So what to say? It now three months we are back in Finland after so many years in Cambodia and the real impact of change starts to become more vivid just now. One main difference which is very easy to spot is the silence in public places, the soft noise in the streets where cars run modern engines that are almost noiseless. Then there is the silent and reserved character of the people. This is […]
Every morning, when I cycle to the office, I cycle along the laterite road on the Stung Sen riverbank. I pass the village; see the women working in the garden and watering the vegetable and plants, pass the kids in school uniform (white shirt and blue shorts) walk to the local elementary school. At the end of the road, just before turning left to pass the bridge on the national road that cuts through Kampong […]
It is nice to be back in Cambodia. Heavy monsoon clouds have greeted us here in Kampong Thom. Warm rain is falling this afternoon, trees are shaking with the wind and the fields have become finally green now that farmers are planting the new rice. At the exit from Pochentong airport yesterday evening the dump warm air filled me its tropical-Asia-flavour. I kind feel at home as here is where we have the house and […]
Thirty years have passed since the North Vietnamese troops entered Saigon, marking the end of the American war, as it is called in this part of the world.
An Italian journalist who lived for more than twenty years in Asia once wrote that traveling and living abroad makes you tired, it makes you older. After three and half years in Cambodia I start to believe that this is true. I feel a bit tired, though I am not sure I feel older yet. Signs of this tiredness are more evident after a trip to another country, having the opportunity to observe another way […]
Dear all, After a long break,here you are. Again the hot time, it is never cold though, but now it is hot and it is only the end of February the two next months are the real hot season, it is now the fourth hot season for us in Cambodia and maybe the last. Thermometer reached 37 degrees inside the house yesterday. It is a bit like holiday feeling on Saturday afternoon going around […]
Today I received an email from a friend from Finland. It was a forwarded message that found its way until my PC here in Kampong Thom, Cambodia click after click, along a strange and unforeseeable sequence of connections. It had an attachment a picture of a young child, of two year of age who has lost his parents in the Tsunami that hit Thailand almost two weeks ago. He has a Scandinavian face, blond hairs, […]
As every year, the beginning of December has brought the International Half Marathon of Angkor here in Cambodia. I decided last year to prepare myself and join for the first time such a run. The concerns were many: the distance, the humidity, getting enough stamina with training, and the early departure time of the run. About three months ago I googled the web searching for sites that helped me to make up a training schedule. Eventually I found one […]
Yesterday has been the day. My first half marathon among the beautiful monuments of Angkor. I made it and finished in 2hrs 0min 23sec. It was really worthwhile. More on my next message. Arnaldo
It has been sometime. I know. Anyhow we are here. Last 12 months in Cambodia before moving back to Finland. I will come back soon with some more stories from this unique country. Arnaldo