First impressions

Dear all,


the morning is well on the way, and i am wasting my time in an internet cafe, so that i can meet Dr. Crabbé in about 45 mins. this means i have very little time to write to you what i have been upto the last week.

Kampong Cham
After a wonderful relaxing stay with simon and oie, in which they spoiled me rotten, especially on the weekend, we went to visit some more or less remote places. Simon told me that not a lot of foreigners take the trouble and the time to drive deep into the rural areas. We visited two schools, and saw a beautiful old wat (temple), it was over a 100 years old, which is rare as during the Khmer Rouge a lot of wats were destroyed. On sunday we also went to see the sun set over kampong cham, and it was even more beautiful than the week before.
On monday Oie and I left for Phnom Penh. it was a crazy taxi drive there. 4 people in the front 4 in the back. We payed double seats, so it was just the 2 of us in the back. But 4 in the front (including the driver). I do not want to think about how he drove, i am just glad we arrived safely.

phnom penh]
We went to a nice guesthouse, and we took our time settling in, after which we went into the centre of phnom penh to have a look around and get something to eat. Unfortunately i was struck with the consequences of bad food and water in cambodia, and did not feel too well and spend a lot of time just sitting on the toilet. Tuesday morning we went to a lovely place for breakfast, and I was slowely putting some food back into my stomach.
Tuesday afternoon oie left, after she had taken me to some ngo's and wednesday i spend most of the time visiting them again, meeting people, browsing the libaries and asking for copies. Everyone was soo helpful, and so far i have not yet really needed to practise my khmer, but i am sure that will change when i get to Kapong Saom / Sihanoukville.

Well this is all for now, saturday i will leave for kampong Saom and i hope i can write my next update from there.

lots of love,

loes

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