Adventures in Cambodia

We took our time getting started this morning and browsed through some guide books as we did so. Before we knew it our plans changed completely. We had planned to bike to the temples in the morning and see a cultural centre in the afternoon. Instead we ended up heading off to see the flooded forest and village on stilts called Kompong Phhluk.

Half the adventure was getting there. We started out by tuk tuk. The tuk tuks here are just a motorcycle with a wagon attached to the back. It was quite a comfortable ride and we enjoyed the sights along the way. Initially we saw the city streets and the people working in shops etc, but soon we got into the country and it was a bit of a shock to see the poverty and lack of what we consider the basics. No electricity, no running water, grass huts, and barefoot children. Although the government-run schools are free, many Cambodians don't send their children because they can't afford the books and uniforms.

First we traveled a wide paved road, then a narrow paved road, then a dirt road, and eventually we had to get off the tuk tuk and switch to motorbikes as the road was too rough for the tuk tuk!

The road was very bumpy and I would not have wanted to drive it myself, but Roya and I trusted our lives to a young Cambodian fellow (I think he wasn't more than 15 years old), and Nadim and Yasmin had a slightly older driver and off we bumped down the road for about 20 minutes until we reached our boat.

From there we boarded a long tail boat that looked like it had seen better days. The engine was pretty noisy, but it chugged along just fine. First we went through a narrow water path through thick bushes. If you ever got lost in there, I think you'd never find your way out!

After a half hour or so it opened up into a village of houses on stilts. In the wet season the water rises about 4 metres! Some of the houses were made of palm leaves, others from corrugated metal, and others from wood. I've never seen such poverty. Yasmin asked, "Where do they brush their teeth?". I think her thoughts reflected my own in that these people don't even have the basics.

The kids all smiled and waved to us. Many were swimming or bathing in the water. Most people are fishermen, and they even build fish farms. They have some bamboo platforms where we saw a couple of pigs in their cages, and a few chickens too. It was very strange to see them on their platforms in the middle of the water.

We stopped and went ashore in one little part of the village. They asked us to buy books for the kids. We did of course, even though we were pretty sure that our books for the kids would be resold to the next tourist coming through. None the less, we were happy to leave a little of our money behind in this struggling community.

Beyond the village was a forest of mangrove trees. It was flooded as it always is, so it looked a little strange to see all these trees, with boats paddling in among them.

We made the reverse trek home without incident, but then rented bicycles to head back to the temples one last time. We didn't make it to the temple we wanted to see because as Yasmin was riding on the back of Nadim's bike, she swung her legs and caught her foot in the spokes. She had a terrible scare, and as I ran towards them, I feared a broken ankle, but it wasn't too serious. She has a nasty bruise and scraped some skin off her foot, but nothing that won't heal within a few days. We took her to the clinic and they cleaned and bandaged it up for us. We are a little extra cautious here because we are so afraid of infection. She is feeling fine now, but I'm sure we'll be taking it a bit easier for the next few days.

CM