Departed Siam Reap for Phnom Penh. On the way we stopped at a roadside stall where we tried a local lunch of cooked sticky rice in a bamboo stick - it was really yummy. Then on to a local rural school. The children did not speak English and referred to us as pointy nose people. We took some school supplies with us. The children loved us taking their photos and then showing them the picture of themselves. Our lunch stop was on the lake and very picturesque. We arrived at Phnom Penh at peak hour - and i thought the traffic was mad in Siam Reap. Another training restaurant for tea, and while we were there it absolutely bucketed out of nowhere. Our first experience of rain. A few more facts:
* Cambodia is very very flat
* you really can fit 6 people on a motor bike
* you are allowed to drive on the wrong side of the road - even on the freeway
* traffic does give way courteously, even in the madness. In some ways it works better than our system - but Aussies could not do this as it requires patience
* tooting when driving is a courtesy to indicate you are coming through
* only 50% of people on bikes/motor bikes wears helmets - but if there is a helmet, its only on the driver, never on any passengers
* the whole government system is very corrupt - including hospitals which is why many of the hospitals are run by foreigners
* you rarely see old people mainly thanks to Pol Pot and his work between 75 & 79
* not that many domestic animals around, and apart from the pigs, they are all very lean - cows, dogs, chickens, but there are lots of geckos and they are quite fat little things
* school is done in two four hour shifts as there are not enough school rooms or teachers to go around
* many people do their refrigeration in good eskies getting ice from vendors who carve off blocks about 30cm sq. with the whole block about 3m long
* their scaffolding need to be seen to be believed
