Day 66, Saturday 10 March 2012, Phnom Penh
I had a pretty good sleep last night but was straight to the loo when I woke up – damnit, today was killing fields day ! I gave things a rest for an hour and at 8.00 decided to try some toast for breakfast, if that stayed in until the tuk tuk arrived at 9.00 then I would call myself sorted and head on out. Sadly it didn’t even last ten minutes so that was my day decided for me. Mike went out to do the killing fields and I went to the room to read. Fortunately we can just get wifi in the room – the hostel is advertised as only having wifi in the cafe, so a real bonus.
The room, where I spent most of the day.
The view out the window.
The hostel, lots of these skinny buildings in Cambodia.
I spent most of the morning reading and putting a plan together for Myanmar, I have booked us three nights accommodation in Yangon plus airport pickup as we arrive in the early evening. The Winner Inn, lets hope it is ! it looks like Myanmar has become very popular this year, I have read a few blogs from people who have been there in the past few weeks and apart from sounding amazing, it seems to have gone up in price… I am hoping we have missed the peak season and accommodation will be easier to find on the ground than some of the stories I have read suggested was the case in Jan and Feb. At least we have something for the first place we go to booked, from their we can suck it and see, it should be interesting at least.
I will let Mike run through the plan when he is back and will then post it from Bangkok tomorrow afternoon. It appears there may be more internet in Myanmar than I first thought, but I wont bank on it. I am sooooooo looking forward to Bagan !
I attempted lunch just after 1 and it stayed in for longer than breakfast – hopefully that is a sign of improvement. Mike came back soon after that and we went out for a walk about 4.30 to try and get to the palace and silver pagoda, but after a hundred metres or so I knew I wasn’t going to make it there and back and started getting some small cramps in my stomach so we turned round.
We did walk back via Wat Phnom which is just up the road from the hostel and on the highest point in PP, a massive 27 metres !
I loved this sign at the entrance to Wat Phonm.
Ah shrines, so cool…
As close as I got to a monk today !
After the Wat it was back to the hostel where I managed to get three games of pool in before having to nip off to the little room.
I ate some food and had a beer in hope it all stays in, and went back to the room to watch TV and click post !
Where is Phil now? 
Oh poor baby, hope you are better now. Because you managed to travel from Siem Reap I thought it couldn’t have been that bad. Sounds like it got worst but lucky you managed your long road trip. Get well soon.
Hi Phil,
I’m a friend of a friend, heard about your voyage and since it is something I’ve fantasized about doing, I signed up to live vicariously through you. I have something to share, world traveler to world traveler: a 100% cure for, as we say in the States, “Montezuma’s Revenge.” Don’t know if you can find it where you are, but check with a pharmacist for rectified turpentine.
This is an old U.S. folk remedy for worms and parasites that dates back to when turpentine was distilled from the gum exude of living pine trees. So this is NOT the turpentine in dad’s shop: today, commercial turpentine is produced by camp-followers of deforestation and is distilled from a mash of forest waste. This cure was shared with me by a PhD microbiologist friend. It has never failed to work, and I have shared it extensively with fellow travelers who are at first disbelieving and then amazed.
Rectified turpentine is chemically pure turpine molecules. These are huge molecules which are incapable of osmosing into your system. You can ingest it and it will pass through your system, leaving you with a few burps that taste faintly of pine oil. On its way through the system, it smothers to death any bugs in the gut. All intestinal symptoms caused by unfriendly critters start to improve within two hours. Dosage: one drop per 10 lbs body weight in small cup of water, gulp quickly. In a perfect world, access to yoghurt a day or two later to help restore native fauna, but I’ve been in countries without such access and lived to tell the tale back home.
Good luck. I am enjoying reading about your adventures, and your photos are lovely. Be well.