99 Surprises

It’s not very often that you get the opportunity to attend a 99^thbirthday party. In fact, I decided it was such an honour that it was worth flying back to the UK from Cambodia just for the occasion. I don’t usually visit the UK in the summer – it had been two years since I had done so and I realised perhaps it was time to remind myself that it’s not always cold and rainy in Blighty.

Once the idea was in my mind, I knew this trip would be the perfect chance to surprise my family. I’d always wanted to organise a surprise visit but never quite knew how it would work. Without letting friends and family know of your arrival, you run the risk of returning only to find people already have plans and don’t have time to see you. Logistically, however, this wasn’t going to be a problem as I knew all of my family were gathering together for my grandad’s party. This ‘all’ included my older sister, Fran, who lives in Perth and was returning for the 99^th party too.

Little sister, big sister, me

I decided to tell Fran about the surprise and we attempted (and failed) to coordinate our flights. Having someone on the inside really helped, however. I also told my friend Anna who generously offered to pick me up from the airport and drove me to the holiday home where my parents were staying for party weekend. Fran was able to provide us with all the details and even told us to wait halfway up the drive when my parents went outside unexpectedly.

You’d think after 28 years that my mum would recognise her daughter but there was a definite pause of about one second before she registered who was stood on the doorstep. My little sister, who I was next to surprise, started crying (although she claims this was shock, not an overwhelming love for her big sister …).

My first day back in the UK was typically English. Anna joined us for the day and we went for a walk through the woodland, had ice-creams and visited a pretty village. The afternoon was sent at a pick-your-own fruit farm, over the course of which we may or may not have snaffled a strawberry or two. That evening, we had a mega picnic outside, complete with Pimms.

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The other two surprises occurred on the weekend at my grandad’s 99^thparty. Amazingly, yet unsurprisingly for people who know him, my granddad knew right away that I, out of his many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, wasn’t supposed to be there. There were other cousins and their children to greet as well and then finally my brother arrived with his kids and I was able to surprise him too.

Here’s a link to the little montage video of these surprises (WordPress wouldn’t allow me to upload it).

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The rest of my time in the UK was spent working and seeing as many people as possible. I was in the country for 8 days and only in Devon for 4 so everyone was squeezed in for a where possible. From chips in the local pub to a BBQ and movie in our field, this brief time reminded me that perhaps the weather in the UK isn’t always so bad. I even managed to see two friends from Warwick as I travelled through London.

 

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The final weekend was spent in Italy where I visited friends from Kampot. The logic here was that, compared to Cambodia, Italy is close … Sabina left in May (there’s a blog about that) and returned to her family home just north of Venice. I had three beautiful days in the mountains with her and her family where we caught up on one another’s lives, ate delicious food and drank spritz and Prosecco. It was short but sweet and definitely worth the two-hour flight. Also, my nice camera got an outing …

 

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After one more night in London, which I spent with my niece and nephew, it was time to head back to Cambodia. The whole trip took less than 2 weeks and was definitely busy but totally worth it. Back in Kampot it proceeded to rain for weeks on end, resulting in terrible flooding and people being forced out of their homes. For once in my life, I found myself wishing I was back in the UK to escape the terrible weather – fairly sure that sentence has never been said before. Life is full of surprises.

Digital Freaks Become Reality

For the past eighteen months I’ve been working online for a digital marketing agency. I suppose you could say I’m a static digital nomad. While my newfound profession allows me to work from anywhere in the world, my love for Cambodia and my little furry friend has resulted in my setting up residence in sleepy Kampot and getting the fastest internet connection the country has to offer installed in my house.

I knew relatively little (read none) about the world I was stepping into when I got a job as an SEO blog writer through an online platform in September 2016. But like most things I turn my hand (fingers) to, I picked it up soon enough. I’ve always loved writing (this blog is exhibit A) and it wasn’t long before my boss began to offer me a diverse range of writing tasks.

But who is this boss? Karyn started Digital Freak a few months before bringing me on board and is based in Melbourne (along with almost all of our clients). Over time, as I began to do more work, we started to get to know one another. Time passed, I took on more responsibility and our Skype message conversation began to be so long that trying to find a password or task shared just a few days before resulted in my entire computer becoming overwhelmed and crashing.

Before long we were talking about more than just work, growing closer in both our professional and personal lives. We learned about one another, talked outside of working hours (which is saying something considering we’re both workaholics and have been known to be at our respective computers into the small hours of the morning), and eventually began to call one another friends. When I knew I was coming to Perth to see my sister, therefore, I knew it was time to hop over to Melbourne. This is the tale of how Digital Freaks became reality.

There’s a difference between knowing someone in messenger form, commenting on one another’s Facebook posts and the (very) occasional work phone call. I won’t deny that I was a little nervous of meeting Karyn. I had joked several times that if we met and didn’t get on, the business would implode. I maintain that statement is true. Luckily for both of us, Digital Freak stands strong. After over a year of talking to each other every day, sharing stories, thoughts, hopes and dreams, I was standing outside her apartment building, pressing the intercom and about to come face to face with the individual who set my life on an unpredicted, yet wonderfully enjoyable trajectory.

