Rich Grandpa

Before I left Thailand, I took some money out of the bank and brought it with me to spend on my travels. In Thailand the money is called baht. If you have an Australian dollar and change it into Thai baht you get about 28 baht or maybe not so much now.

The money was in Thai notes each worth 1,000 baht. (Can you work out how many dollars that is worth?)

When I am in another country I go to the money changer and change my Thai baht for the local money. When I am in Cambodia, I get 130,000 reil for 1,000 baht. Now I am in Laos. Today I went to the money changer with 3,000 baht. I got 780,000 kip. (You can see it all in the picture.) I had another 1,000 baht in my pocket. If I had changed it I would have got over one million kip. I would have been a millionaire.

But unfortunately all that money doesn't buy so much. When I buy my lunch it costs me about 15,000 kip or more. I don't think my million kip will last for a long time.

School for monks

These guys are monks at Wat Xam in Kompong Chhnang. This is a temple with a school for monks. There are over 100 monks who live at the temple. Most of them are there because their parents are very poor and can't afford to send them to school. So they become monks and go to live at the temple. Every morning they walk around the neighbourhood and people give them food. Sometimes they get a lot. Sometimes, not so much. Sometimes they get water in bottles too. Sometimes they don't get enough and they have to drink the water from under the ground. It isn't always clean but it's cleaner than the water from the river.

After the monks finish school here, many will go to Phnom Penh and study at the Buddhist University there. Most will stop being monks after they finish studying. Then they'll have to try to find a job.

I used to teach the monks at this school about four years ago. I visited last week to see if any of my old students were there but they weren't. They must have all moved to Phnom Penh or stopped being monks.

Don't walk—run

In Australia, on a busy street, you have a 'walk' and 'don't walk' sign to tell you when to cross the road.

In Phnom Penh many intersections don't have lights. You have to get across the best way you can. Sometimes cars and motorcycles are going in all directions and even on the footpath.

Some busy intersections now have lights and also signs to help pedestrians. When the light turns green there are two lights to guide you. The top one tells you how many seconds you have to get across. The bottom one is animated and shows someone—no, they're not walking—they look like they're really running across the street.

I'm not sure but they seem to go faster as the time runs out.

Monkey trick

When I feed my dog too much she is a very fussy eater. Dingo only eats what she really likes. If I don't feed her so much she is happy to eat vegetables and rice. But maybe I was tricked.

When I feed her at night, sometimes she eats what she likes and leaves the vegetables and rice behind. Maybe they will still be there the next morning. I don't feed her again until I come back from the market around lunch time. Often when I come back the rice and veges are gone. Do you think she ate them? That's what I thought.

One morning I was leaving to go to the market. When I got to the gate, I noticed the monkey was sitting on the fence. I wondered if it would let me get close to it. I left my bicycle at the gate and walked up to it and stopped about 60 cm from it. I didn't get closer in case it bit or scratched me. I'm a little bit brave but not too brave.

I thought the monkey might be frightened of me and run away but it didn't. It sat on top of the fence and we stared at each other for a few minutes. Then I decided to leave it and go to the market.

After I'd gone through the gate I noticed the monkey had come down on our side of the fence and was heading for the front stairs. I decided to stay and watch.

When it got to the top of the stairs it sat on the verandah rail for a while. Dingo stood there looking at it but she didn't get too close.

Then the monkey got down onto the verandah and went over to check what was in Dingo's bowl. This day there was nothing, so the monkey went back to the verandah rail, sat for a minute and then went back down the steps and over the fence.

So maybe, Dingo is like the spirits. Maybe she doesn't eat her food either. Maybe the monkey does. What do you think?

love from your Granddad

Spirit houses

In many countries in Asia people believe that there are spirits everywhere. If the spirits like you they are kind to you. If you upset the spirits they may cause bad things to happen to you.

When people build a house, they do not want the spirits to live with them so they build a little house just for the spirits. If the spirits are happy in their little house they do not come into the people's house. To make sure that the spirits are happy people often bring food and leave it for them to eat. And they burn incense so that it smells nice for the spirits. Usually when they come back home the food is still there.

The spirit house you see in the picture belongs to my neighbours, Uan's family. They often leave fruit and vegetables for the spirits when they go to work.

One day I saw the monkey on their verandah. It was eating a banana. 'Where did she get that banana?' I wondered. 'Did someone give it to her?' But there was no one home.

Another day it was carrying a sweet potato up to the roof and once again I wondered where it had got it.

Then I realized—the monkey thinks the food in the spirit house is for it. When the family come home they see that the food is gone and they think the spirits have eaten it. They don't see the monkey because they are out at work or school.

Maybe that is a very clever monkey and it goes to spirit houses in many homes in the village. Perhaps that is why it is a little bit fat.

I hope the spirits don't mind.

love from Grandpa

Visitor

There is a kid who lives next to my house who is about two or three. His name is Uan. His big sister has taught him to say 'hello' in English. So, often when I am on my verandah I hear Uan's voice calling 'hello'.

