Here I am in Pursat, after another 4 o'çlock start, learning about JTWGs (Joint Technical Working Groups). It has been an interesting morning followed by a delicious lunch. As usual we have a 2 and a half hour lunch break to enable those that can to have a snooze. So I came up to my room and this is the bed - it is actually much larger than it looks in the picture and is soooooo comfy - I should sleep tonight!! It is beautifully carved with hearts all over it, ...

I am stuck at work, it is raining, at least that is what someone said - I think some mythical creature has just poured the largest bucket of water over us. It is as dark as night and as I said I am stuck until it stops because Sidney is allergic to rain!! There is another Brit moving to Pailin - or at least he wants to. He will be here for at least a month and if he finds some sort of work he hopes to stay a year. His name is Philip and he has already been in Ca...

Technology is amazing. Here I am in Pailin which is remote from anywhere else in Cambodia let alone from Britain but due to Skype I was able to join Mum's 90th birthday weekend away with the rest of the family. I really can't imagine what it was like 150 years ago when those Victorians sailed for the Far East. Letters are not quite the same - mind you they left a better record of what life was like.

As I said earlier, today has been very quiet and I started to feel a bit low so I left work early and went home. I actually think this last week has been so good that today was a bit of a let down. I needed onions and tomatoes so walked to the market. When I got there I met a girl I saw a few weeks ago and she stopped and we chatted. The woman at the veg stall just handed the tray of the scales to me so that I could put the vegetables on it and then laughed when...

Here I am sitting alone in the entire building with a distinct feeling - I should be somewhere else. The Prime Minister is visiting Pailin and we rushed back to Pailin so that my colleagues could meet him at some gathering of officers. I have a feeling they forgot to tell me or they didn't know that everyone else has been given the day off to go and wave at him!! Sadly we left Bunthorn in Kampong Cham as he is spending the next few days in PP so there is no-one t...