At 7am, after only an hour’s sleep and suffering from jetlag aren’t the best circumstances under which to meet someone for the first time but considering that, I think we did pretty well. Karyn was kind enough to open her home to me for the week, share her evenings and time with her son and allow us the opportunity to get to know each other on a deeper level. And yes, I know what you’re thinking. We don’t have a typical employer-employee relationship but it works for us and it works for the business. I trust her implicitly and I hope she feels the same about me.

The unorthodox nature of our friendship continues. Only a few hours after I landed, I found myself in my first ever public yoga class; a three hour ‘urban retreat’ alongside Karyn followed by lunch. Feeling refreshed, relaxed and in touch with my inner zen, we returned to her apartment and continued to find our footing with one another in the same room, city, country and time-zone.

After a visit to Melbourne’s annual Moomba festival and a good night’s sleep, Karyn and I were back to doing what we do best: working. Except this time, I was able to interrupt her with a knock on her office door rather than the ping of a Skype message. I fell seamlessly into the routine of working at her dining room table, shouting questions down the corridor and discussing clients, strategies and the future of the business during our regular coffee breaks. The evenings involved more getting to know one another and various wines I’d brought from Margaret River, a memento of my roadtrip the week before.

Attending Karyn’s BNI meeting on Thursday was a definite trip highlight as it allowed me to show my face to about half of the company’s clients. I also got to meet one of our partners whom I’ve been exchanging emails with for the past six months. Another first-time experience was attending a book launch of client, coincidentally scheduled during my trip. The week was rounded off by a four-hour photoshoot with yet another client. This was somewhat sprung on me (Karyn, I’ll get you back for this) and while I accept that my LinkedIn profile was in desperate need of being updated, I was a little nervous, never having felt at home in front of the camera lens. The girls at Blush Creative were fantastic, however, and managed to make me feel relaxed and comfortable as they snapped away.

That evening I also had some time to spare so I popped into the city to meet up with a friend from Cambodia. Mel lived in Kampot for six months and it was great to catch up with her in one of Melbourne’s countless bars, reminisce over our time in the kingdom together, talk about our friends and update one another on our lives.

The weekend was downtime. Karyn and I aren’t known for taking time for ourselves but we managed to drag ourselves away from our screens, bundle her son, Corbin, into the car and hit the road. To the Twelve Apostles, to be precise. Majestic, iconic and thoroughly worth the 3-hour drive.

We then set off weaving our way back up Great Ocean Road, talking about our hopes and dreams for the future, life plans steadily mapped out in front of us and growing more defined the closer we got to the city.

I’ve never been a planner. Unlike Karyn, who has a ten-year plan. After my time in the city, however, I think I can see my future. For those of you in England reading this, I’m afraid it looks like I’m moving further away. Melbourne was an amazing city but more than that, this job and this company is presenting a great opportunity to me. I’ve always been lucky in my ability to do jobs I love but I have never enjoyed my work as much as I do with Digital Freak. It’s interesting, challenging and a constant learning curve, one I am yearning to travel further along. There’s no set time frame for this next step but I think it’s safe to say, at some point, it’s happening.

And on that note, for those of you who want to visit me in Cambodia, start booking your tickets (Karyn, that includes you!)

Here are some pics of my time in Melbourne and if you’re on Instagram, search #DigitalFreaksBecomeReality to see a few more.

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Calamity Ruth

In the spirit of my New Year’s Resolution to update this blog more frequently, I am now posting about even the most mundane events in my life. Feel free to duck out now …

 

This week saw my first moto crash, after riding for six months. To be fair, the word crash is a massive exaggeration. It was a bump, an incident, pathetically anticlimactic and barely worth the 700 words I’ve managed to pull from a few seconds of drama. I’ll first of all say that I am 100% completely ok and that there is no need to worry. Now I’ll go on to set the scene.

 

I was driving along, as I do every day, through the ‘centre’ of Kampot. Full face helmet on, as always. I was even wearing long yoga pants (a skin-saver, it turns out). I indicated to turn into a junction and slowed down to wait for some passing traffic. I was almost in the centre of the road, pootling along at about 2mph. Once the way was clear, I turned, as my indicator suggested was my next planned manoeuvre. At that exact same moment, two young local lads zoomed by, catching my front tire as they overtook me. There was really nothing I could do to stop the inevitable. Hello road!

 

It didn’t even hurt. I was moving so slowly that the impact was negligible. As I looked up from my new position (horizontal on a warm and dusty road), I saw the two guys looking over their shoulder before speeding off. The next sight was my friend’s partner running across the road towards me. I don’t know many people in Kampot but I happened to have toppled over outside his place of work, for which I am grateful. He lifted the bike off me and walked me and it to the side of the road. By this time, the policemen in their newly erected police station (a shipping container painted white and blue), had noticed the ‘foreigner in trouble’ and decided to get involved. You never know when you’re going to receive a cash ‘thank you’, after all.

