Jet-setter Jones

In a similar vein to that of leaving Thailand, my time in Cambodia has come to a close and I am not ready to go. Maybe each place will be like this and one or even two months is simply not long enough to explore the vast landscape of an entire country. I am on a bus from Kep, Cambodia to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam tomorrow and will arrive with a whole new country to explore.

Cambodia is rich with experiences waiting to be had. I started my month here not sure that I liked it and aching for the places and faces that I happened upon during my six week stay in Thailand. However, after four weeks, I extended my visa for one month more  and even that is not enough. I’ve made plans to return at the end of the summer already. To see the Cardomom Mountains, to trek through Kep, to revisit Siem Reap and my new buddy there and most importantly, to return to the island to stay with my old friend and finish the fantasy art overtaking the bathrooms.

Here’s to culture clashes, almost crashes, diarrhoea and vomiting. To cockroaches, fans that don’t work and dormitory doors that don’t lock. To rock and metal bars with flavoured rum and cannons and acrobatic circuses where brooms are legitimate plot developing characters. To drunken antics, yoga and good food. Accidental meat consumption and horrific  bus journeys. To ruins, trees and tomb raiding all day long. To beaches, best friends new and old and all day painting sessions.

To Granuaile O’Malley for being the most amazingly ridiculous person I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing, and that’s saying something. To Charlie Browne for your never ceasing smile and always knowing how to make me laugh. To the yoga retreat ladies, each one of you amazing in your own way.

Cambodia gave me the most inspiring person I’ve ever met in the form of a 19 year old girl. It’s a strange feeling to look up to someone a decade younger than yourself. Elena Storz,  you are going places.

To a country rich with history and individuality, built on a violent past but risen to be great. The good the bad the ugly and the epic; Cambodia, you are up there. Vietnam you have a lot to look up to. Bring it on.