We are back at the wildlife centre after a visit to the forest sub-station and a great trip to Cambodia.
We drove out to the small house they call the "pumpkin house" on Tuesday. It's located between two areas of protected forest on the Thai side of the Cambodian border. To reach it you either have to drive the short way and ford a river, or go the long way and risk the hill. When we arrived the roads were comparitively dry, and we didn't have any trouble getting there. We spent some time sweeping out the many giant lizards that had taken residence there and then set up our mosquito nets. We were pretty tired from the many visits we'd had on the way in (checking in with the army, the park rangers, the town leaders, and many others) so we just got some peace and quiet. It is a beautiful place, and very relaxing.
The next evening Sara and I were waiting up for Muoi (an employee of the TSCWA and our all-round hero) and the two vets to get back from their day of neutering and spaying stray dogs. The hours went by, night fell without any discernable decrease in humidity, and we begain to get worried. It had rained quite a bit in the day, and sure enough the road was a swamp. At one point we heard a straining engine off in the direction of the hill, but only for a moment. About an hour later they showed up, the truck plastered in mud except below the 2.5 foot mark, where the water had reached when they forded the river.
The next morning we decided that we had better get out while we could. Despite being laden down with five people and all their gear, we made it across the river and to the Cambodian border. We crossed with a minimum of bribery, and negotiated an expensive and extremely bumpy "taxi" ride to Battambang, about 150km from our border cross. The roads were one lane dirt the whole way, so we decided to stay overnight rather than continue on to Siem Reap, another four hours or so.
In Siem Reap we spent three full days exploring the Angkor temples, sometimes by tuk-tuk and once by bicycle. I can't begin to describe it, so I'll just post some pictures. It really was a unique experience.
The rest of our time in Siem Reap was spent enjoying the 50 cent draft beer and 3 dollar curries that were very common. The food was really fantastic, and we definitely lived like royalty while we were there.
Phnom Penh was a beautiful city filled with wonderful, friendly Cambodians, most of whom seemed to have refreshingly little connection to western tourism. Instead, people just seemed to ignore us and get on with their lives, at least outside of the main tourist areas.
We spent one day at a wildlife rehab type facility outside of the city. The staff were kind enough to show us around behind the scenes and we were even present for the arrival of two black bear cubs that had been rescued from a snare trap. One of the little guys was missing a paw, but I can't imagine a better place or more attentive group of staff to facilitate his recovery.
We are now back in Banlampur, at the wildlife centre. While we were away Muoi built a great water pool for our one sun-bear, and we'll be starting our simulations tomorrow.
That's all for now, I'll put up some photos and Sara will probably add to the post soon.
Love to everyone,
-Gareth and Sara
Our friendly sun bear in Banlampur.
Our vehicle: speedometre, tachometre, fuel guage not included. 
The Pumpkin House. 
One of the lizards, about 30 cm tip-to-tail. 
Sara reading some pulp-fiction on our bed. 
Our first night in Cambodia, and our first glass of Angkor Beer.
Angkor Wat seen from Phnom Bakheng, a hilltop temple.
The central temple complex.
A sun bear at the Phnom Tamao centre in Cambodia.
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