 

Holding my broken wing mirror and the end of my brake handle, I had to then explain to the overly concerned cops that the scratch on my leg had come not from the accident they had just witnessed but from the day before when I had somehow walked into my own desk. It’s a wonder I am still alive, to be fair.

 

Reassuring a few bystanders that I was ok, Erwan and I got my bike running again (apparently the poor machine was more shocked by the collision than I was and had temporarily stopped working). The cops faded away, realising there was no money to be made from this particular barang (white person) mishap. The reckless driver who hit me was long gone and, frankly, there was no reason to chase after him. In the grand scheme of things, it was a non-event.

 

As a side note, the only reason for my trip into town on that not-so-fateful day was to buy salad. Eating healthy almost killed me! Except I didn’t nearly die: that was just a statement for dramatic effect. Seriously, Mum and Dad, I’m fine.

 

The next morning, I dropped by my mechanic who reattached my wing mirror free of charge. I’ve decided to live with my snapped brake handle for a little longer as it still works perfectly well. My blue kneecap will be covered by long trousers or leggings for a few days.

 

That’s it. That is the story of my rite of passage: becoming a moto crash victim in Cambodia. Considering I’ve been here for three and a half years, the fact that I’ve never been robbed and, until this week, hadn’t been involved in any traffic collisions was something which made me rather unusual. Perhaps now I can truly be considered a local. When, in fact, I think I could more accurately be described as a careless barang who forgot to check her mirrors before turning. I should have known that indicating wasn’t enough!

 

Lesson learned, I’m back on the road. Getting back in the saddle wasn’t even a psychological hurdle. After all, I had salad ingredients to buy. And the cover image for this blog was taken after a 30km moto ride with my former flatmate, Fanny, to meet some climbing friends of hers. Confidence unaffected, I drive onwards.

Nugget’s a wannabe biker kitty!

Catch-Ups And Christmas

Christmas is a time for friends and family. When you only go back home once a year, this is the perfect time for a visit. I spent December in the UK catching up with friends and family, eating way too much and driving up and down the M4.

My trip started off with a few days at my brother’s in London with his wife and two children. As an absent aunt, it always takes a little while to reconnect but we had a great time together and it well and truly got me in the Christmas spirit. From our ice skating trip to attending the children’s school Christmas fair, complete with carols, I felt entirely festive by the time I set off to the first of two university reunions.

Family Ice Skating at Hampton Court

I’m very fortunate to be part of two groups of friends from both my undergrad and postgrad universities who are highly organised and meet up once a year. The first evening was with my Cardiff gang where we played Danish Secret Santa (Google it) and ventured out for dinner and drinks at Clapham’s answer to Winter Wonderland, aptly named Winterville.

Cardiff University Friends

Four days after I landed back in the UK, I was finally on my way to Devon where my parents live, after meeting up with a fellow Cambodian expat. Recognised by my dog and greeted with home-cooked food and a glass of wine, I could finally relax. Plus, the gift of an electric blanket allowed me to not freeze to death so that was a real bonus.

Throughout the month I was working full time which is awkward when you’re 11 hours behind your boss, with whom you work very closely. But we managed! My evenings were reserved for seeing friends from school and my childhood, catching up on our lives and falling comfortably back into old dynamics.

High School Friends

My second university reunion with my Warwick crew came the evening after my annual charity fundraiser. A three course meal and a night out to catch up with everyone I met during my postgrad studies.

Warwick University Friends

The following day I walked around a snowy Clapham with Ruth, my closest friend from my university days. That evening I returned to my brother’s for an early Christmas and present giving.

Ruth & Ruth

Lemons!

The final trip was up to Oxfordshire to visit my horse and my friend who now looks after her. I miss riding terribly and it was great to get back in the saddle and hack through the fields, where snow still lay on the ground. Yes, I was freezing cold, even with fleecy socks which had been heated on the Aga.

Reunited With Melly

The rest of my time in the UK was spent with high school friends and family, eating, watching TV, playing cards, hanging out and fundraising. SKOPE relies on donors from the UK and I returned to two Rotary Clubs who supported us last year and continue to be very generous. I updated them on our projects throughout the year, thanked them for their continued commitment and answered any questions they had. I also collected books which are going to be donated to my friend’s new library/school in her family’s village in Kampot.

Torquay Rotary Donation

With technology making communication so easy these days, I no longer have to tell everyone my life story of the year whenever I return. It’s nice to just be together as if no time has passed, enjoying our traditional Christmas festivities. From walks in the village to going to the beach to eating at our local pub, sometimes it feels like I’ve never been away. And yet, I have now been living in as an expat for three and a half years, with no plans to return to the UK permanently any time soon.

