Hopping off the short flight from Bangkok to Phnom Penh I was struck immediately by two things; the heat, and the chaos. 10 am and the city was throbbing with people, dust, and the motorbikes that most people use to travel around the city. At first, the traffic was nothing short of frightening. It seemed the only rule of the road was that there are no rules. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw a learner driver on the road the day after I arrived- I thought – what are they learning? The answer is not much – a local lady explained to me that to pass a...
Continue Reading >>Fellows Blog Posts by Charlotte
When I arrived here I was told that Phnom Penh was changing so quickly that even in the two months I would notice the difference in the city between when I arrived and when I left. It’s true that the city have been moving extraordinarily quickly. In 2000 there were no paved roads – now all the main streets are paved- and in 2005 there were no ATMs whatsoever – now they are everywhere. Nonetheless, I was skeptical that I would actually see any changes for myself, but it turns out they were right. My first journal mentioned the craziness of Phnom Penh’s...
Continue Reading >>First day in the field
On the morning of the 5th September, a credit officer, a man who works in the office and speaks both English and Khmer, and I headed out to the field. The credit officer had his own motorbike, and I sat on the back. Despite being early morning the thick heat hung in the air and was steadily increasing. We zoomed up the main streets for about 15 minutes, past restaurants, markets and shops until we came to an abrupt stop by an alleyway that I probably would not have noticed myself. It was so narrow that the bikes...
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