Starting at 6.30 this morning, we drove out to Kampong Phluk, a floating village on one of the tributaries leading to the Tonle Sap Lake. Just getting there was an experience! We left the bitumen road far behind and headed along a bumpy dirt road towards the river. Being the dry season, the river was more of a trickle. We pulled up on a dirt track just wide enough for the van. A number of locals had set up some make-shift stalls selling produce to the local fisherman who had their boats docked in the muddle puddle of a river.
We let Aun sort things out and after clambering over a couple of boats, we were on board ours and on our way. The driver picked up a kid off another boat to help him. As we made our way along the river, it started to get deeper. We passed many fishermen who were on their way back in after a morning of fishing. There were also a number of ferry boats transporting passengers and all manner of goods down to the floating village.
Once we arrived at Kampong Phluk, it was like something out of a movie (actually it was where Waterworld was filmed!). Being the dry season, the houses we standing on rickety stilts about 20m above the water. It was fascinating winding our way through the village. Pigs in floating sties, villagers on their boats sorting and scaling the mornings catch, fish farms in bamboo pens. The colours of the boats and houses were such a contrast to the muddy brown river.
We floated through and out onto the Tonle Sap river which looked more like an inland ocean. The driver cut the engine (nothing more than a car engine strapped to homemade tiller) and we floated on the lake in the peace and quiet. It was lovely.
We headed back to the village and parked the boat so we could walk through the village. Something you definitely couldn't do in the wet season! The villagers were drying shrimps in the sun. We walked up the stairs into the elementary school and saw the classes taking place. About 40 kids were packed into one small classroom. We walked down to the floating restaurant for a cool drink before heading back to the boat to go back down the river to our van. It had been an amazing morning so far!
Back along the bumpy road, we headed to another village for a cooking class with a local family. We were met by the son who showed us to the family's outdoor "kitchen" where we sat and helped prepare two dishes - morning glory soup and a fish and pork dish. It was interesting sitting with the women preparing the food and watching them as the sauteed and simmered the meal.
While the food was cooking, we had a look around their property. A number of small one room houses on stilts belonged to various members of the family. They raised a pig and grew corn. In one of the houses, a lady was having her hair straightened so she could go to the celebrations at one of the nearby villages in the evening. The village had just got electricity so they could use hair straighteners!
Back at the kitchen, we had our lunch (a prepacked meal) and then enjoyed tasting the various dishes they had made for us. Aun had also bought some corn and asked them to grill it for us - it was so sweet! We bought some beers which we shared with the family and we sat with them while they enjoyed their meal (after we finished ours).
Aun explained to them the relationships between each of us and they in turn explained theirs. The father of the family had been the village chief but was now retired. They were such lovely people! When Aun explained how old Ann was, they could not believe it! The father was 2 years younger than Ann and looked much older. He explained that he thought the difference between the two of them was that he only ate rice each day. It was pretty funny!
When we first arrived, Dad sat down on the raised platform and fell straight through! This of course brought hysterical laughter from the family - both ours and theirs! The son brought out a hammer and nails to fix it and Dad took it off him and fixed it himself - which they also thought was pretty funny.
After a few hours, we left the family and drove to the Cheras Village School and Orphanage. We met Fi who, along with his family, founded the orphanage which houses 49 children and also accommodates over 500 students from surrounding villages daily for language classes. They teach English, Chinese and Japanese so that they students have a chance to work in the tourism and hospitality industry.
It was an amazing visit. Fi showed us around the facilities which had been created via donations and although they were meager, they managed to do amazing things. The orphanage was built on the family's land and consisted of two outdoor classrooms, a dormitory for the boys (who sleep on mats on the cement floor), a library (where the girls sleep) and a new kitchen and canteen area for the children. They grew their own vegetables and also raised some pigs which they sold to bring in some money. The students also designed and screen printed T-shirts which they sold for $5 each to raise money.
Fi explained that the monthly running costs including food, electricity and supplies was $3500 and he was really looking for a donor who could cover these costs. He had two permanent teachers as well as himself and his brother plus a number of volunteer teachers from abroad who taught for varying lengths of time. Ross spent a lot of time talking to some of the older orphans about their schooling and what they really wanted to do if given a choice. The children spoke such good English and were very keen to chat. We left Fi with a 50kg bag of rice and some school supplies which hopefully would make a very small amount of difference. We all left with a sense of helplessness and wished we could do more but it was so good to see people like Fi really making a difference in the lives of children. As we left, I asked him why he started the orphanage. He said he truly believed that children deserved an opportunity to get out of the poverty of rural villages in Cambodia and that education was the only way to do it - what a great philosophy and an amazing guy. I hope that we can stay in touch and somehow work out a way to make more of a difference in Cambodia.
We arrived back at the hotel about 3.30 and rested for a while before all meeting up again to walk into town for dinner and some shopping. We went to the night markets but they weren't that good although we all walked out with something in our hands. By the time we got back to the regular markets, the stalls were closing so we found a place for dinner overlooking Bar Street and watched the world go by for a while before walking back to the hotel and hitting the hay after another fascinating and full-on day in Cambodia.
Ross and I headed out for some exercise this morning. We did a couple of laps of the park before heading to the gym at Stonor. I had bought a new book on strength training for women so I worked my way through exercises designed to help improve my posture. They all used your own body weight and were quite tough but it felt good. Ross continued with his regular workout.
