Mozzeenet

Work and play have been the order of the last couple of weeks with two holiday weekends in a row.

Last week, we had Friday off for the King’s Birthday. I was really tired from being busy at work so I was debating whether to go to Sihanoukville to the beach. In the end, I caught the bus at lunch time on Friday and met the others there in the late evening and I’m really glad I did.

Had a really nice, relaxing weekend and met some new people. We basically did very little except sit on the beach on deck chairs under a shady tree and eat fruit and drink iced coffees. I went for a swim and read.

I shared with 2 other girls in a guesthouse overlooking the beach up on a hill. It was a great view. the room was like a sauna though and the wall fan wouldn’t oscillate so we got another stand-up fan from reception. Despite this, I slept really well - I think I needed it.

On the Saturday night, we were invited to dinner with a family who one of the girls knew - she had taught their son last year at the International school in PP. It was a Khmer family, one of the wealthy ones. They invited all 7 of us to a fancy restaurant and we had plates of crabs, shrimp, cockles and bottles of wine.

It was a cross-cultural situation which we were amused by. We were seated at a separate table so didn’t get to talk to the family, in fact barely even met them. It was an interesting social comparison, such extremes are common here. The son (about 6 years old) had a maid fanning him the whole time!

After that we went and had some drinks by the beach, lots of fun.

The trip back was a bit scary. We got a mini-bus taxi and on the way, we saw the scene of a big accident. It had been cleared but there was a mangled truck and bus by the side of the road. The side of the bus was collapsed in and hardly recognisable. That was a sobering thought because I travelled down there on a bus.

Then, a car driving in the opposite direction overtook another car but we were very close when it pulled out. So, it was catapulting directly towards us. I was sure it was all over and we were going to have a head-on collision. Everyone gasped and I screamed and just at the last moment, it swerved onto the right side of the road. I felt very shaky after that one.

The week was full-on at work - as it will be until I finish. I made quite a bit of headway with the database after deciding to buy a huge Access tome. I was having trouble with a few functions and was progressing quite slowly. The book has helped a lot to clarify some things. For a while there, I was thinking I couldn’t get it done in time but I’m feeling more positive now.

This weekend is the water festival (Bon om Tuk), a very big annual celebration here marking the end of the wet season. It has been exciting so far. It goes for 3 days, Friday to Sunday and involves boat races on the river. The boats are long, wooden vessels with up to approx. 70 rowers. The rowers stand up and the boats go very fast.

All the villages enter a boat so there are many people in Phnom Penh from the provinces, estimated about 1-3 million more people than usual.

Yesterday, we went into the river. There were checkpoints near the main area and we had to pay the police guards, 1000 riel to get past (on a moto) then at the next street, it was the same story so we decided to get off and walk, not very far.

We met up with one of my friends from work, Kanha and her boyfriend and about 6 of her friends. It was great to go round the streets and see the sights. The streets were packed with people, traffic couldn’t drive through. Very busy and a happy, easter show-like atmosphere.

After 6pm, the King of Cambodia spoke and there were fireworks. We ate noodle soup in a small local restaurant with Kanha and her friends.

Then we walked around the stalls which were mainly promoting things like shampoo, rice cookers etc or selling lottery tickets then headed back to the river. It was exciting - the river was lit up by several floats, huge displays of coloured lights on boats. Each ministry had their own boat and they were very beautiful. People were crowded on the riverside to watch, eat and socialise with friends and family.

Tomorrow, we will go into the river again and watch some of the boat racing. We’ve booked a table at one of the restaurants which has a balcony overlooking the river. Then, in the afternoon we’re headed for Kep, another seaside town.

We have been there before and loved it. I am just looking forward to chilling out there for a couple of days - it is very peaceful with very few people. I have the week off so after that I am heading to Thailand via the border crossing at Koh Kong (southern Cambodia). I’ll meet up with Mum in Bangkok.

Ruth e xx
Miss Phnomer in Cambodia