What makes you do it?

Why do you get out the bed in the morning? What makes you do it? Two questions possibly coming from a person who is too young to ask them. At twenty i'm possibly only just a quarter of the way through life and yet i ask myself these questions. Are you doing something worthwhile with your time? Is this going to bite you in the butt when you're 80 and on your deathbed. Are you going to be asking yourself why did i waste so much time doing that?

I came out to Cambodia to try to find some answers to those questions because i felt as though i wasn't mature enough academically for university and i didn't want to plunge myself into debt on a major that i just wasn't cut out for. So i set out to come here and try to mature in a self-imposed exile in a country that i had visited and loved. What i didn't reckon on was the fact i like this independence, that if i don't want to do something i don't have to do it, but on the other hand it's not going to get done if i don't do it. I have to answer to myself and others if i let them down. I'm sure this is how many people of my age feel when they're in university and are now back at home and once again feel trapped and under the constant gaze of their parents.

Recently my sister came out to visit and then my father and i began to feel this feeling of being trapped again. However wonderful it was to see them it was a familiar mixture of homesickness, familiarity and what i have now come to understand was depression. When in England i would have probably been diagnosed with depression of some sort by a clinical psychologist. I wasn't going out much, i didn't do much other than play games and i wasn't being stimulated enough mentally. I'll never forget my brother saying that when he comes home i would never shut up. Mainly due to finally having someone to talk to or entertain me.  So when my sister and father came i wasn't depressed all of a sudden, however after a couple of days there was certain lethargy in me. Which wasn't great and i know that this is something that will come up again if i live in England.

So that's why i did it. 

That's why i left. To get away from this, to change, to grow and become better.

What keeps me out here is the children. Not the little ones at my proper school but the ones at my volunteer school. I have changed my job within the school to be part time and be a homeroom teacher which means i teach more subjects rather than just English. I have done this for three days now and have enjoyed the teaching, maybe not so much in other areas, but originally my biggest worry  was my ability to teach the children but this so far hasn't been a problem. So now, i have afternoons off i go to teach at my volunteer school.  It is so good. It's such a release and help to myself to be able to do it. No paperwork, no internal office problems just straight up teaching and helping.

Up until recently what made me tick was football and to some degree it still does. However because of niggling injuries and constant problems it has taken a back seat. This made me upset because i can't play and i was down in the dumps. However it has now been replaced by these children. I hope someday that my peers finds this feeling that i have. It's like having a bottle and every time you drink from it, you are lifted three inches off the ground and stand that much taller and smile that much wider. It's beautiful.

So that is why i am out here, i have found the reason to still be here.

Yet there's this problem of not having a university degree from England. Something that i have looked into rectifying. One solution is by doing a university course here (some are available in English) however the one i liked is no longer being taught and psychology (second choice) i'm just not that interested in. So i looked at UCAS and some courses caught my eye of English and teaching intertwined but i wouldn't be able to teach in England, only abroad. I could home study from the Open University but the courses aren't great and there isn't much support for fees. Am i ready for uni back in England? Possibly, but do i want to go back to England? I'm unsure. It's such a shame that i am being limited over what is essentially a piece of paper.

Due to some problems i had at work, i have already written a resignation letter. Whether i'm jumping the gun, i don't know but if i stop working here, is that an opportune moment to leave Cambodia and come back for a few years? However the feeling after teaching those special, wonderful children meant i lost all desire to leave this country. Maybe i'kk make a u-turn on that psychology degree? However i do know i would be ripping my heart in two if i left here and didn't see those children again and in fact many of the wonderful people that i have met.

So what will i do? I honestly haven't got a clue. But i do know i'll do it my way. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E2hYDIFDIU

Rock for Kampuchea 1980

Do you remember this concert, 4 nights at Hammersmith Odeon with Paul McCartney leading the way with the Who, Clash and others raising money for impoverished Cambodia? Seems such a long time ago I watched this concert at home one late evening, above all it raised awareness among young people to the plight of poor Cambodia, embellished later in the mid eighties with the movie 'The Killing Fields' which I managed to see upon it's immediate release and its very moving ending.  I never thought I would be visiting this little Asian country 4 times in 6 years.