98 Years Going Strong

 

I’m now back in my beloved Cambodia where life is wonderfully familiar and yet full of surprises. Take Friday afternoon, for example. I was lying in my hammock when my Khmer neighbour casually beat a snake to death in front of my house, watched on by her three screaming children. Plot twist, this snake had fallen off the end of a stick which she had been carrying, walking from her own house to my other neighbours who are her in-laws. I’m presuming the journey was meant to culminate in some fantastic show and tell. Sadly for all involved, particularly the snake, the final presentation was far less impressive than it had been when first discovered and decidedly more gory. That said, I hate snakes and am glad there is one less of them living in my vicinity.

Please don’t let that put any of my friends or family reading this off coming to visit. It’s wonderful here. You’re all welcome at any time.

My new years resolution is to update this blog more frequently …

Lemon Sister Earrings

More Beach Walks

 

Chapter Two – The Kampot Adventures

In less than two weeks, I will have been living in Cambodia for three years. Of course, my love affair with this wonderful, colourful, noisy, friendly, flawed yet utterly beautiful nation began over eleven years ago. For the past three years, I lived have in the bustling, busy, dirty, dusty and endlessly entertaining capital that is Phnom Penh. Until July 1^st 2017. Now, I am a Pot-Pat and I’m not talking about marijuana. I have moved to Kampot; my favourite place on earth.

 

Just a few minutes from my house

Firstly, I appreciate that considering this blog is supposed to keep friends and family updated on my life, I’m doing badly since it’s almost the second week in August. For those of you feeling out of the loop regarding my relocation, be comforted with the knowledge I Skyped my parents for the first time since June five days ago. That said, they knew all about the Pot-Plans.

 

Kampot is a town which has featured in more than a few of my past blogs (like this one, and this one, and this one, and this one, and this one, and this one, and this one). It’s my favourite place in Cambodia and being the sort of person I am, I decided to make my dream a reality and just move here. Of course, I am lucky now to have a job which I can do from anywhere (writing for a digital marketing agency, in case anyone missed that). So back to Kampot. It’s small, it’s sleepy, it’s full of colonial architecture, it’s friendly, it’s right on the river, it’s 30 minutes from the coast, my new house is seconds from open countryside, and the place is packed with delectable eateries. Basically, it’s heaven on earth.

 

Sense from my balcony

My last blog was about the departure of my long-term flatmate and closest friend, Jordan. This shift in my life was one of the reasons behind my move. Admittedly, a life in Kampot had been on my mind for over a year so when Jordan announced her plans, it seemed as good a time as any to make the change. After three years and sixteen flatmates, many of who were fantastic and some of whom were … yeah, anyway, I decided I needed some time on my own. Well, with Nugget the cat, of course. And for one weekend, I was accompanied by my stellar moving crew (Jess even stayed with me for a full week to help settle me in!)

MY amazing moving crew

 

I am now living like a queen in a beautiful three-bedroom house with Nugget in an eco-village, populated with long-time Pot-Pats. Seriously, people refer to themselves as that here. One bedroom doubles as an office and every Saturday is cleaning day. It’s like I’m an adult; rather disconcerting if I do say so myself. I’ve even learnt how to drive a moto; something I had been putting off doing in the city and am now discovering is not only easy but great fun and gives me the freedom to go off exploring the beautiful countryside whenever I like.

Exploring on the moto

Nugget is loving her new life down here too. After two years as an indoor cat with the occasional escape attempt, she is now free to roam around in the quiet, safe, community garden, populated by mango trees and chickens. The latter of which scare her, by the way. She rarely strays far and has learnt to jump back into the safety of the house through the open window whenever next door’s puppy, Toby, appears to ‘play’.

Outside Nugget

 

I plan to stay in Kampot for at least a year, with sporadic trips up to Phnom Penh required for work and social occasions. I’ve already been back once and admit it wasn’t the most enjoyable experience. I hadn’t realised how much I loved and had missed country living; the clean air, the slower pace of life, the peace and quiet. Now Phnom Penh just seems nosier, busier and dirtier than ever before. It was a relief to return to my little mansion (oxymoronic but accurate), close the door against the torrential monsoon rains (which Kampot is sadly suffering through the past few weeks due to the massive mountain between me and the ocean) and be alone.

 

I’m a social person but solitude is my closest friend right now. I need some time. I need to recuperate, recover, recharge. Phnom Penh took a lot out of me. It was a lot of fun, of course, but it was also a lot of drinking, a lot of near-death traffic experiences, a lot of dust and dirt and, sadly, a lot of goodbyes. The last one was the worse and I’m not ready to begin making new friends just yet. For now, a few months, perhaps, I need some me time. Well, me and Nugget time. I’m writing more than ever before (although admittedly not for this blog – sorry!), I’m eating healthily, I’m not drinking, I’m reading more books. I’m happy, frankly.

 

So, Kampot, thank you for giving me a new lease of life. I’m so glad I decided to move here and become a Pot-Pat. Here’s to the next twelve months of countryside adventures and rural delights.

