(Daniel) Still Sick as a dog this morning, but I was determined to get the handbrake, and the money issue sorted today.  With those problems out of the way we can hopefully leave this place tomorrow.  I hardly slept last night for the sinking feeling that I am running out of time.  I’m relying on getting into Vietnam and arranging a direct ship to LA and all within about ten days.  Time to get moving and fast, Nick, Amy and Oliver have all booked tickets to meet me in America, they won’t be happy if the Wolf is not there and we have to sit around for ages waiting for it!

Nii and I headed to the local restaurant for breakfast.  We stopped on the way outside Kat’s guesthouse, to let them know that we would be leaving soon.  Reme the German man who had put us onto Mr Yet, approached the window.  I had agreed to put our photos and videos on disc for him when I returned, he was eager to get them for his local TV channel.  With a promise of the disc by tomorrow, I said goodbye and  drove into town.

We stopped briefly at the breakfast place to get some rice and fruit, then headed out the other side of the town to the mechanics garage.  He was waiting for us as we pulled up, his boys going straight to work dissasembling the handbrake to refit the pads  The job is a very simple one, so I left them with it, while Nii and I returned to find some more fruit to eat at the market, after an hour we returned to the workshop to find the unit refitted and working properly.  As I drove out I could still hear a slight rattle, but figured this would die down with the handbrake compressed overnight.  We stopped at the carwash and left the Wolf to be cleaned.  Thirty minutes later we were on our way again.

Nii and I headed back over the bridge towards the Thai border.  As we approached the border crossing, I parked up under some trees and we got out.  A bunch of kids surrounded us, asking for money and looking for a poorly guarded pocket or bag.  We had the luxury of not worrying about the kids for a change, having even less money than they did!   I walked over to the border guards and asked to cross over and use the ATM.  “You must stamp out.”  They said, in a way that looked as if this was not an unusual request for them.

I explained patiently that my passport had already gone in and out too many times to do that,  a smile spread across the faces of the men.  Perhaps they were smiling at my honesty, the ex-pats had told me to say that I had lost the money in the casino, and that a monthly bribe from the casino owners secured a safe passage.  I prefer the honest route myself, if you are going to break the rules, it’s easier to remember what you are doing if stick to the truth!  Whatever happens, the guard leaned over and told me that he would let me go, but I must bring him a ‘present’ when I return.  I nodded in agreement, not really thinking about what he meant, and walked across with my passport intact to Thailand.

At the Thai side the officials were more lenient, respecting Nii’s good manners and my polite but insistant use of Thai.  They let us go over with our passports still in hand to use the ATM, watched in interest by a group of tourists boarding a minibus who had just passed through the strict and slightly intimidating immigration procedures.

As I returned to the Cambodian side, I wondered if the guard had actually meant for me to buy him a present, perhaps some food, or washing powder?!  Anyway, I hadn’t bought him anything, so I carefully folded a 100baht note and put it in my palm as I had seen in the movie Casino.  As we passed back through the gate I leaned over past another officer and shook the firsts guards hand, passing him the note at the same time.  He was very smooth, pocketing the note without anyone seeing, and giving me a smile as I walked away.  Momentarily I felt cool, but a bit stupid at the same time, what if they had decided to set me up?  They could have thrown the book at me for something like that!  I had to tell myself that this open-air corruption is the norm out here in Asia, and I would be in more trouble now had I not played by their rules.

On our return to the Wolf, I found that for the first time, that I know of, someone had tried to force the lock.  The keyhole was jammed over to the side, and the metal sheath surrounding it was bent back as if someone had forced a screwdriver inside, possibly banging it in with a hammer.  In my confidence, I had not fitted the padlocks to the door, but the basic Landrover lock had held, it clicked back into place as I used the key to open the door.  Perhaps it was a child, hence not being strong enough to force the lock?

Having just bribed my way past two sets of customs officials, then returned to find that the smiling people who had watched me walk across the border, had attempted to break into the Wolf while I was gone.  I decided that it was time to leave Koh Kong for Vietnam.  My sickness had hardly died down, but hopefully tomorrow should see the end of it.  Nii and I drove back across the bridge to the guesthouse.  Then packed the Wolf ready to leave in the morning.  After going to bed, I spent several hours finishing the compilation of videos and photos of the Jungle trip, finally falling asleep at 3am.

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