nick-online  -

For those of you not yet green with envy, Kat, Martin, Ellen and I are heading off to Thailand and Cambodia next week, along with a bunch of others. The current plan is to fly to Bangkok and then immediately take the overnight train down to Surat Thani, bus over to the coast and then the boat out to Phi Phi. After a week there, it's back up to Bangkok and then a short flight over to Pnom Penh, where we'll probably stay and explore for a couple of days. Finally, there's a boat up the Tongle river to Siam Reap, and a final couple of days among Ankgor Wat before taking the bus back west to Bangkok and flying home to Japan. (Does anyone else still get a slightly smug I'm-so-windswept-and-interesting feeling when they say 'home to Japan'? Good good) Now, I make no secret of the fact that the bit I'm most excited about is Angkor. The first surprising thing about the ruins is that while old, they're not [i]that[/i] old. In my mind they were always in the same category as the Pyramids or something, when in actual fact they were built continuously between about 900 and 1500AD. That said, us Europeans were all busy using leeches as medicine so we've hardly anything to be snotty about. The other thing about them is that they were the work of what was at the time one of the most advanced and powerful civilisations in the world, but one I personally know almost nothing about. At school, our Ancient Civilisation Of Note was always the Roman Empire, and to this day I retain memories of sticking two pilum spear things to the back of my paper legionary before colouring his shield with a particularly loud combination of red and turquoise - not quite sure what that was meant to camoflage him against. But what about everybody else - the Ottomans, Incas, Aztecs, Zulus or indeed the Khmers - what were they up to? What kind of stuff did they build? And did they find anything more intelligent to use as medicine than leeches?

On which Christmassy note, a million thanks to Kelly and all her helpers for an absolutely FANTASTIC Christmas feast last night - a spectacular meal and a very special treat!

So take care everyone, have a great time over the holidays, and see you in the New Year.