First Impressions

Two days in Cambodia and I’m already the most unpopular member of the party - I slept all the way and completely avoided jetlag, most irritating for the other volunteers I’m sure.

If you don’t mind, an early intervention from pedant’s corner: the first ‘P’ in Phnom Penh is pronounced (apparently). So none of that knowing ‘nom pen’ nonsense please!

First impressions then? Well the immediate thing that hit me was the heat - the humidity really knocked me back. VSO staff kindly welcomed us with much-needed water, even though it was the temperature of an average cuppa!

Heavily loaded with 2 years of possessions each for a score of volunteers, we made our way to the VSO office. We drove on the right (French colonial heritage – more on that later), which contrasted from our short stop-over in Thailand.

Contrary to expectations the roads don’t seem particularly crazy. I guess some proper pavements wouldn’t go amiss, and crossing requires both assertiveness and slalom skills. There are loads of motorbikes of course, often laden with doors or dogs or extended family members (4 at a time is my best spot to date, but there’s time!), but actually driven much more slowly than say in London. Apparently it’s seriously bad karma to get angry - maybe Buddah has the answer to road rage?

Most of all Phnom Penh is seriously challenging my senses – already the sights of beautiful gold-topped temples contrasted with the beggers and glue-sniffers at the gate, the rotting rubbish nearly spoiled the delicious aroma of my street-cooked veggies and rice breakfast, and the sounds of traditional chanting soon gave way to lip-synking trannies on the bar at the Blue Chilli Club (sorry, no photos this time!).

So there’s blog entry number 1. I’m tired, a little culture-shocked, but feel really privileged to be here. I’m very keen to crack on with Khmer lessons next week, and really excited about my new life – wish me luck, and I might just keep on blogging...