you may find it hard to believe but the reason why i haven't posted recently about the most exciting holiday we have had as a family in years is because i didn't know what to say. you see after seven weeks in new zealand we went to bangkok and cambodia. for a rest. although we had experiences that are normally reserved for the adventurous and wealthy. we feel we are neither yet were privileged to enjoy thai and cambodian hospitality for eleven days and nights.

i could easily give you an outline of where we went. this wouldn’t tell you though what is was like. the people were all wonderful. so friendly and besotted by ben. the cambodians especially are so warm and gentle. i won't forget for a long time the afternoon in pnom penh when we were walking along the riverside. I think it is the mekong. we were enjoying the sights that included, but were not restricted too, old french houses, peanut sellers, an elephant in a restaurant and large boats swimming upstream. as happened sometimes some children came and walked alongside ben. children who seemed to be living rough based on their looks and the hours they kept outside. there was one boy who looked about three. he had no clothes but as he walked with us that fact didn’t stop ben smiling at him as if he were an old school friend and holding his hand like they were brothers. you try and describe it.

ben took an instant liking to tuk-tuk rides. like father. i love they way they give you visual access to everything on the road. close encounters with trucks and pedestrians. I always feel poorly for the drivers. it’s no way to earn a living, really. begging tourists for five bucks to drive you to the killing fields, or something. the boat journey through the floating villages where houses and shops either bob down and up on the riverbed or stand up to six metres off the ground to allow for the rains. we saw floating shops and children, instead of being in school, working outside in the sun. the guidebook probably called it picturesque. similar sights in india made me cry but now they simply make me reach for the camera. occasionally my chequebook too.

we are now back in ras al khaimah. we have good friends here. people who are funny, energetic and homesick. we relate well. i am delighted that the skateboard my mother bought me in wellington is not broken and is being ridden several times a week. it’s too hot really and with no cold water in the taps it takes a while to get my sweaty body back to a temperature where i can show myself in public. still the stairs and benches have my name on them and no doubt a little dna. our highlights in new zealand were numerous. as nicholas says, family is more wonderful than tv. i have posted a slither of the pile of photos bursting the seems of my picassa folder.