A Rat, a Lizard and a Hummer walk into a bar...

So, i've been working the last couple of weeks, hence the lack of posts.  By way of catching up, here are a few random happenings around the hood.

The Rat

I went to put the rubbish in the bin at the front of our apartment the other day, it was dark and as I dropped the bag in I disturbed an enormous rat which jumped out and ran away.  Every city in the world has rats I know but this was a pretty close encounter and gave me a real fright.

The Lizard
There are a bunch of guys who hang out on the street outside our apartment, mostly tuk tuk or moto drivers.  They're usually to be found on the bench by our front door, or in Bong's Tuk Tuk chatting, laughing and sometimes drinking.  Business isn't great here for a lot of people at the moment and so they have more time on their hands than usual.  When I left the front door the other day I was surprised to see a commotion with Bong running down the street pursued by one of his mates who threw a lizard at him.  The Lizard was blue & pink and about 20 centimetres long.  The guys had put a cardboard hood over it's head and taped it up so it couldn't see, I gather they'd put it down Bong's pants or shirt as a practical joke, and I came out just as he'd fished it out and legged it.  Bong is a real joker and I think a lot of the guys use him as the butt of their jokes but on this occasion he looked really upset, not to mention the poor lizard.


The Hummer
The walk home from the office passes an international school.  The parents who send their kids here are all rich and apparently all insist on picking their kids up from school, mostly in their fancy black 4wd.  So, around 5pm every day the narrow dusty street outside the school is pure chaos.  Anyway, on one particular evening, a rich Khmer lady driving her shiny new Hummer to pick up little Johnny tried to take a tight corner with cars parked both sides and succeeded in wedging the Hummer and bringing the traffic to a standstill.  It's much easier for most people to justify owning a 4wd here than in many developed countries.  Most people do live out in the provinces or visit frequently where the main roads are poor, and minor roads are dirt.  Having said that, there clearly is a prestige factor to owning a large shiny Lexus 4wd and in particular a Hummer (preferred colour black).  Considering the cramped dusty roads in Phnom Penh, the volume of traffic and the terrible driving standards, i'm not sure I can think of a less suitable vehicle.