Monday,

and we are on our way,

to Cambodia,

for a short holiday,

and to see a few friends there,

so first stop,

the airport,

just past the Thai building a few planes and it is here where we landed on our return, but that is later at the end of our travels,

Diana captures the airport on her telephone,

taxi driver paid and we are on our way,

we had to do the tourist thing,

and take lots of pictures,

inside the terminal,

and of course,

go window shopping,

so many must have items,

but which to chose?

I thought this a novel idea,

if you stand in front of the money exchange rate screen it captures your image,

you then get mobbed by fish like these blue ones,

or Nemo and his friends,

we had not eaten,

so we looked for a restaurant,

no prizes for guessing which one Diana liked,

decision made for her,

I decided on the place next door,

which served a ham sandwich and,

a nicely decorated coffee,

Diana joined me at the table,

past a few shops,

then to our gate,

the Bangkok Airways flight just landing,

the Airbus A 319,

pulling up to it's stand,

we had some good news, there are three seats on each side of the aircraft, when the door closed we had all three seats to ourselves,

now this was a neat idea, every passenger was given a sim card with I was told had 2 or 3 dollars worth of calls on it, just pop it into your telephone and make calls as soon as you land, then you can register the card and keep topping it up if you use up the free credit, 

all set to go,

then we are,

up,up and away,

another picture for Diana,

soon we were cruising at 34,000 feet,

then lunch was served,

which was a surprise as the flight is only 55 minutes duration, chicken noodle, plus a starter and dessert,

and a glass of wine,

well two in fact,

a perfect touchdown, but then a bit of a hiccup, Diana went through Cambodian immigration first, but I had forgotten to ask her for any money to buy my tourist visa, also I had somehow missed the booth where you buy it, so a frantic scene of me being escorted by a immigration officer to retrieve $30 from Diana, but in a flash we were on our way in a tuk-tuk as they are called out here,

so it was goodbye to the airport,

and into Cambodian traffic,

I took a few pictures as we went,

of nothing in particular,

a quick look downtown,

then I spotted one of my favourite shops, Ducati,

due to roadworks,

traffic was coming from every direction,

I was intrigued by the object at the top of this tower, it almost looked like it could be a swimming pool,

but swimming at that height? not for me I am afraid,

after a 30 minute or so ride we were at the hotel, the taxi fare was $9,

and here we are at the Okay Boutique Hotel,

the inside of the hotel lobby was completely covered in wooden carvings,

and also had a number of statues,

in the foyer,

at the far end the reception desk,

we were soon in our room which had a huge bathroom,

we were on the 6th floor,

overlooking the city of Phnom Penh,

with views in the distance of the Royal Palace and the National Museum,

I zoomed in to take this detail from one of the spires,

and of course I had to use the panorama option on the camera,

we went up to the 14th and 15th floors to look at the pool and restaurant,

and take a few more pictures,

looking towards the Tonlé Sap river,

and the some of the other buildings,

Mark called so we had a chat, he lives near the tall building in the centre of this picture,

just near the red and white aerial,

the pool looked so inviting,

but a beer won the day,

I took a few more pictures,

from the 14th floor,

looking across the city,

the hotel was next to a temple,

another aircraft makes it's way to the airport,

another look at the pool,

and the multi national flags at one end of it,

a statue at the other end,

then we were on our way, a nice touch floating lotus flowers outside the lift,

and we were on our way,

saying goodbye the hotel for a few hours,

and hello to number 4 as he became known,

we soon arrived at the side of the river, just next to a restaurant named of all things the Titanic,

we had booked a sunset dinner cruise,

at the travel desk in our hotel,

we made our way past some ornate statues,

and on to the jetty looking back towards the restaurant,

and towards some of the many boats for hire,

and this was the one we are going on, 

a look at the opposite shore line,

and along the one we are about to leave,

another boat for hire heads out,

we were welcomed with a cocktail that was included in the hotels package,

no Diana did not have them both!

'Cheers!',

the sky was starting to look a bit ominous as clouds started to roll in, I should perhaps say that at this time of the year you can expect rain everyday,

we were on the top deck where two musicians played traditional Cambodian music,

more clouds rolling in,

I noticed these three monks on the jetty,

all wearing a distinctly different shade of red/orange/yellow from each other, I have no idea what the different colours signify,

a small boat makes it's way past us,

a few more clouds loom closer,

but it will hopefully stay fine,

the sun starting to set on the river,

a last look inland,

and we cast off,

leaving the monks ashore,

along with this one on his mobile,

all set for the cruise,

and here we go,

slowly pulling away from the moorings,

the lights from the buildings on the river,

I just love neon signs,

by now it was getting dark,

as we made our way to where the Tonlé Sap meets the Mekong,

every so often we could hear music faintly drifting over the water,

from some of the bars,

what a great view they must have from up there,

the musicians were now in full swing,

we made our way past a new hotel just recently completed,

and on the opposite side what looks to be a funfair with a Ferris wheel,

near by a Royal illumination,

the duo still playing,

then the heavens opened up, so it was downstairs for us all,

coverings were lowered to stop the rain,

the food was excellent,

and plenty of it,

all set,

and tuck in,

when we had finished there was still plenty to go around,

we made our way back up river to the road bridge,

made a 'U' turn,

and started back down,

passing the Royal illumination again,

then the cruise was over,

 this is the company's brochure,

and many thanks to Brian for taking such good care of us,

so back along the jetty,

and past the restaurant,

for a coffee,

we were going to have a Costa, but then a change of mind,

we settled for a cafe nearby,

for a coffee or two,

served by this charming waitress, then tuk-tuk and back to the hotel.