Age Appropriate Reading
The creator of the immortal line “The bitches mortared the piss hole and it didn’t blow up!” has, this evening, completed his reading of Chickenhawk,...
Tagged: around the world
Creative Writing
As part of our homeschooling topic on the Vietnam War, Z has been reading Chickenhawk. While not as “adult” as the current meaning of the...
Hounds, Bikes and Dunes
Z and I are sitting at a roadside stall in Mui Ne, Vietnam, watching a very cute, extremely solemn and phenomenally determined toddler hounding an...
I Heart Cambodia – Part 3
Angkor Wat. The icon of a nation. One of the wonders of the world. Tens of kilometres of bas-relief. Acres of lawns. Sacred pools which...
Dolphins on the Mekong
I was eighteen when I read about the pink freshwater dolphins on the Amazon. I’ve dreamed of seeing them ever since, and Z and I...
I Heart Cambodia – Part 2
It’s still uncomfortably early when we debike and hit some blessed calm at Kbal Spean, the River of a Thousand Lingas. The mile-long path to...
I Heart Cambodia – Part 1
Z and I are sitting in pitch blackness on the laterite stairs overlooking the lake of Banteay Kdei, Cambodia, between a sculpted Khmer lion and...
Doctor Fish
Downtown Siem Reap, your starter for ten for the glories of the Angkor era, is tacky as hell. Yet, while a banner boasting “the most...
S-21: Genocide for Beginners
“Kneel down, mum,” Z says. “Close your eyes.” He fumbles with my hair. We are in the courtyard of Tuol Sleng prison, Phnom Penh, Cambodia,...
Does My Mum Look Big in This?
“I think you should wear something a little more slimming tomorrow, mum,” was tactfully meant. “God, mum, your tummy sticks out almost as far as...