The week in pictures...

I didn't take too many photographs on this trip but here are a few to accompany the posts below... I'm now back in England with a few Cambodian projects in the pipeline here. Just 10 days in the humidity and I had already forgotten how cold it is back here... brrrrrrrr!

• First stop, Phnom Penh - view from Blue Lime hotel over to the Royal Palace - Its still the rainy season in PP hence the threatening sky and the flooded roads....
  

Next Kep Lodge in Kep - seaside town with 4 of the CCH photo journalists

• Relaxing in the evening in the bar...I must say they were lethal darts players and even started training the owners 2 year old baby. Ahh I love Cambodian health and safety.
  
  
  
• The crab market - one of the best places to eat in Cambodia. Rick Stein(of TV chef fame) recently visited Kep. He went to try lok lak at the poshest place in town. This was a mistake this street has the best food in town. Seafood straight out of the sea and served with Kampot pepper. My favourite is Kimly which can be found at the end of the row.
  
  
  
  
  
• A walk around the town and a trip to the King's old holiday villa....The family "guarding"/squatting in the deserted and crumbling building now demand $2 per person to get a look. I've been inside before they got the idea of charging the Barangs an entrance fee. The child below demanding the charge did appear to be doing some gardening (before he decided to escort us off the premises and down the road with this 2 dogs that is)

• Contemplating the sea view from the crab market

• A long relaxing walk to the beach on the seafront rounded off with a snack of a off coconut/rice/fruit mix wrapped in leaves and then cooked [read: burnt]
  
• Monkey watching....
  

• Rain...

• Jasmine (I think)....
  
  

  

• Next stop Kampot.......
  
  
  

  
  

• A cycle ride around the countryside and cattle.... Cham boys in a village on the outskirts of Kampot...
  

• Kampot river

• Back to the city and shopping - God forbid that you ever enter O'Russei market and dare to go upstairs. Sweating, disorientated, loaded with goods...will you ever find your way out again? I always get lost here. Fantastic market though - Might be my favourite.... The fabric on the east side of the market is amazing and as for the bling Khmer dresses on the first floor....!

• The school at the children's centre has opened (the primary children used to go to public school but now the centre has opened their own). Observing a day of lessons....
  The girls - S and S - who now seem to be good friends in Second grade. On the right is the beautiful girl I sponsor who is progressing very well.
  
• Second grade classroom
  
  
• A fun afternoon for 5 of the children from the centre at the water park (OK, Ok I liked the slide too...).
  
  
  
  
• Waiting for the hot dog party to begin - the water park 5 - some modelling clothes donated by my (UK) work friends - present and past.
  
• Let the dancing at the leaving party commence..........
  
  

Kampot break

This week I had a break from school (half term) and so went back to one of my favourite places to visit in Cambodia - Kampot.

Kampot is a beautiful small town with lots of character and lovely old colonial buildings. My first impression of Kampot, nearly a year ago left me unimpressed but the charm of the town has grown on me and now I think it is great!

The old bridge in Kampot was bombed and so what remains is 3 different bridges all put together.

It rained! - The first rain since the end of the wet season sometime in October

The main reason to go was to try (again) to get up Bokor Mountain. Bokor is a National Park with a deserted old hill station built by the French including ruins of a casino and a church. A large chunk of Bokor has however been sold to a developer and for a while access has been refused to tourists.

Last time I visited Kampot it was still possible to walk up but as it was a two day hike I didn't fancy it... This time I was prepared to hike but now the developer's security guards have stopped people even walking up to visit the ruins. No doubt when its open again it will have turned into a tacky resort rather than an "abandoned hill station".

So, with Bokor being impossible the alternatives were lazing about with a book, cycling through the nearby villages and a sunset river cruise.

The cycling was great. The sun however was scorching. I have forgotten how fierce the Cambodian sun can be because its the start of the hot season again and also because when I'm in Phnom Penh you are never outside for a long period of time.

The roads were not too dusty thanks to the strange rain but it was hot and rough in parts.

Over 2 days we cycled over rocky roads and into Muslim Communities (known as Cham in Khmer). "Hellohowareyouwhatisyourname!" was called at least every 10 metres by kids and adults alike. Most Cambodians in the rural areas do not know what this even means so (in true teacher format) I try to throw back the answer in Khmer hoping they might start to understand what they are saying! After 3 hours this gets a little waring though.

One group of kids were particularly amusing though. About 10 children returning from school screamed in joy when they saw foreigners. I spoke to them in broken Khmer and they looked at me as though I was an alien - to the extent that I wondered whether they spoke Khmer at all! Eventually there was a break through and then my camera was an object of delight for them.

Tort Roop? [photograph?]

We then came to the end of the road. The trucks carrying stone up to the new resort came thundering past over a bridge that looked like it might break any moment. Rocks perched high on the trucks looked like they could just plop off any second and flatten anyone nearby. Returning the way we came we came back to the school kids again who ran with the bikes holding hands (try cycling with 10 kids all wanting to grab you).

A welcome drink at this oddly placed roadside stall with the trucks hurtling past - The driver was very busy staring at the white people but he managed to keep it on the road

Later the cruise up the river, through the fishing village to the ocean. In order to get onto the boat we had to climb down a make shift ladder (a piece of wood with a few nails) onto the boat (ominously partially filled with water) Our driver then nearly caused us to crash into a moored police boat - never a good idea. He did not appear to understand the dynamics of a rudder.

My confidence was not increased by the fact that 5 minutes into the journey he let out a sound that "said" - "ohhh - how could I have been so foolish as to forget to put on my helmet!"... and then he picked up his motorcycle helmet and put it on - Yes, he put it on, without a hint that it was more than a little odd, even though we were on a boat in the middle of a river. Ummmm - After so long here you do just generally stop asking yourself the question "why?" when you see something strange but sometimes you just can't help but wonder!!

Anyway, the fishing village was interesting and we went out to a sand bank in the ocean and had a paddle before returning for sundowners.

Now where did I put my helmet?

Fisherfolk

Our boat with Bokor in the distance