froginmythroat (FIMT)

Some random observations and events…

I have noticed in Cambodia, a lot of people have problems with their eyes. Proper medical treatment would presumably help them but its sparse and costly. Mind you some people have some funny ideas. I was told today that you can get conjuctivitus by staring someone in the eyes who has it. I asked if you caught it if you looked at them wearing sunglasses. You don’t. I asked them if they really believed that and they said “I know Cambodia”.

The government doesn’t have a very developed tax system, and relies on foreign aid. You see a lot of construction work with signs saying “made possible with Japanese Grant”. There are Australian made bridges with similar signs.

Britney Spears and David Beckham are very popular here, or at least t-shirts with their mits are. I took a photo of a dude wearing a 21st century Britney Spears t-shirt inside the 12th century Ankor Wat temple, in undeveloped Cambodia, is this what they call post-modern?. As I type there are some monks next to me using the internet phone. They’ve probably got a hotmail address too. But back to Britney Spears, I don’t know if the t-shirts are popular because the locals like Britney, or prehaps they are just really cheap. At any rate, I haven’t seen any tourists with Britney t-shirts, maybe they don’t like Britney or can afford the more expensive non-Britney shirts. Hmm.. I would ask Britney herself but she probably doesn’t even know her face is plastered on the chests of people all over Cambodia. That and the fact that I don’t have her email address. At least the global marketing machine is oiled and working smoothly.

The officals are funny. Having overstaying my visa I went to the “Department of Foreigners” to enquire about an extension. The lady said it was $45US, I replied with a look saying “really? its that expensive” where apon she pointed to a whiteboard which had “$45″ written on it in blue erasable ink, with a look saying “I wrote the price up there just a minute ago, so it must be right”. I decided to become an overstayer. I also had to get a Laos visa here. I turned up at the embassy during lunch time, the office workers were on a 2hr break. The un-uniformed guard asked me if I wanted to get a visa, I said yes and he took me into his little alcove which looked like a bedroom. He then quickly put on a policeman uniform before pulling some papers out from under the mattress and asking me to “sign here”. I waited 2hrs and came back.

Are your ears dirty? You can get a throughly good ear clean/rodgering at the local barber. The tools they use look dangerously long and thin, but are guaranteed to find something, as they certainly did with me.

I saw an billboard advertising “birth-spacing pills”. What the? Cambodian birth control pills might not stop you getting pregnant, but at least you can space out your babies.