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October 29, 2006
Amazed at Angkor Wat
On Thursday Charlie and I went to look round the temples at Angkor. After an enchanting walk round the Bayon, we stopped at a road-side stall for a coconut. A small girl came up to us to sell us souvenirs and initiated the following conversation:
Girl (proferring tiny bronze elephant): Would you like to buy my elephant?
Me: No, thank you.
Girl: Where are you from?
Charlie: England.
Girl: If I tell you the capital of England, will you buy my elephant.
Me: No, thank you.
Girl (disappointed): London.
Charlie: If you can tell us the capital of Burkina Faso, we will buy your elephant.
Girl (deadpan and immediate): Ouagadougou.
After a few minutes gasping for air, we bought her elephant, her cow-bell and her Khmer pipes.
Angkor was utterly amazing in so many ways, but nothing quite topped that.
Posted by sahelsteve at 10:02 AM
October 22, 2006
Pnews from Phnom
Sorry for the long delay in posting. The reason is that I am in Cambodia at the moment and not using the internet a lot. The journey here was quite long (Ouaga-Tripoli-Paris-Amsterdam-Singapore-Phnom Penh) but it is very nice to be here and to see Charlie again.
At the same time, work on Yellowcake continues apace (or to be precise, aslowpace). 30,000 words down, 20,000 to go. Thanks for all the helpful answers to those obscure questions I asked a couple weeks ago. Here are two more:
1. Could anyone give me an introduction to a nuclear scientist? - cold contact is proving futile, for obvious reasons.
2. Driving a van in sand with one/two/three burst tyres. Possible? Impossible? How would a large van cope with that?
Warmest greetings to friends, family and readers unknown.
Posted by sahelsteve at 06:27 AM
October 04, 2006
Glen Dimplex
'Sophie and the Albino Camel' has been shortlisted for the Children's Book Award in the inaugural Glen Dimplex New Writers Awards. Winner will be announced at a Do in Dublin on November 2, which I would love to attend but can't.
Posted by sahelsteve at 11:29 PM
October 02, 2006
Gorom-Gorom Flood Pictures
Gorom-Gorom is always finding original ways to chew up its inhabitants. On 9 August 2006, heavy rains broke a dam and flooded large sections of the town.
| This building was a grocery shop owned by a North African merchant. “You should have seen it,” said one eye-witness. “Hundreds of packets of spaghetti went bobbing off on the surface of the water.” |  | |
 | Mamadou’s family compound consisted of seventeen mud-brick houses. Sixteen of them fell down. | |
| This lady told us that the water in her house came up to her armpits. “I carried my goats on my head, one by one, taking them to higher ground.” |  | |
 | An old woman surveys the remains of her house. “This is the third time in five years that my house has fallen down. A poor person can not keep rebuilding.” | |
| Pastor Pascal of the ‘Deeper Life’ church in Gorom-Gorom found it hard to sleep during the nights following the flood. “Whenever I closed my eyes I would see water.” |  | |
 | The displaced families stayed in local primary schools, but the school year starts tomorrow so they have been told to move on. Some are now staying with relatives in the bush. Others have moved into UNICEF tents like this one. | |
| As the rain fell, people asked a local marabout whether they should abandon their houses. He spat on his staff and placed it on the ground. “If the water arrives at this point, our town is doomed,” he said. Minutes later the staff was swept away by the flood. |  | |
 | Several old men refused to leave their houses, preferring to have the roof cave in on them than to brave the flood waters. They were forcibly evicted by local gendarmes. | |
| All over town people are making mud-bricks to rebuild their houses. They have been greatly encouraged by the gifts of food and mosquito nets that have come to them via Under the Acacias. |  | |
 | Remember the woman who carried her goats on her head? She is paying these lads to build her a new house. Meanwhile, those who cannot afford to rebuild are waiting to see what help they will receive from the government. | |
| This old man has had a new house built for him by his sons. It is one room, only just long enough for him to lie down in, but at least it is a roof over his head. |  | |
 | Isa (guitarist, second left) was due to be married in August, but his house fell down so he postponed the wedding. He now spends his days playing the guitar at other people’s weddings and making bricks for his new house. | |