Cambodia 13 *Kampong Cham* 8th June

Kampong Cham is the capital city of the Kampong Cham Province in eastern Cambodia. It is the sixth largest city in Cambodia with a population of 63,771 people and is located on the Mekong River.

: Leak is the most awesome guy! A friend of a friend he offered to meet me in Kampong Cham and show me around.

: This hotel was clean, neat, simple and close to the city center.

: Bamboo Bridge – famous for Kampong Cham

: I rode on the back of Leak’s scooter over the bamboo bridge,

: I don’t frighten easily but to be on the back of a scooter while the sticks moved and rattled underneath us was definitely an experience.

: The island on the other side of the bamboo bridge

: Very simple living on this islandThe

: The kids were friendly.

: I felt like I’d been transported back in time.

: Dinner was amazing!

: Cambodians drink beer with LOTS of ice in it.

: Haha, these guys wanted to drink a lot it seems.

: Temple sightseeing the next day.

To go to breakfast, Leak ordered one moto taxi – for the 2 of us lol Yep! 3 on a scooter cruising the town! The Cambodian coffee we drank was amazing!! Over breakfast, Leak explained to me all about Cambodian politics. Especially as an election was coming up which was expecting to put the country in a volatile state. The inbuilt corruption that was explained to me was horrifying to imagine how the flow on effects affect and trickle down to everyday Cambodians and hinder the country from advancing.

Time to go back to Phnom Penh. So my Cambodian friend, the super nice guy Leak, told me we’d be returning to PP by taxi, and to save cost, we’d be sharing. So we stop to pick up one more guy who is the (a) police chief of Kampong Cham and trained in Cairns Australia in 1991. He talked fondly of Australia and showed me his badge he was presented when he was in Australia. But then, the taxi moved to the next place to pick up another passenger.. No, wait! 3 more passengers? Yep! We travelled 126km (2.5 hours) in a taxi with 4 guys altogether sitting in the front 2 seats. Apparently, we paid more so we got a seat each haha.