 

Oh, and anyone who wants to come and visit, I have two spare bedrooms! Must like cats.

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Cambodian Catnip

As an expat, I’m more than used to friends coming and going. But some people become a more important, more significant and fundamentally irreplaceable part of your life than others and when these guys leave, blogs are written.

My amazing flatmate and best friend, Jordan, left Cambodia this morning after almost three years in the Kingdom of Wonder. I’d known Jordan for over two years and we’d been living together most of that time. With other flatmates coming and going in our apartment, the two of us have always been the staples in one another’s lives so I know my life will never be the same as of midday today.

Living with other people is hard so when you meet someone with whom sharing an apartment works, you hold onto them! Jordan and I had rather different work schedules for the first year but we seamlessly slipped into living together. Whether it was the fact that we have similar taste in food, television and what we like to do with our free time or a combination of all three, I’m not sure. All I know is that the moment I walked back into the house this afternoon after dropping Jordan at the airport, I knew it would never feel like home again.

Although we’re very different people, Jordan and I shared a lot over the past few years. Whether it was our many nights out, during which she would befriend every single bar tender in each bar we went into. Or our Sunday ritual of watching an obscene amount of television lying in my bed. And our evening snacks of fruit salads and Smurf Haribo. Last but not least of course there’s dodgeball. The bi-weekly staple which our schedules revolved around where we made our closest friends and had some of our heartiest laughs. Basically, everything I enjoy doing in Cambodia is something which will now remind me of Jordan. It doesn’t mean I won’t still do these things – I’ll just make me sad when I remember that my friend is no longer by my side.

You may be wondering about the title of this blog. I call Jordan “Catnip for Khmers”. Basically, everyone here loves her. Although a recent trip to Vietnam reveals that a better term may be “Catnip for South East Asia”. Simply put, Jordan is a people person in the most incredible, bizarre and occasionally hilarious way possible. Anyone who has met Jordan will be able to relate to this. There’s something about her, something I jokingly refer to as pheromones but it’s more than that. Everyone loves Jordan from the moment they meet her. I think it’s to do with her personality, the way she presents herself as warm, friendly and welcoming, her genuine smile and the simple fact that she is accepting and open to everyone. Jordan makes people feel welcome and takes a real interest in everyone she meets. The way she interacts is quite simply intoxicating and she forms meaningful connections quicker than anyone I have ever met. That said, she has also been known to make friends with a car full of Khmers while we’ve been sat in a tuk tuk at the traffic lights. And if you leave her alone at the bar for five minutes, by the time you come back she’ll be friends with all of the workers on Facebook and making plans to visit their families in the province. It’s a curse, a gift, whatever you want to call it. Personally, I think it’s a testament to the kind of person Jordan is and I’m honoured to have been her friend for the past two years. Catnip or not, she’s certainly someone I want to have in my life for the foreseeable future.

And now I’m sat in my empty house, having taken sole custody of the cat Jordan and I shared. It’s weird. It’s quiet. I still feel like she’s about to walk through the door. And yet she won’t. She won’t walk back into the apartment and ask me what TV episode we’ve got to watch next and play hide and seek with Nugget (the cat) and help me cut up fruit for our evening snack. Jordan will come back to Cambodia, of that I’m sure. She has made so many close Khmer friends here and I know she will be back here to see them (and me) soon enough. Except it’s not soon enough. It would only be soon enough if she had appeared while I was writing this blog. I just checked. She hasn’t. But Nugget is sleeping on her bed, the room bare once more, wondering when her owner is going to come back and cheer up the other owner who’s been lying on her bed crying for half the afternoon.

So in an attempt to cheer myself up, I went through my photos for this blog. I have many photos of Jordan, mostly cuddling random animals or ridiculous hair after she’s been lying in my bed all day. I didn’t post all of them because I do want this friendship to survive now she’s back in the States (and it’s always good to have blackmail material). But for those of you missing Jordan, I hope the below photos put a smile on your face, like they did me.

Jordan, wherever you are, know that you’re loved and missed and always, always welcome back in the Kingdom of Wonder. The best of luck with your return to the US. I’m so proud of you for getting into grad school and I can’t wait to hear all about it. And in return, I will send you daily photos of Nugget.

I had to split the photos into three sets:

• Jordan and me/other people
• Jordan and Nugget/other animals
• Jordan being generally adorable!

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You’re one in a million, my love. Never change x

Happy Hanoi Birthday

After an unacceptably long time, I’m back! Apologies about the radio silence but as my job now requires me to write 20+ blogs per week, I struggle to motivate myself to create for Lemon in Cambodia. However, it appears Lemon in Vietnam had me inspired.

It was my birthday last week and this celebration, combined with the imminent departure of my closest flatmate and friend, Jordan, inspired a week long trip to Vietnam. Although Cambodia’s neighbour, I confess I have only spent two long weekends in this country so far: one in Ho Chi Minh City in 2009 and one on the island of Phu Quoc in 2015. I have just returned from an eight-day trip to the north of this sickle-shaped country with a few tales of our adventures and more than a few photographs.

