The last Days in Phnom Penh just rushed past. For one and a half weeks I had looked forward to quit the huzzle and buzzle of the city and resettle to quiet Battambang. I spent the last half week regretting having to leave it. Something I will particularly miss is the variety of food you are offered there. Especially for me as a vegetarian the Indian and Nepalese restaurants near Sihanouk Boulevard are a paradise (Khmer vegetarian food is usually rather one-sided consisting of rice with vegetables and noodles with vegetables, both also avaiable as a soup).
In those last days it also got apparent that Friedrich had caught salmonellae and had to stay in Phnom Penh some more days together with Sophie and Philip, who couldn't leave for overflooded Kampot yet.
The rest of the Battambang crew (Simone, Jakob, Matze, me) and Monika, our 'Mentor' boarded the bus on tuesday. It was heavily airconditioned and provided the interesting, yet annoying possibility to gain insight into Khmer dreams via karaoke videos. These depictured almost exclusively countryside romances (without so much as a kiss as sexual interaction) and were shown almost the entire trip (7 hours or so) on high volume.
In Battambang we stayed the first four nights at the "Royal Hotel". In comparison with "Okay Guesthouse" in Phnom Penh it almost deserved the title (at the same price).
Yesterday we then moved to Phteah Teuk Dong (in English: Coconut Houses) a local NGO that provides homes and vocational training for street families. Jakob will work there and the Youth for Peace office is also located in the little settlement.
We now live with 4 Persons (Jakob, Matze, Friedrich and me) in a two-room wooden house on stakes, not sure whether it is an arrangement to last. For the moment, it has an idyllic appeal, but not much in the way of comfort.
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