Everyday I marvel at the colours of Cambodia. It is difficult to believe that the carrot coloured robes of Buddhist monks, glossy gold and tangerine tiles of temple roofs, dusty bright orange dirt roads and vivid flowers of Poinciana trees in bloom are not deliberately coordinated. White storm clouds strike impressively against deep blue skies … More Hope in a Colourful Country
Yesterday I watched in awe as a group of men and women covered from head to toe with traditional checked khromars wrapped around their heads for sun protection and dressed in pyjamas (women) or shirts and jeans (men), worked with a heavy wheelbarrow, carting wet concrete from the mixer about fifty metres away, to a … More Wheelbarrows and Debts
There is a seedy side to Cambodia which thankfully, as a woman living provincially, I have not really been exposed to. Nearing the end of a weekend in Phnom Penh, this morning Bee and I found ourselves sitting at an al-fresco pub on the riverfront for a few hours. After a while we began to … More Paradoxical Phnom Penh
There are many bicycles in Kampong Cham, even moreso in Cambodia, which carry large sacks shaped around frames positioned over the back carrier and suspended beside the back wheels, used for collecting recyclable cans and plastic bottles which generate a small income. This morning on my way to work, an old woman dressed in rags … More Cutting Cambodian Corners
This morning for the first time since arriving in Cambodia I braved the sweltering morning heat just after dawn and headed out into the streets for a 2km jog with Bee, who strode ahead of me and managed 4km in not much more time than my 2km took. The Mekong has had over six months … More The Power of English
Teaching English is not a pastime I had ever considered. But a colleague’s husband is at English night school and they saw in me, a native English speaker wanting to learn Khmer, an opportunity which we’ve both seized upon. Now I spend four hours per weekend in reciprocal English-Khmer lessons with a number of English … More Language Lessons in a Sauna
Despite the amount of poverty that pervades my observations here, there is a charisma to Cambodia which is steeped in characteristics such as humour, dignity, respect and sense of community. Recently, in three separate visits, I spent a chunk of time in the bustling centre of Cambodia’s tourism hub Siem Reap, observing the world. My … More All of the Village Chickens
This has probably become the most often quoted proposition of my life, courtesy of both the fact that I rarely get propositioned, as well as the flood of multi-lingual tuk tuk drivers vying for foreign custom in Siem Reap. Rav was waiting for me this afternoon in a sea of tuk tuks calling to me … More Tuk Tuk, Madame?
We woke today to news of the death of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Columbia’s President has described him as the “greatest Colombian of all time”. This is surely thanks to his ageless and captivating writing, celebrated by millions of ordinary readers and the Nobel Academy alike. His prose has been described as Magical Realism, which combines … More Magical Realism
When you board a bus in Cambodia, the decision to read instead of looking out the window means you are going to miss out on some astonishing sights. In the past 36 hours I’ve traveled 560km, from Mondulkiri in the north-east, back to Kampong Cham for a night, then up to Siem Reap this morning. … More Daring to read on the bus
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