Dish washing, Cambodian style
I had a reasonable sleep because I got smart - I folded the mat and quilt and ended up being a bit further away from the tiled floor. It rained heavily so that kept me awake for a while. The house was quiet when I finally got off the bed but some members of the family had stayed as they had to lock up after we left. Auntie was busy looking in the mirror, checking something on her head. Ratha went over to help. I thought he was looking for lice but it turned out it was grey hairs, which Auntie plucked out when he found one.
After a Thai noodle breakfast we dropped off auntie and a friend at the border as they wanted to go into Thailand to a market. The area now has 20 casinos which are popular with the Thais as no gambling is allowed in that country. Apparently, if the police find a deck of cards in your suitcase they can charge you. Gambling is also illegal in Cambodia, but who cares?
When I first crossed the border in 2002 we were dropped off on the Thai side, after travelling on a good road, and had to walk across the border dragging our suitcases. The road on the Cambodian side was broken, full of potholes, dust everywhere and bridges destroyed. We were met by a man who told us to put our suitcases in the back of the truck. Violeta objected and said that she didn't want to be separated from her suitcase. The man said, "You won't be separated; you are travelling in the back of the truck." Four hours later, with sore backsides and covered with dust, we arrived in Battambang.
The highway had improved over the years but now it's back to being a mess because it's being widened to four lanes by a Japanese company. How people are living along the highway I don't know - the diggers have gone down two metres and it's a sea of mud because of the rain. Homeowners have little bridges crossing the ditch - just wide enough to allow them to take their motorbikes across.
When I first came here I decided to rent a small house so that young students could have a place to stay. It cost $20 a month and it was not nice. The floor was packed dirt and we had to climb a simple ladder to the sleeping area. I stopped getting excited when a rat wandered into the place. One day I had to chase a snake out with the broom. When an Australian stayed with us he said he needed toilet paper. He left the toilet roll in the toilet and went to use it the next day. The entire middle of the roll had disappeared; it had been eaten by termites. To use the toilet we had to open a rickety door and step up a metre onto a cement platform. We men, if we were having a pee, could look over the wall and have a chat with people in the room. One day I pushed the door to leave the toilet and the whole door disintegrated - it too had been demolished by termites. Every day we taught a bunch of local children and once a month we cooked a meal for street kids - life was fun and not at all complicated.
I'm now settled into my regular room with friends who own a restaurant. As soon as I arrive I'm asked, "What do you want to eat?" There are no menus so I have to discuss what kind of noodles I want, or do I want rice? What do I want with the noodles - shrimp, fish, pork, beef, chicken? My mind can't deal with all the choices so I ended up having a simple soup.
The family's building an annex to the restaurant so I ended up helping them assemble the fans and hanging them from the ceiling. It's hot work in the 35C weather. Rain did come but it didn't last long.
Tonight I sleep on a real bed - it's a camp cot type of bed, with a mosquito net but at least the mattress is 5 cms thick, which is like heaven.
