Floating houses along the Mekong

2^nd of April.

It’s been about a month now since I left home in New Zealand. It’s gone quite fast as we‘ve been so busy – and quite slow, especially when you are trying to get through the day and it‘s stinking hot!

I’m settling into my little house in Phnom Penh – my boxes arrived a few days ago, which made it really feel like home. Some familiar faces on the walls – a few small comforts, some general ‘stuff’ to put on my shelves and a food parcel! It’s funny what makes a place feel comfortable – for me, knowing I’ve got emergency food in the cupboard that doesn’t need any cooking, that I know is safe to eat, and I can expect the taste before putting it in my mouth, is a good thing. I’ll probably keep it there all year just so I know if I’m out of energy to make it to the market and wade through all the people, beggars and fish guts – I don’t have to. (Although when you are full of energy, watching, being watched, speaking with the beggars and carefully walking over top of the fish guts littering the floors of the market can be quite an enlivening experience!).

It’s hot here! It doesn’t help that it’s getting hotter. I haven’t worked out yet if I’m glad to have arrived just as it’s getting warmer (because then I know after May I’ve sat out the worst), or if it would have been better to arrive and acclimatise slowly in preparation for the hottest time (at the moment every day I acclimatise a bit… and as the temperature rises I’m forced to acclimatise more). I can happily say now though, that sitting in an air controlled room at 26 degrees has me looking for something to wrap around any bare skin. Wandering around in the midday sun in 42 degrees is still a little tough at times though (although everyone seems to be sweating it out – even the kids are drenched in sweat as they play or even sit and read!).

Time has gone fast because it’s been so busy over here. Lots of opportunities to take up, boating up the Mekong, visiting various Islands around, even keeping the house free from red dust, and clothes washed takes a fair amount of time. Not to mention trying to navigate the market for food, and then working out what to do with it! And I’ve started work too – which has been good, it’s strange not to be on holiday for the first time since November 2006!

Kitchen on the 'Silk Islands', where lots of tourists and market owners travel to buy the silk woven under peoples houses.

Fiona and I had our first swim in the Mekong last weekend, under the cover of darkness!! Catherine Cousins, who is one of the nicest people I have met to date, was having a little party on a boat and kindly invited us to join. So a little sunburnt (got my first Cambodian sunburn! Woops), we spent the day floating up and down the river.

Boating on the Mekong with a friend from Otago's Mum who lives here in Cambodia.

First swim in the Mekong, under the cover of darkness

Moto-duk rides are the other new discovery. With the arrival of my boxes (hence my helmet), I’ve been sitting on the back of bikes and tooting my way around the city. All good experiences, except one. Fi and I were catching a ride back from the waterfront, two on a bike (not unusual to see 4-5 on one motorbike here), and the back tyre burst. No worries, but we needed to find a new driver. Stranded in a busy part of road we took the first guy who pulled up - realising too late that he smelt of alcohol and was driving in a very sloppy manner. At that point we were also a bit lost, so pulled him up after a minute or so and paid a ridiculous sum (by now having paid our way home almost twice!). In the heat, sweating and lost and a bit scared by our scary weave through the traffic at speed, we wandering around finally finding a nice, more elderly gentleman to drop us safely home.

Fiona on the Mekong, with a Moto-tuk helmet in the foreground