I woke up at 4am when Boroith got up to go on his morning bike ride with friends. I then woke up again at 6am when the boys went to school. I finally crawled out of bed at 7.30am; 'crawled' is the right word because I end up moving from the mattress to the floor on my hands and knees.
The neighbourhood lads were already lounging in the hammocks, having a puff and a drink. They come and they go; sometimes they relax in the picnic spaces and at other times they banter with mother and Seyneth. The coconut delivery man came and there was more shouting from the ladies as they had a friendly bargaining banter over the price. I think they should give him extra for carrying enormous bunches that are very heavy. The lady street sweepers came by, brushing up the dead leaves, with (I think) a husband coming behind with the cart to pick things up. Seyneth and mother shout at people going by on their motorbikes. It's totally different to big city life. Boroith came and then disappeared; I decided he'd gone back to work so I wouldn't see him again.
The family asked what I'd like for lunch and they'd pack it for me. I declined and said I'd have a late breakfast instead and so, at 9am, I was feasting on pumpkin cooked with minced meat and rice, a soup and dried beef. At 10am Seyneth took me to the Arunras Hotel where I'd catch the Golden Bayon express van for Phnom Penh. We really shouldn't search for information on the internet. Earlier, I looked at this company on Trip Advisor and it said 78% thought they were a terrible company. I decided there was no point worrying about it so I climbed into seat number 8 and found a space for my bag. It turned out to be quite a pleasant ride back to the city; maybe that was because there wasn't a lot of traffic on the road so we were able to speed along without doing much in the way of overtaking.
I've always known there were brick factories on the highway to Phnom Penh but this time I decided to count them; I counted 22. I've never seen a brick factory in Alberta; are there any? The best thing about Golden Bayon is that their depot is just 10 minutes walk from my apartment so I was home very quickly and ready for a shower as it is so hot nowadays.
I'd been away for a week so I knew I'd be facing dust. I unpacked and then filled the bucket with water and tackled the floor; the water going down the toilet was black. I sat on the balcony with some biscuits and cheese and a cup of lemon grass tea and caught up with life.
I've been thinking about blogs and diaries and I've decided they are two different things. Sometimes I want to mutter about people and events but I feel that I can't in the blog as I might upset people. Readers may not like my gossip but I'm wondering is it gossip if I'm just talking to myself in my diary?
