Burning sun

'Your [sic] not very brown r u' is one of the more idiotic opening lines I receive on returning from trips to the tropics. 
 
I am definitely not saying that I don't enjoy being tanned. I've stated in the past that I aspire to be a wrinkled orangey prune as testament to a life well lived. However I am not paid to sunbathe and don't think it would be well received to ask for it to be included in my terms of reference. Plus on the equator it's rarely like a June day in Sorrento so I challenge anyone to enjoy sizzling out in it for long.
 
I do wish the question would be replaced by anything on my work, my experiences or a place's culture, politics or history.
 
However today is one of those days that I've been on a boat in the bright sunlight for 7 hours. Even the boat driver we used Mr Ros remarked on my pink tinged skin as we reached dry land. I'm happy to have a sunkissed glow, but I can't say it's my primary objective of work trips.
 
Good visit to a place on the Tonle Sap (huge lake that dominates Cambodia) called Boeung Tonle Chhmar. It's an important bird feeding area and was extensively damaged by fires earlier this year during one of Cambodia's most punishing dry seasons. I wanted to visit en route to the northern end of the lake to compare with a site that did receive emergency fire-fighting support, and which managed to protect its breeding colonies.
 
Staying in Siem Reap tonight where I previously stayed when my old schoolfriend Helen visited. We returned to our room one evening and it was full of kittens with the front door wide open, and the safe door also open. Valuables still sitting inside. We could not understand what had happened.