Get the old harmonica out and cheer yourself up

Siam Reap, Cambodia
OK, enough doom & gloom, misery & depression from me. I have just uploaded a ton of pictures from my Indiana Jones (meets some friends with a baby) adventures in Angkor Wat: the famous jungle shrouded, Khmer temples in the north west of Cambodia and backdrop to numerous adventure flix...well, OK, one at least with Lara Croft as the main character. In fact, did you know that Angkor Wat is the largest religious structure on earth? No nor did I. I always assumed it was Harvey's Brewery in Sussex...or am I getting confused. Anyway feast yer mince pies. Here's a taster:





And just to prove I haven't totally lost my sense of humour - pig transport Cambodian style. Poor oinkers:

The Killing Fields of Choueng Ek

Phnom Pen, Cambodia
In fact whilst I'm on this less than humorous vibe, it's probably a good time to post some pictures of one of the most shocking things I have ever witnessed - The Killing Fields of Choueng Ek.

In fact if you're of an easily shocked disposition and suffer from weak thumbs at the sight of anything unpalatable...like I do...then I would be wary about scrolling down too far.

Choueng Ek was where the Khmer Rouge took political prisoners, dissidents or in fact any one deemed to be an intellectual or unwanted, even if it was simply that they wore spectacles...in fact pretty much anyone who caught their evil eye. And there they killed them. Thousands upon thousands were executed in an area the size of a large paddock. Blindfolded, they would be made to kneel by a big pit and then a member of the Khmer Rouge, quite often teenagers, would stove their heads in with a shovel or axe handle. That way they saved on bullets.

Walking around the area is a chilling experience knowing what took place there. This is made even more harrowing by the hundreds of pieces of cloth and clothing that poke out of the ground everywhere you walk - the last pieces of clothing the victims of the Khmer Rouge were wearing before they were slaughtered.

I also visited S21 Toul Sleng, a former school that became a security prison, interrogation and torture centre and ultimately death camp for thousands of Khmer Rouge victims. It's now a museum with mug shots displaying the frightened faces of the thousands that entered S21 alive but certainly didn't leave that way. Some of the torture equipment is still there with black & white photos of what carnage and pain it can cause. I didn't manage even a third of the museum without having to leave.

The depths of human cruelty and the ability to do harm in the most brutal and savage way is really an horrendous and mind boggling thing. And it continues in the world today.

The Killing Fields of Choueng Ek, the green grass and blue skies belying the attrocities that took place here. The temple in the centre is a mausoleum containing the remnants of thousands of unamed victims of the Khmer Rouge. The depressions in the ground are excavated mass graves.

Tour de Farce

Phnom Pen, Cambodia
I've managed to get my annual fix (how apt) of Le Tour de France, perhaps a product of being in a former French colony. On Monday I saw the Kazakh Vinoukourov storm to victory on stage 15 whilst being held together like some rag doll after his stage five crash leaving him with more stitches in his legs and arms than a mass quilting class. Amazing that he bounced back especially given his shocker in the Pyrenees on the previous day's stage (14) when he conceded about half an hour to the main GC contenders. Everyone was saying that the man has such a big heart, such spirit and fight, a never-say-die attitude. But wasn't it a bit like last year in the Tour when Floyd Landis shot off the front for a huge and unbelievable solo ride in the Alps to line up 'victory' in Paris. He too had blown up the previous day and was seemingly out of contention. And then he was subsequently found to have been doping with testosterone?

I checked in yesterday to catch the latest tour news and, oh look, Vino has tested positive too, this time for homologous blood doping (i.e. receiving a transfusion of someone else's blood to boost red blood cells, oxygen carrying capacity and recovery). Hoof! - the Astana team is kicked off the Tour.

Whilst checking my emails today I had a quick squizz at the BBC cycling coverage. What's this? Team Cofidis are out of the Tour as one of their team members, Cristian Moreni, a former Italian National Champ, was found to have been doping with testosterone. The 'zero tolerance' of the Tour management means if one rider is found cheating, then they ask the entire team to withdraw (altho' why T-Mobile are still there after one of their team, Patrick Sinkewitz, was found to have been doping on the Tour I'm not sure...probably because he crashed out of the Tour anyway on stage five). This is especially sad news for me as it means the end of the Brit Bradley Wiggins Tour and he was a favourite for Saturday's pan flat 54km time trial. Hmmm.

