Burgers & Chips ...

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Well it’s been a while since we’ve had any real time to sit at the PC with no pressure on time nor access. Over the last 10 days we have had a series of outages starting with water, then Internet then power. Last week was also largely spent in the field, meaning days that started at 0700 and that continued until at least 1600 each day. Dusty, dirty but above all hot work. One of the pieces of equipment we’ve have been using is an Orp meter (measures electrical conductivity in soil). It has an in built thermometer which clocked the other day as 37.5 Celsius! Hot in any language! Unfortunately I got sun burnt on the back of my neck on day 01. Uncomfortable though fortunately only for a short time. I do have a rather swarthy complexion and the red has now turned brown. My arms have actually browned up so much that I’m now darker (at least there) to some of the lighter skinned locals. The Khmer people are quite diverse in colouring. From the really dark skinned pure Khmer to the lighter tones of those communities that have mixed with the Vietnamese and the Chinese. My colouration though extends only to T-shirt sleeve and end of shorts length. For the bit in between I’m still the pasty white of a ‘balang’(foreigner). It is probably good that the locals can’t see that for they would find it quite funny. they love to laugh at foreigners, although with me that is often short lived once they hear me trying to speak their language. The chuckles then turn to a more collegiate style as they work with me - though I do feel for them as my enunciation is really quite poor for some words and phrases. Kirsten is a star at the language. Even the locals are impressed at her pronunciation and apparent adeptness - this can become difficult though as they assume she is fluent and they launch into an avalanche of Khmer and wonder why she can’t understand.

K’s research progresses well. She has completed the first of three Transects she is to complete. The first was always going to be the toughest, since it involved settling on the methodologies, finding sites, engaging local resources and arranging local analysis of the samples. All that now done - awaiting the analysis findings though which we should collect by Friday this week. We start the second transect Bore Holes tomorrow and should finish those on Thursday. It was to be today but there was a torrential downpour much of yesterday which saw quite a bit of local flooding. We were coming back through Phnom Penh from Kampong Chenang and the conditions were truly atrocious!

Kampong Chenang was a nice change from hanging around the village and PP on the weekend. The journey up (by bus) was pleasant) and we had a pleasant 4 hour motorbike tour upon arrival around the surrounding villages (some fantastic local pottery) and a partially completed temple on an amazing mountain top - the original having been destroyed by the Khmer Rouge. The food was an issue though - lunch, at a dodgy roadside cafe - large, but we were the only diners (always a worry!) - proved to be inedible. Dinner was better (at least we could bring ourselves to eat it) though we were waiting for it to come back. We were charged double price by the local ticket seller (really a scalp!) on the basis that the bus was a ‘special’ one. Special it was - 45 minutes late and no seat for either of us (sell, excepting the little plastic kindergarten squat in the aisle!). After two hours back to PP we made a beeline for the FCC and a feast of hamburgers and chips (washed down with Margaritas - of course). We considered the fate of Australian democracy over our drinks and pondered why our political system has devolved to such chaos. At least we were able to avoid the deluge of the campaign, these things being of absolutely zero interest to anyone outside Australia. And as two people lookikng back, we can but agree :-).

Today, drilling deferred due to bad weather and we have ensconced ourselves at LÍmprevu, a nearby French hotel that has a nice pool, good bar and a tasty kitchen - all with the background of WiFi - a delightful combination. Here’s hoping the weather is better on the morrow!

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