Day 168. Kampot, Cambodia. Backpack overload.

Only 2 buses a day depart from sleepy Kep, so we decide to hire a Tuk Tuk for the 15 mile trip up to Kampot.

The slight problem is that there's only one Tuk Tuk in Kep, and 3 Belgians staying at our guesthouse have had the same idea.

Not a problem, says the driver, Tuk Tuk very strong and no big hills between here and Kampot.

A few things make me sceptical:

* The moped has a puny 100cc engine.
* One of the Belgians is 6'4"
* Five backpacks weigh more than a sixth passenger.
* The small crowd that's gathered are all grimacing and shaking their heads.
* Our driver might not be 6'4" but he has the physique of a man who likes a pie.

Well, sod my scepticism and curse the crowd, because we do it in some style. OK, so it might not have been the quickest journey, and at one point we all have to get out while the driver tackles a hump backed bridge, but by the time we hit Kampot's outskirts we're cruising. In fact, such is the on-board confidence in our pilot, that we rig up the ipod speakers and transform his Tuk Tuk into Cambodia's first ever moble disco.

Day 167. Kep, Cambodia.

Another day, another amiable Aussie couple to knock about with.

We'd met Rod and Sue last night while trying to photograph one of the dazzling sunsets they have here. Rod using his all singing all dancing Pentax SLR with filter zoom lens, automated light meter and built-in cappuccino making facility, and me using our little Canon compact which is dying a slow and painful death (it keeps annoying the hell out of me my deleting stuff without being asked).

We took a boat ride across the gulf of Thailand to spend the day on Rabbit Island, a gorgeous little place with a population of about 20 people, 30 cows and - as far as we could make out - no rabbits. A lovely lazy day, the highlight of which was tucking into a big plateful of locally caught crab.

Can't quite remember what our preconceptions of Cambodia were, pretty sure they didn't involve sitting on a palm fringed beach sharing a beer and a laugh with a pair of Sydneysiders though.

Day 166. Kep. Cambodia. Big stuff...

Some amusement at breakfast when Chab - the resident barman and comedian - was showing us the produce they grow in the guesthouse garden. Anything and everything that's edible flourishes in this humid climate, so we were neither surprised or particularly impressed as he laid out his mangoes, paw-paws and melons.

Sensing our lack of enthusiasm he reached down and hauled a colossal knobbly Jackfruit onto the bar.

This thing was the height of a small child and the weight of a medium sized teenager. Wend couldn't lift it at all and I only managed to shift it with Chab's help. Tasted absolutely disgusting mind (think rancid pork tinged with over-ripe pineapple). The locals lap it up apparently.

Funny little place Kep. Quite down at heel, yet not without its charms, the French attempted to turn it into a mini St.Tropez a hundred years ago and the wrecks of some of their colonial villas are still dotted here and there. But the absence of a decent beach put paid to any major development, so it seems destined to remain a sleepy outpost for a good while yet.

It is, however, the crabbing capital of Cambodia. A title they're fiercely proud of and that they've celebrated by erecting a 25ft concrete crustacean on the waterfront. We love this kind of thing, far more interesting than a statue of some crusty old king or local bigwig. Rumour has it that once they've found a lump of marble big enough, Chab's giant Jackfruit will be next.

Dinner with Alistair and Abigail, a doctor/dentist combo from Brisbane who had some worrying news for Wend. Her troublesome front tooth could cost more to put right than both our round the world flight tickets.

Open wide, this is really going to hurt.

Day 165. Kep, Cambodia. Room 101.

Back on the charabanc, this time heading south to the small coastal town of Kep. Arrived too late to explore but found an excellent spot to stay, high on a hill surrounded by rainforest.

This meant we had some interesting room-mates. The beetles, millipedes and geckos were fine as long as they stayed on the outside of the mosquito net.

Less keen on the rats mind.

Day 164. Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Mrs WordSmith.

The long hot bus journey back to the capital was uneventful apart from Wend's game clinching WILLOWS in Scrabble. Seven letters and on a double word score too. Hats off to that girl.

Day 163. Siem Reap, Cambodia. Hurting heads.

Spent the day recovering from Hugo and Reido. Slowly.

Day 162. Siem Reap, Cambodia. The Hugo and Reido show.

Taught a little gang of Temple urchins the lyrics to 'Toon Army' in the morning. Only two words, but it still took a good quarter of an hour. Worth the effort though as their harmonies were spot on and the acoustics in the ruins superb.

Later, we said goodbye to our driver Lucky. He'd been an absolute star and we couldn't recommend him highly enough if you're ever in the neighbourhood.

His details:

Mr Sam Nang (or Lucky)
Email: NangKhmer25@yahoo.com
Tel: +855 (0) 12516940

We were led astray in the evening by Hugo and Reido, a pair of pranksters from Derbyshire who convinced us that drinking cheap Cambodian lager until 4am would be the ideal preparation for our last day in Siem Reap.

Day 161. Siem Reap, Cambodia. Michievious men of the cloth.

I tell you what, there are shedloads of monks in this part of the world. Their baldy heads and bright orange robes are everywhere, coming in especially handy when your photo's need brightening up.

Normally they keep themselves to themselves, but as we were on Temple number 14 this afternoon we were accosted by a couple of right unholy chatterboxes.

The youngest became very excited when I told him I worked in Advertising. He'd spent the afternoon sketching and was keen to see what I thought of his efforts.

Not a lot, would've been the honest answer, but I'm a nice guy and told him they had real potential but weren't quite the finished article. He smiled at this and said after his 5 year stint as a Monk was up, his dream was to become a designer.

"Good for you" I said.

"So you give me $5?" he said.

"Er..."

"Help pay for my Art School?"

Cheeky little Monk(ey). I might have given him a dollar, but we had nothing smaller than a twenty bill, so all he received were a few more words of encouragement. Obviously no hard feelings mind, as he gave us his best sketch to take back to our hotel.

Day 160. Siem Reap, Cambodia. Tomb Raiders.

The temples of Angkor were built between the 9th and 14th Centuries when the Khmer civilisation was at the peak of its powers. Unparallelled in Southeast Asia they're right up there with the Pyramids, Taj Mahal and Great Wall of Byker.

A few Stat's:

* Altogether, there are more than 100 temples ranging in size from modest to absolute monster.

* The largest, Angkor Wat, has a moat 130 metres wider than that surrounding the Tower of London.

* It's also the biggest religious structure ever built.

* In it's heyday, 1000 years ago, the conurbation surrounding Angkor Thom was home to over a million people. London would have had a population of 50,000 at the time.

* The largest slabs of stone used during construction weighed over 3 tonnes and were quarried and transported from a site over 40 miles from the temples.

* The temples were originally intended for Hindu worship. All the Buddhist imagery on show today was added 400 years later.

They're great. Initially we thought traipsing around so many might become repetitious, but each temple has its own unique characteristics (I was going to say foibles, but Wend says only people have them).

So if it's the epic scale that makes an impression when you visit Angkor Wat, then it might be the intricate carvings that take the eye at the much smaller Banteay Srei. And if the sun rises spectacularly over Angkor Thom, you can guarantee it'll set no less brilliantly over Ta Som.

There are temples thick with atmosphere like Ta Phrom that have been almost entirely devoured by the jungle, other grander examples were built with huge ornamental water features. Some are guarded by limestone elephant sentinels while others are festooned with gargantuan faces of Hindu deities - faces that become increasingly hypnotic as the late afternoon light fades.

It's all very Tomb Raider. Yet no matter how hard I begged this morning, the missus refused to wear a pair of Lara Croft hotpants. Funny that.