So I am in Phnom Penh (I still haven't worked out the right way to say it yet - I think it's P-nom Pen but any variation seems to work). I don't think I did anything eventful on the remainder of my last day in Saigon other than finally finish Anna Karenina. I did the Mekong Delta cruise to get here. I was a bit grumbly at the start as I'd been spoilt by my Easy Rider trip and was suddenly in the company of 30 other tourists and being herded round obviously fake "family workshops". I felt a bit like I was in the Truman Show. Still, I enjoyed it really, and met some interesting people. I have realised I prefer the company of middle aged people rather than those my own age which is fairly strange. I met the most cheerful man ever. He was in raptures about everything, it was so funny. We made friends when he complimented my tattoo - "that is absolutely fantastic", but I soon realised he felt that about everything. He was a breath of fresh air really after the general cynicism of most people (myself included). I did like the trip as we went on lots of boats and it was very well run. I managed to wander off by myself and get lost again which was quite fun. And the kids on the riverside were so cute - they were all waving and quite a few would jump theatrically into the water for our benefit. Once we crossed into Cambodia the relative poorness (considering Vietnam is poor in itself) became apparent as most of the kids didn't have clothes. Although one was so excited to see the boat he actually pulled his pants down which was a bit strange - luckily it doesn't seem to be the normal Khmer greeting. I also bumped into the couple from Lancashire I'd met in the first week which was nice as we got to catch up a bit. I've promised to visit their shop and go for a beer with them in July!

Luckily Cambodian driving style is a lot more relaxed than the Vietnamese style. Even more lucky as they overfill the vehicles to a fair degree here. I thought Vietnam was bad as they fit four people on one motorbike (which is actually quite a good space saver - especially as it's rare to see a car with four passengers in the UK). Although there is a law in Vietnam that adults have to wear helmets. This doesn't apply to children, so it's a common sight to see two parents with helmets, and then two or three precariously balanced babies and toddlers with no protection gear. In Cambodia, there are no laws, so nobody wears helmets. They also attach things to the back of the bikes. The most common form of transport here is a Tuk-Tuk - a carriage attached to the back of a bike which comfortably seats four and uncomfortably seats six. They also have trailers on the backs of bikes for locals as a kind of taxi-bus thing, which very uncomfortably accommodates 30 people (think sardines). And why haven't other countries cottoned on the the idea that if a bus is full, why not put people on the roof? Luckily we had only six people in our bus. Unluckily we also shared it with several mosquitoes. I have 29 mosquito bites, mainly on my legs. I'm on the lookout for feeling feverish, which will apparently signify I have a deadly tropical disease.

I am now on my teaching placement for the next three weeks. The guesthouse is quite nice, though I was expecting a flat/house rather than a hotel. They also have peanut butter so I am very happy. Yesterday we had our orientation, which felt a little bit like going back to school myself. "Do not make noise, or get drunk and come back singing". Seven of us started this week, and we have quite a mix of people. A teacher from Australia, a fancy chef from Switzerland (it's a shame there's no kitchen!), a Portuguese mother and daughter who look more like sisters, an Australian writer who is here researching an article for a travel magazine, and a girl from Kent who's just finished school and is more mature than I am now, never mind when I was 18. There are also loads of people who have been here for a while and already well into their placements. Yesterday we went to one of the projects called "the Farm" which is in the middle of the countryside and is actually a farm (funnily enough) as well as a school. The children were really excited to see us and followed us around saying "hello...how are you?...what is your name?...how old are you?". The director is an eccentric Dutch man who is 73 and set up the project 7 years ago. He works as a taxi driver in Holland for 8 months of the year and saves all the money to travel here biannually and oversee the project. He's very inspiring and passionate about what he does.

I'm not on the Farm, I'm on CCOLT (er, Cambodian Children Organisation of Learning and Teaching I think). There are 27 children on this project, almost all are orphans. The director is a less-eccentric Dutch man and there are three members of staff who do teaching, office work, and oversee the project. After quitting my job in accounting to come all the way to Cambodia, guess what the first thing I was asked to do as a English teacher was? Make a spreadsheet to show the balance book for the school. Great! I had to explain I didn't actually know anything about that as I didn't actually do any accounting, but I still spent the morning making spreadsheets. I'm ashamed to say I got a bit sulky for the first hour or so, but after finding cheese-less pizza for lunch I bounced back. I am not doing that every day though! In the afternoon we met the girls who were already there teaching. They had completely different hours and classes to what we had been told, and didn't do anything other than teaching. It doesn't seem the most organised operation. Also, for the first week I am just sitting in on the existing class so I don't do any teaching until next week.

I'm very tired and I am meeting Gen and Stef for dinner, my friends from my Hanoi-Hue-Hoian leg, who have finally arrived in Phnom Penh after us trying to meet up for 3 weeks. It'll be good to catch up as we went to different places after Hoi An. They also have my dress which I had made in Hoi An and had to be altered as they made it too long and double-lined it - not good for heat! So tata for now, I will update on Cambodia and teaching as I get more used to it, and have more sleep!