At this rate i'm not going to have any travel anecdotes left by the time i get home, you never know you lot might get away scot free...or maybe not. Well since my last installment of "i'm having a wonderful time not working in the sun" i have done many things. And forgotten my grammer. Well, I have been on a cruise (of sorts) in north Vietnam, seen Uncle Ho Chi Minh's embalmed corpse (I swear I saw him move), been down some tunnels (fnarr) used by civilians to escape nasty old uncle sam's bombing, and seen general devestation caused by the American war (as the Vietmamese call it). Have been bugged to the limit of my patience (nearly) by street sellers and shoe shine boys, seen old emporers tombs and seen ancient Cham ruins. Had some clothes made (and they have survived two washes!) - 2 silk and 1 cotton short sleeve shirts and a pair of trou for 30 US (18 quid). Went to the beach at Nha Trang, but left as it was gloomy ( most of the weather there was sh1t actually, so its not all fun in de sun). Then went to the Vietanmese honeymoon capital and saw Kitch beyond compare. Seen more minority villages than i care to remember - now i see that trips/hikes to thses places are not a good thing, as the inhabitants seem to spend more time making "Authentic Hill Tribe Tat" than working in the fields etc... Been down some more tunnels (honk)(these were a tighter fit as they were used for combat) and seen a Caodai temple. Been annoyed some more by street sellers and cyclo drivers and seen some really grim (seen to be believed grim - malformed stillbirths (due to the dioxin - most toxic chemical known - in the Agent Orange) preserved in specimen jars, seeing photos is one thing, but turning round and seeing something with one nostril (trunk like), no eyes and shortened limbs and bloated abdomen floating before your eyes turns the stoamch - i fainted - me man of steel faint? yes indeedy, but no-one was there to notice (apart from the museum staff on "weak constitutioned capitalist westerner watch (who were really nice actually)) so i think i got away with it, just as long as i dont tell anyone...DOH! After my woss-shenanigans proceeded across the Cambodian border - Vietnamese border officials can be quite officious when it suits them - no rubber glove antics though. Spent a day in Phnom Penh seeing the Khmer Rouge mass grave sights and the torture centre (spooky as it used to be a school, so looks all nice and then there are all these photos, which are a tad disturbing, but at least I remained upright. Saw the Kings residence and then did the rambo thing with an AK. Got a fast boat to the Angkor temples and spent three days wandering round - you have to see them (and quickly before they get spoilt, which will be soon) as they are incredible, in terms of scale, ambition and also detail. Have ridden more motorbike taxi's than i care to remember and only had one crash, but don't fret i'm OK, apart from a big bruise and a dislike of two wheels and an engine. Saw a cool landmine museum also, run by the local mine disposal expert. Then a nasty journey across the Cambodian - Thai border (not even Phnom Penh has that many tarmaced roads - a legacy of the Khmer Rouge), back to Bangkok, where I am currently recovering from a nasty stomach infection. Oh well. Its not all bad, am off to meet my folks for 5 days soon on a beach, then its off to Burma - where there is no e-mail (unless you're rich or in power (actually its mutually inclusive) so don't be offended if you don't get a reply for a while to any kind bits of correspondance you send my way (or not Gav), but other than that I'm off to get my fotos developed so TTFN ps when does Dogma come out in the UK, there are posters all over here so will brave a thai cinema soon.. they look nicer than UK ones anyway. J

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