Random visits, a new moto, some parties and another kitten

Siem Reap sure is a popular place and soon enough another friend who I met in Namibia popped up - here organising a photography tour. It was great to catch up with her for a chat and a swim at her hotel, the lovely Golden Banana Resort . 


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This town is already providing its share of visitors, with a few more booked into the spare room!

Having had a very bad back a few weeks previous I found that riding a bicycle was really aggravating my spine and getting tuktuks and moto dops (paid lifts from moto drivers) everywhere was proving expensive, so decided the way forward was to brave the SR traffic and try a moto for myself. I had talked about it for a few weeks and a colleague's wife was selling hers so it was a good opportunity.


"Anybody can jump a motorcycle. The trouble begins when you try to land it." - Evel Knievel

The last and only time I had had a moto experience was at the age of 17 when a friend gave me a lift down Sharples Park (the road our school was on) and I was terrified. I had been on the back of a few, nervously, in Cambodia and the roads had already terrified me on a bike and here I was about to ride /buy a moto. With my back problems though I really didn't have a choice.

I rode round our market near work a few times with my friend on the back and then we headed out of town for the weekend to a fairground (mostly abandoned in the day) in order to learn the ropes. After a few incidents of me trying to break and accelerating at the same time - a moto throttle is hard work you know?! we finally managed some progress and I was allowed to ride into town.

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The traffic is crazy here, hang the rules, there are no rules of the road here. So many times I am sure my driving is correct and 'I am in the right' (which usually means I am not the one on the wrong side of the road, holding a baby and chatting on my mobile whilst one hand driving) yet I move over and give in in order to stay alive.

"Riding a motorcycle on today's highways, you have to ride in a very defensive manner. You have to be a good rider and you have to have both hands and both feet on the controls at all times." - Evel Knievel

Khmer people are born on a moto. Babies ride in mothers arms, asleep on the back of motos, and whole families squeeze onto motos. I saw a child on a medical drip on a moto in its mothers arms only yesterday. People riding side saddle, carrying huge, awkward loads, transporting live pigs and the weirdest yet was a man with a dog and guitar on his moto. Two people is usual if not below average and four people is pretty normal. I have seen babies in baskets on the front of motos, toddlers standing sleeping and holding onto the handlbars and families of six on scooters! For Khmer people the thought that foreigners aren't used to even being on a moto is weird let alone that we cant ride one. No one has a liscence and the rules of the road are sketchy at best!


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After some intense lessons I bought her and it was the best purchase ever. Very weird to go from a land rover to a Renault cleo to a suzuki step, but the best way to get around for me here.

The next few weeks were filled with fun and a few good work opportunities. I joined the committee who organises networking and speaking events for NGOs in Siem Reap and was asked to be the opening speaker for the first fundraising conference in Cambodia. 

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." - Thomas A. Edison

Fun wise we had a few nights out that involved one too many frozen margaritas and broken Saturdays. One particular evening it started raining around midnight which led to the logical conclusion we must stay out until 2am. Ouch. I have also been exploring some of the nice local restaurants on the more subdued nights out and found some great spots for visitors.


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I have discovered just how cheap it can be to get your nails done (and spend the afternoon watching a film in the nailbar) and how inexpensive an amazing massage can be and that has been occupying some of my time too!

"I have a massage when I want to relax. I love being pampered. I love island massages when you're outside in the fresh air."- Angie Stone

A few bars in town have had opening nights or launch nights and parties and it seems those nights are the place to be in Siem Reap, from cocktail parties on the riverfront to (very quiet) launches of rooftop bars there has been some fun had.

I have managed to get myself another little kitten to keep number 1 happy and after initial cat politics they love one another. For the animal lovers out there a blog post dedicated to these two and their progress from scrawny to healthy will follow soon.


Can't believe how much he has grown from this little bag of bones and ears!

"The trouble with a kitten is that eventually it becomes a cat." - Ogden Nash

Sadly two colleagues have left work and Siem Reap over the last few months. So there has been some farewell parties and drinks for these muchly missed peeps. From cocktails at Raffles, to parties organised by the students my NGO works with everyone has been saying their sad goodbyes.


Viva leaving do


Raffles cocktails.

"The greatest thing about new friends is that they bring new energy to your soul" - Shanna Rodriguez

There have been more evenings at the temples riding round and taking it all in. And even a false alarm for an eclipse - we were told it was 5.30pm so rushed out to get a good vantage spot to find it was 5.30am the next morning!

"Astronomers are greatly disappointed when, having traveled halfway around the world to see an eclipse, clouds prevent a sight of it; and yet a sense of relief accompanies the disappointment." - Simon Newcomb

At the end of September there was the Pchum Ben Festival - a big time for Cambodians to spend with their families. This is like a version of Halloween, but different, cambodians take food to the pagoda for the unrested souls that in life did things so bad they were estranged from their familiesm the only way these souls can eat is if they are fed rice balls around Pchum Ben at the pagodas. This abates them for the year to come. This is a long public holiday and a time to spend with family so people end up travelling across the country to be together, like Christmas for me. I made the choice to work in order to save these days for my visitors.

"Each year, every city in the world that can should have a multiday festival. More people meeting each other, digging new types of music, new foods, new ideas. You want to stop having so many wars? This could be a step in the right direction." - Henry Rollins

After Pchum Ben came the conference and then mum arrived!