Up, up & away & again...

Miss C really wanted a balloon.  She consistently begged us from the moment we arrived in Hong Kong & then all through Myanmar.  So, when we arrived in Siem Reap & were going to be there for 8 days we thought this was the time for that purchase.

We had our first rest day of the holiday, planning to do nothing much except take a wander around the block.  It was a Sunday so there were lots of Vietnamese people out taking a break & enjoying the day.  We had been told that there was a park to play in so we were excited to see this.  We found some gardens & open space rather than any playground equipment but happily played tag & hide & seek for some time.

As we sat down to eat our cobbled-together picnic lunch, we were very delighted to see several chameleons running by us at different places in the park.  I have never seen one of these & certainly never seen it in the process of changing colour so it was doubly good.  The chameleon in the photo below emerged from the bush green & was in the process of changing to brown to continue its journey in the dirt.

C was having a good time but she knew that balloon-buying was on the cards so she was pretty focused on this.  Two boys about 10 years old were selling a variety of different shaped balloons. C chose an enormous orange fish for which we paid USD3. She was very happy & started running, planning for it to stream out behind her - only it didn't! It flew way above her, escaping into the great clouds in the sky. The fish balloon had come off the string of its own accord & C had been the proud owner for less than a minute.  I didn't even get to take a photo of her with her fish as it all happened so quickly.  She was really upset.

So I marched back to the lads & gesticulated into the air that the balloon had gone & that I would like another one for $1, not wanting to rip them off but to also strike a fair agreement.  They understood the situation because they had seen it happen & said No another USD3 was required,  to which I replied Yes, I will give you USD1. They didn't know that I have 4 sisters & we have had ongoing Yes/No discussions for weeks at a time growing up.  I also had a weeping daughter at my side & a desire to enable her to have a balloon for more than a minutes  One boy quickly relented, however, the other was in it for the long haul. I asked C to point out which balloon she would like.  She chose a round balloon with hearts inside it - lovely.  I paid the boy my $1 & then he gave me the balloon.  It was only when we started walking away that I saw that half of the balloon he had given us was deflated.  I took the balloon back & told them this was not right.  The stubborn one said that was the $1 balloon.  I said, no it wasn't & picked another one out of the bunch.  The nice boy then tied a water bottle to the end of the balloon & gave this to C demonstrating that this would be better to manage the balloon.  I thanked him & again we set off.  C had just crossed the street & was going to run in the pack with her new gorgeous, hard-won balloon when it happened again! The balloon took off skyward never to return.  I couldn't believe it.  The balloon had come off the bottle provided by the balloon sellers.  It didn't seem as if a very good longterm business philosophy was being followed. Again, no photo because I was not quick enough.  I only got a photo of a dismayed soul after having lost 2 balloons.  The boys had been watching & looked a little sheepish.  We started to walk towards them to give them the water bottle back, when they got up & walked away.  Great.  We didn't buy another balloon.

In the park we saw a couple of brides getting photos done - just the brides.  This seems to be an individual shoot rather than wedding day photos.  Each of the brides had a professional encourage of 6-8 people which seemed extraordinary.

After all of this running & chasing, we were hungry & hot & needed a sit down.  We decided that the FCC - Foreign Correspondant's Club would be the perfect spot as it was 2 blocks from our hotel.  We had a lovely cocktaily end to a great day.

Top 5

1. The balloons sold in Cambodia are cheap & cute characters

2. It is better to have loved & lost than to never have loved at all (that's what we told C to console her on her dual losses)

3. Point of principle transcends any language barriers. We were happy to let it go the third time, having learnt our lesson but got to see a little of the Cambodian negotiating style.

4. Each new day presents new observations & new opportunities for learning.  We had several of each of these today even though we literally just went around the block.

5. Life is always better with a nice sit down & a relax at the end of the day.