back to grey...

Sadly the winter break is over...

the skies are no longer blue, the lunches no longer spring roll packed, the tv has less channels and i can't get a beer for $1... on the upside, i need less toilet breaks, i have little chance of contracting malaria and no-one is trying to sell me postcards.

Vietnam and Cambodia were amazing.

Food, people, sites - all amazing. but one thing that stuck in my mind nearly as much as angkor watt and the white rose dumplings in hoi an, was how many people are travelling the roads on 2 wheels...

Admittedly, most were on honda and yamaha (4 million scooters in saigon alone), but a lot weren't motorised. Pedal power isn't just limited to cyclos, we saw all manner of bikes across both countries, some looking like they'd been handed down from generation to generation others setting me out (in vain) to track down a cambodian bike shop.

As for conditions, i thought i had it bad on london roads, but hanoi and saigon were something else, there seemed to be no rules of the road, except perhaps 'let the fucking scary monster trucks through' and 'honk your horn a lot' in fact, even crossing the road was a leap of faith, except when a cyclo driver took pity and used it to block the traffic for me, thanks...

Anyways, i've put a few pics here, i'll stick some more on flickr when i get a mo. if anyone's reading/interested...