Cambodia, is sandwiched between Thailand and Vietnam and consequently is the most delicious filling in that sandwich.  The people are welcoming, able to speak some english, and often fluently, and courteous to their visitors, which is more than can be said of it's neighbours, and I still believe the people here are absolutely lovely and for this reason it is understandable why people return, or even linger like our Greg.

Since my first visit in 2010, the rate of change cannot go unnoticed. For example, on my first trip I had to cross a river by pontoon on my bus to head towards Vietnam, and was the same in 2012, now there is a splendid suspension bridge, not quite like the Marne Valley in France, but none-the-less marked progress changing lives. Greg assures me the built the Aeon shopping mall in one year, a huge investment, catering for shopping, ice skating, bowling and the like.

However, regardless of this, if you are a foodie, there is something for your palate, Spanish, French, American, even Costa coffee, but not seen it's adversary Starbucks. Burger King, but not McDonalds, Dominoes but not Pizza hut.

So a country changing so much, but despite this, poverty is still here, among these millionaires, children still beg, schools are over crowded and have two sittings in a day to accommodate them all, but hospital wings and new high tech buildings get built and remain empty, there's only one post office for the city - or so it seems, so money talks as ever even in impoverished Cambodia.

After such a soapbox introduction, what's Greg up to? I spent most of my time at Phnom Penh Sports Club reading and sleeping away the days whilst Greg went to work, a bit of a novelty, parent sees kid off to work whilst parent does SFA.

Naturally we played football as promised, first on concrete, my rickety bones only got two minutes and Greg was in goal, undeterred, we made a twenty minute journey to another game. Well everything was fine until, until, my knee decided to crumple on me, same injury for last 10 years I guess, but I gamely continued until it happened again, thoughts of hanging my boots up did enter my head. But mum knows I should stop, but she also knows I can't give in. However, this was not the most worrying issue, Greg's ankle was tender once again. A day later and he's wearing a protective boot for his ligament injury, game over or so I thought. No chance, on to the next evening to see his team which became cup winners and guess what? Game on! Barefooted I played, easy, no reaction and played quite well until I sat down and had the ball booted into my face from one metre away, ouch, cue nosebleed and sore nose and head.

Greg and I have not had our customary adventure, but instead shared our continued healthy father/son relationship and had our heated debates, more from my concern over his welfare and health given what I and he had experienced in just three days. But overall he is at ease in these surroundings and that I am pleased. This I completely understand as I puttered along in my tuk tuk to the sports club.

Phnom Penh is a delight, limited in scope for museums once you've seen the Killing Fields stuff, which everyone must do on a visit here, just as we should never forget our soldiers of the first and second world wars, but for someone who wishes to live here and work, it is very easy to navigate life. The food, coffee shops, and bustling markets are entertainment in themselves, plus we will be off to the casino later like a pair of male Thelma and Louise's without the car crash.

She Came, She Saw, She Sweated

Emily came out to see me for two weeks this past month. We didn't do much as two weeks isn't a lot however we tried to do some.

She arrived on the 18th June, a reunion marred by a bit of rain that cleared up when she came through the arrival gates. I was so elated to see her again although to be honest it has only been 6 months since I had seen her previously. Immediately we got onto a tuk tuk and got out of there and back to my house. As soon as wifi was set up on the ipads that was it. A return to normality of not looking at each other and grunting in answer to questions. I am joking of course but even if it was slightly like this I didn't mind because my sister was sitting across from me! How fantastic to be able to reach out and touch a member of my family. That endless longing that most of us have for our family was filled once again by my sister this time.