We flew to Hanoi from Siem Reap because Phnom Penh’s fancy new ‘international’ airport is still struggling with some basic amenities, such as flights to nearby countries. Our first night in a hostel reminding both Jordan and myself how much we hate backpackers. After our noisy roommates left early in the morning, we took a little longer getting ready and it was nearing midday when we finally ventured out onto the streets. This is the point at which we realised Hanoi was hotter than Phnom Penh and instantly regretted our laziness. We walked around the Old Quarters of this beautiful, interesting and busy city in 40+ degrees Celsius and were forced to take refuge in the Vietnamese Women’s Museum and St Joseph’s Cathedral along with several, less culturally significant cafes. Hanoi is a fun city to explore, despite the oppressive heat, and the streets are dotted with little pagodas, cyclo drivers complete with VietCong hats and food sellers.

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The next day we embarked on the main trip of our holiday: Halong Bay. We’d chosen to go with a slightly more expensive tour company to avoid the backpackers and ended up on Rosa Cruise with the tagline “Romance, Roses and Love”. Luckily few people had taken that seriously and we weren’t surrounded by couples for the entire time. Halong Bay is incredible. It’s one of those awe-inspiring places you just look at and ask ‘how?’ These mega limestone rocks jut dramatically out of the blue-green water with a truly prehistoric feel. Our boat was delightful with a cute little cabin, lounge area where we were fed copious amounts of food three times a day and a large sun terrace from which you could watch the scenery glide by.

Rosa Cruise, Halong Bay

Halong Bay isn’t all about lying on top of a boat and getting a tan, however. We also went kayaking, during which Jordan and I discovered we work really well as a team but overestimated our energy levels and got immensely bored and tired on the paddle back to the boat. On that first day we visited a pearl farm which is far less interesting than it sounds and then watched the ‘sunset’. For some reason, our boat docked directly behind one of Halong Bay’s iconic formations. Beautiful, but inconvenient for sunset watching …

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Our second day saw us and a couple from Singapore join a new group of people (most on our boat only did the one-night cruise). This day was led by a completely hilarious Vietnamese guy who was absolutely mental. Lovely, but mental. We first went to a cave where I sliced my food open climbing over rocks, Jordan dropped and broke her sunglasses and I dropped and broke my camera. Good half hour. And I don’t even have any photos of the cave. I was subsequently reliant on my iPhone camera which is good but has nothing on my beloved, currently-being-fixed Lumix FZ150. From the hazardous cave we moved onto more kayaking. This time Jordan and I, along with a few other people, paddled into a little cove, got out and just went swimming for half an hour. Upon returning to the boat we decided to jump off the top deck. Turns out that isn’t allowed and we got thoroughly scolded in Vietnamese. Oops. The day was fun overall, however, and we even got serenaded by our tour guide which was one of the most awkward and hilarious experiences of my life.

We finished our day with a hike up one of the islands. I don’t think I’ve ever sweated so much in my life and I was seriously regretting not taking a bottle of water or a cold beer up with me but the views were totally worth the near-death energy requirement. We finally got back to Rosa to watch the ‘sunset’ from behind yet another rock. The following day we went to the ‘Surprising Cave’, so called because you can’t tell it’s there … much like all caves. To be fair, it was massive had some great stalactites and stalagmites. However, the entire space was filled with other tourists and we were just part of an endless queue snaking our way through and back out into the sweltering heat.

That was the end of Halong Bay and we returned to Hanoi in the midst of a monsoon. It was still drizzling the following morning but we hired a moto to visit some of the further sights including the Hoa Lo Prison Museum and the Temple of Literature.

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That evening we rode over to Lotto Tower which is their equivalent of the Empire State Building or the Sears Tower. 65 storeys up and you find yourself with an incredible view of the city. They also have one of those glass floors which sticks out and after quite some time, I finally venture onto it. We then made our way to the rooftop bar and splashed the cash on a cocktail which we enjoyed overlooking the city at night. I considered it an early birthday present to myself.

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On my actual birthday we took a day trip to Tam Coc. I say day trip; for most westerners, a 3-hour bus ride each way would not be considered a day trip. When we finally arrived we visited the ancient capital city, where a man who couldn’t pronounce the word temples (temple-les) showed us round lots of temples(les). After lunch we went for a short cycle ride through some stunning scenery. At the end of the ride we climbed into some questionable metal boats and set off down a small waterway, being paddled along by a woman … using her feet! It started to rain but we donned our sexy ponchos and continued despite the lightening and the metal-boat-in-water combination. The trip took us through two caves which were fun but smelt like bats and then we turned around and headed back (but not before all of the women pulled from nowhere bags of crappy souveniers for us to buy). We cycled back to the bus and then returned to Hanoi. My birthday dinner at a delicious seafood restaurant was a present from Jordan. Mmmm, thank you!

