Days in Stung Treng - markets, house hunting and the river front.

Stung Treng seems to be a small town with a big market and lovely riverfront.  The town market serves the whole province which is probably why it seems comparatively big.

View on a market corner showing outside stalls

 Photos of Stung Treng Market.

The morning part of the market is open air and sells fresh produce including wriggling fish – can’t get fresher than that! There seems to be lots of different fruits and veg that we don’t recognise but all very interesting. We will need a few recipes and cooking lessons when we finally get a house. The main market sells and offers allsorts: I had an excellent Pedicure for 2000R (less than half a dollar) and a fresh fruit smoothie for 1000R (a quarter of a dolla)r. They also sell clothes, gold, mobile phones, shoes, pots etc etc.

Talking of houses, thanks to the other volunteers, we viewed about 10 different ones many of which are the traditional wood type like the one below which was outside our guest house.

 

The wood ones are very attractive and quaint but unfortunately have lots of gaps between the boards – great for a bit of air circulating but bad for encouraging mozzies which love to bite me.

 We are now negotiating to rent a two bedroomed brick built flat which seems relatively mozzie free. It is attached to the landlord’s family house. The negociations invoved turning down living in the garage and having the land lords mother living with us, but agreeing to teach the children English and keeping the Buddist alter and prayer room in our locked 3rd bedroom to which the family will need access from time to time. Cambodian compromises that works well for us all!

Apart from house hunting we have visited various interesting people, both friendly VSO volunteers and local Cambodians in Teacher training colleges, Nurse training colleges and Health Clinics –more about the Health Centre on a later post.

Each evening as the temperature drops to about 25 degrees we cycle along the Sekong river front admiring the view which includes various livestock grazing by the roadside. We have even had time to enjoy an occasional beer from the street vendors.

View of Stung Treng town  Landing Jetty

Dont go any closer Chris !!!

A nice cool beer - through a straw - must get used to that!



Stung Treng – the “big bang”.

Stung Treng – the “big bang”.

So 20th March we arrived in  Stung Treng by bus for a week’s placement visit after a journey from Kampong Cham of 7 hours. It was a pleasant journey seeing more of rural Cambodia – many rubber plantations and Paddy fields.The bus especially the outside luggage bays was very full and our bags got pulled out and placed on the ground every stop then got brought onto the bus seats.It was off the bus and straight on with the crash helmets to travel by moto to the guest house with our huge bags balanced on the petrol tank.

We are staying the week in a small guest house which is small but nice and costs $5 per night for the room.

Outside Guest house with VSO bikes for getting around on.

 For breakfast we were taken at 7.15am to the local market for breakfast of rice, spicy pork, egg and veg.

In the market for breakfast 7.15am

and our first taste of the famous Stung Treng coffee-strong and chocolaty.

The coffee is lovely and very thick

We then had our first look at Stung Treng referral hospital where Angela will be working for the next two years. The maternity section is in a newer building and there are 10 beds on the maternity ward.

Outside the hospital

Lunchtime we cycled along the banks of the river out of the centre along a flat dirt road.

The river from the road we cycled along

Chris got a spectacular blow out on the front wheel- tyre and inner tube both ripped; these were soon replaced at a local workshop for under $5 and within 10 mins.

The old tyre and tube

In the afternoon we viewed 3 properties for rent and we are beginning to get an idea of the layout and construction of houses in Stung Treng the main priorities being trying to keep cool and keeping the mossies out.

Bamboo Bridge part two, Birds nest and Cambodian laundry.

Bamboo Bridge

Friday evening we went back to the Bamboo Bridge for another look and to take some pictures.

The reason why the construction works!!!

Koh Paen is a rural island in the Mekong River connected to the southern part of Kampong Chan by the bamboo bridge in the dry season, or a local ferry in the wet season. The bamboo bridge is totally built by hand each year and looks like it is made from matchsticks from some distance. There are plenty of local Wats on the island and local people make a living fishing and growing tobacco and sesame. The best way across the bridge is by bike and you have to pay $1 at the island end. This is quite nerve racking as it creaks and shakes as motorbikes pass.

Photo- large 4 by 4 enters bridge

                      Photo -Woman on motorbike approaching the car with a very wide load on her bike -problem!

 We were surprised to see a large 4x4 car drive onto the bridge which then caused chaos when the approaching motorbikes couldn’t get past, it took 5 minutes to man-handle the motorbike off the bridge side, over the water, let the car pass then lift the bike back onto the bridge.