I took her out on my moto upto the riverside (with her clinging to my back with dagger like fingers and shrieks of worry) and we had a happy hour cocktail on a rooftop bar which was devoured quickly and then we went to eat at a restaurant i favour. With Emily experiencing a bit of Cambodia for the first time with many shouts of 'tuk tuk!' 'weed lady' 'money please' 'you want to buy book?' All these things that are generally normal for me but for her it was a bit of a head turner i think. In the sense she's experienced people asking for money and peddling their wares but not in such an intense in your face way. I'm sure Cambodia isn't the worst at it nor is it the best but i love it all the same. So it was a long evening of catching up with her and then settling down to sleep.

On Friday, i worked and she went to see the atrocities. Which Emily said were horrible of course, it's hard to put into words how you feel when you see a tree that people used to swing babies against all the while listening to stories about how people survived or died. Truly horrific. After she had finished her day off with a little shopping at the Russian Market she came to my school and waited for me to finish teaching at my school's kindergarten.

We went home and changed put some clothes in a bag and went with Shaola and her boyfriend in a private car to Kampot they were staying for the weekend we were kicking about for a week or so. So we stayed at the same hotel i did previously which was nice to see those folks again and get a slightly better price. We arrived fairly late so went to eat and came back to bed.

The next day it was okay so we went to the local sights of a pepper field, a cave temple that was traversed in flip flops and no hard hat can't imagine doing that in England. It was nice morning with a plan to return and retire to the pool. This plan was destroyed by the rain.... something that would become a reoccurring nuisance. So we spent the afternoon inside watching movies and planning. Whilst also rueing the fact we could have staying in 34 degree heat in Phnom Penh. Never mind.

We woke up with a determined attitude to get up Bokor Mountain on our rented moto. This was a silly decision and i'd like to say we thought about it some more and decided to stay in the room dry and warm. However the determination and competitiveness in us drove us up that damn mountain. In biting wind and lashing rain we got to the top and couldn't even see the 5 star resort from 50 metres away because of the cloud and fog we were in. Parked up and got inside. I just mentioned to Emily i wanted to move the moto to a more sheltered position you stay here. So there i go off running to move it. I return to her having photos and being chattered about. Some Vietnamese or Chinese i haven't quite decided took a liking to Emily's nose size. With that they touched it and also thought to take photos with her because of this rarity. So i return from the rain and there she is being treated like a bleedin' celebrity. Camera flashes and a crowd around her. We meandered around the casino even gambled a little and broke even. Dried off a bit and then decided there was no point seeing the other attractions in this fog as you wouldn't be able to take any photos or even see them! So it was time to go back down the oversized hill. It brightened up slightly and we stopped to take a picture of the view, as Emily got back on the moto there was a huge crack of thunder and we were off faster than the speed of sound as the rain returned with a vengeance and the wind with a vendetta. As we got back to ground level we looked back and worked out what happened. At the top and where Emily took the photo we were above the cloud. As we came lower down we were below and so it rained on us. This is what you get when you come in rainy season.

We decided there was no point in staying in Kampot so thought it best to move onto Sihanoukville. This was a good idea that once again was spoilt by rain. So instead of sitting on the beautiful beaches we had a day watching movies and an afternoon seeing a pagoda with the strangest monks i have ever met. With the evening filled with a fire show, we drunk a bit and ate a lot. On our last night there was a huge rain storm which solidified our plan to return to the heat of Phnom Penh.

A short bus trip later we were back and by a pool. That was how the rest of the week laid itself out, market, palace, pool. It was pretty nice to be honest and i'm sure Emily was pleased to be finally getting her sought after sun tan. I even got to take her to my volunteer school which was slightly selfish as it was more for me than her but at least she got to see the kids i taught and saw how it worked slightly and hopefully understood why i want to go back there.

On the Monday she was off to Siem Reap to see the temples. I can't tell you much about this because i was working but she enjoyed them and of course got a bit templed out after a while but that can't be helped when it's the main attraction in Siem Reap. She returned on the friday we had a lovely meal and she paid for the desert as a birthday present to me. Then on Saturday 4th, she was going back to England. So a small climbing excursion at a kidszone type thing which was enjoyed. Then lunch and off to the airport. That was it. Two weeks over in a flash and she was gone. Although she seemed to have malted most of her hair onto my floor so at least there was that remaining memory of cleaning it up. Other than the rain, the wind, the hair, money, travel times we had a great time together and it was lovely to see her again and can't wait for her to return at some point in the future!

