Slackers

An interesting start today when we finally got going - we rolled onto a ferry to take us across the river, squashed on with container trucks, mopeds (some with cargos of unfortunate pigs and chickens, all trussed up) and an assortment of hawkers squeezing between the vehicles with their pomeloes, fried birds and who knows what else. We were careful to squeeze the brakes as we stood right at the back with the bikes, lest an unexpected lurch should make us slide backwards 3 feet and over the stern, through the safety barrier which was not present. Safely off the ferry, we and the unfortunate livestock turned right and headed for Phnom Penh, a mere 55km away.

Walter's guardian angel was on fine form today. 2 sudden and torrential downpours. 2 coffee shops right there when we needed them most. So thanks to our refuges (we were already in the first one when the deluge hit) we got to PP unsoaked, where Mom met us and whisked us off in her tuk-tuk to see her good works in a very poor village on the outskirts. She does work for an orphanage of sorts and has built several shacks and is near completing a large block which will house 16 families. Then the tuk-tuk, driven by her adopted son and herself, by turns, took us on a bit of a tour of PP, especially Diamond Island, which is largely a big funfair where the less-poor kids were being happily centrifuged on bright neon rides. The tuk-tuk was nicely decorated, was steered through the mayhem by someone else, and, best of all, didn't need pedalling.