Eating pancakes

Kim Rieng and his adorable family

Anyone who knows me, will be aware that I love to spend time with my Khmer friends and Kim Rieng and his adorable family are exactly that. Tonight we headed out past Angkor Wat to the Red House restaurant opposite the Angkor Balloon for 'ban chaev' - Khmer for yellow pancake with minced pork, beansprouts and other fillings - and roast chicken with Rieng, Sovann his wife and his two perfectly-behaved children, Nara and Chantrea. It was great to see them all again and the pancakes tasted good too. Rieng, a part-time tour guide and full-time policeman, will be on duty this weekend with a 3-day stint for the general elections but was more worried about the potential for him to be sent to Preah Vihear, after his police boss told him this morning, that if the stalemate continues, the police from Siem Reap will be given the task of reinforcing the military presence at the mountaintop. I told him to prepare himself as I didn't see the stand-off diminishing anytime soon. As we left, the towers of Angkor Wat were alight in rapidly-changing colours with the Korean-sponsored Angkor Light Show taking place. After saying farewell to Rieng and family, I had drinks with another pal, British this time, Andy Booth, in the bar at the centre of the Siem Reap Night Market. Andy is the CEO at About Asia, a travel company that specializes in Cambodia, so we chatted about boring business stuff and other matters whilst listening to a selection of Bob Marley's greatest hits.