Photo's I'd like to share

Looking on the Computer at our Pictures we have taken since we came to Cambodia here are a few Photo's I like (some taken by Wendy another  friend and VSO Volunteer).

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This is a picture I took whilst out riding on the motorbike visiting a remote village which you got to by riding along a brown dirt road, the expressions on the faces are amazing.

I am doing some Voluntary work with a local NGO who are developing an Orphanage, this is the new living house for the children taking shape, very interesting for me to watch as the materials and methods of construction are so different from the UK

Another construction job but nothing to do with my work or the orphanage, Wendy took this photo off her balcony. It seems when it rains you just strip off to your boxers and carry on!!(fingers crossed the trench does'nt collapse)

Angela took this  pic out of the hospitatal window during a meeting- what can you say? at least if the spike got stuck somewhere he didnt have so far to cry for help

Moving house day Cambodia style, another photo of Wendies.This is Chris with Angela driving moving a satellite chair, the cushion had to come on the next trip

I'll get into a lot of trouble for posting this!! but its what you do here when it rains-buy a cheap raincoat and carry on.(Available in various colours)

Arriving with the chair- what a relief!!(Angela driving,Chris carrying)

A very peaceful place to stay in another province a couple of months ago

come to see us and we'll take you there.(You pay)

Chris and the Elephant all peace and harmony.

Chris down and the Elephant has moved on.

Pic outside the local hospital choose from any of these Ailments and come on in!!

Transporting live pigs on the local ferry

Chris and work mates enjoying lunch in a local village house. Just been told -  careful with the fish Chris its raw

Walked out of the house the other day and the landlady had hung this food up to dry by our door- Why?

We have since moved.

So in between houses at the moment but looking forward to being settled again soon.

Also our first visitors from the UK coming soon -Pauline and Graham  - cant wait!!!

House Sharing in Cambodia

Angela and I don’t live in the house alone in fact when we go to sleep things get quite busy in the other rooms. Large spiders live in the bathroom-something to look at whilst taking a shower.

We have an agreement - we don’t bother moving the spiders and they don’t bother us.

 Ants run around the kitchen we try to keep those down with a spray.

Geckos live in most rooms and tend to hide behind picture frames and they come out at night to eat insects. If I had to guess I would say in the 6 rooms we have there are maybe 8 geckoes living in various cracks and behind picture frames.

Picture taken this morning when I got up it hadnt gone to bed.

Geckos interesting (?) facts:

If you hold a light up to one ear of some geckos, the light will shine clear through the head and out the other ear.

How did they get the Gecko to stay still long enough to find that out? Right where’s my torch?

Geckos have millions of tiny hairs on their feet so they appear to stick to ceilings etc.

I have just noticed two creatures were not quick enough when the bedroom door was shut one time, they are paper thin - is the lowest one a cockroach?'

Well they will be able to take the place over completly this weekend as we are on the move and moving across town to a lovely timber framed house on concrete stilts with a balcony to put the hammock on.

It is a more typical Kamai house and we are looking forward to posting some pictures of it although it will not be vacant for 3 weeks and we are staying with Wendy our friend and fellow Volunteer in the meantime. All luggage and furniture, not that we have much of that, has to be moved on Bicycle or motorbike. As they say in Great Harwood: it will be rheet. - Sorry- It'll be rheet.

Relaxing at the House

Some evenings, Friday in particular, we may relax outside our house with a beer or two this is especially good if it is thundering and lightening as we are sheltered but have a good view of the night sky. That sort of rainy, stormy weather is very common at this time of the year.

There are 2 dogs living at the landlady’s house and these have taken a liking to Chris and sit with him at every opportunity, the problem is they have fleas and probably worms so we don’t touch them or let them in our rooms. Cambodians, I think it is fair to say, do not have animals as pets, if they have any livestock it is for a purpose. These dogs are guard dogs not because they are ferocious but as they bark, and bark they do frequently throughout the night outside our door as they sleep against the door for some reason.

They chew everything left lying around and one night pulled the door mat under the door and chewed it to bits. Another morning we went out and there was a dead rat on the tiled area- a present for Chris? It was moving but only because about a thousand ants had taken ownership and decided to transport it elsewhere!

When we approach the house the gate is locked and we need to put our hand through the bars with the key and undo the padlock. The trick is to do this without the dogs seeing you as they come rushing to the gate and start licking your hands and arms through the bars- yuck! When we both come back together say in an evening Chris has to put his arms through the gate, Angela can’t bear the thought of the licking, but to be fair she does try to distract the dogs away from my arms but as they love me so much they are not to be distracted.

Oh, we drink the beer with many ice cubes as it is so hot the drink never stays cool for long and it helps to balance the fluid intake.

For drinking water in the house we buy a 20 litre barrel from a small shop up the road from us we transport it back on the bike one of us pushing the bike and the other holding the bottle. This 20 litres costs 4000Riel approx $1 dollar or 60 odd pence; you may get a 300ml bottle for that in the UK.

20 litres will last us 4/5 days and is used for everything that goes in our mouths the tap water is definitely not suitable for us to drink.

PS Since we wrote this a week or two ago we are now down to one dog. The smaller one went for a ride in the Landlords car and it seems he had a one way ticket never to return. I think nipping the backs of people’s legs as they walked along was not acceptable – I wonder where he is?