ah koon

When I was at school I learnt about the 'ideal nuclear family'. This, if I remember rightly consists of a mother, father and 2 children. In Cambodia they do not have the ideal nuclear family, they have the 'ideal moped family'. This consists of 1 child around the age of 2-5 standing at the front of the moped, holding on to the speedometer, father - driving, 2nd child behind - normally around the age of 6-12 and then mother on the back. When I return to London I am going to attempt to recreate this on Luka. Anyone who would like to join me please send CV's to blog.

Anyway, I left Siem Reip a couple of days later than planned so I could stay with a few people. I loved SR and felt sad to leave. We got to know a few of the locals and saw a different side to Cambodia. I was taken out to the poorer areas to have a look at how people live in contrast to the semi poverty of the town. It amazes me how everyone has a smile on their face regardless of situation of circumstance. They should jump on the London underground, that'd wipe the smiles off their faces.

I paid $4 for a 6 hour ride on a hot hot bus to Phnom Phen. There I was accosted by around 20 tuk tuk drivers wanting to take me to a guest house of their desire. I sat down at the bus station and pretended to be catching a connection until they had lost interest and then legged it into to the town centre.....although, it wasn't actually the town centre, it was in completely the opposite direction. I keep telling myself its all part of travelling without a brilliant directional friend. I have to say this was a minor 'blip' compared to other occurrences.

I have been the genocide museum: S-21 in Phnom Phen. It was a school that the Khmer Rouge turned in to a prison camp and torture chambers for over 13,000 people from 1975 - 1979. Most of those being doctors, teachers, government officials and the educated. After S-21 they were sent off to the killing fields to be shot or beaten to death and tipped in to mass graves. It was horrific and unbelievable that something like this could happen in our generation. I kept thinking that when this was happening I was on the other side of the world probably playing on my bicycle or at school.

Today, I arrived in Sihanoukville after a 5 hour bus ride with Matt and Gemma from Egg Ham (yummy) in the area of Surrey. They are very relaxing to be around and great people to spend my last few days lying on Serendipity beach, playing in the sea and keeping the kids busy with making us bracelets. Its a beautiful place with beach bars and cafes along the ocean and fireworks being set off by little people all over the place. We are staying at Cool Banana's for $5 a night in awesome wooden huts just a stones throw away from the beach....I know this because I threw a stone and it hit the sand.

H, I said hello to Mr happy pizza for you. Derek, if you are reading this I'm going to post a picture of the King of Cambodia later because you bear an uncanny resemblance to him. Jackie, yes, there are heaps of people here in your age bracket of 25-65, you would love it.

Blogger day fact: Once a year, at the end of the monsoon the tonle sap river reverses its flow and pushes water up steam in to the tonle sap lake which then floods surrounding fields and forests.