Link of the day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIYiGA_rIls Unfortunately we couldn't do much of this,..

One Year on

Wow, how quick has that gone. Unbelievable. 20th May 2014 I left England with hope and trepidation. So far the trepidation has gone, the hope is still here but most of all it is excitement and happiness. I can't believe how much has changed in 365 days.

In the first couple of months i was staying in the guesthouse which was no problem and working in the volunteer school. This was also the start of getting used to the diet, the people, the weather, the culture and the city. The hardest was probably the diet. For 18 years i have eaten potatoes, bread and cereal. This was turned upside down when it became rice, rice and beef or pork. It was a gradual transition to enjoying but it makes so much sense now. Before it was to fit in and save money. Now it's a staple part of my diet with me rarely going out my way to find western food unless it's cheap or chocolate. The rice in the morning fills me up until 12:00 or 12:30. If i have cereal, that will only fill me until  11 or 11:30 and i'll want to eat again or have a snack. So now it's all rice or noodles.

The people were no problem at all so welcoming and lovely which is why i love this country anyway. The weather can sometimes be too hot which is not much of a complaint compared to England's grey weather. The city is pretty easy considering it's got big avenues and numbered streets so I learnt it pretty quickly, it's a lot easier than London to say the least! The culture, i'm still learning and i find it fascinating and love learning more all the time. Like just recently i found out they have another language within their language! For example i knew that they have language if they ever talk to the king, another language for speaking with monks and recently i learnt they have rhyming language a bit like cockney rhyming slang. Which is another step up from just learning the base language!

The language on the other hand, i'm still coming to grips with. I've just started having lessons two weeks ago and the teacher thinks some of my vocabulary and idioms are very good for a foreigner. This is probably due to me hanging out with my khmer friends and picking up the local slang rather than the polite 'correct' way to speak that the locals don't actually use but foreigners learn. So i'm pretty happy with my small grasp of it. My teacher has just been teaching me the basics that i completely missed such as food, colours, objects, basic nouns and verbs that are needed and helping me with my pronunciation. So far, so good.  

Then in August, i got a job at a primary school which if you have read has been pretty good experience so far and i have learnt so much. It has been really great to watch these children grow and develop and use words that you have taught them! Especially in the kindergarten! We recently had a run through in kindergarten of our 'family day' celebration and my K1 and K2 looked so grown up compared to N1 and N2. Especially K2 as they are nearly in P1. It made me proud to see these children maturing. All the way through from K1 to P4 they have really calmed and matured and become better than when i first started teaching them.

Every once in a while i would reflect what i was doing in the time last year and I'd think how much has changed. From working in customer service in Uxbridge and living in Chalfont St Peter to then move to London and commute to Uxbridge every day. Playing football every once in a while. To then helping educate poor children and then educating well off children and then moving into my own apartment at 19! Playing football every day. It truly is bliss. Never in a million years would i think i would have a job, house and be master of ceremonies for the second for my schools family day celebration next week!

 If i could change one thing it would be being able to survive whilst educating the poorer children of Cambodia. I really want to help my old volunteer school with their students, it's been documented that it is not good for the children to be constantly forming connections with teachers and then the teacher suddenly disappearing and changing. Plus it means they are always learning the same thing over and over. Not actually developing their understanding of English. Even though i only have one year's experience i really think i could help them. Although i would be working for free... so it's 

trying to work out a way to work there and live.

So what will the next year bring? I don't know but I know that if it was anything like the last then i'm in for a blast! Even though i'm living day by day going to work and coming home and it's practically the same routine, i'm so excited for it.

Link of the day, not much to do with the article, just been listening to it a lot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0PjECSyJ7w

Happy Khmer New Year!

What a holiday it's been. Very happy with the destination and the content. 

