Anyone in Cambodia?

[PositiveAttitude]

Hi,

We are moving to Phnom Penh next July and I was wondering if there were any MN-ers out there who would be able to answer a few questions from me.

TIA.

Hello, i'm not there anymore but I did spend 6 months in PP a few years back. I was a backpacker rather than a proper expat and I know things have changed alot in the last few years (went back for a holiday in 2008) but I might be able to point you in the right direction. Most of non-Khmer friends were English teachers, I did a bit of volunteering at an orphanage. If no- one with more knowledge/experience comes along I'll see if I can help!

Thanks.

My pressing question for today is...............wait for it....................will I be able to get hold of hair dye?
Been to my hairdresser today who has informed me that Henna does not cover grey I am quaking in my boots at the thought that I will end up looking grey within a few weeks of moving there!!! And all the re-growth!!
I told the hairdresser that I would have to take out a suitcase full of hair dye with me and he laughed and told me that it is banned from flights as it is what the bombs are made of!!

It all seems so vain and pointless, but I know that this is really going to bother me!!

I am sure I will have lots of far less shallow questions, but that is my pressing worry for today!!

That has made me chuckle!! I never dyed my hair while I was there but i am sure you can. There are more & more western supermarkets opening all the time & I was surprised at what I was able to get hold off (Tampax was a big one for me at the time I remember!). I will do some googling for you... They do have hairdressers over there too so I'm sure they would be able to do something for you. Off to google...

[www.yellowpages-cambodia.com/listings/kh39631] sorry if the link doesn't work. This place lists 'l'oreal' hair dye -I don't know if I'd let them loose on my hair (slightly different ideas with regards to what looks good) but its a good sign that you'll be able to get it there.

Can I be nosy and ask what you're going for?
Also I should add that while I was overjoyed at finding my brand of concealer when I was there, it didn't take long for me to genuinely not give a shit about what I looked like (and trust me it was v important to me before I left, and is again now) - it's hot, dusty and dirty and it's hard to look a million dollars tbh, sorry that's probably not helping is it?
I loved it though. Best 6 months of my life in many ways.

Thank you Pam. Slight relief, then. I am prepared to not care what I look like, but I just feel grey hair might be a step too far.

We are going out to work with a charity, doing family and childrens work in the poor area on the outskirts of PP. We have signed up for 2 years and will see how we feel after that.
We will be taking along 2 of our DCs who will be 14 and 16. The 14 year old will, hopefully, go to Hope school. We really dont know what DS will be doing, though. He had been hoping to go to catering college here, but they seem to be for 18+ in PP. He is really not academic and would really hate to have to do anything like the school offers for year 12+. I will keep searching.

Thanks again. I will have a think about other things (more sensible) that you may be able to help me with.