Since Cambodia became an imminent part of our itinerary, I have had the Dead Kennedy’s song “Holiday in Cambodia” playing a soundtrack in the back of mind.

It's time to taste what you most fear
Right Guard will not help you here
Brace yourself, my dear

It's a holiday in Cambodia
It's tough kid, but it's life
It's a holiday in Cambodia
Don't forget to pack a wife

The song was published in 1980, just a year after the failure of the Khmer Rouge regime and reflects some of Cambodia’s reputation from the time (full song lyrics). I think it is safe to say that Cambodia has come a long way since 1980, which was the nadir of its backward progress. 

A holiday in Cambodia can now be taken with no irony whatsoever. Sihanoukville is a southern town with miles of beaches, friendly people, a laid back vibe and good food.  Beaches in Cambodia?  Yes- and they are quite nice.  Below is where we stayed and a place we recommend for Sihanoukville: Coaster’s on Serendipity Beach.  Don’t stay in the town- head for Serendipity Beach.

Don’t get me wrong though, Cambodia has a way to go, and that is part of the allure.  The roads off the main strips are pretty horrid, the majority of buildings in town are run down and it isn’t as clean as Thailand.  Luckily, these things can all be remedied with time and investment.

The feeling we get is that Sihanoukville is on the verge of an explosion.  People who have grown tired of the scene in Thailand are discovering the coast of Cambodia and you can’t go anywhere without seeing construction in Sihanoukville.  One day, today may be the good ole days before it became crowded and lost its small town charm.  Of course, we are here in the low season, so our perceptions may be one-sided.  Either way, Sihanoukville is better than we expected- enough to cause us too add a little time to our trip here…

me and the northern lights 6-11-05, originally uploaded by localsurfer.

I just love this picture. I hope that we can get far enough North in Scandinavia to get it hooked up. It looks sooo cold.

Planning a trip like this is an amazing experience, both for the building excitement and fun and for the amount of loose ends that must be tied up.  It reminds me of the Beck lyric from the song Jack Ass:

Loose ends tying a noose in the back of my mind  It's not quite a noose, but the list is quickly growing and shrinking every day.  Think about paying taxes... We're leaving on December 11th, long before our tax statements come in.  We're leaving before our year even comes to a close.  Dealing with taxes is a big deal for us and yesterday we spend most of the day sorting through receipts and the Common Craft revenues and expenses in preparation for a meeting with our accountant.

What we plan to do is have a big envelope ready and have Mark put any mail that looks tax-related in it and have it sent to the accountant before texes are due. 

Common Craft is a whole other pain.  It just occurred to me last week that I have a number of annual renewals and payments I usually make in the Spring.  Business License renewal, Excise tax, Seattle City Business Tax, etc. I had to call the offices and get special forms for renewing and paying early.

This is all in the name of more peace of mind.  The more we can do now, the less we'll have to worry about next year and that is a good thing.