This is a sort of test page. I am figuring out how to write a blog so thought I'd better write something, upload and see how it all works before I head off to Phnom Penh. I read Jon Swain's River of Time when I was last in Cambodia and although the country has changed dramatically since he wrote the book, that which makes the Mekong Delta so special thankfully remains. Now that Southeast Asia (and Indochina in particular) is so firmly placed on the backpack trail this shan't be a blog of danger and adventure, it's a jolly and to pretend otherwise would be absurd. Nevertheless, Indochina is still...well, all that's to come. I shan't delve into the prosaic or the poetic; I don't have Swain's literary skills, but I hope I can record my trip without mistaking platitudes and cliche for profundity. I am fully aware of my own pretentiousness and it is highly likely I shall revisit certain pages and cringe. That blog entries can't be edited once uploaded is a good thing; it might cause me to curb my frequent over-enthusiasm, but I hope not too much, I hope I can tread a path between stream-of-consciousness and caution. I shall be writting on the fly (when internet connections allow) and I hope not to edit too vigorously before uploading.

This is one last fling before I settle down to what may well be the rest of my working life as a School Master (you see, I could have said Teacher, but I'm really pretentious). The generous holidays that teaching permits will allow me to pack a rucksack again in the future, but not for quite this length of time. As I write I am still in London, I fly in three weeks. Before then there is much to sort out...