Landmines

No touring today - I've just hired a rickety old bicycle and am planning to spend the day around town, with perhaps one foray out into the countryside just to get away from the traffic! I tried sitting in the park but the traffic noise and fumes started getting to me and the bats above started trying to use me for target practice! So, I've found a different internet cafe in a quieter part of town and am quite enjoying this little oasis away from the noise, heat and smells of outside. The ceiling fan is turning slowly, the owners are murmuring quietly to each other, and I am the only customer. Ahhh .....

Tomorrow morning, I'm flying back to Singapore, where I'll spend the day before boarding the onward flight to Rome. It's been an amazing few days here and has given me a brief introduction to this remarkable country. Yesterday really was brilliant - clambering around Beng Mealea temple, most of the time completely alone with only the noises of the surrounding jungle for company. Once again, the ride out there and back was enjoyable just for the chance to zip along through the every-changing countryside. And the visit to Kompong Phhluk was just as interesting as Beng Mealea, in a very different way. Its inhabitants have adapted to live in tune with the changing seasons - no one seems to worry a jot about getting wet, whether from the torrential rain or from having to jump into the river to re-position a fishing net or do some maintenance on a boat. Speaking of which, the boat broke down twice on the way back from Kompong Phhluk - water intake kept getting blocked which would eventually cause the motor to overheat. My driver stopped the boat, tied it to a bush in the fast-flowing stream, jumped overboard and disappeared underwater behind the boat only to emerge a little while later having unblocked the intake. Kept his flip-flops on for the entire exercise. The people of the village keep countless crocodiles in cages, which I assume they use for meat and skins. Judging from the locals' lack of hesitancy in entering the water, I'm assuming none of the crocodiles ever escape!

I forgot to mention that on Thursday, on the way back to Siem Reap, I stopped at the Cambodian Landmine Museum. It was set up by Aki Ra, a former Khmer Rouge child soldier. He estimates that he's disarmed around 50 000 mines since fleeing the Khmer Rouge and taking up this work with the UN. There are a huge number of amputees here - you see them everywhere. At many of the temples, war victims have formed traditional music groups and play to the tourists as they pass. It is a sobering and visible reminder of this country's horrific recent past. Another sobering sight, both on Thursday and yesterday, was road accidents: in both cases they had occurred just minutes before we arrived. No police, lights, sirens, medics - just a throng of people crowding around to help or just to look. I'm glad Vanna (yes, that's how Wonäääh spells his name in Latin characters!) is such a sensible driver/rider. Needless to say, driving/riding styles here are quite colourful! My favourite is the left-hand turn at a busy intersection (Cambodia drives on the right), which involves crossing to the left gutter before getting to the intersection (i.e. ahead of/through the oncoming traffic), then zipping around the corner and crossing again to the right-hand side. It seems to work!

On a healthier note, the food here has been fantastic - Thursday for lunch I had a sort of omelette wrapped around a mix of minced pork, coconut and sprouted mung beans - a Khmer speciality. Yesterday for a snack on the long ride to Beng Mealea, we had some Kra Lan (I think that's right!), which is glutinous rice with some black beans and coconut stuffed inside a 30cm long bamboo tube and cooked over charcoal. For lunch, we stopped at a marketplace in one of the towns we passed through and ate with the locals. Vanna was very enthusiatic about introducing me to "real Cambodian food". Highlight was pork in sweet bamboo soup. And last night I went back to the Green House Restaurant (of frogs' legs fame) and enjoyed, amongst other things, a superb mukac and smoked fish salad for entrée.