'No Limits' on a 'Saturday Night'

There have been a few complaints that this blog is too tame and surely I must have been up to some sort of mischief. I'm not really sure why anyone might think this - I've always lead such a clean lifestyle. (anyone tempted to make a comment about this, please remember my whole family reads this.)

But just for those people here's an account of a night out in a Cambodian nightclub:

Exhausted after a hard day 'templing' (this is a perfectly acceptable word in these parts), I was having a beer in the guest house and got chatting to a couple from Glasgow. They, in turn, had been chatting to the owner of the guest house who had somehow managed to convince them to join him on a trip with his mates out to the local Khmer nightlcub. My diary being fairly clear that night I agreed to join them.

So off we went down to the rather attactively named "Martini's". What sounded suspiciously like eurotechno a la 1994 could be heard coming from the club as we had a few sharpeners in the bar outside, steeling ourselves for the unknown. Finally taking the plunge, we entered to find no music playing and an empty dancefloor. After being shown to a table, we were immediately swamped by ''beer girls" trying to get us to drink their particular brand. Rather adventurously we opted for Stella. By this time we'd had a chance to check the place out. Lots of tables, all full of young Khmers, mostly male but a good smattering of girls; pretty low level lighting apart from the signs to the "Kings" and "Queens" which were playing cards painted on the wall with UV paint so could hardly be missed; oh, and a DJ booth made out of the front half of a VW Beetle.

Then it all got a bit surreal. The music started again, and it seemed like everyone apart form us descended on the dancefloor. The music was Khmer, and the dancing traditional to say the least. The whole crowd slowly rotated round the centre of the dancefloor, using what can only be described as a shimmying motion. Shimmy back one step, shimmy forward 2. Hazel, one half of the Glaswegian couple, suggested it was a bit like line dancing which was a pretty fair description. This went on for about half an hour until the lights went out completely for what we assume was the equivalent of the Western ''slow dance''. And then lights up and everyone back to their seats.

Then it got really surreal. Lights down again and everyone onto the dance floor for possibly the fastest house music I've ever heard. No build up, no superstar DJ working the crowd. Silence and then boom, boom, boom. The Dj by this time was wearing a panda head mask and clearly loving it. The crowd managed to dance without rotating round the middle, and even 5 slightly innebriated westerners managed to make it on the dancefloor.

And then it stopped. Lights. Seats. Stella. Quick pause before back to the dancefloor for some nice slow circle dancing.

And so the pattern continued until we left at about 2.30 having danced not only to Whigfield's "Saturday Night"" (Cambodian remix with extremely fast beat) but an extended version of Two Unlimited's "No Limits" while the DJ wore a halloween mask and recorded whistling and screaming was played over the music.

We never did see guest house owner who was so keen for us to go. Maybe he was in the panda mask. What we did have though was a fantastic night - no travellers asking you where you've been and where are you going; no motorbike drivers wanting to take you to the temples; and no girls insisting you buy their lukewarm 'cold' drinks. Just loads of people having a laugh.

And that's about a racey as it get's out here. I did go to the cinema one night but that's a whole different story.

Temple Heaven

Made it out of PP after a couple of days. Spent one quite gruesome day visiting the Killing Fields and S-21 prison where Pol Pot and his men/boys murdered thousands and thousands of Cambodians. Was really unsure about going but glad I did. Morbid as it was, I have a much better (although still miniscule) understanding now of what the Khmer people went through. I look at anyone over 40 now and wonder how on earth they can smile. The way Cambodia has rebuilt itself is astonishing. Roads are being built, hotels are going up, tourism is massive and the people are just amazing. Of course there is still massive poverty, and landmines still explode under people's feet every day but the overall feeling seems to be one of stability and growth. I imagine 20 years ago, even 10 years ago, no one thought that possible.

Am currently slap-bang in the middle of that tourist industry - Siem Reap, which is the town closest to the temples at Angkor. It reminds me a bit of Agra - ie, town that's only here because of it's proximity to an amazing sight. That's a bit unfair as it's actually quite pretty, with lots of French colonial architecture, it's just that everything is geared towards getting people to Angkor and then extracting as much cash out of them as possible.

