Mekong

May 17th 2010 Today we had our first experience of being fleeced as a tourist in South East Asia, probably not bad considering we’ve been here for 9 weeks, but disappointing nonetheless. We had arranged with our tuk-tuk driver to visit the floating village near Siem Reap. We had seen Karen’s photographs of a trip she did to a floating village on stilts and wanted to visit the same one. Unfortunately, not knowing the name of that village, we ended up visiting the village of Chong Khneas on Tonle Sap lake, which turned out to be the wrong village. This would have been ok, except that it was very similar to many other floating villages we’ve seen elsewhere and to add insult to injury we paid $30 for the privilage. ...

10th and 11th May 2010 Most of yesterday was spent on board a bus bound for Cambodia. The 6 hours passed quickly enough with a brief break at the border just after we entered Cambodia. Since Ed had been feeling under the weather for the last few days and we were subjected to a temperature check at the border (and possible quarantine if we failed), we were delighted to be in the country. ...

30th March 2010 It was an early start this morning so that we could enjoy our breakfast before returning to join our tour group. The early start was rewarded with a beautiful sunrise over the river and a chance to see the day beginning for so many people. Since there were five of us to get back to town our host took us by boat from the homestay to the centre. A fabulous way to travel, catching glimpses into some of the houses along the river bank and seeing daily life. ...