So for the Khmer New Year, the school had a party with me dancing, speaking Khmer and being a presenter for the show which was a first. It all went rather swimmingly.

Then on Monday, I had to work and in the afternoon fell horrifically ill. Putting my trip away in serious jeopardy. About 18 hours before the bus I felt a bit better. Not well enough to travel. Went to bed, hopefully to improve the condition.  7 hours before, I wake up from my slumber feeling that I certainly had improved but was still too dizzy to do anything. 5 hours before stopped feeling sorry for myself and tried to act normal as a way of medicating my self. 3 hours before a lot better, seems pretending to be okay has worked also i'd spent $10 on my ticket, i'll be damned if i'm not travelling after paying that. So i decided to travel. 0 hour on the bus and on my way to a town called Kampot. Popular with expats and the more savvy traveler, however this may no longer be true as it's becoming a more popular destination due to its location to the beach town of Kep, a national park and Bokor Mountain. 

Nothing booked which was a bit dangerous seeing as though everyone was migrating to Kampot for the New Year holiday. Got there without a hitch, although lots of restaurants and cafes were closed for the holiday. Phnom Penh had also become a ghost town in the mean time. Due to all the workers going back to the province to meet their families.

Anyhow i'm in Kampot and i need a place to stay and ask a tuk tuk driver, 'i need somewhere with a swimming pool.' Hop in and off we go to a place called 'Two Moons' first hotel the tuk tuk driver and I checked out and I checked in. Swimming pool? Yes. Chill? Yes. Out the town a bit? Yes. Quiet? Yes. Cheapish? Yes. Boxes checked, trunks on and in the swimming pool for a bit. So a lovely hotel was found, went out for dinner which didn't have a huge selection because of places being closed. So had a miserable meal and then returned to the hotel's bar.

Talked to a rather strange Russian-Polish-English person who lives in Russia 183 days a year to get less tax, because he's in the top tier of salary for London so doesn't want the 45% tax or whatever it is. However he does own a house in zone 1, i think he said Canary wharf.  He's interviewed one of Russia's most wanted criminals. Flies all over the world for holidays. Cuba, China, Norway, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Thailand, Vietnam and many others. He was strange, something seemed a bit off about him as he never looked me in the eye when speaking to me. Although a very clever bloke. Spoke four languages of Russian, Polish, English and a bit of Spanish. Unfortunately i forgot his name so couldn't research him. He also didn't want to tell me his job...probably KGB.

So then the next day i rented a moto. Sorry Mum! I went up to a river that wasn't particularly interesting lots of khmers enjoying themselves but not much for me. Came back and sat by the pool and got rather burnt.  In the evening talked to the same KGB bloke again and another khmer bloke who was nice and spoke lovely English. He was in Kampot just for the holiday like many others.

Then on Thursday, I decided to go down to the seaside down of Kep. Longest ride on a moto so far. Around 30 minutes. Good road as well, one small embarrassing moment was when my moto ran out of petrol. The fuel gauge didn't work, so all of a sudden it spluttered out and i was walking with it to the next petrol stop... Fuel bought, let's go! Nope, wasn't starting. So the bloke whom had filled it up said 'get off and unscrew the cap again.' I oblige. He gets down and blows into the petrol tank, afterwards he says 'off you go.' There's me questioning what the hell was that, silently laughing thinking this ain't gonna work. What d'ya know? It flaming worked and off i went. Kep was nice if it wasn't so busy! I didn't even get onto the beach because of what felt like the entire khmer population had descended on to Kep's one beach. So i rode on past and stopped a lot further down and walked around, took some photos, paddled, sat and then it became the hottest hour so i decided to shoot back to Kampot. I have unfinished business in Kep because i'm sure it's gorgeous if there wasn't ten million people there.

This evening I went to the bar again, Kirsten you'd be proud. Spoke to an Irish bloke with whom i'd had a couple of words in passing. Turns out he's travelled around Asia a fair amount and is in between contracts back in Ireland so decided to come back out to Cambodia. Loves fishing and used to be a big construction worker in London back before Europeans came over. Now does reconstruction on Georgian houses and loves it.