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And that was it. Aside from walking around looking at art the following morning (and buying myself a beautiful piece for my new house – a subject for another blog), our time in Hanoi came to an end. I’m now back in Cambodia while Jordan continues to travel south, making her way to Ho Chi Minh City before returning to Phnom Penh. Here are a few more snaps of some of the food we ate during our adventures, including Hanoi’s famous egg coffee. Enjoy!

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Supermoon – super fun

The previous weekend was the Water Festival in Cambodia, an annual event which celebrates the moment when the Tonle Sap lake, swollen with monsoon rains, forces the flow of the Tonle River back the other way, reversing its direction. As people flooded from the provinces to celebrate this remarkable natural occurrence along the riverbank in Phnom Penh, myself and a group of friends sped the other way, towards the sea.

Friends + sea = yay! Me, Jordan, Ruth, Phaline, Meabh, and Elske

To avoid traffic, we left the city at 3am and, using indefatigable logic, decided not to go to bed and just party on through until the minivan arrived. My friend visiting from Ireland, Ruth, and her friend Meabh, decided to actually sleep. In hindsight, this may have been the better idea. Anyway, we arrived at the beach where we, unsurprisingly slept.

Whilst napping the waiters appeared to be overly concerned our white skin would be damaged by 8am sunshine …

After lunch headed off to the island of Koh Rong. I’d recommended the place where we stayed, Palm Beach Bungalows, as I’d had an amazing time there over two years ago. Private beach, amazing food, beautiful waters. And nothing had changed.

Some of the group – Jordan, Ruth, Phaline, Meabh, and Elske

Our days were spent sunbathing, reading, and playing games. The Sunday was Jordan’s birthday and our group expanded in size as the Ngin sisters, their partners and Thy’s son Jimmy joined us for the celebrations. Tash had come prepared for the evening with a barbecue, coals, a rice-cooker (literally), and food, ready for a cook-up on the beach. The walk to the local fishing village in the afternoon had failed to drum up any fish so we were left with vegetables. Fun as it was to build the mini-BBQ and grill courgettes and potato, I think the highlight dish was an amazing coleslaw Tash had prepared. Yes, she brought mayonnaise.

Dinner 

Getting a cake to a desert island is a three person job, apparently.

 

Because we’re cheapskates, we’d brought along our own alcohol and wiled away the warm evenings drinking on the sands. Sadly we didn’t get to swim with the phosphorescent plankton but the reason for this, the supermoon, more than made up for it.

Jimmy in the forefront of the moonrise – no filter on this or the cover photo

Now we’re back in the city. My friends are back in London and Dublin and I’m back at work. Not that I’m complaining, I’m heading back to the UK in two weeks! Happy Water Festival one and all.

Here are people photos:

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And here are scenery photos:

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Motor Up Bokor

I’ve always loved Kampot, as regular readers of my blog will know, so when I was invited to join a motorbike trip down to the province for the Buddhist festival, Pchum Ben, I could hardly say no, much to my parents’ horror (sorry parentals!) The roads in Cambodia aren’t exactly known for their impeccable safety record but I was riding with a Khmer friend who’s been driving motorbikes for half his life so I knew I was in safe hands.

There was a group of ten of us in total, riding down on six bikes: myself, Vanny, Emily, Veasna, Jacinta, Ehud, Jenna, Pov, Serai, and Yuri. The ride took about four hours, including a relaxed breakfast stop and the occasional break to ease our aching butts. We arrived completely unharmed, despite a slightly close call between my kneecap and a white van. But we made it: look!

And because the whole point of this holiday was motorbiking, after we settled into our accommodation we rode up to Ta Da Waterfall (yes, that is actually its name). A new attraction for tourists in Kampot, I’m sure this would have been an incredible site if half of Phnom Penh hadn’t decided to visit at the same time. We still had fun and the scenery was stunning but it was rather overcrowded. And the water was freezing cold!

The next day was the focal point of our trip: a drive up Bokor Mountain. This national park is one of Cambodia’s treasures and significant (Chinese) investment means the road up to the top is in great condition. We visited a second waterfall which was much quieter than the one from the previous day, thank goodness! And then, after literally driving through a cloud and getting rather wet, we arrived at the old casino, one of my favourite places in Cambodia. This old building was built by the French colonists but later used as a Khmer Rouge stronghold and stripped of its former glory. The result is an eery yet beautiful building, succumbing to the elements and perched on a cliff edge overlooking the sea. At least, it would be overlooking the sea if there hadn’t been a cloud there …

After meandering safely down Bokor’s jungle-covered sides, we headed to Kep, the small seaside town/province just half an hour from Kampot. Once again the beach was heaving with holidaying Khmers so our swim in the sea was undertaken semi-clothed (bikinis would have been wildly inappropriate). We then sat on the sand, played frisbee, and ate copious amounts of delicious squid. Kep is well known for its seafood so that evening saw feasts of crab, shrimp, and fish at one of the seafront restaurants. Crab is more hassle than it’s worth, in my opinion.

