Returning home!

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It is about 7 in the morning, finally one good night sleep! Woke up an hour ago, or so, by the sound of the garden cockerel. Oh, shut up and give me another couple of hours sleep!
It is not going to happen, is it! Oh well...may as well get up then. When I collapsed in bed last night I was exhausted. The previous night had not been pleasurable, hot and humid air added to the infamous spider fear, forced me to spend most of the nightly hours awake, reading and trying to convince myself that I was too tired to go on with this book, to just give in and go to sleep - easier said than done! I did finally got some hours sleep in the early morning, but was abruptly waken by the alarm clock signalling that it was time to get up, eat a fruit salad made up by gorgeous mango, pineapple, banana, dragon fruit and melon (I can’t think of a better start to the day!), find a bus and make my way to Takeo.

With a bit of help from an American Peace Corps dude I manage to get on the right bus and carry my big, heavy bag all the way to the empty back seat chair. The bus was filled with locals, staring intensely at me. They probably thought I had caught the wrong bus on the way to Siam Reap or something...what would a white girl like me do in Takeo? Whilst people studied me, I studied the chaos outside my window. From the safety of the bus, the Phnom Penh rode hierarchy was reviled to me as we made our way out of the city, suburbs and into the countryside. The “King of the road” is without a doubt the big black or white SUV Lexus’s. They drive wherever they want, whenever they want, stop abruptly , turn on and off any road at any time they see fit, disregarding all other traffic and any rules us stupid westerners might have thought applied, leaving mopeds and tuc-tucs swerving off the road and onto the pavement to avoid collision, together with the odd tourists running for their lives. After the Lexus the road hierarchy boils down to size, Lorries and busses followed by cars then tuc-tucs, after which comes the mopeds and at last the poor pedestrian. It seems as though oncoming traffic will try to avoid any poor soul daring to cross the street, but you can just forget stopping at a zebra crossing. The traffic will never stop for you! The idea is to become at one with the traffic around you. Walk slowly but steadily into the street, do not at any time panic and run, let the sea of motorbikes (with their unfastened helmets - as if that’s going to help them in the event of a crash or a fall, unless that is, something falls vertically down on their head)morph around you. With fingers crossed and a bit of luck you will get to the other side, all limbs intact.
The scenery outside my window soon turned from a sea of motorbikes to a sea of rice paddy fields, only broken up by trails and a few palm trees here and there. As I was admiring the green fertile fields which I remembered as dusty plains on my last visit, my bus neighbour started a very polite conversation. His name was Totla, just like the boy I will try to find, he was 19 years old and had been to Phnom Penh to apply university with the mandatory tests. He made me promise that I would let him know as soon as he was bothering me, before he continued telling me about his life the illness that had weakened his hand and his heart forcing him to rely on academic education as a life line and denying him alcohol, which was just as well as he was a Buddhist, he said. We spoke of education, future prospects and Cambodian musicians, which he was surprised I had never heard of, until I couldn’t manage to hide my yawn any more. At which point he refused to talk with me any further and insisted I took a nap. I excused myself with my long travel and reclined back in my seat resting my eyes for a moment or two whilst the buss continued on the bumpy road, swerving here and there to avoid potholes.
As we approached Takeo the roads became more familiar, and not long after we pulled into the market next to the petrol station - probably Takeo’s only air-conditioned shop, where I remember finding sanctuary from the sweltering heat a few years earlier. My heart was racing with excitement. I was back, I was home! I would soon see Chattra, Nong, Vinechy, Kongkea, Rie, Vichera, Srey Nith, Puthy, all the rest of the children, Nou and maybe even my dear Totla very soon.

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