Road rivers

Sue and I had such a delightful evening over dinner with Peter and Bev van on Saturday evening, together with their friend and fellow-worker, Katherine. Peter stole the show with his hilarious rendition of his 60th birthday pressie from the kids - a parachute jump over Queenstown. He was so funny with his detailed account of how he missed all the sure signs that this was not going to be fun - like the glazed, dazed looks on the faces of those who had just completed their jumps, or the question 'have you ever suffered heart complaints'?

Peter and Bev; Susie and I. Sure the temperature has dropped a bit here now - a very nice 28 degrees by day - but Bev is wrapped up because of the air-con.

It was a fun night together and an excellent, relaxed catch-up. The fun did not end with the dinner, either. We were aware that there had been 'some rain' during our meal time - but a little surprised to find no visible road when we were looking to head home. Our dinner together was far from our home, right up in the north of the city, so we had a cross-city journey to accomplish.

The view from the footpath - pretty useless pic I know; one really has to be here to experience the vibe

So, we started the journey home by hitting the side streets in a totally unknown part of the city, navigating first past the lucky couple and their guests who had chosen this night for their wedding reception in one of those 'set up the tent in the middle of the road' affairs. All good; dry ground so far.

A k or so on and there appeared to be a bit of a shimmer ahead. A bunch of boys who u-turned gave a hint of what lay ahead, but real men don't u-turn. Besides, Susie is home now so I have a praying wife right behind me. Between her fervent prayers and her helpful advice on where I should be positioned in river road, we got thru' just fine and had a pretty clear run the rest of the way home. Phnom Penh is like that - rain all over but particular localised areas that just get inundated.