Tripping the Life Fantastic

Here I am with only about a month left to go in my trip around the world and I am finding it increasingly difficult to knuckle down and write for this blog. It is an ongoing epic struggle against laziness but here goes nothing... Krong Koh Kong, Cambodia (Aug 4-9) I took a bus from Phnom Penh to Krong Koh Kong , a town on the Cambodian coast, which happens to be a hop, skip and jump away from the Thai border and, according to Lonely Planet, has a nice variety of scenic places to visit nearby. Unfortunately, the most notable option, Koh Kong Island, turned out to be off the menu due to it being the rainy low season, so instead I decided to book a $35-overnight excursion into the jungle nature reserve area through my accommodation, the Blue Moon Guesthouse. I was quite eager to do a bit of trekking through the jungle undergrowth as it would be my first hike after being hospitalized for pneumonia in Bangkok but fate, apparently, had not had its last guffaw at my expense. Insert long

Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Aug 1-4) And now for something tragically different... Cambodia's capital city, Phnom Penh , took me on an unexpectedly powerful emotional journey. I spent just over two full days there which were in complete contrast to one another - Day One had me weeping like an inconsolable baby who has lost its pacifier whereas Day Two had me giggling like someone who had inhaled too much nitrous oxide (aka "laughing gas" which IS available for bargain basement prices in Southeast Asia). Forgettable it was decidedly NOT . I stayed, once again, in a mixed gender dorm room at the (highly recommended and socially advantageous) Mad Monkey Hostel, located within walking distance of a number of the city's tourist attractions and a short tuk-tuk ride away from everything else. I was fortunate, on that first evening (full of non-stop laughs listening to tales of getting drunk and then ending up naked...IN PUBLIC) to befriend a couple of my dorm mates who t