Smiles and piles from Cambodia

Took a 13hr bus ride from Bangkok to Siem Reap yesterday and I shit you not my ass has only just stopped feeling numb. Picture being dragged by your ankles attached to a galloping horse with only a tea tray strapped to your cheeks over 4 foot high moguls and you'll get close. Mind you for 4 quid what can you expect! In honesty it wasn't as bad as it sounds but the road was comedy. Apparently some rich airline is paying the Cambodian government not to fix it so that it discourages people from travelling by bus. Not me though, i'm a fucking traveller now! (whatever!)

Anyway we arrived in Cambodia last night and found a decent guest house for $3.75 a night. Am sharing a room with an Irish guy called wedge who's a good lad and he's travelling with a couple of girls with ooh-aaarrrr accents from Cirencester or somewhere like that. Anyway after dumping bags last night we hit the town and ended up in the weirdest locals discotheque I have had the pleasure to see. Some serious hardcore raving with 4 foot Cambodians and they began to get a bit scared. Now our wedge is not a small boy and when his windmill kicked into action the locals were fleeing. Very amusing night!

Cambodia is a beautiful country from what I have seen so far. Driving in last night as the sun was setting was breathtaking. It was like a giant peach sinking its teeth into the lush green grass and reflecting off the tranquil waters of the paddy fields. Local fishermen ranging in age from about 8 to 80 were casting their nets underneath this backdrop as we bounced on by along the burnt orange dusty track. The mix of colours and the moment itself was truly amazing and I really did have a homosexual moment for a while along that road. The people as well regardless of their poverty and past history looked genuinely happy, a genuine community and it really was one of the best things i've ever seen. Anyway I wrote this to summarise briefly:

Sitting and sweating, riding a bus on a rickety road through Cambodia
Watching the kids in their home made shacks, the reality grabs hold of you.
They stand by the road watching the white folk go by
with a smile on their face and a glint in their eye.
This nation that has suffered such intolerable pain
has buried its dead and is rising again.
The housing is basic made from wood, cloth and tin
but the sense of community has been built from within.
My first impressions of the place as I crossed at the border
was extreme poverty and disease under strict law and order.
But as I gaze out of this window and see peoples faces
i'm incredibly drawn to this most endearing of places.