Mind you, cash becomes something that seems completely irrelevant when you actually get to the temples. They are unbelievably, absolutely, jaw-hitting the groundingly, stunning. This morning I got to Angkor Wat at about 5.45 (yes, it was very tough and reminded me too much of Very Early shifts at work). It was still dark when I got into the temple complex and as the sun slowly came up and more and more of it was revealed I nearly cried. (Not strictly true but who cares, it was brilliant). The rest of the day was spent in and out of different temples, and temple complexes -some are in complete ruins, some are still in amazingly good condition. All were different from each other, and all took my breath away. And I've still got 2 days left on my pass and lots that I haven't seen yet. Excited, moi?

Will add some photo's later (and one of a dead animal just for you, Simon) but the connection is so slow here I'll wait till I'm back in PP.

Aghh, another big city

Well finally left Sihanoukville. That place was dangerous - too many nice beaches, too many nice people, and far too much cheap booze. Had a really great time though, in a place I thought I'd just shoot through. I suspect that's going to become a pattern on this trip. It always takes a few days to get a handle on somewhere new, and so seems wrong to keep moving too quickly. Having said that I've been in Phnom Penh for about 6 hours and that seems quite enough. I just can't get over how many tourists there are. It's not as bad as Bangkok, and I am staying in a real backpacker area so after a bit of exploring tomorrow I may change that opinion.

Have heard that bird flu is becoming a really serious issue, particularly in Cambodia (thanks Mum), so am definitely avoiding chicken. It's quite tricky as that seems to be the main meat out here - oh my god, I'm going to be a vegetarian before I know it.

General thoughts after 2 weeks? Still finding my feet a bit - missing friends and family, shocked by the whole emphasis on drinking out here (I left London to get away from all that) but still think I've made the right decision. It feels so amazing to be able to go anywhere, anytime. Like this morning, I woke up at 8 and decided I'd had enough of Sihanoukville and was in Phnom Penhn 6 hours later. I'm beginning to think I should avoid all big cities though - countryside, beaches and diving, that's what I need!

Some lovely pictures

Still lounging in Sihanoukville but now have a very red nose to show for it. Have spent the last few days with Robin Ball (who I went to Mount House with). We'd never have recognised each other but happened to be chatting football in a bar and slowly the penny dropped. We've had a great time riding around on a moped checking out remote beaches and feasting on fantastic seafood. Feeling a bit lonely now as Robin has gone to Vietnam - it's been lovely spending time with him, chatting about ridiculous things from a long time ago. So it's back to reading and making small talk with strangers now! This is a beach we found yesterday - absolutely no one on it and it went on for miles and miles.


And this was having a well deserved sunset beer after a long day doing nothing




Probably stay another day here then move off - can't spend the whole of the next 6 months on the beach, or can I?

Sunny Sihanoukville

after 4 days of soul searching and indecision in Bangkok I finally made it out. Decided to bypass Koh Chang (which apparently is really busy) and head straight to Cambodia, in search of a bit more peace and quiet. It's Chinese New Year, which means holiday for everyone out here and peak season for Westerners so everywhere is absolutely heaving. It felt so good to be on the move finally, especially heading to a country I knew very little about and had no real idea what to expect.

Crossing the border was classic Asia - fill in a form, hand it to one person, who writes something down then hands it to someone else. This second person writes something on the form and hands it back to the first person who stamps it, then hands it back to you to take to another desk so repeat the process all over again with two different people. Patience, a smile and about 20 cigarettes got me through eventually.

After a night in Koh Kong, which seemed to cater for the more elderly gentleman in search of the younger ladies (come on, you know what I mean), I took a ferry down the coast to Sihanoukville. It was such a beautiful journey - sitting on the top of the ferry (lathered in factor 30 with a rather attractive hat fashioned out of a sarong) watching the jungle coastline drift by. Apart from the odd fisherman's hut peppering the shore there seemed to be no sign of life.

Sihanoukville itself isn't quite what I imagined but has really grown on me. It's Cambodia's only beach town and is growing massively as more and more tourists come into the country. Having said that, compared to Thailand it's positively primitive. Lots of beaches, cheap guest houses (and cheap beer) have meant my intended stay of 2 nights looks like becoming more like a week. There are some day treks into the jungle which I want to do, if I can haul myself off the beach one day. There's even some diving here but it's doesn't look that exciting. The water's lovely and warm but visibility is rubbish and I suspect I've seen more marine life at Wonwell Beach.

