Sitting at the Bodhi Tree guesthouse in Cambodia debating whether to have the Pancakes with honey, coconut cream and fresh fruit or the Crepes with ice cream and chocolate syrup, with a traditional coffee seemed like the perfect place to update the blog.

It’s wednesday morning and we’re in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We arrived into Saigon, Vietnam on Saturday night and after dropping our bags into our hotel we jumped on the back of moto’s and headed to a local restaurant to meet Shannon.

Sunday in Saigon consisted of a little bit of shopping in Ben Tanh market, a haircut, massage and shave, lunch, drinks at the Rex, then dinner.

One aim of this trip was to get off the beaten track when it came to food, and we certainly succeeded when we all tucked into a plate of Banh Xeo; Vietnamese rice flour crepe, stuffed with bean sprouts, prawns and pork. The four of us ate like kings with genoruse serves of spring rolls and plenty of cold cans of tiger beer, and the bill tallied about 300,000 dong (about 20 dollars.)

An early start Monday took us to the local bus station where we boarded a Ford Transit van to get us to Chau Doc on the Mekong, near the Cambodian border. On the video (not attached) you will see me repeatedly complaining about the fact that the only 3 westerners on the bus got by far the smallest seats on the bus. By the time we arrived in Chau Doc 6 hours later I wasn’t sure if I would be able to move for the rest of the week. Nothing like a combination of half a bus seat for a day and a vicious hangover.

I followed Steve (who was surprisingly intrepid on this occasion) to the river where we found ourselves drinking shots of a clear alcohol, made from ground deer antler and chinese herbs. Tasted, um, interesting, especially when followed by the grilled meat, which may have been duck, pork, chicken, fish, or another local animal.

Tuesday morning we boarded our boat in Chau Doc bound for Phnom Penh; an urgent knock on the door from Steve alerted us to the fact that our boat decided to head off half an hour early, so with no breakfast or coffee we jumped on a boat. Little did we know that Lonely Planet can be miles off when it comes to travel time. Four hours quickly became six and half, and the scenery whilst beautiful and amazing for ten minutes quickly became the river equivalent of crossing the nullabor plain.

Our hotel in Phnom Penh is great though, and was a welcome sanctuary for us weary travellers. Not 15 minutes had passed and we had sat down with a can of Anchor beer each, and a red curry to quiet the angry stomach. A few $1 beers and Long Island Ice Teas at the FCC at the river and our night was complete.

We’re heading to Siem Reap Thursday and we’ll be able to give our impression of Cambodia then.