The next chapter...

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Returning to Cambodia was like opening a long lost book. A book cherished and missed, one where you don’t want to let go of any of the characters, where you want the journey to simply continue, forever. All of a sudden my book has reappeared and somehow, two and a half year later all the familiar emotions of past times come flooding back. A few characters have been left behind (travel is not the same without you sweetheart), some, like me dear Totla, I hope to be reunited with and new once are soon to be greeted. Let the journey begin, or should I say continue!

I had had trouble relating to the fact that I was finally returning. Towards every holiday, and as a student we have plenty of them, I have dreamt and planned of going back, but life, job, school preparation, and money always gets in the way. And now that I am here, I still have trouble relating to it, is this just one of my day dreams or is it real?
As I approached Abu Dhabi, butterflies were emerging, “Was this actually happening? Was I going back?”, but by the time I got to Bangkok, 18 hours and six or seven films later (well updated on the current video releases), all I could feel was tiredness. Too knackered to travel into town, I spent the next 7 hours sitting, waiting, reading, and dozing off at BKK airport.

As soon as the flight had taken off from BKK it started the decent to Phnom Penh. Greenery and jungle soon was taken over by hoards of mopeds driving in something which can only be described as functioning chaos. I giggled, thinking that once again I would have to teach myself the art of crossing Phnom Penh roads, a skill not easily acquired. As my Tuc Tuc rolled inn towards town in a cluster of mopeds, cars, busses, lorries and other TucTuc’s, the sun was setting behind me, wind blowing in my hair, temperatures in the low thirties, familiar smells and sights, it felt like I had never left this wonderful country.

Okay guest house, which I loved last time I visited Phnom Penh, was less than Okay this time, or maybe it was just my expectations? Guess I am no longer used to sleeping in cobweb filled, damp, dirty rooms anymore. More than anything I think it was the cobwebs that got to my - seriously have to do something with my spider fear! Don’t think it is normal to wake up during the night from the frustration of not being able to clean the walls off cobwebs in my dream! But the food and milkshake at Okay guesthouse was, as usual, fantastic. It also has a wonderful social setting for travellers, with long tables where you cannot escape from someone joining you or exchanging travelling stories with your neighbour, which suits me well as I am the world’s worst single traveller. As the evening progressed I went to the local supermarket, which David and I had visited so many times before for some guilty Western pleasures, stopped by Phnom Penh’s best used bookshop as one day of travelling had left a big dent in my reading material and strolled down the river bank. Sat down across from Herb Pizza and watched Phnom Penh life go past. Despite it being pitch dark and with thunder and lightning threatening on the horizon the riverside was filled with people residing on the benches taking in the humid evening breeze. As families and western travellers (mostly in pairs) wandered by, I felt slightly lonely. Happy to be here, but wished David was here with me to share the moments and memories.

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