No one gets upset or annoyed by this –they just get on with it. Anything that is going on always attracts a crowd of interested bystanders- Cambodians love to watch accidents, incidents, arguments, anyone ill etc

Bird Nest

We have a pipe in the wall of our bedroom near the ceiling. Every morning the daylight shines through to strike the far bedroom wall. Approx. 6 am a bird sits in the pipe, chirps and blocks the light into the room, i.e. you know it’s nearly time to get up!!

Today on returning from language class we found it had been busy coming through the pipe and building a nest on top of the curtain rail. Much laughter with the cleaning ladies who came into the room to laugh at the nest but also at Chris who was stood on a chair taking a picture of it.

Photo- Pipe in wall just above the curtain rail -see the foundations of the nest balanced on the curtain rail. The hole is now blocked with a tissue - no problem to a determined brooding bird! -We will probably see it again at 6am tomorrow.

Laundry – The Cambodian way

The cleaning ladies congregate next to our room as we are next door to the laundry – all the hotel laundry is done here,  mainly  by hand in an open air room –the sheets are scrubbed on the floor, they seem to have a spinner, then they are hung out to dry .

 The most amazing thing is the ironing – hot coals are put into the big iron which is exactly the same as I have seen in Victorian museums.

 See hot coals in the iron -it does seem to work very well -beautifully ironed sheets!

 Then on a large wood bench this is then used to iron every sheet pillowcase etc for the whole hotel –boy do they work hard.

The ironing bench with iron.

On to Kompong Cham – Bridges, Khmai and ducklings!

We are now (Wednesday 16^th March) in Kompong Cham for our language training having travelled from Phnom Penh on Sunday by bus .It was an interesting journey as it was our first chance to experience the roads, traffic and countryside since arriving in Cambodia.

Views through the bus window on the way to Kompong Cham

We are based at the Mekong hotel for a few weeks however we travel to Stung Treng on Sunday for a few days to look around where we will be based for the next two years and start the process of looking for a place to rent and hiring an interpreter.

The Mekong hotel -the photo looks posher than it is.

The year of the rabbit statue in the hotel car park

We learnt this morning that the bridge outside the hotel is the Kizuna Bridge (Spean  Kizuna) after the Japanese  Ambassador as Japan built it for free. This is, according to my travel book, the first bridge to span the Mekong’s width in Cambodia dramatically cutting journey times to popular destinations like Kratie and Mondulkiri.

Chris by the Kizuna Bridge over the Mekong -just opposite the hotel

Note the men crawling on the roof of the temple which is next door to the hotel

In the evenings around 5.30pm we have been going on bike rides to explore whilst it is cool and before it goes dark (about 6.30pm).

One evening we rode across a long Bamboo bridge to an island in the Mekong. We forgot to take the camera but will post a pic ASAP. This bridge apparently is taken down every year before the Monsoon rains flood the Mekong, rising above the present level of the bridge. Yes you’ve guessed correctly Chris was not impressed with the structural integrity of the bridge but says it’s fit for purpose.

Guess which is VSO volunteers transport parked next to the American Peace Corp. transport?

Angela doing her Khmai language homework while sipping a beer on the Mekong Prom.

Last night we followed the bank of the river out of town cycling a track along which locals have their houses. All the local children and most adults shouted hello and were really friendly and interested to see us. Angela got into conversation with a local women riding alongside on her motorbike, this quickly turned into an invitation to go to her house to meet her family. We visited for a short time and were able to communicate with her mother using a bit of our Khmai and her daughters English. The mother gave birth to 10 children but 4 died in infancy.

As we had been told the Cambodians are interested to hear about family and where each person fits into the family structure. It was a lovely experience and a true contact with Cambodian people.

The food has been very good so far but ordering chicken is a challenge as it is often complete with the bones chopped into small pieces with not much meat attached.

The days consist of an early rise: 06.30 catch some breakfast on our way by bicycle to ‘The Western University’. The teacher ‘Dara’ starts promptly at 0800 and teaches us Khmai (as they say) at breakneck speed – Chris feels he has learnt more language in 3 days than he ever learnt in French at school. We have a break for iced coffee and finish at 12.00 with lots of homework. So it’s back to our rooms away from the burning sun try to make sense of the morning lesson for a few hours. As the temperature cools we take a bike ride or walk. Today we wondered by the Mekong Prom, and stopped for a drink from a prom/street vendor who was also cooking boiled eggs. Chris fancied a snack so we bought one - big mistake – see picture –it comes complete with half grown duckling.

