Last days

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All good things must come to an end, and so does my time in this country. Boarding a plane tonight. These last days have been taken at a far more leisurely pace and have been more contemplative than their predecessors.

Lingering lazily ...

Walking on the riverfront is easy from where I am staying. The footpath is wide so there is no problem dodging oncoming traffic or reversing cars, with fewer fumes and generally a lot of space between people. The breeze that blows also helps with cooling - it has been rather hot and humid these last few days - 36 degree days, (it is winter by the way ... perish the thought of summer days).

So I walked quite a way until I found that lake area. Down narrow streets and winding around to the end of the road, I discovered a lovely spot ... a small guest house with a restaurant and balcony right over the water. I found a day bed, stretched out with a pineappe shake in one hand and my book in the other. Every now and then I would just stop and look at the view. People passed in canoes ... a mother paddling as her daughter (about 3-4 years old) bailed out water from the floor of the vessel ... a lone fisherman stroking his way past almost silently. I am pretty much alone here, it is quiet and just what I need today.

After a little while one of the guys who seemed to be working at this place, came up and started talking to me ... usual conversation ... where are you from, how long have you been here ... However, he had a purpose. He had made friends with another Australian a year and a half before, and they had given him their contact details. He wanted to call them, but everytime he tried he was unsuccessful. He wanted me to help him. So, we logged on to the internet and I called on his behalf, got the right couple, and was able to hand over to him. He was very happy!

Later he came over and thanked me and told me a little of his story. Parents killed by the Khmer Rouge, no job for him in the home province, and nothing in the city either. He works as a guide and takes tourists from the guesthouse around town but ideally he would like to marry a foreigner and move to live somewhere else - America or Australia. OK. So I avoided the marriage bit ... and focused on where he would like to go and why, as well as how this Australian guy might help him. He is not unlike many I have met here, who don't hesitate about asking for assistance. His story like many others - of loss and sadness, caught in a system, so that families keep dividing their land/resources to support each other.

I have heard many stories ... seen many things and wonder at the way we live in comparison. In our more developed country, we live a more developed life? Hmmm. I don't intend to get into a thesis here as to how to solve the problems of developing nations nor those of lifestyle in wesern societies. I have enjoyed simple pleasures here and a life less hectic. Yes I'm on holidays and everything looks different but to get a bit of insight into the lifestyle of people in these parts, has been refreshing and very, very interesting. Most of all it has taken me out of my own mire(?) and enabled me to consider the sheer self-indulgence of it.

What now? Will this change me? Watch this space ... or don't ... as I'll soon be leaving ... on a jet plane ... No more entries forthcoming. So if you would to know more, let's catch up when I get back. Now it is "au revoir cambodge" and as the locals always say on such partings "good luck for you".

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