Back in the groove

I'm back in the office, after my brief jaunt to Kompong Cham on Friday thru til Sunday evening. I didn't see as much as I'd hoped and a few of my targets turned out to be damp squibs but nevertheless, it was a nice change of scenery and KC is certainly picking up as a tourist destination. There were barangs everywhere! More about my Kompong Cham adventures over the next few days, though I mustn't get too far ahead of myself as I still have some Phnom Chisor pictures and stories to blog!
I had a quick coffee with an old friend of mine this morning, Kim, the daughter of Seng Hour and Davy, the owners of my favourite Siem Reap guesthouse, the Shadow of Angkor. She was on her way back to Siem Reap from a few days in Sihanoukville - during her month-long return to her homeland. You may recall that she moved to Australia in January of last year to study and she still has another 2 and a half years to go, but for this month only, she's back home, catching up with friends and working at the guesthouse. It was great to see her, if only for a quick catch-up, she's looking healthy and she's enjoying the experience 'down-under' after overcoming her initial culture-shock and homesickness. I know she will be a great success, she's that type of girl.
A couple of reminders whilst I'm on-line. Tonight there is the 2nd public Forum on the Khmer Rouge Legacy. It's entitled Cambodia 1979: After the overthrow of the Khmer Rouge Regime, and will be held at Pannasastra School on St 370 & St 380 from 7pm this evening. Taking part will be Youk Chhang from DC-Cam, Chantou Boua, Pen Samitthy and Tom Fawthrop. Definitely worth getting along to hear more about what it was like in Cambodia during the 1980s, and don't forget these forums are being held every Monday til 10 March. The force behind the forums are the Meta House, who will host another Khmix It! Cambodian Traditional Music session this Wednesday (13th Feb) at their Street 264 location, whilst this Saturday will see some rarely-screened films from the Khmer Rouge era presented by the DC-Cam film team.
Finally, on the Khmer Rouge theme, Comrade Duch has given an enlightening interview to the UK's Telegraph, which is well worth reading here.