Why don’t they like me any more?

Yesterday I went on a bike ride through nearby rural villages, and was surprised to find that I wasn’t greeted with the usual joyful calls of “Hallo Barang” (French person) from every direction. In fact, people seemed actively hostile towards me. I soon realised that their attitude may have had something to do with the Vietnamese flag that I was sporting on my new hat. I turned the hat inside out and - hey presto – people were friendly again. Although the Vietnamese brought about the downfall of Pol Pot in 1979, they did so for their own ends, and there is still a lot of mistrust and dislike between the two countries. In fact, my Khmer friends could not understand why on earth I wanted to spend a week visiting South Vietnam last month! I have now sewn a Union Jack over the offending flag; hope the locals appreciate my attempt to be politically correct!