Six months ago, I thought that itchy feet were a genetic disorder, doomed never to go away, no matter how much I travelled.
I’ve always had itchy feet. I’ve always longed to travel.

But now, after nearly six months of being constantly on the go, living out of a suitcase, not spending more than 5 nights in one place and not knowing where I’m heading next, I can officially report: Itchy Feet Can Be Cured.

I’m ready to go home.

Yes, Real Life has a lot of admin to deal with – bills, work, shopping, washing up, cleaning, hassle. And of course I’m not excited about any of that. But Travelling also has a lot of admin, just of a different flavour – figuring out places to stay, trying to find the right kind of food (three times a day), finding out how to get from here to there with the least amount of hassle and the smallest cost, searching for an ATM that accepts international cards and will give you the amount of money you’re asking for. There’s a lot of inconvenience about travelling – you have to do things now because there’s no option to wait until later (even as I type I’m thinking that we have to go for dinner soon and I don’t have any food on me). When you run out of cash, there’s nobody to borrow from. When you need to get somewhere, there’s nobody to give you a lift.

I’m really looking forward to the ease of being at home. People speaking my language. Food that I recognise. A bit of good old-fashioned stability.

And yes, we will miss the adventure… It has been the most extraordinary adventure imagineable. But I think there are small adventures to be had in real life. I’ll keep you posted on that.

For now, I have to go and pack my suitcase (for the 1657th time), find some dinner, and go to bed early. 4.30am wake-up call tomorrow, for our 33 hours of travel till we reach Cape Town. We’ve just recorded our last video diary, so that will go up soon, and there are a few more moments to share with you.

But this is the Last Real Blog Post. After six months! Crazy…

So we’ve finally found the beauty we’ve been searching for in Cambodia!

Sihanoukville, a small beach town in the South, is lovely. Really lovely – white sandy beaches, clear turquoise seas and long vistas stretching out to horizons dotted with small islands… Really beautiful.

It’s been somewhat ravaged by the recent typhoon – parts of the beach were washed away terribly, and the structure of the beaches has changed completely, apparently – but it’s still by far the prettiest place we’ve seen in Cambodia.

We’ve spent the last couple of days swimming, snorkeling, eating barbeque on the beach, and lying in the hammock of our beach bungalow… It’s a hard life, I tell you! (Check out our Best Moments of the Day to share in it with us). But now it is Monday morning and, believe it or not, Monday mornings still mean something when you’re traveling the world and next to the Cambodian beach. We have a whole pile of work to do today, and we’re moving to a more work-conducive place to do it in (aircon, desk, not right next to the sea!)

I know I promised to speak more about the Killing Fields and the Genocide Museum, and to try and unpick how they made me feel, but I’m not too sure that I can, to be honest. I will say that I’m feeling a little down. I’m not sure if it’s hormonal, or the 5am low blood sugar I had this morning (which woke me up with my heart pounding, and which I can’t quite figure out) or if it’s the weight of this Cambodian conundrum that is still chasing our steps, or if it’s just a bit of travel fatigue. I’m not going to question it too much, I’m just going to go with it, and have an easy day of feeling a little less-than-chipper. Everyone has them.

I haven’t stopped thinking about the whole Cambodian situation, though. It’s impossible to, really, when you’re surrounded by evidence of it on all sides. And we’ve been talking about it a lot, to people who live and work here, to try and get to the bottom of it. I think I might be too empathetic for hectic political situations – I immediately go for the emotional response. For example, in my head (and heart) it makes complete sense that the reason we haven’t seen too many Cambodian success stories and the reason people don’t seem to take too much care with their properties and public spaces, is because a mere 30 years ago, anyone who was refined and looked after themselves and their properties, anyone who strove for something higher and better and more than they were given, was punished, in the worst possible way. They were executed. Now surely that must have a significant, lasting impression on the lives and minds of a country’s people?

Heavy thoughts for a Monday morning, I know! It’s interesting, though. From home I thought traveling was all one happy holiday – but when you’re really trying to connect with a country, it’s often a lot deeper and more troublesome than that.

So we’ve been in Cambodia a little over a week now, and have spent time in three places already – Siem Reap (where the temples of Angkor Wat are), Phnom Penh (the capital) and Kratie (a small riverside town, we arrived here yesterday).
Here are some things we’ve noticed so far….

* The people we’ve stayed with have been really lovely – warm, friendly, well spoken and so helpful.

* The people on the street are infuriating, especially tuk-tuk drivers. They’re really desperate and grabby, and they don’t leave you alone, no matter how many times you politely refuse.

* I love the food – Cambodia is famous for its pepper, and they serve this delicious sauce of fresh lime juice, coarse salt and black pepper with most dishes. Yum!