Friday, i decided to go even further on my scooter about an hour and go up to Bokor Mountain. Now this was beautiful road, incredible viewpoints, long sweeping bends and i was enjoying myself pretending to be Clarkson and commentating myself going around the corners. That was fun until i spoke slightly too loud and some westerners heard and i got all embarrassed. It was very far! The road just didn't stop and i was fearing for my life that i was going to run out of petrol half way up this mountain....thankfully it didn't and there was a little stall at the top that had some petrol.  Stayed up there for a while and came back. Again half of Cambodia seemed to decide it was a good idea to go up there as well. So rather busy again.

Back to the pool and bar for the night. Spoke with a lovely couple and played uno with them for half a night. Lovely conversation about what they think of Cambodia, their experience and what they do and everything, really, really nice conversation. Plus i won at Uno. So y'know Preston's were on top again. Too many years spent playing that game.

Saturday, leaving day. Not happy to be going back to the hustle and bustle of Phnom Penh. My bus was at 3. So had time to kill. By the pool. Met a lovely bloke called Alan (i think). Who was on a mission helping locals with something, i can't remember. For about an hour and a half we had a frank conversation on religion and life. Which for the first time in my life since i was a child i have had a serious conversation about religion and had my questions answered about it. I'm still agnostic so don't worry, that i'm going to be a bible basher all of a sudden. However it was really nice to talk about all the issues with it, the problems it's creating, middle east, muslims and islam, the world, america, evolution and logic. I have never had that. I got sunburnt in the process of being so caught up in the conversation. Also he was an evangelical christian and he started talking about 'elders' which he said was just a word taken from the bible but it in my immature mind i thought 'oh my god, it's a cult.' He's going to start speaking in tongues in a minute. All joking aside, lovely bloke, great conversation.

Then from that same group, i was sat next to a women on the bus on the way home. Who had lived here for a year and a half. She spoke near fluent khmer. It was lovely to finally  meet someone who spoke khmer with a western mouth so i could ask all my burning questions about the language and how to speak it. That made the three hour journey back to Phnom Penh fly by. Holiday over. Back to work on Monday.

Very successful, tanned and happy. I will be returning to Kampot very soon as there is a three day weekend in a fortnight! See you soon Kampot!

My link of the day is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWC70m6Gh68

Here have some photos

Big Buddha at river.

Busy River

Kep, no people where there's no beach.

Bar and a screwdriver.

Bokor Mountain view point

Big chinese 6 star resort on top of Bokor

Old abandoned church

Inside 

Above the clouds.

Old abandoned casino

Big lizard that woke me up every morning.

Me being artistic....

Pool and hotel.

Part 2 Finally!

Note: I deleted this by accident managed to recover but had to transcribe it. Tenses change all over the place. Only just doing it now! This was meant to be posted in February.

So I may have mentioned that we were going to the mountains for our Chinese break. I got up at the usual time of 6 to hook up with Shaola at 7 to get a bus at 7:15. Then a five hour bus ride to Andoung Tak. Where we were met by a little Khmer man and his mate with a boat. After which we sat on getting to know our crew mates. Two English people who live and worked in Da Nang- Vietnam. ( I only know Da Nang from 'Good Morning Vietnam' and its hot) They were nice down to earth people. Also a German biologist who is the leading specialist for crocodiles in Germany. Nice bloke again.

So after an extensive journey up the river passing these huge boats digging out sand that is doing untold damage to the banks and selling it to Singapore for artificial beaches, all this for 3 hours, whilst sat on a small uncomfortable cramped seat.

We arrived at a small village on the river and then walked up to an information centre at which we booked a nice trek for tomorrow and a bungalow to sleep in. Life was good, peace, quiet and no tuk tuks! Well apart from the fine sand being kicked up by the motos and people. Had a lovely meal cooked for us by a local women's mother whilst we were watching on, surrounded by salivating dogs! You probably wouldn't been able to tell the difference. It really was a delicious meal, fried vegetables and pork and of course, rice. We went to bed rather happy and full.