And then I noticed some 'Breaking News' - Rasmussen, the current wearer of the Maillot Jaune, the leader of the race, has been sacked by his team Rabobank and is therefore off the Tour. What for? Well, it turns out that he has received a number of official warnings from cycling's governing body, the UCI (and also from the Danish cycling federation) for missing out-of-competition drug testing. More than that, he lied to his team about his whereabouts in June saying he was in Mexico when he was actually in Italy. Not proof positive (so to speak) that he's doping but why lie if you're clean? Whilst I applaud Rabobank's stand it's just so shocking and sad that two teams, one of the Tour's favourite characters and also the current holder of the Yellow Jersey have been kicked off the Tour. Or is it? Doesn't this happen every frikking year? I mean, last year's winner of the tour is still hanging in the balance pending the doping investigation into the winner, Landis, and why that's dragged on for a year I don't know.

Every year I get excited and every year I feel let down, cheated and disappointed in a sport that has such a fantastic heritage, is incredible to watch and if it had the high Corinthian ideals, could be the most admired sport in the world. The debate rages - is cycling drug scandal prone because it is the most tested sport in the world (i.e. impose the same stringent testing regimes on other sports and some nasty worms would also appear in the woodwork)? Is doping simply endemic, a product of the history of competitive cycling when it was ignored or even expected? Who cares? It needs to be clean and although these anti-doping measures are the way forward, it's a losing battle with the public's impression and also the sponsor's willingness to stump up cash for a seemingly dirty sport. The sport and the cheats within it will basically kill cycling. I for one have lost my patience with it.

If you want more check out www.cyclingnews.com

More jolly light hearted travel humour when I get out of my cycling related phunk!

Foot down

Laos - Cambodia

It suddenly dawned on me that the sands of time were slipping away with only five weeks left to get down to Cambodia and travel up through Vietnam. I needed to get a wriggle on! So I put my head down and hot-footed it for Cambodia, bowling along, or more accurately bouncing vigorously along, through southern Laos. Here's a whistle-stop picto-tour and some of the conversations I had with my trusty if slightly grumpy companion Dusty Sandals.

Right, chop chop, get on the bus.
But it's got a massive crack in the windscreen.
Never mind, never mind!
[Chug chug, splutter, bouncy, bouncy.]
Is that a box of chickens?
Yeah.
And a basket of ducks?
Yeah.
And a pig in a poke?
Yeah.
Wow.

Oh look, a Che Guevara t-shirt. Nice to see some things don't change the world over.
Don't just stand there and stare...come on!
Hey, Dusty, did you see the Che Guevara mud flaps on that lorry we past?
Nah.

Ooh look, the crumbling, fading grandeur of French colonial architecture. Smashing.
Are you just gonna gawp and take pictures? For the love of Christmas, hurry up.
Keep yer hair on!

Wow, look a catholic church.
[Hech hem]
Yeah yeah, coming.

Shall we go to Don Khong in the 4000 Islands on the Mekong?
Why not? Just a couple of nights though.
Hey. Don Khong sounds a bit like Don King doesn't it.
Idiot.
Ooohhh, someone's had a sense of humour failure, haven't they Dusty?

Cool. They're big rapids aren't they?
Yeah.
Do you think you could canoe down them, like if you were really good at canoeing?
How the hell should I know?

Hey, the Cambodian border immigration office looks a bit like a garden shed doesn't it?
Yeah.

Hey, fancy an orange froggy snack, Dusty?
Not really.
Nah. Me neither.

How about some locusts?
I feel a bit queasy.

Spiders??!!
Bloody hell, I think I'm going to be sick.

Phew made it to Phnom Pen. That was quite a few days of hard travel, huh?
Yeah.
Fancy a glass of beer?
Sure, I think we deserve one.

Hey Dusty, what do you think that's all about?
Dunno.
Bit weird and slightly scary ennit?
Yeah.
Want to go in?
Not really.
Nah, me neither.