Cambodia – Anything Can Change in a Blink of an Eye

January 20, 2012 · 7 comments

Anything can happen in Cambodia – life is very uncertain and therefore different (and possibly exciting) to what we are used to living in the modern world. This is why for many Cambodia is an attractive location for those wanting to set up an alternative lifestyle.

On returning from Thailand after 2 months in Bangkok we were fairly surprised to see a new house right next door to us.

Our new neighbours in Kampot

A few years ago we would have probably freaked out and felt it was the end of our serene and secluded world. This time though my wife and I just looked at each other and laughed in that #onlyincambodia way. I think after now over a decade living in this country you become more and more immune to minor annoyances and surprises. Basically you have to other wise the country will win and you’ll be constantly frustrated.

It turns out there is only a middle-aged lady and her daughter living there and they seem very nice, quiet and easy going.

I suppose it’s a good reminder though that life in Cambodia is never defined and things can change for the better or worse in the blink of an eye.


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  • http://twitter.com/ChrisInCambo Chris Brown

    It’s funny the clash between the British and the Cambodian cultures, we value personal space more than any other culture I’ve experienced, we shy away and feel awkward if continental friends try to greet us with a hug and we’d rather stick needles in our eyes than sit next to a stranger on the bus. And then at the polar opposite of the scale we have the Khmer’s who will come and sit at your breakfast table in a restaurant uninvited even when other tables are free or a total stranger will come over and stroke your arm because they find the extra hair or skin tone interesting. It’s like when two worlds collide.

    Parking their house right next to yours even when they no doubt have a big enough plot to have moved it further away is another case in point. They were thinking “lets put our house next to theirs, it looks nice and we can talk to them over the fence”. Whilst we’d be thinking, let’s put our house as far away from theirs as we can so it’s easier to avoid eye contact, or heaven forbid an actual conversation.

    I’ve also softened like you, and have actually come to appreciate it. It’s a big part of what makes the UK now feel like an alien land to me.

    • Anonymous

      The odd thing is that our air pipe that comes directly up from our septic tank is directed onto their washing area. (It has always been like that)

      Surely they would have been aware of that when building.

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  • Rob

    I hope in the blink of an eye we can sell our house after having laughed off a $90,000 offer in early 2008. Highest offer since then has been $34,000. We want to move to the country. I feel for you, but you still have a lot of space around you, so I’m also jealous.

    • Anonymous

      That’s a shame but then no one really saw what was coming in the latter part of that year.

      We were living in Sihanoukville then and people were claiming plots of lands they bought a few years previously for a few thousand were now worth $50k plus. I actually only know one foreigner that really cashed in on the whole land buying and selling game then and I think mainly because he has a very shrewd Cambodian wife.

      Yes we have lots of land around us so not an issue. We built with what people could do in mind though and have also planted bamboo and fast growing plants along our borders for this very event.

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