Landed and settling in

After a long and varied trip via London and overnight in Kuala Lumpur, I arrived at Siem Reap airport on Saturday morning. I was so over-prepared for the trip, weighing luggage, sorting docs etc. that I made a very basic error!

As advised by numerous friends, thank you, I had planned to bring several copies of my ticket and passport, stowed in separate pieces of luggage but was not happy with clarity of passport copy so took it out of my travel wallet to scan again and print, and so completed my copies and put them in  the luggage as planned.
Maeve and Brian drove me to the airport at 6 am and we said our goodbyes, I proceeded blithely to the check-in desk, took out my ticket and, yes, you guessed it, no passport, panic stricken, I hauled myself and all my heavy bags to the nearest taxi and we sped back home, found the passport and  returned in a highly stressed state just in time. Am I really fit to travel so far for so long? My children  certainly 'hae their doots!'

However, I did manage to negotiate all other obstacles successfully and am installed in the foundation's guesthouse - a beautifully restored Khmer house, destroyed in the war and re-built by the Ly family, their story is remarkable, you can read a summary on www.theplf.org . Their entire work is dedicated to improving the lot of disadvantaged families and children in Cambodia.

Siem Reap, in the short time I have been here, seems to be an extraordinary amalgam of old and new and very obviously rich and poor. The airport, which is new, is designed like a pagoda and is certainly the most beautiful and calm airport I was ever in, surrounded by a beautiful garden of exotic palms,  ferns and buddist statues.
I was collected by a lovely young man called Esa in his tuktuk and we drove through the most hair-raising traffic of every sort, no wonder visitors are not allowed to drive here. I have already shelved my plans to borrow one of the bicycles which are at the guests' disposal. Luxury hotels lined the road alongside street food stalls and little hucksters shops, people everywhere talking,  laughing, calling out and  smiling. The Cambodian people I have met so far are universally pleasant and courteous and hepful and you feel very welcome here.

I am meeting my students for our first class this evening, am looking forward to it but also quite anxious, after all these years it's like starting all over again. I promise that my next post will include some pictures to liven up the narrative but that's another bit of IT I have yet to conquer !