It has been a quite week here in many ways for me. A week of constantly reading fire updates from Australia. My old home and area of Wandiligong which is in the High country of Victoria was and is under great threat . All my friends evacuated including my ex husband who still has a firewood yard and timber stocks. Thankfully in this last fire threat it was saved as was my old house up in the valley. The fires are not out but able to be contained until the next heat wave hits with winds and unpredictable weather.

Kek Soon is busy moving out of Kama and into the Fish Island complex. Julien has headed to the mountains of Mondulkiri where a lot of Cambodian coffee comes from. Parts of the province borders Vietnam. He has gone up there to record music and make a short film on the indigenous people of the region the Pnong people. Julien wants to document this ancient cultures music as well as trying to bring a group down here for a festival. The snippets he has put online show a culture so rich in tradition, hauntingly beautiful music also they love Julien and his passion for their culture.

I helped one day at Kama but realistically I was just in the way stuff to big and bulky for an old girl to lift . With all the devastation going on in the world and it being the new year I thought about what I really want to achieve in 2020. I have a 12 month renewable visa here in Cambodia. I have committed and am genuinely excited to teach spoken as well as written English out at Fish Island. My problem was the expense of travelling everyday to FICAC (Fish Island Community Arts Centre). I told Kek Soon that I would be happy to commit to 3 days , even this would cost. People think that living in a SEAsian country is cheap. In many ways it is accommodation and food especially but quite often the transport costs are high. Petrol is not cheap. For me to travel on a little TUKTUK like they use in India. (See photo below, little tuktuk in foreground older one behind.)

it is $8.00 US return per day, $12 Australian. Just too much. I cannot walk as it is around 10Kms and its very hot every day I would be a worn out mess by the time I arrived, I could buy a pushbike but still a mess and probably faint. A scooter, for me I would love to but have a few obstacles, I have never driven on opposite side of road, can’t really tell left from right. I have never driven a scooter even though here you are born on one, actually yesterday I saw a man on his phone while his toddler son was steering the scooter, that toddler would be better than me at driving. Then I have the question of what happens if I have an accident , my insurance probably wouldn’t cover that as I have no licence or cover for adventure sports. So a dilemma ensued.

My rent where I stay is quite high ($290 US per month) but well within my budget but my transport costs would really cut into my ability to save any money for trips home, side excursions etc. What was I too do I have committed to Kek Soon.

One day all I wanted was a boiled egg. I have no way of cooking anything , eating out is cheap and I have a great variety of cafes and restaurants to choose from.But a boiled egg nothing else I cannot get. So I decided I would start looking for more permanent digs, . After my checking out a shop house with Kek Soon before Xmas. Kama to have a shop and me live in the quarters way over on the other side of the river (that didn’t happen) I decided I want to live this side, its a lot busier and more expat friendly.

How would I find a place where I could boil an egg that was cheaper and maybe had a garden . I would ask Kek Soon when I saw her next. But the fates intervened and on a Facebook site called Kampot Noticeboard ,up popped a vacancy for a little unit in a group of 5 at the back of a restuarant. At $200 per month with a kitchen, its outside but its there , a lush tropical garden, security ,free wifi ,fridge, bed etc sounded just what I had imagined. I made an appointment with the owner, a Canadian guy, and we sealed the deal. I didn’t see in my particular unit as the tenant is still there he moves on the 20th Jan and I will move in on the 28th , perfect as it is when my rent is paid up. It has no river view but it is behind a Creole cafe believe it or not, opposite a pharmacy and only about 10 minute walk from where I stay now. So my budget can now allow for my travel to Fish Island with out feeling compromised. I am a little bit excited about the permanency of it all about my commitment to the teaching and to be able just to have a boiled egg if I so wish.

My novel is going along swimmingly , a lot of what I am writing now is based on real things that happened to me and to uncover those memories is rather traumatic but I have to put them on paper as they make for great reading I believe. I have been exorcising the ghosts of past so all in all I have had a very reflective week. Its also nearly a year since my darling adventurous, funny, gorgeous nephew passed away and my heart weeps for my beautiful sister at this time.

Tomorrow I am back out to Fish Island start formulating a programme and do a bit of guitar lessons so I can play 5 little ducks.

Until next time.