Mozzeenet

Feeling a bit hazy today - we went out last night in town. Had a fun night - Ana, Mum and I had a cocktail at FCC during the the happy hour to start. It’s a good view from up there though we didn’t make it in time for sundown which is nice to see, gives a good perspective of the Tonle Sap river. We watched the cyclo drivers down below and tried to spot the moto with the most people on it - saw a cyclo with about 7!

Then we went for dinner at a French restaurant further up on a road off Sisowath Quay, the main road overlooking the river. It was good food - I enjoyed a steak and mashed potatos, a real treat here. We had some red wine.

Next stop was a place called The Lounge, on the corner and upstairs. It was great - excellent atmosphere and modern music. A wooden place with a balcony and sofas to sit on. Sonia came and joined us there.

There were DJs there, no dancing while we were there but I’m sure that started a bit later. We finally went to a bar called Soho which was in the ultra-modern style. I didn’t think it had much atmosphere. It’s amazing how Cambodia has these type of places - it really is a place of extremes.

Called our moto drivers around midnight. The streets were very quiet last night. Enjoyable ride home - it’s nice getting the breeze on the bike.

Last night wasn’t as hot so could actually get to sleep.

This morning we lazed about, eating rambutans, mangos and papya. The family downstairs gave us a whole tray of delicious mangos.

When we finally got ourselves into gear, we went over and had a cooked breakfast at The Garden Centre. The rich live well here in terms of food and drink. It’s quite sad when I think about it.

After that, we went to Wat Than, one of the big pagodas here as there is a handicraft shop there - they teach skills to people with disabilities and their work is sold at the shop. Unfortunately it was closed today (Sunday) so we missed out. We hopped over to the Russian Market after that, changed some money and had a quick look.

The wet season has arrived here. It rains every day now, mid-afternoon. There was a real downpour yesterday - it means muddy streets and puddles, better get used to it. It certainly cools things down a bit which is a novelty.

Quite a big week at work coming up - doing some presentations on Virus Protection. Exciting!

Might have a bit of a siesta now…

Ruth e xx
Miss Phnomer in Cambodia

I’ve been reprimanded for my slackness in diary updating of late. No, I haven’t become a victim of SARS - unless that stands for Slack Ass Ruth Syndrome!

Well where to start? A lot has happened in the last 10 days.

Will I go backwards or forwards? Or sideways?

It’s been an exciting couple of days with Mum arriving on Thursday night from Bangkok (even though I ate some dodgy spring rolls at the airport and had the PP poos yesterday - nothing major though, gone today).

We went home in a taxi - I decided against a moto trip back from the airport. Mum has been fine with them round the city though. We’ve shared thtem a lot of the time, me on the back - no problem.

Mum can now sympathise with my early morning wake-up chorus at 5.30am - the bread man, people cleaning, cats wailing, chickens, raucous music and the man next door hocking. Mum is sleeping in my bed and I am on a mattress. Last night was very hot - hard to sleep and had a couple of mozzies - who had a nice feast.

Yesterday, we went into town and had lunch and coffee and had a look at some of the art shops. Then last night, we went for dinner at The Boddhi Tree, great atmosphere. Afterwards we went to a traditional shadow puppet show at a theatre. It was great - the puppets are made from leather and are very intriciate. There were a few stories performed.

Today - we lazed around this morning. Mum washed her hair (she will throttle me for writing that) and then we went to Hotel Le Royal, a very elegant hotel in a a colonial building, beautiful gardens, very expensive I’m sure. We had a coffee and pastries there - very relaxing. It feel so different to the rest of Cambodia though. We caught a cyclo back to the main area and we’re going to seeing hands massage this afternoon. Tonight we’ll go for a drink in town.

Last weekend, Sonia and I did a day trip to Phnom Chisour, a temple about an hour away with 400 odd stairs, built on a hill. It was a good view over the land, very dry though. There are stone ruins there which we shown around by an old man and young boy. Very interesting.

In the afternoon we went to the zoo - very basic - fed bananas to an elephant, saw some tigers, wild dogs, coconut-drinking bears, birds and monkeys. I feel sorry for the animals though - not much of a life for them.

Hean and Jim drove us for the day and we had a really nice BBQ (style) chicken and mangos for lunch near the temple. On the way home, we stopped and ate palm fruit by the side of the road and some white brahmin cows trotted over to eat the palm fruit husks near the stall. Pretty exhausted by the end of the day but very enjoyable.

On Sunday night, Hean and I went to eat corn and have a beer over the river at this excellent local place. I was helping him with his English. It’s these wooden huts built high up on stilts over the river, accessed via little wooden pathways. You have your own hut which is open with a roof and roll-down sides. It was so relaxing just sitting there on the mats or lying on a hammock, eating cobs of fresh corn and having a beer.

We were talking about different things. His family live in the provinces on a farm. He didn’t want to work on the farm anymore so he came to PP a couple of years ago. He lives with his sister, brother-in-law and their 2 daughters here. I think he misses his family and home sometimes but he likes living in the city and learning English. We were talking about similar trends in Australia with people from rural areas.

He lost his sister suddenly late last year - she was only 28.

We had a public holiday for labour day on Thursday - another full day. Sonia and I went to see a tailor, the uncle of our Khmer teacher. I took my silk to get a skirt made and Sonia had some material for shirts. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

In the afternoon, we went a bit out of PP and relaxed next to the Mekong, eating longans and watching Vietnamese fisherman reel in a huge net full of little fish (along with a truckload of other rubbish from the river). Not very environmentally sound I’m afraid. Respite from the city is always welcome though.

The seedy part of the city is quite hidden and can be avoided though we have seen signs of it recently. Sonia and I accidentally went to a sleazy restaurant - lots of beer girls as they’re called.

A Chinese lady was shot the other morning at 6am near where we live - she was driving to work in her car. The proximity to our lives made us cringe. I don’t know the motive but I’m sure it would have been premeditated. Guns are everywhere here. Scary - there’s a well-known book, Guns, Ganja and Girls about this side of PP.

I am reading First They Killed my Father by Ung Leoung, about an experience of a family during the Khmer Rouge years. It gives an excellent insight into what it would have been like.

Must dash…Noodle Boat restaurant next stop.

Ruth e xx
Miss Phnomer in Cambodia