Arriving in early December (2016) Mum and I had some time together in Siem Reap to chill out. We had some nice dinners, hung out with friends, and took in the Angkor Photo Festival - much of which was centered around photos and interviews with Khmer Rouge survivors and was very interesting and special to see this older generation sharing something which normally remains silent.
Service of tea and lemon meringue pie at a little tucked away tea house.
'Tea is the elixir of life' - Lao Tzu
Dinner with friends at Mie Cafe.
Delicious cocktails
Flavored gin tasting party.
Both mine and mums were made in a hurry and tasted like drain cleaner! the passionfruit and pineapple ones someone made were delicious though! There were also some unusual flavours like blueberry, rosella and miracle tea. Somehow we were all pretty restrained (see quote below, no one wants that going down!) and I believe there is even some of the gin left to this day!
“The most dangerous drink is gin. You have to be really, really careful with that. And you also have to be 45, female and sitting on the stairs. Because gin isn't really a drink, it's more a mascara thinner. "Nobody likes my shoes!" "I made... I made fifty... fucking vol-au-vents, and not one of you... not one of you... said 'Thank you.'" And my favourite: "Everybody, shut up. Shut up! This song is all about me.” ― Dylan Moran
When I was at home sick over Christmas 2015 (and we should both have been in Cambodia) I promised mum dinner at Cuisine Wat Damnak - one of my favourite 'treat places' here and the dinner did not disappoint with Cambodian delicacies and a French Twist delicious wine and fabulous service, we had an awesome time. The final plate is of Cambodian fruits...
Served with chili salt two were quite delicious and the one that looks like cucumber is one of those fruits loved over here for it sour taste that sucks all the moisture from your moth - urgh!! The rest of the meal was so divine I took no photos!
We enjoyed a fabulous evening at Phare circus (acrobatic, no animals of course) watching their new show - 'Same same but different' which showed various aspects of life and how Cambodians and foreigners react to them. I love this show as I have been in so many 'same same but different' scenarios and have learned to love and embrace cultural differences here and in other countries (in the main!). The show illustrates how foreigners love to (Brits for sure!) queue and Cambodians all dive right in! How foreigners hate and avoid the rain, but Cambodians love and embrace it! How cultures eat and drink differently - and how foreigners sometimes overstay their welcome in restaurants and bars when Cambodians want to go to bed! It also illustrated aspects of the death of some of Khmer culture as foreign influence takes its toll, alongside how we can work together when things like power outs happen.It is a gentle, funny and poignant illustration of the world I straddle.
My work was very busy and mum had a really bad, persistent pain in her toe which really caused her issues in getting around. We had hoped to go to Myanmar, but for various reasons it fell off the cards. And will be enjoyed in Christmas 2017 with mum and bestie!
Christmas day was spent enjoying food, drink and silly gifts with friends, poolside.
At the end of the year we headed first to Phnom Penh, before Kampot and Kep.
Our first stop in PP was the Royal Palace, then the Russian Market, followed by Toul Sleng (S21) and the Killing Fields.
Royal Palace.
Royal Palace.
Royal Palace.
We also headed to the Russian market...
Having lived here a couple of years by this point I really felt it important to visit S21 and pay my respects. Mum and I took our own pace here in order to reflect and take breaks when needed. We were keen to be sensitive and took few photos - I did want to share a few as this is such an important part of recent Cambodian history and good for people to understand what happened.
The rules of the time.
S21 was a school (Toul Sleng) converted into a prison, during the Khmer Rouge regime. Here some of the worst atrocities took place. In some ways what got me the most was that the buildings were just like every other school I have ever seen or visited here in Cambodia, somehow this emphasized the juxtaposition of what normal life was like before it was destroyed.
The classrooms / cells here were filled with everyday objects turned into items of torture.
Memorial.
They also have a display of photos of people who were taken by the KR and some images, implements and stories of torture. Which, in my eyes, were not something to take photos of.
Killing Fields - somehow very peaceful, yet powerful. The place has many mass graves, and the infamous tree that babies ad children were killed against. Again, not a 'kodak moment'. We were actually quite shocked at the Khmerican tourist climbing on things and taking selfies and really not getting the significance of where she was.
Soon enough we were down in Kampot, taking in river life and the sleepy town atmosphere.
One evening we enjoyed an amazing sunset river cruise where we saw both flying fish and fireflies!
On my birthday / NYE we headed to the Fishmarket restaurant for a nice meal and some drinks. All along the river people (including kids as young as 2yo were letting off fireworks and soon enough we had made a couple of friends and were doing our best Harry Potter impressions too! 
One evening we enjoyed an amazing sunset river cruise where we saw both flying fish and fireflies!
There were four others on the boat with us and one of them had no idea how physics on a small, flat bottomed boat worked and kept running around the boat from side to side to take snaps, the guide had to keep trying to keep him still or move other people around the boat to keep us from capsizing, which could have been interesting!
Soon we discovered that the place was due to shut at 10pm ish so the staff could have a party and welcome in the new year! We were soon ejected and realized everywhere else was also closing, so headed back to the hotel to enjoy the fizz we had bought with foresight by the river as we watched fire works and welcoming in the new year.
We spent a day up at Greenhouse relaxing and swimming in the river. We also had a day in Kep - enjoying Rabbit Island, when we finally got there. Our tuktuk driver was about forty minutes and we had booked on a boat to go to the islands. We had to laugh as he seemed like a very methodical man whose tuk tuk read 'safety first' as he drove like a bat out of hell, looking through his one eye, way over any sensible speed all the way from Kampot to Kep (usually about an hour, this time about 40 mins) to get us to the boat! Terrifying!
We relaxed on the island for a while before heading back to get crab at the crab shacks on the mainland.
"The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach." - Henry Beston
Next up sundowner cocktails at Knai Bang Chatt looking out over the water...
Soon we were heading back to PP and then SR feeling refreshed and ready for the new year and after a few more nice treats and some time healing sore toes (mum) and bad tummies (both) it was time for mum to fly home.
'I really don't want to say goodbye to any of you people.' - Christa McAuliffe
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