Chris fancied a boiled egg at a small stall next to the river they seem to be popular.

Errrrr.......Thats a duckling inside probably give it a miss!!!!!!

So another 3 days of language training (yes we work Saturday too!) then up to Stung Treng on Sunday by local bus.

Temperature 35 degrees C here and very sunny.

Back in Phnom Penh this will be of interest to certain  friends, I've got the Bi directional linkage measured up and  sketched out for a rainy day. There is a bit of steel construction over here and welding without a face shield seems quite the norm.(Chris posting at the moment not Angela)

And finally in what could be a regular feature ......

In the Cambodian news today...

Foreign men over 50 and anyone earning less than $2500 a month have been banned from marrying Cambodian women as it does'nt look nice a young women sat next to someone who looks like her Grand father. 

Family evenings in Phnom Penh

As we said before the favoured mode of transport in Phnom Penh is the ‘Moto’ or small motorbike. These buzz about the streets all day with workers carrying everything on them but in the evenings they become the favoured family transport with typically four people including grandma and the baby. The Cambodian women manage to perch side saddle on the back with bags of shopping or even breast feeding the baby without any concerns darting between the crazy traffic.

Photos family on moto – note ‘Safety First’ sign!

See the baby on the front.

Apologies for blurred pictures due to speed of traffic.

As the evening cools families then go to the Vietnamese friendship Park. Thousands of people go – the whole place is very busy and lively. Lots of big music speakers are set up seemingly in competition with each other, there are sweets and toys and snacks for sale, the atmosphere is like a busy Blackpool prom.

Photo –Chris eating Lotus flower seed pod –tastes like raw peas.

There is a large playground area full of children –I’ve never seen a park so busy yet no bad behaviour or arguing seems to take place.

Parents sit chatting around the playground and fountain.

Photos – how many children can you get on a mini roundabout?

 Lots of teenagers and young adults do a type of aerobics – there are several big groups of these spread around the park.

Chris enjoyed a bowl of banana and coconut rice milk which was served boiling hot –weak porridge?

Since arriving in Cambodia we are undertaking In Country Training so far covering topics such as staying healthy ,Gender, Cultural do’s and don’ts, corruption, mines in Cambodia, and HIV and Aids.

Representatives from Mines Advisory Group (MAG) gave a presentation on their work in providing clearance and conflict recovery across much of the country for communities affected by Landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO).See www.maginternational.org/cambodia.

We visited the British Embassy to meet the Ambassador Andrew Mace and had an opportunity to ask him questions on political issues in Cambodia.

Crazy Cyclo in Phnom Penh

Crazy cyclo tour of Phnom Penh –second day in Cambodia

A day of orientation on a cyclo around Phnom Penh could also be called first orientation to the crazy  traffic system. After a useful explanation of how the cyclo driver would ride up the wrong side of the dual carriageway and undercut the traffic to turn left – and not to be alarmed by this, we each mounted sat in our  cyclo. These look like a wheel chair precariously attached to the front wheels of a bicycle on which a stick thin man sits and pedals (Angela’s description). 2 front wheels, one rear ,one hubbrake to rear wheel operated by pulling a rod behind drivers seat, heavy duty motorbike  type chain to drive wheels to overcome inertia of two bodies (Chris description).

Photo of Chris and cyclo man.

Photo of Angela in Cyclo.

We briefly visited the Royal Palace –this will definitely be worth a half day revisit. It sits on the Banks of the Tonle Sap river as it joins the Mekong.

Photo of Chris in front of the Mekong

We went onto the Central Market where Chris bargained for some sandals –she passes you a mobile phone with a gorgeous picture of her baby on it and the first price $18 you then input $12 next to her babys face –you eventually settle on $13 feeling a bit of a heel. The market is huge and very easy to get lost in. The Sandals are marked Clarks (ie Clarks of Kendal UK) I dont think so!

Photo of Central Market

We called at the Vietnam Friendship Park which was built to commemorate the Vietnamese driving out Pol Pot . It was about 38 degrees there so quick photo and back on the bikes.

Photo of Chris by the Vietnamese Friendship Monument

A further exciting ride through the traffic brought us to the French style post office then on to lunch of Chicken Cashew and Mango with rice..

Photos –sights on the Phnom Penh Roads

After this it was time for a siesta – not a bad start to life of a volunteer!

Photo of our Cyclos parked in front of the Royal Palace.