Cambodia - this has to be the one of the craziest places I have been to yet. I think possibly mostly due to the transport. I have been getting around as a passenger on motor bikes - which in itself is ok, but with no crash helmets to be seen and everybody with their own unique interpretation of the driving rules, it makes a hairy ride. For instance, here you drive on the right (which some people seem unaware of!). My 'moto' driver today likes to cut into the oncoming traffic and drive on the left hand side weaving through the oncoming cars, bikes and lorries just so he can make a left hand turn. Nobody indicates, people just pull out without looking - they just assume that you will beep at them if you are too close.

I'm amazed sometimes that there isn't a constant pile of vehicles heaped in the middle of crossroads.

Another factor is that the roads (if you can call them roads) are terrible. In fact in some places where there WAS a road there is now some kind of honeycomb of holes, which the driver attempts to navigate. I think if they got rid of these remnants of the road it would be totally flat! - so it's no surprise that I have had to cling on VERY hard just not to fall off the damn thing, especially on an off-road bike, so the suspension is extra springy.

But there's no real easy alternative, so there you go...

My driver for some reason decided to take me to a shooting range. Here you are presented with a 'menu' and you can shoot any number of weapons . . . and that includes AK47s, Tommy guns(!) shotguns and other guns and weapons that I had frankly never heard of or even wanted to.

Given the violent history of Cambodia I had the eerie suspicion that many of these guns had actively been employed to kill real people, so I decided to refrain from letting rip with the AK47.

This was even more justified when I went to the killing fields and to the detention centre here. Over just a few years, about 3 or so million people were killed here by Pol Pot - many of the bodies were buried at the sites where I visited. Not exactly a cheery experience, but one of those things you have to see with your own eyes to believe. And, to be honest, I still fail to understand the sheer level of the genocide here. Everywhere I walked there were bone fragments, bits of clothes, even when walking on the main tracks around the site. It's a sad thing to think how recent this was and that this sort of thing just keeps on happening.

One thing that winds me up about this place is the number of prostitutes hassling you. I am getting suspicious of just about any woman that approaches me at all now. Someone offers you a game of pool and it ends in the usual phrase, "Hey mister, you wanna 'boom boom?' " . . . arggh!

Made good friends with my moto driver in Phnom Penh in the end. I took him out for a few beers in town - and i asked him to take me somewhere that the backpackers did not go. In the end he took me to this government run bar - the Holiday Club or something.

Anyway, this place was really odd. On arrival you were offered a girl (or as i imagine would rather be described as a hostess) - who would sit and talk/dance with you during the evening in exchange for a few dollars. I declined this er, 'very kind offer' even after being assured these ladies were not of the 'boom boom' variety.

The entertainment was a live mix of modern and traditional Khmer music. Which, after a little getting used to, kind of grew on you (or was that just the beer?). Anyway - the good thing about this place is that it seemed to include the whole age spectrum, with kids and older people alike joining the fun. There was still your group of lads being a little boisterous - but in a very well behaved way! I was also touched when everyone got up to dance the traditional dance, that remembers all those killed in the Pol Pot era. I still just thought this place was a little bizarre, considering there were lads in there who had hired their girlfriend for the evening... (but who am I to judge?)

The next night, my driver, 'Tea' (an abbreviation of his whole name) took me to his house and he introduced me to his family. I was very touched by his hospitality and tried (and failed) to convince him that it was not necessary for him to give me one of his wedding photos.

The house was literally a shack in the middle of this sprawling muddy shanty town. It was filled with a variety of his family of various ages and family connections. The kids were (as often seems to be the case) extremely cute and playful - and insisted that I sang on the assembled karaoke vcd player with them . . . that was surprisingly fun (but don't tell anyone ok??!)