Christmas in Cambodia

Don Det is a curious island. The locals have built some fantastic little wooden bungalows for the tourists, yet are still determined to live in half finished shacks with their entire family. They do all have satelite tv stolen from Thailand though!

Don Det is now home to the Australian Baker. He runs a bakery. The slogan is 'anything can happen at the bakery'. His banana and chocolate donuts and Foccacia bread have earnt him the status of 'the devil' from me. We tried to enquire how he ended up baking donuts on an island in the middle of the Mekong. He replied that it was a long story. I like to think that he was either abducted by aliens or woke up in the bakery after a stag party and decided to stay. Maybe we will never know.

I spent my time on Don Det dossing in a hammock and exploring the island with the Fairy girl from Brighton. Once Carlos left I had the largest vehicle there but it's healthier and a bit more fun to explore on one of the many bicycles for hire. I met a guy from the UK who had the idea of getting a canoe and powering up the Mekong. I was tempted to sell my bike and attempt it. Turns out its not possible due to the numerous waterfalls which cause obstructions.

Since there were quite a few Europeans on the island, Christmas was celerated on the 24th. The Australian had managed to get hold of a goat with the plan of a spit roast. The goat must have been privy to these plans and promtly escaped. The locals brought two more goats which were duly slaughtered and eaten.

Some Israelis decided to celebrate Christmas by roasting a Pig on a BBQ on the beach. The Irony was lost on a lot of people.

After 3 days of doing not very much and eating donuts at every opportunity I decided to leave. It happened to be Christmas day. My plan was to cross the border into Cambodia, get a ferry across the Mekong, then get lost in the Jungle on my way to Siem Reap.

The border was pretty straight forwards. Laos customs just stamped my carnet without looking at my bike then waved me over the border. On the Cambodian side I had to have a health-check under an umbrella at the side of the road before being allowed any further. The doctor instructed me to 'stabilise my temperature' before poking a thermometer in my ear. Despite my sweating in the sun it seemed to be stable enough and I was declared pig/swine/Sars flu free. He then demanded $1US for his efforts. I paid because I've never had a private health-check before and thought it would look good on my CV.

I then got to go and get my Cambodian visa. Whislt waiting I was sent to customs. I asked nicely if I could please bring my motorbike in. The official in a large armchair asked to see my Carnet, looked a bit confused, then handed it back and said yes. Best customs official in the world.

Once I had my visa I needed to get it stamped. I had to pay 1$US for this which I did not have since I had given all my short change to the doctor and the guys handing out visas. They didnt seem fussed and stamped anyway. This was corruption in its laziest form.

30 minutes after turning up and I was free to do a little wheelie and zip down into Cambodia.

At the first city I found petrol but no ferry as promised. I rode up and down the bank of the Mekong trying to find it with no joy. I then decided to head back to the main road so took a gravel path that eventually became a very small sand track. It went on for 10km back to the main road. There was lots of sand and I managed to perfect riding sideways whilst my legs flailed uselessly. The guy who was following me on his scooter with his 80 year old mother on the back must have been impressed.

Upon finding the highway I rode about 400km till I got here. Some small town next to the Mekong. It feels homely because there are lots of old Germans and Prostitutes. It seems to be a good combination in South East Asia.

Anyway I'm sat in a rather nice Cafe covered in moths and have just had a nice steak and numerous beers. Maybe it was a good thing I couldn't find the ferry and get lost in the Jungle, then again, maybe not.

Merry Christmas.