I spent an hour tonight hanging around on a Cambodian street corner. Contrary to what you might think, i was not soliciting. I was waiting for Rachel and Christina to arrive in Siem Reap ahead of tackling the temples of Angkor Wat. In normal circumstances my patience would've worn thin after sixty minutes of idling around, but it's the middle of Cambodia's new year celebrations and there was plenty to keep me amused...

A hog roast was in full swing: a glistening, crackling, golden carcass formed the centrepiece of a bustling scene. On either side of it, two market stalls hung with roasted birds of all shapes and sizes in various shades of red and brown. Indiscriminate meat products were piled high. In the middle of this vegetarian's nightmare women with giant cleavers decimated large chunks of meat, popped them into plastic bags of rice, spooned over pungent sauces and handed them to hungry punters.

As fast as they chopped (and they chopped really fast), they couldn't keep up with demand. People, motorbikes, tuk-tuks and cars began to pile up on the kerb and the roadside. Uniformed police officers with shrill whistles barked at the motorists to move. They wisely did as they were ordered. In his haste to leave, one man wrenched an overhead light down with the back wheel of his bike. In typical fashion, it was fixed within seconds by a man with a pair of scissors, a screwdriver and a length of wire which appeared from nowhere.

It's a typically southeast Asian trait to fix everything there and then. What can't be fixed is saved until it can be. Or it's recycled. Piles of motor-parts, tyres, reclaimed wood, metal girders and clothes are commonplace. Everyone seems capable of a decent level of DIY. It makes our western wastefulness seem silly.

No sooner had the crowd dispersed and the light blinked back into life, people began mounting up again. A large container of petrol appeared and from it scooters were refilled using a rusty funnel and an empty 7-Up bottle. There are entrepreneurs everywhere.

It seems safe to say that the hog roast i saw was not the only one planned: a moped swayed unsteadily past with two enormous dead pigs strapped to the back. That wasn't the most overladen vehicle of the evening though - i also saw a tuk-tuk carrying eleven people.

It's a strange place, Cambodia.