Chilling (?) Cambodia

Friday night and having a beer after a challenging week in Cambodia

 

Looking at this pic shows a few things about our Cambodian lifestyle.(Yes- you are lazy I hear you cry!)

In the UK Friday evenings were usually spent in Kendal town in one or other of the bars or pubs. In Stung Treng there are no bars or pubs so that is not an option so here I am in my chair in our house.

The furniture in our sitting area is not typical Kamai furniture, as we moved in our landlord went to the Capital and bought a vinyl 3 piece suite with foot stools for us to use.Very kind but it is fairly uncomfortable in the heat- sticky on your bare skin. Also it is fairly hard and has many cracks for the ants to hide in waiting to attack. So this is my favourite position.

You can also see the wood floor and walls as our house is a wooden construction on stilts. The landlord lives underneath us in a tiny room with his wife.

We are very happy living here and have been lucky with our accomodation.

Rental prices are increasing in Stung Treng as the Chinese are building a new bridge across the Mekong , in the short term bringing a lot of workers into the town needed somewhere to live. However when the bridge is finished with the new road system then Stung Treng will really change with a lot more traffic.

Note the wood stool in the bottom right of the pic. This is very typical in Cambodia, it is solid wood and very heavy to move.

My teeshirt was a Xmas present from my friend Linda last year it reads:

I'm Unreliable/disorganized/innefficient/unmotivated & immature BUT I'm FUN!

Oh how I have changed! (always was fun!)

 

Saturday evenings - the view from our table by the river

 

 Saturday evenings typically are spent at our favourite riverside stall by the river. I will have to get a pic of the stall but these are a cart on wheels with a cooler box full of iced drinks. There could also be a charcoal pot on which meats are cooked and served with sauces. Tables are set out with plastic chairs and as the sun sets it is very relaxing and special.

There is a choice of a dozen stalls but we go to the same one each week as we have grown attached to the Kamai family who run it. Mum,Dad and small child are there most evenings and have a lovely smile for us as we pull up on our bikes at 5 pm.

It is a great place to see local people - sometimes young lads are there drinking Mekong whisky and I have seen them unable to stand up afterwards.

 They get hauled onto their friends motorbike and dont fall off as they are sandwiched in the middle as three people will be on the motorbike.

About 7 pm we go to Mr T's restaurant for burger and chips our treat for the week. 

At these riverside stalls locals eat the popular chick in the egg which you may remember from an earlier post.

So nearly 5 pm on a Saturday and must be off to the river. Just checked the temperature inside the house it is 35 degrees C on a Saturday evening.