After circumnavigating 1000 kilometers from south Viet Nam around to the north Laotian gateway, yesterday, a Cambodian nataional holiday, Ploughing Day, I finally made it in to Cambodia.
It was an easy trip dowm from Champasak, just south of Pakse, despite a few monsoonal downpours, where the visit to the 1000 year old Wat Phou had been both stimulating and relaxing. It was my first side trip off Project Pineapple's main theme, to ride the Ho Chi Minh Trail to publicise the Cluster Bomb Issue here in Indochina and indeed where ever they are still being randomly scattered to cause havoc for future generations living on top of them.
In contrast, Wat Phou has a grand elevated location overlooking the flood plains of the Mekong River the 12th longest river in the world. The impact such a civilisation had on the simple folks in the surrounding regions must have been awe inspiring.
I met a Laotian monk with whom I chatted in Lao and English as he escorted the visiting Thai monks back to their minibus.
Thinking positive thoughts and strengthening my inner 'ki', I headed for the border and passed through in a stream of energy unstoppable. An easy ride down to Stung Treng, guest house, change money, Cambodian SIM card, repair riding long pants a couple of Angkor stubbies with a stick barbie and I feel I'm back home.
It was 22 years ago when some young aspiring career minded photographer was still in nappies and still is judging from the apparent petulance that I first came to Kampuchea managing a provincial water program for an NGO. Less than 100 westerners and a similar number of eastern block people at that time. Not a guest house, not even a bus in sight. Gosh. Or should I say w-i-c-k-e-d, but doesn't that look silly in print even worse in speech. I was based in Phnom Penh, in the famous/notorious Monorom Hotel, when the first tour group arrived using rather surprisingly, transport.
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