The following day it was back to Kampot for sunbathing, reading, and drinking coffee. Vanny and I went for a ride through the country and took in a little of the local lifestyle in the area, as well as visiting a pagoda. It was Pchum Ben, after all. The green of the paddy fields during the rainy season is just out of this world: it’s my favourite ever colour.

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Amazing as it was to be riding around for the entire weekend, Vanny and I decided against slogging back up the inevitably busy road on the final day of Pchum Ben. So we took the train. Yes, Cambodia now has a fully functioning railway. Ok, not fully functioning … it runs from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville via Takeo and Kampot. And it was over an hour later arriving. But strangely it got to Phnom Penh bang on time, passing completely stationary traffic jams, much to the amusement of the train passengers! The journey itself was fine: very Khmer (karaoke videos, loud music, children wandering up and down the aisle talking to strangers, people snacking on baby birds etc) but it was cheap and hassle-free. Oh yeah and for an extra five bucks we got the moto back too …

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All in all I had an awesome Pchum Ben, spending time with a great new group of people and seeing more of Cambodia than ever before from the saddle of a bike.

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Two NGOs and a Rainbow House

Last week I went on a two day trip to SKOPE’s newest partner school. Located in the heart of Kampong Speu Province, nestled amongst the trees, is Karuna Youth Cambodia. Founded in 2011 by their young director, Phearith, KYC is an NGO which focuses on community-based education projects. The village of Chherteal Chrum is unassuming and from the outside looks like any other rural Cambodian community. But the children here are luckier than most and six days a week 250 of them are able to attend free English and Computer Studies lessons at KYC.

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The school is small; just one classroom and a narrow corridor which acts as a computer lab. There’s also a small meeting room and performance area (Phearith is looking to begin a traditional arts education programme soon). The playground and surrounding greenery is beautiful and at the far end of the property stands the solar-powered Rainbow House, built to accommodate future volunteers, complete with bathroom, living area, television and mezzanine bedroom.

Look how cute it is! And I slept like a baby to boot.

My trip out to the village took three hours in a local bus-taxi. Usually there are upwards of twenty people crammed into a twelve-seater van but I was lucky. Just me and four Cambodian men. Oh, and a huge bag of alive crickets. The countryside in Cambodia is beautiful, especially in Kampong Speu which is home to the Aural mountain range, the largest in the country, so the drive was delightful. When I arrived at the edge of the village, a man took me by moto to the school where I met Phearith and got the tour of the complex. It is a little haven of comparative luxury; electricity, running water (sort of), English-speakers, and delicious Khmer food.

I was waited on hand and foot by the family whose property borders the school. The women cooked incredible dishes for me throughout my time there and I was very impressed by their skills and hospitality despite them not speaking a word of English. The school ran until four in the afternoon at which point Phearith and I went for stroll around the village. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves here … Basically, it was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.

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That evening the villagers were all invited to join us at the school as a celebration. Whether it was because Phearith was taking his monthly visit to the site (he is based in Phnom Penh where KYC also operates) or because I was there remains unclear. But I’d like to think it was the latter. Of course dinner wasn’t on time so we wiled away the wait by singing karaoke (not me, don’t worry) and watching a zombie movie which had all the women who had already arrived screaming and the kids hiding behind their hands. Due to the fact that I was sleeping in a wooden house on my own at the end of a school garden in an unknown village, I opted to read on my phone rather than watch …

The following day I spent time with the school children who had come to study. The centre is open all the time and many came hours before their lessons to play with friends and hang out in a safe, clean space. I wandered around, chatted to a couple of them, and then settled down to read a Dr Seuss book to a group of students who were waiting for their class to begin. They were so engaged in it, despite not understanding a lot of the text and I suddenly remembered how much I enjoyed teaching.

The teachers at the school are past students who have studied in Phnom Penh on scholarships from KYC. Whilst their English is good, there is no substitute for native teaching and this is what KYC and SKOPE are partnering on. As of October 2016 we are launching a volunteer program. These volunteers will live on-site in the Rainbow House, be provided with free meals and teaching supplies, and get an incredible experience of life in Cambodian countryside. The program is free although if volunteers want to make a donation towards the school or to cover the costs of the food/housing, they may do so at their discretion. Transport to the site will be organised either by me or Phearith and I may even come with volunteers to settle them in (plus I loved in there and would happily go back any time).

Some of the children in Pre-School

Here I must point out that there has been a lot of press recently about the negative impacts of ‘volunteerism’. KYC and SKOPE are working together to ensure that any and all of the issues raised regarding volunteerism are addressed and eliminated. Both organisations believe in sustainable, community-based practices and we endeavour to do our best for the children we are working with. I will be writing a blog some time over the next few days on volunteerism, SKOPE, Cambodia, and my thoughts more generally.

If you’re interested in volunteering for KYC, please fill out the form below. Alternatively you may contact me (SKOPE@sovannkomar.org) or Phearith (kyclub.info@gmail.com).

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