One week to go!

I've been having a great time over the past week or so, catching up with family and friends.  I received a couple of Bon Voyage cards (one from the BIAD art group and the other from Gail and Peter - thank you very much).  And ....

Thank you Hayley and David - it was indeed the earliest Christmas card ever!

I have been exceptionally fortunate in that Real Gap have linked me with Jane from Nottingham a fellow traveller who arrived in Cambodia this week so she is emailing me with the lowdown on the project, Siem Reap etc.  She's even invited me to travel with her the weekend I arrive to a town called Battambang which is south of the big lake Tonle Sap.  The guidebook says "With 800 historic buildings still standing, Battambang has some of the best preserved architecture of any city in Southeast Asia".  I am sure that we will both enjoy this. Jane is only in Cambodia for a three week project but this cross-over will, I'm sure be most beneficial.

She has told me that it's 29 degrees, humid and showery as it's the end of the monsoon season.  The coordinator of the project met her at the airport and has given her a day's orientation including basic Khmer words.  She has been assigned a tuk tuk driver who seems available to take you to other places besides the school so Jane has been to a local pagoda and also to a Khmer show in the evening.  She says that people are helpful and calm, and that it is easy to be on your own.  The accommodation is student basic (shades of our art trips to Paris, Berlin and Barcelona) with a cooling fan and has other volunteers from different countries staying there.

My project is reasonably near to Siem Reap - hers is further away and she says "The children are lovely and could not be more grateful".

As you can imagine having this insight has been a real bonus.