Today I discovered that, on Wednesday morning, at the same time as I was sitting at home writing my last post about the fragility of life, a young French woman was robbed from the back of a moto-taxi, just a few blocks away from our house. When they grabbed her bag she was pulled off the motorbike and into the middle of the road. As she was getting back up again, she was hit by a van and killed instantly. Both the motorbike and van drove off. Her name was Aurelia Lacroix and she was 28 years old.

I did not know her but I feel deeply saddened by this news and offer my sincere condolences to her family and friends. I also want to urge anyone who might be reading this in Cambodia to please take great care if taking a moto-taxi. I stopped taking motos several months ago after seeing too many accidents and hearing too many stories of bag snatching. There have been at least five in our street in the last month. Foreigners are being targeted more and more, particularly women. It's not surprising. They know we have money and women are easy prey. Every day I see western women sitting without helmets, side-saddle on the back of motos with their bags on their lap, or over their shoulder. It feels so free and it's such a cheap and easy way to get around. But it can't be worth the risk.