Even though this is still the dry season, today has been a taste of what it may be like in the wet – big rain last night and long periods of really heavy rain today, but much needed as the reservoir here is nearly empty and with 2 months to go before the wet season should officially arrive, it was getting to be a concern locally. Not a problem in this hotel as they have their own well, but for the town it could be a real issue, and another thing they need to get sorted before taking in many more tourists. And there are lots of flashes in the sky tonight, could be lightening, or could just be people taking flash photos…. So a day to stay around the hotel and catch up on reading under the sheltered terrace, and it became a day for singles to stick together! There’s a French guy on his own we got chatting to briefly, but not too much as his English isn’t great and he appears a bit shy. And of course toyboy Josh was around on and off, but is suffering with food poisoning and is on the Cipro’s, and Amber who is an Asian American from San Francisco. She is really interesting, and is here for the 100 day ceremony following the death of her grandfather. Her family were split during the Khmer Rouge time, with some staying here including her grandfather, but her part of the family escaping to Vietnam where she was born and then on to the States when she was five, helped by her mother working for the American Embassy. She is an all American girl, working in insurance after having studied at Berkeley. But her older half brother who was very wealthy before it was all taken away, still has his family here. I met him yesterday with his two young children who came to the hotel to visit. They have very different lives, the kids for example were so excited to splash about in the pool, as their normal life is a simple one in the Cambodian countryside in which swimming pools don’t feature. But she is not happy being here at all, she says it is so different from Vietnam that she has visited a lot and is having difficulty managing the lack of hygiene (not in the hotel), but she was suffering yesterday after eating ice cream outside, and the bugs aren’t helping. And she bought some sun tan lotion when here, and it was only after she got sunburnt did she realise it was fake….. And the whole Cambodian girls with Western men thing and the fact that she noticed Viagra on sale in the local supermarket haven’t helped – all in all she is not having a great time! She is desperately trying to get an earlier flight out. But my experience of this country is a much happier one. And I met a Cambodian Dyl today. As I went into the restaurant area for a bit of lunch, I saw the back of a doggy, sitting in that Dyl pose as his owners were eating lunch – you know the one where he is watching with that quizzical look and resenting every mouthful that isn’t coming his way! He was actually a cross of golden cocker spaniel with a Cavalier spaniel so when I saw his face it was different, but the body and movements were Dyl to a “T”! Aaaaaah.