Up at 6 again, to get to the information centre for breakfast and for our trek. The same people on our boat had chosen to join us on the trek. Our guide spoke little to no English which is useful when you're out in the wilderness and may get injured. So i tried to teach him some intertwined with me practicing Khmer. At the beginning we were walking on a road and i mentioned to Shaola that this is more of a 'long walk' than a trek. I was soon to be mistaken....

We stopped for lunch after some hours of walking at a beautifully secluded spot, with the sound of nature and a waterfall for scenery. It was gorgeous and peaceful. However me being stupid, dropped my plastic spoon on the dirty ground so i had to eat my lunch with my even dirtier hands. Like a monkey.

Then it was the journey back. This was much tougher going after the lovely rest. It took us until 5. So lets do some math. Stopped for 1.5 hours, 7:30 to 5. 8 hours of walking. 32Km. Hell of a long walk. I decided to retract that statement half way through the journey back. Got back and ate some noodles and went back to our bungalow which was another 20 minute walk away. On shattered legs. Thankfully our friends went by on a moto and they sent him back to pick us up. Showered and in bed by 8:30.

Slept all the way through until 6. Well i say i slept all the way through till 6, unfortunately 3 cockerels strategically placed themselves around the bungalow and decided that at 5:40 it was time to get up. I was not a happy chicken. We were getting up at 6 anyway to catch our moto to bring us back to civilisation. The moto ride was ten times better than the boat and way more interesting. So we went back to the madness of the city after the serenity of the country.

Me!

Take a look at what we saw:

Had a swim in it. Lovely and refreshing.

Main road!

Scenic.

Waterfall.

Chi Phat

Big boats, taking the sand

Information Centre

The bungalow.

England isn't the only green country.

Short break and off again. (Our guide)

Link of the day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWtCittJyr0

Got time, part 1

Got time, so it becomes time to write. There hasn't been much happening to be honest. Well not until recently anyway. From the last one I wrote about my time back in England. I honestly thought that it would be tough returning to this wonderfully mad country! Although last night I was riding home and it just hit me like a tonne of bricks. I love this place, I want my future to involve it somehow, someway. I understand that it may not always be like this, that I may eventually get sick of the place but right here, right now, I'm happier than I have been in a long while. 

I want to try to tell you about the love and death in this place from what I know so far. I may write about it again, in a couple months and say that this was all out my arse. So here goes....death in western culture is generally a bit taboo of 'oh we can't mention lest they get upset' it's always 'i'm sorry' and what have you. It's a dreary and upsetting affair for all those affected. Then, once they are buried that's it, you move on and remember them with rose tinted spectacles unless you're jimmy saville. However here, they're never forgotten. They have services for one whole week after their death, drinking and remembering and praying in their name. After that I think it's one month on they have another service with more drinking and celebrating the persons life. Then it's one year on they celebrate again with drinking and laughter. After five years, they again celebrate with dancing and singing. There maybe more but that's all I know so far. This does get irritating because over here they just block the main streets up with big pavilions but still how incredible is that? For five years they celebrate the death and life of someone. They're not forgotten, and death is accepted as a thing of life. The ying to yang. You don't get the gift of life without the release of death and over here it is accepted that it happens and it's a thing to dance and sing about. I, personally, think it's wonderful. I will learn more this weekend as I'm going to a five year anniversary funeral....

On the other hand we have love. Again streets are blocked up with tents and monks praying for good luck. Obviously there are different levels of wealth bigger tents, more important streets being blocked, more garlands, more people. I know less about the wedding rituals apart from there is traditional clothing and food and what have you. Then we have got the poorest of the poor. People having to live and work on construction sites. It popped into my head, what happens for these guys? The ones that cannot afford a house and roam around looking for work. The ones whose children live on site and live in less than sanitary or safe conditions. So as I was going along I happened to go past a construction site and do you know what? They were having a wedding! Playing loud music and having a good time. Everyone deserves their special days and these guys certainly got one, I was so happy to see it. That even though they have a tough life, these two people got their special day and celebrated it with their friends. Everyone loves a bit of a party and it showed here. 

