Where's James

Kampot

After Kampong Cham I continued to another riverside town, Kampot. I did make a brief stop in the capital Phnom Penh on the way but I’ll skip writing about it in detail - I did nothing but throw up for four days. Kampot is famed for its salt and pepper production but it’s a statue to the town’s durians (the smelly fruit) that welcomes visitors. Busses from the capital drop passengers right by the durian roundabout.

Posted by James Antrobus Monday, May 26, 2014

May Update

Time for an update as I haven’t posted in a while. I’ve spent the last four weeks traveling through Myanmar (Burma). The internet there is unreliable to say the least, plus it was nice not having to think about what to write here for a while. I’ve made notes on the various places I visited and will be slowly writing them up into blog posts as usual. I’ll be catching up on the few remaining posts for Cambodia first though (yes, I’m quite behind with these).

Posted by James Antrobus Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Songkran: Thai New Year

Each year from 13-15th April, Thailand celebrates Songkran - Thai New Year. In traditional Songkran celebrations Buddha images are cleansed with water, that water is then poured onto the shoulders of elders and family members as a blessing. Taking place at the hottest time of year in Thailand this evolved into throwing water over strangers and, eventually, a three-day countrywide water fight. There are many other elements to Songkran but the water fights are the most accessible (and fun!

Posted by James Antrobus Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Kampong Cham

About four hours from Kratie is another riverside town, Kampong Cham. It’s lacking the colonial charm and litter education of Kratie (which is very clean and tidy) but it’s pleasant enough. Entry to the town from the north is over the large Japanese-funded bridge which spans the Mekong. The town has a few points of interest but I also hired a scooter to see a few places further out. The back roads of Kratie province were poor practice for National Highway 7 which leads off the bridge and through the town.

Posted by James Antrobus Friday, April 11, 2014

Kratie

Kratie (pronounced kra-chey) was my first stop in Cambodia. After taking the boat from Don Khon to Ban Nakasang it was only 20 minutes to the border. On the other side of the border it was obvious there were far too many of us for the bus. Nearly three hours later, a second bus arrived for the five hour ride to Kratie. The town is small with most sights within walking distance.

Posted by James Antrobus Friday, April 4, 2014