I say, 'Hello Uan,' and then I talk to him a little bit in Khmer.

Sometimes when I am in the yard I hear a voice call 'hello'. It sounds like Uan but somehow it sounds a little different. I can't see him because I have a high brick fence. I wonder if he can hear me because he can't see me either.

A few days ago I could hear this voice and I thought, 'That doesn't really sound like Uan.' I took a good look and there on the roof of Uan's house was this monkey.

And yes, this monkey really was calling 'hello'. I answered it but it didn't say anything else, just 'hello'. I've never heard of a monkey that could talk before but this one really was making a noise that sounds just like 'hello'.

When I got my camera out and pointed it at the monkey it didn't seem to like it. Do you remember my camera has a long lens? Maybe it thought it was a gun. I don't know if it knows what a gun is.

For a long time I couldn't get a picture. Whenever I pointed the camera it would go away.

After a while it must have decided that the camera was safe and it came back and sat on the roof. So I got some photos. Later it came down onto the verandah rail. There was no one home at Uan's house so I guess it wasn't afraid.

I took many photos. Then I had some things to do so I set about doing my work. After a while I heard my dog, Dingo, barking. The monkey was on my fence. I could get fairly close to it but I had put the camera away inside so I couldn't take any more photos.

I got Dingo to protect me in case someone bad came into my yard. I was thinking maybe of a big person. But here was this monkey, much smaller than a kid, and it climbed down into my yard. Do you think Dingo would chase it away? No, Dingo was afraid and ran to me to protect her. So much for my guard dog.

But it didn't matter, the monkey climbed the fence again and then went off into a tree in Uan's yard.

I think the monkey is a girl. Do you think her hairstyle looks cool?

Maybe she'll come to visit me again.

love from your Granddad

Gecko battle

Hello

The geckos can climb on my wall because they have sticky feet. One night I saw three geckos high up on the wall. Two of them were biting each others mouths. I thought they might be kissing. But one grabbed the other by the neck and would not let go. The one that was bitten kept wriggling around but couldn't get away. I thought perhaps one would kill the other and the dead gecko would drop onto my pots and pans below. They stayed like this for a long time. After I took some photos I went away and when I came back they were gone. There was no dead gecko in my pots and pans. I guess it's still alive. Maybe it still has a sore neck.

love from Grandpa John

Another pet

Hello

Now I have another pet. Can you see the picture? I call her Dingo. Do you know why?

She is only a puppy but already she is very good. She barks when anyone comes to my house. She likes to play with a ball and bring it back to me. She likes to eat too. I wonder how big she will grow.

love from Granddad

Pet lizards

Hello, I live in a new house now. I got some pets that came with the house. Here is one of them.

'Hello,' I said.

'Gecko,' it answered.

'What's your name?' I asked.

'Gecko.'

My Cambodian friends say, 'No, it's not saying "gecko". It's saying "tokay".'

'Well, it sounds like "gecko" to me. So I'm going to call it "Gecko".'

'What do you eat?' I asked.

A mosquito flew past. Gecko didn't answer. Gecko was too busy watching the mosquito. Then, snap! The mosquito was gone.

'I like you Gecko,' I said. 'You can be my pet and my pest control.'

Gecko is about 20 cm long. There is another one here too. It is about 30 cm long. It said that its name is Gecko too. This is confusing for an old Grandpa who is 30 for the second time.

One of my neighbours also has lizards for pets. His lizards are much bigger than mine. See the second picture. He has more lizards than me. He keeps them in a swimming pool in his yard.

Maybe if you come to stay with me I could take you to visit. Do you think you would like to swim in his pool?

Back to Kompong Chhnang

Hello

I took this photo from the verandah of my friends house in Kompong Chhnang. The walls of the house next door are made from palm leaves. They don't last a long time. After a while the walls get holes in them and they have to get new ones.

Can you see the water through the trees? Do you remember that when I was here last year there were floods? The floods went down after I left but now they have come again. They come every year. In a few months this area will be dry again.

Now, I am living in Kompong Chhnang again. Soon I will move into a house just around the corner from where I took this photo.

love from Granddad

A friendly place

Hello

I've changed countries again. Do you remember where I spent a lot of time last year? Yes, Cambodia?

I flew from Bangkok, in Thailand, to Phnom Penh, in Cambodia.

Look how friendly the people are here. My friend met me at the airport and we went into town in one of these. It's called a tuk-tuk. It's a kind of taxi that is pulled by a motorbike. I took my camera out and took some photos. When we passed these people all waved. Can you count how many people there are in this tuk-tuk? I don't know the answer because maybe you can't see them all.

Now I am staying in a town called Kompong Chhnang. I stayed here last year. I am going to learn to speak the Cambodian language so that I can talk to all these friendly people.

love from Granddad