Anyway what have I been upto recently. I've been playing in a football tournament and we are through to the quarter finals after topping our group with a goal difference of 39. Playing two matches this weekend to get to the semis. Wish me luck! 

Work is fine but we have three days off now for Chinese New Year. So I'm going off to the mountains which I hope will be fantastic. No light, sound, air pollution. Will be able to see the stars, will probably be bitten by Mosquitos as well...will let you know how it goes. 

However for a celebration of the new year my school had a professional lion dance, it was brilliant. Makes you want to go to China...

Link of the day - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zUeAaBGVTk 

 Here are some photos and videos of the event.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj1dXjFEk1c

Blogging...

Well wowee! Have I got a lot to write about! Mum came and went. It was lovely, she completely understood why I want to be out here. Which made me happier within myself as it kind of justified it again, that I'm not crazy and it is okay for a person to move away, just as much as it is okay to live in England, some of us are born to follow a different path. 

Meeting mum and being with her did make me miss home a little bit. Those home comforts of speaking back at a higher tempo, of asking someone to do something  or what have you. It made me miss just the little things that are hard to come by out here or are just stupidly expensive. 

It was lucky then that for Christmas....that...I went home!! Most of you already know this by now. It was really really...cold and of course, lovely. It was a strict schedule I had to keep to. Not much choice in it either if I wanted to meet everyone. So I got back on the 22nd after a rather long flight...eurgh! Got picked up at the airport by my friends to keep the ruse going, went around with them for the day and then went to Uxbridge for a drug-deal esqu handover from my friends to my mum. Car to car. No messin' about. 

Afterwards I met my grandparents and my sister! It was brilliant! I've not seen my gran move so fast in years. Teary-eyed reunion. 

Immediately the next day I shot up to Bury for another reunion (you're gonna get sick of this word) with my father. Had a lovely Christmas with him and then we tried to go and see my other grandparent but unfortunately it snowed and we had no chance of getting over to Chesterfield. Afterwards I rejoined my Mum and her partner to go to her house in Shropshire on the Welsh border for a couple of days. Then on the Monday, I went to Portsmouth on the coast and had a reunion again with my other sister which was fantastic! Then shot up to London to see my brother and stay at his and use his house as a base of operations until I went back. So in the meantime until I went home I saw my friends for New Years which is my first proper New Years doing something and for it to be exciting and fun. Afterwards on the second the day before I left we went a big family reunion with which I haven't got enough adjectives to describe how it was. Let's just say very very good however it was much more than that. Then on the third I was on my way back, flight was delayed but it was well worth it because I was on an A380, it was really cool!! Top class service. The delay meant I thought there was going to be some squeaky bum time in the transfer but in the end there was no problem. 

All in all it was a beautiful holiday, back to the home country. Although it was a bit hectic! Never seen so much of England in such a short space of time! It was nice to fulfil the itches that were needing to be scratched. I may have returned to Cambodia with a suitcase full of Jaffa cakes, Haribo and After Eights. Only half a box of Jaffa cakes left eek! 

On my return, my tuk tuk was ready, the language was familiarly unfamiliar. I immediately went and played football which in hindsight may have not been the most wisest of decisions but it was nice to see my friends again. Due to the change of climate I got rather ill, luckily I had a day off on the Wednesday due to another of Cambodia's holidays. 

Bought a new bicycle so am now doing everything off my own back again which is nice. Back into the swing of things and all sorted for the upcoming year. Very excited to see what this year brings if it's anything like the last, it's going to be even better. 

I'm sorry I didn't manage to see everyone but I hope that the next time I come back I'll be able to see you! Good luck to everyone! I'll see you on the next one. 

Link for the day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr7wcHTzcTg&sns=em

This was the only photo I took on my phone the whole time... So please enjoy looking at me and my sister.