Luke says he can't wait to get out of Cambodia. Sure, the work he is doing is rewarding, helping build villages for locals who have been thrown off their land by the government who wants to build resorts in the place of their villages, resorts, the main developer for which seems to be the minister of tourism. He says it's very sad and the people are very poor in the wreck of a country.
However, he goes back to Penong Peng where he stays in a hotel in between working with the villagers. It is there that makes his skin crawl. The paedophiles bring their 10, 11, 12 year old conquests to the breakfast table, showing them off as a badge of honour. Fat, old, ugly, drooling, Aussies, Germans and Americans, he says the place is rife with them. He can't sit with them and eat his cereal, or whatever, he has to get up and leave. He prefers to eat on his own, otherwise his stomach churns at the sight.
"You want a 5 year old to give you a head job Chris, he says to me. No problem. A couple of dollars."
The poor people are so poor, they send their children out to earn money for the family. He says it is so pitiful, it is unbelievable. Surreal.
"It's just awful," says Luke. "Really awful!"
He leaves in a few weeks for the relative civilisation of Vietnam, to meet Mark and he says he can hardly wait.
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