Cracker by Damian Christie

Carrying one of the single plastic shell plastic Barbie & Ken-style motorbike helmets always seemed to deter a lot of Tuk-tuk drivers & hawkers in that neck of the woods, in addition to the usual improvements in getting around, getting helmet hair and improving skin exfoliation. They also make a fine workbench.

The sort of rent seeking behaviour you describe and even the seeking of those involved in rent seeking behaviour, looks like being banned in the enlightened UK. The statistics used to justify the change seem to be quite rightly under criticism.

It's 2 degrees C here in Tokyo, and you want to show us your holiday snaps from Indochina? Cruel bastard!

Ah, gotta go to bed now.
I'll try emailing you tomorrow.

(Have a mango lassi, you know you want to)

Later that evening, another tourist, an American based in Vietnam, detailed his history of Venereal Disease in Asia 1980-2009, rattling off diseases as though they were stops on a tour.

Did he invite you back to his for a paralytically boring slide show of the features of interest? :)

I just googled Angkor Wat - love the minimalist google map on the front page.

I just googled Angkor Wat - love the minimalist google map on the front page.

Excellent. Just an empty stretch of Highway 66. What's the big attraction?

Great satellite photos on Google Maps though.

Very nice pics! You're pretty handy with that camera thing, huh?

Cheers.

Try this for a 360 look at Angkor Wat,
http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen2/full7.html
You can almost smell it.

so I could check out Angkor Wat, archeological wet dream of mine

I travelled by 4WD from Aranyapathet / Poipet Border to Siem Reap in 98. I remember being literally awestruck by the magnificence and grandeur of Angkor Wat. The Khmers have certainly influenced all the civilizations that followed in its wake in that region. I hope it lived up to expectations for you.

Awesome underwater shots! I've heard these can be really hard to do right - so well done!

Thanks Stuff 'n' Things - th€y w€r€ for th€ most part a bit shit - it is quit€ hard unl€ss you hav€ totally pro g€ar, and th€ N€mo on€s ar€ a bit out of focus, but you g€t th€ id€a anyway, which is th€ main point. Th€ cam€ra is just a littl€ Panasonic Lumix point and shoot, with a $400 housing, all up cost m€ l€ss than a grand which mak€s it pr€tty affordabl€. I'll hav€ mor€ n€xt w€€k from th€ Similan Islands, doing a 3 day liv€aboard trip th€r€, suppos€d to b€ th€ b€st diving in Thailand.

Sorry about th€ "€", som€ w€ird thai k€yboard thing...

Sorry about th€ "€", som€ w€ird thai k€yboard thing...

It looks kind of funky though... bordering on l337-speek.

I'm misty eyed with nostalgia. Except about the getting hassled for 'rides' all the time. I had one guy who couldn't believe I didn't want to go and see a live sex show so much that he pursued me for several kilometers on foot. Finally he said "Boy bar? You want boy bar?", to which I said "Mai aw JING JING" which was the chorus of a popular song at the time, and I had it on authority that it meant "I really don't want it", at which point he instantly gave up.

Could be useful for you.

I had a giggle 5 minutes later when I realized in my attempts to shake the guy off I had been making an almost direct bee-line for the boy-bar district.