Second Part of Week 2 in Cambodia

We are back in Phnom Penh - actually really looking forward to 1.) seeing my friends at the Cambodian Harvest Fruit Company again and 2.) to put a dent into the long (and growing) list of tasks.

The morning started with a little run again, and I decided to bring my iPhone so that I can share some of the 6am impressions from the riverfront. Here is a little footage from one of the many the gymnastics groups that gather on the shore of the Mekong and Tonle Sap river. (They are actually just finishing their 5am class (!!!)

The most impressive group however is the soccer-volleyball group that plays here every morning. Skills are really quite impressive for a country that has never won any medal at any Olympics...

After a productive morning we had lunch together with the management team (Marion, and then 2 really nice guys, both named Bunthoeun.... what are those odds?) from the Cambodian Dried Fruit Company. We talked a little about the mine problems in Cambodia and Bunthoeun #1 told us a story from growing up in a farming village. When he was a little boy, one of his friends had found an interesting piece of metal somewhere in the fields. He dragged it out on the street, gathered 4 additional friends around (including Bunthoeun #1) and they proceeded to disassemble this curious object. Luckily Bunthoeun and 2 others had to run home for lunch... so when they heard the loud bang from a distance... there were at least 3 of the 5 that survived.
Off course there are a lot more of these stories at Cambodian Harvest Dried Fruits as almost all employees are survivors of landmine accidents. So are the 2 Bunthoeuns - and they tell their accident stories with a smile on their face - a smile of thankfulness that they are alive and that they have made their lives into success stories.

Back to the lighter side. Monday and Tuesday were actually really productive days at work. and after a tiring workday on Tuesday, and dinner at a beautiful roof terrace close to where we are staying, we decided to go for a good-night beer at "Rubies" right around the corner from our hotel. Patricia and I were  the last volunteers, and we casually had the last beer as we ran into 4 international lawyers who work for the UN on the UN trials of the Khmer Rouge coordinators. As lawyers are really good in making their case - we were dragged into the heart of the party district - an area we were completely unaware off until now... 99% of Cambodia shuts down at 9pm. Anyway... these terrible UN lawyers dragged us through all these bars and discos that were on the ABV-list (can't say IBM here) of places not to go to... and we just had a blast... an entirely new aspect of this city. "Heart of Darkness" and "Pantoon Lounge" if anybody care to google. The picture below is actually in focus I think... we were just not...

Our new friend Jeanne (second from left) then drove us home in her 1973 Jeep... quite a car... and it even runs!!!

I won't say much about Wednesday.

So we arrive at today... I was determined to finish a particular work assignment... and it got done... which felt quite good. And since the general manager of IBM Vietnam was in town and wanted to meet us - we did agree to let him buy us a very nice dinner and drinks...  After dinner, we decided to share our new cultural knowledge (the party zone) with Renata - one of our Brazilian IBM members... and she did give us a few good dance lessons at the places we are not supposed to go to....

Tomorrow we will head up to Siem Riep, where all of the famous temples are. It will be a long drive........

Good night...