by quite a few touters and beggers on the beach, however nothing is going to dampen my enthusiasm for soaking up vitamin D.

The town itself is fairly small and most of the tourists appear stay within a kilometre distance from the beach itself. There are numerous hostels, guesthouses and hotels spread throughout this area, as well as restaurants and places to book tours. This place seems to draw a younger crowd and seems quite safe.

I find out the hotel next door offers nicer room for the same price and I ponder moving there, although I feel guilty as the English man that runs my current hotel is very helpful. However, my decision to move is confirmed when I am woken up constantly through the night by the hotel’s dogs, drunk men at the bar below and loud guest talking on the balcony adjacent to my room.

In the morning of day 29 we visit the MBK Shopping Centre in Bangkok again prior to flying to Phnom Phen. I purchase a gorgeous brown leather bag, however, of course I do not feel an once of happiness, as my peace comes from within…! The monk would be proud (?) of me! We fly Air Asia to Cambodia for AUD$127 (82 pounds or USD$136).

My first impressions of Phnom Pehn are that is an attractive city, probably the prettiest I have seen on the trip so far. This is largely because the buildings appears to be influenced by Parisian styled architecture, which I love. Much like Vietnam. I gather Phnom Penh must have been designed by a town planner, as the streets are organised in a logical manner and the Indepedence Monument (see left) is a center point for the lovely gardens placed in the middle of the main roads.

However, whilst exploring the city by foot we discover that like all Asian cities, Phnom Pehn has great contrasts – I see lovely French inspired buildings, then view slums nearby, children begging and I catch three men urinating in the street in one day! Lovely! The locals stare at me more than I experienced in Thailand and I do feel a little uncomfortable. However this is probably not helped by the fact that all of the shops are closed for Cambodian New Year and each has a security guard out the front, plus there are few locals around. This combined with the fact most houses are in compounds with razor wire at the top of the fences does not create a safe feeling!

The following is explored – the Wat Botum (a temple) and the National Museum with national ‘treasures’ ‘protected’ inside with no walls or air conditioning! The riverfront is the next destination – it boasts numerous restaurants and, at night, is packed with both westerners and locals. Then the Russian markets. At first I was scared to enter the dark, undercover market place where each stall haphazardly places their merchandise and makes it time consuming to sort through the bargains! I arrange to have two skirts made for UAD$12 each! I select the fabric and a quiet, gentle young man promises to have my first fitting organised for me the following day.

On Wednesday (day 32) all of the shops are open and the city is packed. What a relief, I feel safe!

After over a month of Asian food I find an a la carte restaurant near the hotel that cooks a very decent chicken breast and vegetables – this is my stable dinner here for days! I miss healthy food! Although, having said that, I do try a few Cambodian dishes for lunch and really like them, as they do not taste of sugar like many Thai dishes!

We stay at two hotels over seven nights – You Kin House and the Manor House. The favourite is You Kin House – it deserves to be the number one guest house on TripAdvisor. At USD$35 it is considered a little expensive as it is not located near the popular riverfront, however it is down a street with all of the Embassies and I feel even safer! The staff are so lovely and genuine here, plus there is a swimming pool and able space to relax outside of one’s room. Manor House is even more expensive at USD$44. It also boasts a pool, however the room is dark and the staff are not as nice.

I love catching a tuk tuk around the city as one gets a sense of the pace. Walking through the city is fun, but harder, as footpaths appear to be perfect places to park motorbikes and cars, especially around dinner time!