Another View - My new flat in the Vietnamese quarter, west of Monivong, and me modelling my new moped. Top: A monkey with his best pal, a ginger tom kitten that he kept safe in the unreachable branches of a tree in Wat Phnom,  they  were a v. sweet double-act.    

The Vietnamese quarter at night with a storm rolling in. 

Koh Kong

 Monks on Holiday

A lovely family on a very beautiful spot

Looking Towards the Thai Border

A Waterfall at the foot of the Cardamon Mountains

Koh Kong Market just before the downpour

It starts

Inside the market the rains are managed with buckets and rice bags

When it rains, it pours..

Oun, Sam, Paddy and Me. 

The Khmer BBQ at CCHR to celebrate the start of the Khmer New Year, a festival more like Christmas  than New Year - A 'traditional' game of walk up and down with a balloon between two partners was great fun - as was 'eat the turnip hanging on the string'

We went to Kep for the 4 days we had off for New Year, the domestic holiday resort of choice for 1960s elite of Cambodia-  packed full of 60s concrete ruins - here, 'Rabbit Island' a 20min boat jouney off the southern coast, it was paradise..

A motocycle trip up Bokor Mountain, north of Kampot - here with a derelict casino on top - the Cambodian Government are in the process of building two more

Gambling families

The mist from the ridge

Happy faces

Finding my Feet

Above: First Weekend in Phnom Penh, view of the ongoing construction looking South.
Below: Exploring the Russian Market on International Womens day, one of the many public holidays in Cambodia   

At CCHR i'm lucky enough to be put on the social Forum/Community outreach project- and luckier still to be joining the group attending a community forum in San Dann in the province of Kampong Thom before my first week is up. We travel by bus through some incredible countryside, flat and saturated with sun - the rest of these photos document the trip.  Above: Another CCHR worker and our brilliant translator for the two days Sokly, bargaining for some fruit
Below: Houses on Stilts to protect homes from the monsoons - and Sambor Prei Kuk Temple site - with prayer flags and Aurelie and Alfi giving it some style. 

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One less gecko

Above and Below: The Forum kicks off at 9am with residents from the 4 surrounding provinces attending.  The Forums aim is to connect officals and locals over the chopping of Prey Lang forest by a Vietnamese rubber company CRCK - the  Prey Lang forest is the biggest in Asia, situated in a valley has a natural basin rich in fauna and flora. The Forums key debate was the vague and confusing land rights of the community, who are being forcibly evicted off their farmland by the government - Still no clarity was achieved after 3 hours listening to officials contradict themselves. Despite this frustration there was a high level of attendance with 400 people strong audience - the forum gave communities a platform for lcoals to speak and address members of parliament directly and was followed by 7 media crews gathered from across Cambodia, including the Phnom Penh Post.