Kambodja

Ek het vanoggend vroeg (agtuur die oggend, wat beteken ek moes al vieruur in Bangkok opstaan om reg te maak en betyds by die lughawe te wees!) in Pnomh Penh aangekom. Die geur van jasmyn hang in die lug, Franse koloniale villas staan langs bree" boulevards met bougainvilla-bome, straatverkopers hang ledig in hul hangmate terwyl hulle varsgebakte Franse brode uitstal - asemrowende plek! Elke mens wat jy raakloop op straat groet vriendelik. Ek het die afgelope paar maande baie mense ontmoet wat vertel het Kambodja was een van hul gunstelingplekke, en ek kan sien hoekom. As mens net dink watse verskriklike dinge die meeste Kambodjane redelik onlangs gesien het, dan is dit verstommend dat hier soveel welwillendheid op straat is. Ek laai hopelik later vandag foto's, maar intussen hierdie artikel oor Phnom Penh wat ek so 'n paar dae gelede in Chiangmai gelees het. Die interessantste daarvan is dat dit eintlik gaan oor die halfkaal polisiemanne, nie die feit dat die gastehuiseienaars gevaarlike wapens soos 'n AK47 besit nie.
Phnom Penh - Bursts of gunfire between two guest houses brought alarmed local police running so fast that they arrived wearing nothing but their boxer shorts, red-faced police admitted in local media Wednesday.
The dispute turned out to be between two guest house managers after one allegedly became angry that another had thrown an empty bottle of water onto his property.
"It seems one guy pulled out a K-59 handgun and fired in the air to show he was strong, so the other went inside and found his AK-47 (assault rifle), which he fired too," said Noung Vanndy, police chief for Boeung Rang commune in the centre of the capital.
The incident occurred Monday night. No arrests have been made and investigations were ongoing, Vanndy said, although both guest houses, which cater mainly to local Cambodians, had been temporarily closed.
Local Khmer-language daily newspaper Rasmei Kampuchea said the volleys of shots so alarmed local police that they responded immediately and arrived at the scene dressed only in their underwear.
An embarrassed Vanndy declined comment on that Wednesday, saying only that police had arrived at the scene without delay. - (dpa)