January 31, 2015
Cambodia's not corrupt!: Alan's first financial review (warning, this page contains a pie chart)
I was really fretting about the border into Cambodia, because that enthusiastic Canadian man named Jay told me that I would likely be asked to pay $32 for my visa instead of the official price of $30, the bent border officials taking a couple of bucks for their troubles. I got my knickers in a bit of a twist about this, not because of the extra money, but because corruption is fundamentally wrong and I didn't want to support it. Or some BS like that. I worried about it all the rest of the way to the border, and when I got there I kept only $30 in my wallet and hid the rest of my money, with the plan being to proclaim that that was all that I had. Well I arrived at the wooden shack that passed for an immigration building and was asked to fill in a form, offer up a photograph of my lovely face, and pay $30. Yep, no hint of corruption at this border post, and my record of never having managed to ever successfully bribe anyone ever could be maintained.
I was hoping that the road in Cambodia would be considerably less hectic than in Vietnam and for a while it was, as I cycled through uninhabited forest on a mostly empty road. But then the villages started, and with that the traffic began to build up, and it was all motorcycles going the wrong way and people pulling out without looking and horns blaring. By this stage I was at a point I would describe as 'super-stressed' and I decided that the thing to do was get off the road and stop early for the night, and in the morning get to the town of Ban Lung, where I had a bit of an escape plan.
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I pulled off the road and went through a plantation and found a nice place to hide. It was the end of the month and time to do my accounts. My goal, remember, to spend not more than £1000 in six months. Doing the maths it seemed I'd spent around £180 ($270) over the first 31 days of the year. According to Alan, this was too much.
"You've overspent you idiot. 180 multiplied by six equals £1080. It's too much. This is unacceptable."
"But I just spent twenty quid on a Cambodian visa. If I'd stopped earlier and camped on the Vietnam side of the border I'd be on target, and you'd be congratulating me."
"I doubt it."
"You're mean."
"You're overspending!"
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Anyway, I'm sure you'd all love to know what I spent my money on this month, and so, with great thanks to Alan, here is a breakdown of my expenditures, followed by a pie chart to provide a more dynamic visual representation. Enjoy!
Visas - £43.33
Food - £73.86
Water - £7.42
Other Drinks - £8.03
Accommodation - £23.40
Waterfalls - £8.82
Other Attractions - £6.20
Ferries - £3.77
Sunglasses - £2.95
Toiletries - £1.52
Shoes - £0.00
Electrical tape - £0.42
Today's ride: 26 km (16 miles)
Total: 36,729 km (22,809 miles)
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