So it's two weeks to Christmas, give or take a day or two. I can't quite believe it to be honest, it seems only five minutes ago that I was snowed in in the UK for last Christmas. That makes me sound such a fogie but it does seem true that the older you get the faster time passes.
So I've spent the last few weeks christmas shopping which I thought was going to be made easier by the shopping deregualtion that has finally happened here. At long last shops in Perth can open till 9 everynight. The problem is they aren't.
Well some are, mainly the supermarkets and cheapo variety stores (you know, Kmart and the like) but not Myer or David Jones or pretty much anyone else. In fact it's a bit odd as the massive shopping centres are open but all the shops are shut. It's a bit post-apocalyptic; but with less zombies, just bogans (that might just be Morley). To be honest this isn't particularly surprising as Perth seems to be the only city in the world where the retailers feel that the customers should take time off work to get their groceries and shoes.
Anyhow I managed to get my shopping all done by the beginning of December, which I think is pretty bloody organised, and have even posted it all off. The postage was a bit of a shock though to be honest, one parcel of books cost over $50 to get to the UK. Luckily it's only once a year.
I can tell it's Christmas because of the giant Xmas trees and santa and the music playing in the shops. Actually that's the only way I can tell it's Christmas as I'll never get used to having it when the weather is 35º. I'm sitting here now with the decorated tree with the snow covered ornaments and the airconditioning pumping cold air out so I dont get heat stroke. It's a really weird experience, and after more than ten Aussie Christmasses I don't think it'll ever become normal.
Not that I'll actually be here for Christmas this year, as I've mentioned before I'll be in Vietnam and Cambodia. I've been doing my usual research (well I read a guide book and Wikitravel) and it's hard to get past the whole american war thing. Vietnam is a country, not a war, but you'd never know it from the media available. I've watched so many war films and read so many war novels, it's odd to think there's thousands of years of history before 1968 but you'd be hard pressed to know it. Only the Top Gear Special barely mentions the war. Still the general consensus is that it's a great place to visit, good food, friendly people, beautiful country.
The same doesn't seem to be true of Cambodia. It's a country with lots of problems, and to be honest, given their terrible recent history, it's not surprising. Oh the country is meant to be beautiful and the people friendly but the crime rate is apparently spectacularly high. I was particularly pleased to read about the brick attacks on western tourists. That'll be bricks thrown from moving vehicles at passers by. I thought it was bad enough in Mount Lawley getting eggs chucked at you. Still I'll forgive anything from a people who have been so royally screwed by the west over the years. Guess who the US and UN supported in the Cambodian Civil War in the 70's and 80's? Go on, think of the least likely people who warrant support. That's right, the Khmer Rouge. I can't quite believe this but apparently it's true. The UN let the organisation that killed, at a minimum, 1,000,000 people keep the country's seat on the security council lest the Vietnamese backed Communists get into power. That's a million people. Out of a population of 7,000,000. And they were only in power for 40 months! My mind still reels from those numbers and reels even more from the fact that the West seemed to think they were the good guys! Part of my tour is to the Killing Fields and Khmer Rouge prison camps. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to cope with it as I get pretty upset at War Graves Sites, which I can just about (just) justify to myself. It seems odd to visit a genocide tourist attraction but there you go. Stay tuned for how it goes.
I have at least finally finished stocking up on travel supplies. I was laughed at by work colleagues for my slightly over-stuffed first aid and drug kit but I don't care. I'll have the last laugh when I'm not the one suffering from explosive diarrhoea or hepatitis A. Still not sure if I need malaria tablets though? I've got super strength mozzie repellent (80% deet which I think is probably enough to repel an elephant) but I do tend to be a bug smorgasbord. The only slight problem is the fact that I've bought a tiny backpack, 65 litres in fact, so I'm going to have to travel pretty light. Here's hoping that there's plenty of laundries in south east Asia or I may end up smelling like a traveller. This is not a good thing.
So I'm all ready for Christmas and all ready for my trip, just need to survive the work do and the last week of term. We'll see how we go.
