Highs and lows

Photos are coming soon, once I get some time to sit down and work my way through the 200 odd snaps I took.

Highlights:

• as impressive as Angkor Wat is, Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm are possibly even more impressive. Amazingly, tourists are allowed almost unrestricted access to these sites, and you are free to climb over, through and under any part of these complexes. Stunning.
• holding a live tarantula and then eating a cooked one
• trying snake and frog
• $1 beers, and happy hours every day meaning most of the time you pay only 50c-75c
• a one hour massage for US$6. And that's from a proper hotel spa, not some dodgy knock shop.
• Being caught in a tropical downpour. You've never been rained on until you're caught in a 10 minute thunderstorm. But you're dry 15 minutes later
• At the risk of being both patronising and cliched, I was amazed by how genuinely friendly and warm the Cambodian people are.

The bad:

• scamming cab drivers, especially in Thailand and Vietnam- quoting outrageous fares, refusing to turn the meter on and so forth. #1 travel tip for SE Asia- always agree a fare before getting into any form of transport.
• feeling like a giant, pastey white schlub most of the time. You really start to notice how obscenely fat most westerners are. Even the skinnier white girls would be patted on the stomach by the locals and asked "baby?"
• being pestered by dodgy ping pong show proprietors in Bangkok, who are also keen to show you the rest of their "menu", which includes various feats involving not just table tennis equipment but bananas etc...