suustey from cambodia

helloooooooooooooooooooo (suu stey!) from cambodia!

its been a wee while since my last update so prepare yourselves for another page of endless dribble from the slowest typer in the world!or at leat in phnom penh!either that or just bypass it and delete it as i guess a few of you may do!
well i believe i left off in vientianne in laos,so i'll start there!we left vientianne on a 14 hour journey by bus south bound to the southern town of pakse and after a very long winded bumpy ride we arrived,tired and rather grumpy at 6am jumped,3 up onto yet another surprising and fun new mode of transport!i'll let you see the pics when i get back!needing a bed really and some sleep we held out and sat at a local restaurant on the street,had a coffee to lift the tired eyes and had fun trying to order some breakfast to aid the deprived bones on which we were sat.we ended up getting all pro active and getting on a sight seeing mission to see some of what the area had to offer instead of getting our heads down and it payed off!after speaking and haggling with the only tour shop in the main street for around an hour we then decided to just grab a tuk tuk and do the lot ourselves.as the driver was so friendly and the tour shop prices kept fluctuating so much we ended up just giving the driver our cash to show us around!not a happy chap the tour guy but then he shouldn't have gotten greedy n tried to rip us off!anyway it turned into a really great day and i think for the driver too as he brought his wife along n made the most of it!we started at one of the most breathtaking waterfalls ive ever seen if not THE most with a duel drop from two small rivers about 20meters apart dropping about 120 meters through a massive valley in the jungle!at first we saw it from a view point then we hired a very friendly local guide to show us more.we trekked through coffee and tea plantations learning lots about the different strains and harvest methods along the way and dense jungle after that until we made it to the top of the water fall!it is named tadt fane and is named after a wild animal as are all of the waterfalls there as they all have differing and unique character to them and as we reached this river the heavens opened and just about the hardest rainfall ive ever been caught out in soaked us down to the bone!nice!especially tricky then trying to see over the edge to the pool 120 meters below with wet slippery rocks under your feet!what an arse!sorry i didn't fall off so there'll be a few more emails comin your way!: ) well then it was another trek through the now sodden wet dense jungle onto the next totally spectacular waterfall which i think was tadt lo but can't be certain as my big aim was warming up a little n getting some food n a hot cuppa into me.luckily the sun came out and we explored the waterfall and got some cool pictures and unlike the previous waterfall we could get to the bottom and see the whole thing and take it all in with amazement and awe.man what a truly magnificent land,never before have a seen nature in such power and grace in one and it made my trip to laos and filled me with pure contentment before leaving this beautiful country!we trekked back,now roasting hot from the beating sun and quickly dry again passing a village where we met the locals and watched them making coffee from the already sun dried and roasted beans and that was a nice thing to behold!next was the tea plantation and this also was a great insight into exactly how its all produced and we sat with a very old laos guy and tried some of his finest leaf and it was so good i bought a massive bag from him to take back to thailand and drink to my hearts content!though hopefully the thai customs wont search my bag on entry and think its another sort of leaf hey!: )after spending that night in a 2 dollar a night room and a good catch up on the sleep we missed on the bus we were ready once again to move on and headed for the local bus station(dusty market full of pigs,goats and more dust)and jumped on a pick up with twenty locals,a few other travellers 30 sacks of rice and about 3 tons of other sorts of various produce we headed even further south toward the long awaited 4000 islands near the cambodian border!these are a large cluster of island within the banks of the mekong river a nd are truly amazing!just like an island of the ocean yet surrounded by beautiful lime green fresh water of the mekong river!we found a great place on the sunset side of the island of don det (don means island in laos)with a great bungalow with space for two hammocks and just enough for our ever growing hair and made camp for a week!you can take tubes out and explore the river and islands or kayaks or just swim around the place so long as you dont fall asleep and drift downstream!a little down stream there be a miriad of waterfall all cascading from all directions into a torrid flow of dangerous currents and jagged rocks,absolutely amazing!especially as we were told the waterfall was not big or special(from some blind fool!)we hired bicycles and trekked a few kilometers to get there but when we di we were yet again taken aback by the amazing sight before us and as the mekong is so bloody wide it was creating endless separate falls from all sides almost like the niagra falls in shape and flow and very very powerful!we went further down stream and found a beach and set up camp there,after burning my feet red raw on the almost melted sand (its alot hotter down this way you know so wear your shoes!)adventurous as we are we decided to explore the river and trying not to get washed away as we did!getting more and more daring as the day went on we decided to throw ourselves down the rapids (after careful inspection of course as theres no-one else there to advise you!)whoa strong currents but great fun and the most amazing swim ive ever had though getting sucked unders a bit of a knee trembler!probably the best day ive had in laos and seeing all the warning signs on the way home that we'd missed on the way made me feel a little grateful to be alive but also added to the excitement!: )not as bad as almost losing my right eye attempting a front somersault into the river from 4.5 meters up but close!don't worry its all good just hit the water face first with my eye open and burst a few blood vessels but managed to perfect my running back flip(gainer) once my confidence was back on track!i would urge anyone in the area to check this siland out as its cheap,very friendly,magnificent and the water is a pleasure to swim in and very warm!one day ross and i were teaching some young laos kids to snorkel as they'd never seen a snorkel and mask before and were so intrigued we gave them lessons and that was so rewarding seeing them so excited and happy and once they understood how it worked they were thrilled and couldn't get enough!
well,i now reside in cambodia and am in the capital phnam penh have been here for three days with ross and a great scottish guy that we met in don det waiting for the boat and will stay with probably for the next two weeks or so!this city is great!bustling and vibrant and extremely crazy!i didn't know what to expect upon my arrival and had heard some bad horror stories about it but my mind was instantly eased by the friendly people and hospitality and yes its very in your face and full on at times but nothing over the top and unbearable and we're settling in quite well as we found our feet got a room for 5bucks for three of us and not realising that the back half floated on the massive boeung kak lake on floating decking we then were instantly at home!after five minutes with the fresh lakeside air,a beer n a dooby we were well relaxed and forgot about the 12hour nightmare journey we had undertaken but i'll spare you any more and leave you to the rest of your day!sorry to write so much crap n go on but im a little tired and dehydrated blah blah as i type so slow i started yesterday!:)
take care y'all
much love
damien blah blah blah xxx
p.s. the language is a little more difficult here but its coming slowly!