Tomorrow I leave Cambodia. This morning, the GF and I woke up in the dark and padded down to where the tuktuk awaited us. We made the 20 minute drive in the dark – not even the ticket collectors were around – and stopped at Phnom Bakheng, the mountain temple. There was no one else […]
To the capital
We’re in Phnom Penh. I of course have been working frantically, with no end in sight. I was working and in meetings till past midnight last night, then woke at 5.30 as usual, had a shower and started working, worked in the car except when I felt car sick (exacerbated by the driver’s repellently fruity […]
Death of the general
General Musharraf has died. How upset I was that day in 1999 when he seized power. I was in university, just a few weeks in. I remember walking through Harvard Square with one of my roommates, trying to speak the mixture of anger and fear I felt, and her lack of understanding. Then, weeks or […]
Desolation
Today we took a car first to Kampot for breakfast and then up to Bogor, the French hill resort. It was a surprisingly gentle ascent, though perhaps comparing it to Murree etc is silly (speaking of which I learned recently that Murree Brewery used to be run by the family of General Dyer of Jallianwala […]
Nursery rhyme
Another fleeting dream, this time of an online conversation (as are so many conversations now, but still disoncerting in a dream) and one of the participants was Elon Musk. We all rolled our eyes when we saw his user name (I know others did too, though it was all text based) and then he started […]
Today, outside
Today I feel I have nothing to write, as nothing much happened other than desultory work late into the night. The GF and his mother went to Rabbit Island and enjoyed their trip, I enjoyed having things to myself though would have preferred it to be without work. It’s been a breezy day, a little […]
The past
This morning, or rather early afternoon, we rented a car to take us to a pepper farm. In the morning I woke up early as usual, bought some rice and assorted meats from the breakfast woman along with a steamed dumping containing coconut. and then read for a couple of hours. At some point the […]
Breezy morning
A very pleasant breezy morning today. It is very clear, the sky blue. I’m sitting outside in the shade and the air is carrying a scent of flowers. I am also reading a book and thoroughly enjoying it: Gurnah’s By the Sea. He is rapidly turning into one of my favourite writers. I think I […]
No frogs
No frogs today, is the plague over? Though there was a small rodent in the bath. Not a rat as it barely had a tail, and it clearly hadn’t been there long. The GF’s mother arrived this evening, somewhat wobbly after her journeys but in good spirits and certainly better health than her last visit, […]
Breakfasts
I like settling into new breakfasts wherever I go, maybe because it’s the one meal that feels like it can be on my terms. Here, in Kep, there is the morning stroll to get pastries and baguettes, plus a little pot of rillettes or other such private addition to breakfast. Today as I stepped out […]