Jam-in-a-Bag

Heya Folks,
Spending one of my last few weeks in Asia in Cambodia, visiting old friends and making new ones, is one of those random and unexpected pleasures which have so characterised my life here, that it was just So meant-to-be. I adored Cambodia on my trip there in march this year; overwhelmed in equal measures by its poverty, beauty and brutality. Angkor Wat of course is beyond amazing. So when I heard that Sarah, an old friend from University days, would be interning in Phnom Penh, I jumped at the chance to visit her, and see this amazing country again.

Getting the bus over to Phnom Penh from HCMC was surprising easy and cheap, though I discovered to my misfortune that Vietnamese bus passengers enjoy air-conditioning....full pelt, for 7hrs to Phnom Penh. I know I'm British but I was *freezing*! Arriving like an ice cube into the bus station with a fun new stamp in my passport from the Moc Bai/Bavet land border, I quickly thawed out and got a TukTuk across town.
I set the same strict budget and aimless itinerary for my first few days in Phnom Penh, happy once again to let the city pass by me. The best bit of the trip was being reunited with my namesake university chum and ex-housemate, made more than a little surreal by being in Cambodia!

I couldn't help but be in awe of the work that she and 7 other girls were doing in Phnom Penh; as speech and language therapists working tirelessly and relentlessly to train doctors and nurses to deal with speech and language disorders previously massively understood. Truly an admirable task and, most importantly, sustainable. You rock guys!
Most people are content to see Angkor Wat just once in a lifetime; I felt so incredibly lucky that I got to see it again this year, and its magnificence certainly didn't diminish with a repeat visit. The weekend will forever remain memorable for the 'sunrise breakfast' on our day of templing.....Jam-in-a-bag. Instantly hilarious to anyone walking by as we ate, there was something so completely surreal, and hysterically funny, about trying to scoop out jam from a plastic bag and spread it on a baguette while perched on one of the world's oldest and biggest religious ruins. Strange-the-Places...
SarahHeadsEast xx