the phnom pen

They love their cars and motorbikes in Bangkok. We lucked it at MBK and caught a car show that was brimming with pimped out sedans,lo-rider mini trucks, race cars and chav mobiles. It seemed like everywhere we went there was a new vehicle to photo. Check em out ;

KSR Mercedes 4 hire

KSR Mini Minor

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Sorry, for those of you who thought this might be a run down on the seedy side of Bangkok – bad luck. I don’t do the seedy pit that is Sukhumvit.  Here is just a snapshot of some of the bars we visited  in and around the Kao Sahn Road area. There were so many to choose from it was dizzying but we just stopped for a drink if we liked the look of the place and man did we find some awesome bars. They make the average 4×15m bar in Phnom Penh look downright boring and unimaginative. MBeer prices average around $2usd for a small bottle of Chang.

Street side sheesha

The world's smallest cocktail bar ?

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Six months ago AirAsia had a huge sale and I managed to score some return tickets to Bangkok for the paltry sum of $58 return. I spent a few dollars more and upgraded to the chicken-focaccia inclusion and the timing was perfect as we had just celebrated our wedding anniversary. On the back of reviews on the web  I booked rooms at the Bihmin Inn for 1300bht per night inc of breakfast ( all prices quoted in these posts are USD$1 = BHT33 ) and having never flown before, or indeed been out of Cambodia, Leakhana soon started counting the days down. We engaged the services of my mother-in-law as trusted baby sitter for our little Grace and were soon heading out to Ponchentong with a very small bag. The plan was to fill an even larger one in the malls and markets of Bangkok ! On arrival at the airport we ran in to Paul, Chris and Darren who were all off to Bangkok on business and we sat down together in the Angkor Arms for a pint and a chat. Soon enough we heard  the “Last call for flight FD3515 to Bangkok !” and we realised we had completely missed seeing 200 people get on the plane right in front of us ! How this happened is beyond me but we bolted for the plane and took our seats.

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I am now 100% complete Westssside Wigga. I live in Toul Tom Pong and I work in Toul Kork. I doubt I will ever see the river again but no dramas there as I rarely make it east of  Three Rivers Pub anyway and Murray’s “DIY” bar on top of his building behind Russian Hospital serves me well and has the best sunset in town. I’ll leave the river for yuppy latte drinking bankers, hostess bar prowling English teachers and scuzzy backpacker types. West-side is where the real work gets done and where the real men are.

Anyhoooo…..every morning and afternoon now I have to cross a super gnarly intersection where 271 and 217 meet. These are two huge and choked arterials and it is all out war as you head in to the melee. Actually if you happen to hit it just after a light change when everyone has moved on it is a piece of cake but if you arrive as everyone is lining up on the grid and shuffling for position then its mayhem on a grand scale. There are cops on every corner pulling over freshy kidz on scooters which only makes things worse. There are also freshy kidz coming down the wrong side of the concrete barriers which presents some challenges and also the opportunity to play a game I call “squash the freshy kid against the concrete barrier”. It’s very simple to play. When I see one of these dumb  little shits coming along the barrier towards me I simply move over as close as I can to the knee high concrete barrier and watch with glee as the offender’s eyes open up like dinner plates. I can almost hear them thinking “Holy crap, this Barang is going to kill me ! Should I dive over the barrier or cut in front of him and risk being hit by a car on his outer side….”. I almost always win this game.

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You might remember 6 months ago or so our lovely friend Aya passed away. Her husband Dan has just been out to Prey Veang for the 6mth anniversary party and whilst we were not in attendance it looks like it was a very special event out in the provinces. Aya may have gone to the big dance floor in the sky but she is certainly not forgotten by any of us.

Aya's shrine

Ceremonial burning

Family and friends gather to pay respect

Aya's daughter Davuth. Cute as a buttton.

A decent memorial needs decent sound

Everyone was safe (ish)