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.