Roving report from Ariane

Hey everyone

Here is your roving reporter from Cambodia.  I am appalled at what I have just seen here this evening in Phnom Penh.  We were walking along the riverbank looking for bats flying round the tall trees (like last week) when Dad spotted a little stall selling snacks.  The stallholder had a little girl and I was playing with her when 2 tuk-tuk drivers (motorbikes towing carriages) came over and joked kindly about how my parents were old enough to be my grandparents!  We were all having fun when we noticed about 8 police were getting ready to take away the tuk-tuks, probably because they were parked opposite the Royal Palace and not supposed to leave them unattended.  They talked to the police in a friendly way and we tried to help by talking in our broken Khmer language but it was no use.  The police drove them away in their tuk-tuks to the police station no doubt to get a large fine from them.

Police here don't get paid a lot so it is sort of accepted that they keep traffic fines and bribes for themselves.  This happened when we were in the car that a friend was driving and she wasn't wearing a seat belt properly.  She says it is not fair because they pick on the poor people and leave the rich ones alone.  Another reason why we are lucky to live in New Zealand.

We have come back on the bus from a lovely time swimming at the Kep beach for the last 3 days and enjoying fresh fish meals.  We also had a fantastic time exploring some underground caves with bats in them.  It was hard when lots of kids wanted to be our guides so they could get a bit of extra money to help their families.

We visited a school called Hope for Happiness where teenage children pay a little extra to practice English with visiting foreigners.  Everyone wants to learn English so they can get better jobs.  We enjoyed chatting with them and it was nice to learn more about a girl's life in the country in Cambodia.  We saw everywhere how hard people work to grow rice.

I am REALLY disappointed that I have not found a decent bookshop for children's books so I am having to read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone over and over and over again.

Have a good holiday all of you and I miss you.

 xxx Ariane