It's 203 steps to get there, and a buck to get in. But by far the wisest dollar I've ever spent in Cambodia is the one I decided to cough up for a guide to take us into Phnom Chhnork cave, about six kilometres outside the town of Kampot. 
 
As you enter the darkness the first thing you have to do - behind your absolutely essential flashlight - is make a treacherous 3 metre descent. You have to do this on the arse of your pants while attempting to grasp any foothold you can. I was afraid that a slip on the way down might cause me to miss the landing below and that I might instead tumble and crash to my death, somewhere in the dark. But it's not until you get to that base below that you really get scared. Next, it's a 2 metre drop with just one tiny stepping ledge between you and the next level. So what you need to do is slide your right foot down to that almost out of reach first step, then take your next step onto the thigh of the guide who is positioned below. This of course isn't enough to stop you from going arse-over heels. The guide has to be quick enough, after you have used his leg as a step, to jump up and catch you before you go smack onto the cave floor. 
 
Entry to exit takes about half-an-hour, but there's nothing more adventurous and exhilarating than getting through that first 10 minutes of Phnom Chhnork - survival makes you feel as though you've won. This type of danger would never be allowed anywhere in the Western world. Only in the 3rd world can you find this kind of crazy. Oh, and as for the guide we hadn't even been sure we wanted to use, the lad got a healthy little tip.


A week ago on the beach:
Elenka, Renate and Nina were off on a three hour snorkel excursion when I decided to go for a run. As I left the entrance way to our cabina place a tuk-tuk driver I 'd never seen before said, "Your family go on snorkel trip. Why you not go?"
 "Didn't want to," I said, breaking into a trot.
 "You have good doctor," he said. 
 Statement, question, gibberish? The tuk-tuker wasn't talking about health care. He had a smile on his face I didn't like. After asking him to repeat himself he said the same four silly words. The run could wait. I quizzed the man, coaxing him to slow down and speak clearly. I knew it all somehow centred around the  'doctor' word, so I worked on that. It was a word game that I wanted to win. Then out of the blue it came to me. It wasn't 'good doctor', but 'good daughter' as in 'good Nina'. The swine wanted the woman he thought was my offspring. 

Cambodia hasn't been all we expected this time around, but in the end I'm pretty damned proud of myself, and for that matter our entire group of four. I was able to teach a local the difference between a daughter and a medical practitioner, and none of us died in a cave.