* I also love that there is bread everywhere – baguettes are sold on the side of the street (with a weird pate or delicious cream cheese and cucumber) and there are bakeries here and there, and bread sold in the supermarkets.

* The violence of the past is very much a part of people’s lives – they reference the Khmer Rouge frequently, as a time marker or an explanation for why things are a certain way.

* Mark pointed out that there aren’t all that many middle-aged people (because of the Khmer Rouge). There are lots of youths and old people, but not so many in the 40 to 60 age range.

* There’s definitely more of a scammer edge here. You have to be sussed and know how much things should cost, and even when you do there’s a good chance you’ll be ripped off. It seems there’s a ‘get it while you can’ attitude, and not a whole lot of space for bartering. Understandable, given where the country has been, but really annoying if you’re used to things being fair.

* Phnom Penh is a rip-off – expensive food, expensive transport, pricey accommodation. It’s a city city too, like Bangkok. We preferred Siem Reap.

* The foot massages here are AMAZING. Hour-long reflexology and massage treatments that are intense but wonderful.

* The kids are adorable, and really friendly. Every child we pass calls out ‘Hello!’ and occasionally, ‘Where are you from?’

* The traffic here is the craziest we’ve ever seen – it doesn’t seem like there are any rules at all. None whatsoever, not even which side of the road you should drive on. We approached a 4 way stop in a tuktuk yesterday, and nobody even PAUSED, never mind stopped! Terrifying stuff – best to just look away, I find!

That’s all for now, no doubt I’ll have a few more impressions once we’ve found our way around Kratie… We spent the morning exploring the side streets and market, and it feels a lot more authentic Cambodia than anywhere else we’ve been, we only saw two other tourists! Kratie is famous for their rare Irrawaddy dolphins (there are only 70 left in the world) so we’ll be going to see those soon…

I’m curious – for anyone who’s been to Cambodia before. Does this sound like your first impressions of  the country?

… was a breeze. Really.

In fact, it was really rather fun. We left Cape Town on Tuesday evening, heading for Doha in Qatar, and from there to Bangkok. I wasn’t so sure about Qatar Airways, I didn’t really have any references for what they’d be like, and I actually had no idea where Doha was a few days ago! Now I can say I’ve been there, if only for a few minutes…

Our Cape Town flight left a little late, but Mark and I were so excited to be on our way (at last!) that it didn’t really matter… In fact, I was so excited that I started dancing around the airport to music on my iPod! You must understand, we’ve been planning and planning and planning for months on end, so to finally be in motion is a pretty spectacular thing!

The flight to Doha was pleasant and uneventful. It was almost full, so there wasn’t any space to stretch out (alas), but there were loads of movies to choose from, and they fed us well and often. We landed in Doha with something crazy like ten minutes to get to our next flight, and would you believe we made it? With only the slightest of rushing. Doha looked really cool, and kind of insane. A vast yellow desert stretching right from the sea, with tall buildings popping up out of the sand. I would have liked to explore it more, actually…

Then on to Bangkok! On a flight that was deliciously empty so we could stretch out over many seats and sleep. Ah, bliss! The food got better and better as the flight continued, till we were actually saying things like, “Ooh, this is yummy!” (an aeroplane first!) I must admit, I was very impressed with Qatar Airways overall. We arrived on time, disembarked with the greatest of ease, and as soon as we got through Thai Passport Control (which was super easy), our bags were waiting! All in all, a very pleasant experience. I’d definitely fly them again.

Then to navigate Bangkok, with its notorious traffic jams and numerous forms of unusual transport (including tuc tucs, songtheuws, buses, taxis and scooters!) We went for the simple choice – an airport express bus, which for the measly sum of 150 baht (about R40) took us a few blocks from our hotel. The smells and sounds that assault you while walking on Bangkok streets are an experience in themselves – pungent aromas from street stalls selling food, exhaust fumes, garbage, fresh mango, other people… It’s an attack on the senses!

But a much-appreciated one.

We’ve been in the beautiful Metropolitan Hotel since last night, so we haven’t done too much exploring (except for lunch, which was quite an adventure – more on food in later posts, I promise), we’ve just been soaking up the comfort and beauty… And recovering from jetlag. We’ll be posting a review of the Metropolitan, along with any other hotels we review for Just the Planet, under their Hidden Gems section – check it out for reviews of the South African gems we stayed at before we left.

Tomorrow we head off into the wild unknown, I’ll let you know alll about it! Also watch out for our Best Moments of the Day, we’ve started posting them and they’re really rather fun (even if I do say so myself!)

PS – Diabetically: so far, so good. My blood sugar has been behaving itself wonderfully, and the food hasn’t been too strange (yet!)