Meditation on Leaving Cambodia

Cambodia is all about WAITING. For instance our plane out of the country was to leave at 1330. However, we were checked onto an airbus, not the prop plane, that was 3h45m late. The waiting area at the gate was set up with juices, water, pastries, and a crowd of tired travelers. Fortunately we did not have to wait very long. But I did have one little problem with security at the Cambodia airport. It was all about my knitting. Now anyone who knows about my passion for fibers and fiber manipulation tools will know that when you start messing with my fibers (or my kids) I turn into a 'she bear with the mumps.' For this trip I spun some Romney roving in Jan and planned on making a sweater. For the Cambodia trip I chose the double pointed bamboo needles to make one of the sleeves. The rest of the sweater is being done on Denise needles that are plastic and interchangeable. Well, the Cambodian folks wanted to take my needles away from me!The needles finally made it through after much negotiating. Note to children: when I am an ancient gran'ma just put me in a pleasant, far from chaotic noise, corner and give me fiber and tools and I will be happy.

We made it back to Bangkok and the Rembrandt Towers Hotel. Took a nap, shower, rearranged the treasures in our luggage. We met an old friend of Dick's, Mike Collins, and his lovely Thai girlfriend Mam. Mam has a BS in Nursing and a Masters in Business. She is the head of the outpatient clinic in Kang Kien (sp?) a 700 bed hospital. We had a very good time.

We are off to Bali tomorrow. WE are staying at two Four Seasons Hotels. One is on the coast the other is in the mountains. Note to Tara: We will have a cooking class in Bali. Send me any and all questions. The flowers on the blog are a drobendium(sp?) used frequently to garnish food. I don't know if they are edible. I'll ask. I can't believe that we are halfway through our journey.