At least the Vietnames understand the suffering of the Cmabodian people as they have too suffered. For many older people,life is centred around family- more than nuclear rather extended.A family can number as many as 40 with distant relatives etc. They stick together like sticky rice -solving problems collectivley,listen to the elders and pool resources,coming together in times of trouble and joy. FAITH is their rock-Buddhism hass been a main stay in helping to rebuild thier lives. FOOD is of huge importance and pleasure- they know what hunger tastes like. Famine struck the country in 1970 and even today when there is drought and the rice production is affected -people have a hard time getting full bellies. Population is around 14,000,000 with more females to males(93M-100F).96% people are Ethnic Khmer and the rest are Cham,Chinese or Vietnamese.The Khmers have inhabited Cambodia since 2nd century ,many centuries before the Thais and Vietnamese moved into the region.Over the centuries the Khmers have mixed with other groups -Javanese.Malay,Thais,Vietnamese and Chinese-agh this explains the rainge of faces.I had no idea before. This is why I love travelling- so much more interesting than in a tedious classroom.The world is just one big class-but zillion times more interesting. The girls are petite and work like bees.The men - seem to do a lot of hanging around delegating- Louis has no need to worry- the guys are not the cutest on the planet. There are loads more cars here- lots of 4x4 and everything is priced in the golden $US- petrol is $1 a litre compared to Vietnam which is 70 cents. The divide between rich & poor is immense- there are a lot of very wealthy business men- Chinese etc who are using Cambodians for cheap labour- factories -clothing and anything plastic & shiny - I believe we call it TUTT- or stocking fillers. For a mere 2-3 $ a day the girls trot off to work whilst the guys mmmmm let me think- scratch their CONKERS!.However, women and their rights are in a state of transition and the Cinderella role is fast fading with women gradually lessening the monopoly positions held by men in higher stations.I have never seen so many little children- I guess with little or no electricity this is the consequence. BUT WORLD CUP can be seen on Sat TV - and the local soaps which involve screeching "over dramatic" actors - are watched avidly- I am off to get my fix of Sashimi- have eaten a fair bit of Cambodian food-chewy beef- good lime /chili sauces and of course noodles.Tonight I want to get into the Saporro zone. Have had a thrilling but extremely harrowing day visiting the Killing Fields and the Khmer Rouge Security Prison where literally hundreds of people were massacred.(By their own people) -----I will continue tomorrow. Ps- am in an internet cafe with loads of saffron clad monks-they are all on the internet -using skype - Made me smile with the times. Now Monks for some reason are a huge attraction to me- watch out Louis!! Heard from Babu- his folks have flown up to meet them for a week - he is having a ball and sounds so well. He is off to Malaui after and no worries. Love to all- hx