"How do you say thank you in Vietnamese?"

The border guard stared blankly at me, mumbled something (which wasn't "thank you") and gestured me toward the baggage scanner before we reboarded the bus from Phnom Penh to Saigon (now known as Ho Chi Minh City).

I asked the same question of the officer who stamped my passport but he just gave me back my document and gestured me to move on.

I know the first moment it struck me that this three-day excursion to Ratanakiri was not for the faint-hearted.

It was when I entered the bantubtik (bathroom) in the restaurant where we had lunch, about four hours into our 10-hour drive from Phnom Penh.

Coming here to live I have opted to rent a motor bike, which I have arranged on a monthly basis. Needless to say the need for driving licences and credit cards, which you normally need for such an agreement went out the window before I walked through the door of the motorbike shop.

Lucky Moto 413 Monivong BLVD

“Five for one dollahr”

"Five for one dollahr”

A plaintive little voice called out to me as we strolled across the road after visiting a lake near Siem Reap.

She was barely knee-high. Long black hair, tangled and dirty with dust, and big, soft eyes in a miniscule brown face.

She was selling bracelets made from brightly coloured wooden beads. Five for a dollar.

By Keo Kounila & Tha Piseth

Clams, a type of fresh-water shellfish, are one of Cambodian’s favourite staples. On hot sunny days, a line of carts loaded with red spicy fresh-water shells can be seen pushed by Cambodian vendors. People do not have them during rainy season since rain can spoil the quality and taste. Cambodians like eating clams that have been boiled, dried and blended with salt or red spice. They also use clams to make other kinds of food—boiled clams or friend clams. Dried clams, however, are preferably eaten. Clams in Cambodia can normally be found at the bottom of a river.

My colleague, Siratha, asked me last week if I could help him write English captions for the photos he was displaying at the Indigenous People's Day event in Siem Reap.
Since I only had 30 minutes before heading out to my language class, I swiftly ran through the photos, asked him about the subjects and wrote brief descriptions for his display board.

Siratha smiled broadly. "I could not have done this without you," he said, as I dashed out of the office.

I have a number of agencies on my hotmail account and have networked with people on this site, but it is hard to really get a feel of an apartment while still in Australia.

Basically looking for a 2 bed apartment open plan wooden floors. Ocean and mountain views would also be a selling point. As it is Phom Penh I will settle for river and city views. Or just near the river. A tree lined avenue would be nice with a few cafes near bye.