Back in Phnom Penh

Travelling to work and back in a tuk tuk has not yet lost it's novelty appeal, and I've been loving my journeys to the office. 

Tonight's driver had some mad skills. It was my first drive home in the real rush hour traffic, and we were up on the pavement, darting round cars, brushing up against the millions of moto riders, and generally taking every possible short cut to avoid the traffic. It was quite a journey! 

I've been exploring the restaurants around my hotel, which although pretty touristy, are very delicious and still pretty cheap. However, lunchtime at the office gives me the best 'local flavour' as we head to nearby local restaurants and order masses of food for tiny amounts of money. The restaurant floors are strewn with rubbish, the menu is ignored, and the hygiene is questionable (I found a dead ant in my iced tea - which is brought to the table for every meal) but the food is fantastic. Anyway, I'm not too squeamish about bugs in my food these days. As my dad would say, the ant wouldn't have drunk much. 

This is one of the cleaner restaurants we have gone to...

Lunch with a volunteer from the Philippines

The other evening I had duck in a tamarind curry, which although quite oily, was very nice. Afterwards I was given a plate of what I thought were two tuile biscuits - I was going to leave them but gave one a bite... it turned out to be dried banana and it was amazing! The waitress called it banana crepe... I don't know how they made it but it was chewy and delicious. Here is one, with the crumbs of the other! 

I've also managed to fit in a massage, and dinner with my colleague and his wife, and am now sitting in a bar with an espresso martini... but I promise I have also been working very hard! There is so much information to process, and information to 'extract' from the team that my head is reeling most nights, but being in a different country is giving me the energy to work hard and play hard... it's so much fun having a different environment and culture to explore. I have also really enjoyed feeling more anonymous (so many expats here, I definitely do not stand out or attract attention) and I feel very safe, which is something I have been missing since I moved away from The Gambia.