3 Days Done

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Hello everyone

So, I arrived safe and sound! Lots of fun at Bangkok airport though.....BA could not transfer my bags at Bangkok where I had to change planes, so I had to queue to go through Customs (took 1.5hrs), wait for my bags (45mins), leave the airport (1 minute), walk back into airport (1 minute), head to Departures and check in (30mins), go back through Customs (45mins) and get to my gate....so my leisurely 4 hour lay over became a frenetic mixture of stand-still queues and running like a mad man for my connecting flight!!!

The VSO compound is in the middle of Phnom Penh, so I've spent the past couple of days seeing the city, getting to know my fellow newly arrived volunteers and meeting existing volunteers and VSO Programme Office staff - everyone is lovely! Yesterday we went on a guided cyclotour around the city, taking in a couple of the major markets and tourist sites. The cyclotour was great...until you of course went onto the roads!

The traffic is absolutely manic. There is no way to properly describe just how utterly mental the traffic is - sorry Ma, I know I'm sounding like Ange! There is a loose agreement between motorists that there are two sides of the road, but this is more of a 'nice-to-have' than an enforced rule! Priceless moment yesterday when we had to make a left hand turn in about 100m...but there was a concrete central barrier for 400m....so we simply turned into the opposite lane, headed our way onto oncoming traffic, drifted our way across 4 lanes of traffic and took our left turn - all on a single speed cyclo with me sat at the very front!

Right now it is Sunday at about 11:30, and I'm sat in an air conditioned coffee shop next door to the Programme Office....so kinda feels like home which is weird! Today is a rest day, no activities planned, so will just be chillaxing and watching the Rugby later. I went to watch the England game last night with Katie and Louise (two new fellow volunteers) in a sports bar in town, and this being Asia with no Sky monopoly, I was watching the rugby on the main screen, the Arsenal game on another, Liverpool game to my left and West Brom at the bar! Perfect way to end the day, watching afternoon footie in a bar and not feeling guilty!

I will only be in Phnom Penh for a few more days, then we depart for language training in a village called Kompang Cham for 5 weeks - mmmm, most of you will know my uselessness in the foreign language department! That said, I am actually really looking to going, as I wanna push myself and as I've already discovered, a little Khmer (pronounced 'kim-ear', not 'khy-mer') goes a very long way.

I hope you are all well and happy - email and let me know please!

Big love,


Pete

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Photos

Samba
The famous Phnom Penh elephany!!!

Transport
The hierarchy - SUV, Moto, Cycle, Pedestrian...in that order

Comments

[Jo]

Hiya Pete
Thanks for this Pete, all fascinating stuff ... and I am still green with envy! Sounds like the travel was a bit of a drag but hey .... you're there, the adventure starts! Look forward to future updates. Not missing anything here of course :o) Warm regards, Jo

[Tracy Reynolds]

Hiya
Hiya there. Glad you eventually managed to find your feet. The roads sound similar to those in Egypt! It seemed optional which side to drive on there too. Don't tell me it's Starbucks! lol. I'm so pleased all the last minute preparations went well, but you didn't mention your root canal surgery so I am interpreting that as a good thing? I didn't get your email and nor did Polly. Our names are the old email style so just our first initial and then the dot and surname. So p.cunningham and t.reynolds, so please keep us in the loop as we are reading your journey with great interest. take care and good luck with the language. remember if the locals don't understand just look cross, point and talk very loudly in an english voice. if that doesn't work do what they do on old war films and just talk in a foreign accent? T x Sounds like the people you will be working with will be great fun. Already a girl on each arm eh? Remind me why you went volunteering? ;p

[Eldest, wisest]

Bob & weave
Yo Pugsley Piglet. Glad to hear you're embracing life on Cambodia's highways and byways - my scooter riding sounds positively over-cautious in comparison!

[Jean Sharland]

Hello from London
Hi Pete, Have read your e-mail with interest. You must be just starting to find your feet now and get the feel of the place. What an earth is a cyclotour? sounds scary. So the driving there is worse than Italy, maniac drivers and no rules of the road. What is the temperature now must be quite humid. Anyway hope all goes well and keep in touch. Jean Sharland xx