Managed to catch a bit of the rugby on Sunday - looked pretty terrible. Was then forced (honestly - I was tied down and had beer poured down my throat) to watch West Ham vs Sheffield United in the company of a bar owner who looked like he'd been picked up from East London by a large hook hanging underneath a helicopter and dropped in Cambodia a few hours later; 6ft 5ish, skinhead, West Ham top, belly that he could rest at least 3 pints on, screaming "c'mon you 'ammers" non-stop for 2 and a half hours. Needless to say I left pretty sharpish after they lost the penalty shoot out. Not before I met this person though. I'll buy a pint for anyone who can tell me who it is (you might find this a lot easier if you went to school with me from quite a young age).

So, loving Cambodia but do feel I should start to be a little more adventurous. Will head up to Pnomh Penh next and then on to Angkhor Wat. It's quite a small country and but my visa is only for a month so I need to stop lounging and get moving.

damn.....

just wrote a really long blog about what's been going on and have managed to lose it. Haven't got time to write it again (come on, it is Valentine's day) so just to say all is well, absolutely loving Cambodia, stuck on a beach at the moment but really intending to move soon...ish.

Hoorah for leaving Bangkok

I'm Tim Donne and I'm addicted to blogging. There I've said it. Actually the truth is the internet cafe is air-conditioned so after a hard day traipsing around sweaty Bangkok there's no better place to be. Ok, and I'm addicted to blogging.

Well, have finally made a decision and booked a ticket out of here. Am heading east down the coast to Cambodia tomorrow (oh my god, what if they don't have internet cafes in Cambodia). Have actually had a great time in Bangkok, met some cool people, seen some different places, but am definitely ready to fly the nest that is Khao San Road and head out into the big wide world.

Time for a picture I think, now I'm so good at not only putting them on here but getting them to the right size too.

Best food I've had so far....

To grow or not to grow?

Couldn't decide whether to have my hair cut before I left or become another sad traveler and let it grow back into a pony tail. Took one look at all the wankers here with stupid dreadlocks (probably hair extensions) and headed straight for the nearest barber. Unfortunately no shave or eye brow plucking this time, and definitely no threading, but not a bad cut I reckon.


This is really an excercise in whether I remember Julius' fantastic lesson in how to put pictures on this blog, so feel free to ignore this post and the last one. At least I know I can do it now (and yes, Julius, cardreader is so much easier).

Have made and re-made even more decisions about next stop....but am still in Bangkok. Help, I'm an ex-bookshop manager, get me out of here.

hmmm...not really missing this

took this picture on a lovely walk to Pile's (that's definitely not spelt right but don't know how it should be) Copse with Mum, so I'd have a memory of how cold it is at home. Of course it would have been better attached to my first entry but hey ho, worse things happen at sea.....

Wow - actually made it!

Well, this all feels a little strange. 2 days ago my biggest concern was how to get through the mother of all hangovers and make it on to the plane. Now I find the world suddenly at my feet. so what the hell am I doing in an internet cafe when I should be out there seeing where my feet lead me? Acclimatising. Procrastinating. Sweating. All of the above. It's so strange having time on my hands. Previous trips to Asia on 2 week holidays have been like military operations. Get as far away from big cities as quickly as possible. Not now. That's the other reason I'm writing this now. With all this time on my hands the options are endless, and after a morning of eating, drinking and reading I need to put down my options and make some sort of decision:

1) fly straight to the Philippines - tempting but missing out on so much in mainland Asia
2) go North to Chiang Mai and spend a few days trekking - have heard great things but very touristy...
3) head east to Koh Chang and then onto Cambodia - don't feel I've really earned the beach yet and will be very busy in Koh Chang

Right - there are my three choices. Feels better now they're written down. All I need is some dice. In fact I nearly brought The Diceman with me. Damn. Maybe the only way I'll ever be able to make decisions on this trip is roll them.

Of course before I make my decision something else will come up. Hey, what the hell. A few more days relaxing on Khao San Road won't make too much difference.

So there it is. My first ever blog. Does feel very odd. I wonder how this blog thing will turn out? I'm keeping a written diary too so maybe it will be too much to keep both up. Who knows, maybe I'll get confused one day and write my deepest darkest, innermost thoughts in the wrong one.