I wrote all this ages ago and have been carrying it around on my laptop without getting around to uploading. I'm trying to get it all out of the way now in one big update binge. So I am going to regale you with more amusing anecdotes from my project. After this I promise I will NEVER talk about it ever again. I have been several times to see a mindbogglingly weird Medium who is in the process of building a number of vast, golden galleons out in the middle of nowhere. When I questioned him as to what the hell he was playing at, he told me the spirit of a dead monk instructed him to do so. Right. When I asked him when it would be finished, he told me it would never be ... read more

I am back in Phnom Penh! My research is all done. Sixteen interviews in total. Look at me, doing more than the bare minimum! I’ve had most of the write up done for a while, but was waiting to return to the relative civilisation of Phnom Penh, joyous land of internet access, to look some stuff up online and fill in the gaps. Now I have no excuse not to get it done so I’m aiming to finish tomorrow. I will need to move to a better guest house though. The two dollar room I am in has only one plug socket, meaning I must make the difficult choice between computer or fan; the two can not operate simultaneously. I fear I am starting to damage the laptop with my own sweat. So I have much ... read more

I am going to indulge myself in a little rant, the subject of which is a moto driver I encountered the other day in Siem Riep. After my little cycling mishap on day one, I agreed to hire the tuk-tuk guy who gave me a lift back to my hostal. I needed a motorbike for the next day, to get to Beng Mealea and the other more distant temples. It’s illegal for foreigners to hire their own motorbikes in Siem Riep because too many tourists broke themselves, so I had to have a driver. This guy proved to be a bad choice. I didn’t notice at the time, because it was dark, but it turns out he was only nineteen. Mistake! Never hire a teenager. I don’t know if this kid was only a moto driver ... read more

So I made it to Kampong Thom. I’m staying in the local TPO office. It’s a more traditional style house raised up above the ground, not as swish as the Phnom Penh branch. Much to my disappointment only the boss’s office has internet access, so it looks like this blog will never get uploaded. The team here are very friendly though their English is nowhere near as good as the guys in PP, which will take some getting used to. My room is big and the bed is comfy. The bathroom has a squat toilet and a bucket for a shower, but can’t complain. Two other staff members are also living here at the moment, including Sunnari the team leader. The whole building is teeming with animal life. In my room alone there is a fascinating ... read more

On my third day at the office, after I’d met everyone, had everything explained to me, been shown around the clinic, fixed my laptop and finalised plans to leave for Kampong Thom, it become apparent that there was really nothing for me to do. San took pity on me and told me to take the morning off to go and see S-21, the genocide museum. I was driven there in the official TPO massive white Toyota Landcruiser that it seems is obligatory for all NGOs. You see them cruising the streets of PP looming tall above the traffic, printed with charity logos, surrounded by people riding four to a motorbike. S-21, for those who don’t know, is the former high school where the Khmer Rouge imprisoned and tortured around 20,000 people. It has been left essentially ... read more