An update

Today is very hot and I am sitting in our third floor flat in Kendal overlooking the river Kent onto the fells in the distance, we have a view of about 6 miles from our window.Children are swimming in the river much the same as they did in Stung Treng. The contrasts with Cambodia are great but I have personally not found it difficult to adjust back to life in Cumbria since we returned early March - I loved the snow!.
I have been working full time since the 1st April and Angela is having a couple of induction days for her new midwifery job, not based locally, but some distance North from here.
So, life moves on , our first Grand child is on their way ; the Cambodian blog has run its course.
 An added bonus for us is that we now have a diary of our two years in Cambodia to enjoy as we, (Dorothy) have copied it before it disappears.
Hope you enjoyed reading it and felt a part of our experience.
Cambodia we will never forget you.
C
xxxx

Goan sao

Today started off with a simple text message from Angela, whilst at the hospital, to me, still at the house - "Can you bring a philip screwdriver?"

I picked up the scewdriver and cycled into the hospital; it was nearly time to join Angela, Nicole and Andre for coffee opposite the hospital, anyway. We tend to drop whatever we are doing and meet up everyday for our coffee fix at 10 am.
After coffee, Angela told me there was a problem with the door lock on the Maternity door , so we went to have a look.
 The problem was the door handles were missing and a coat hanger was being used to open the door and when I took the lock assembly out of the door in fell into a hundred pieces -" hmmm what have I started , how do they lock the door tonight?"
Luckly, a local shop had a new lock for 20$ which we funded from family/friends donations. The hospital has no budget for such things.
So I fitted the new lock with the usual audience of Kamai men silently watching.
Now,- what a super job it looks - a tatty steel door with a new handle, lock and keys
 (Goan sao = key).
It took most of the day with running around collecting tools etc, but a very satisfying feeling when I have my cans of beer tonight and reflect on the complexity of the job - "hmmm..... only you could have fixed that Chris in the 36 degree heat etc - quite right - pssstt (sound of beer can opening etc.)

Maternity door with new lock and handles.

Former King's funeral

We have just had a few days off work as Cambodia held the funeral of its former King.

The funeral was held in Phomn Penh where massive crowds were expected.

We travelled instead to Kampong Cham where we spent some weeks doing our language training.

I found the following information about the former King:

Cambodia on Thursday wrapped up a week-long funeral for its revered former King Norodom Sihanouk with a procession to return the cremated remains of the colourful ex-monarch to the royal palace.

After chanting by 90 Buddhist monks, two diamond-studded gold urns and one marble urn containing the remains were transported atop a golden float shaped like a mythological bird from the crematorium to the palace.

"This is to honour his majesty who is the greatest hero of Cambodia," Sihanouk's long-time personal assistant Prince Sisowath Thomico told AFP.

The rest of the remains had been lowered into the confluence of the Mekong, Tonle Sap and Tonle Bassac rivers in Phnom Penh on Tuesday.

Sihanouk's widow Monique and his son King Norodom Sihamoni travelled on the float with the urns during a televised procession attended by senior government officials, including Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The urns will be kept in a stupa inside the palace, where before his death Sihanouk had asked to be placed with his favourite daughter, Kantha Bopha, who died aged three.

Sihanouk died of a heart attack in Beijing in October, aged 89.

After lying in state for three months, his embalmed body was cremated on Monday after several days of lavish ceremonies including an elaborate procession through the streets of Phnom Penh that drew crowds of mourners.

A father of 14 children over six marriages, Sihanouk abdicated in 2004 after steering Cambodia through six decades marked by independence from France, civil war, the murderous Khmer Rouge regime, his own exile and finally peace.

Many elderly Cambodians credit him with overseeing a rare period of political stability in the 1950s and 1960s, following independence, until the Khmer Rouge emerged in the 1970s.

 

On a practical note, we now have a new 1000 Riel bank note featuring the King:

 

 

 

Farmers love Cassava

Cassava farming is still expanding in Cambodia as profit margins continue to rise (local paper).
The plant is used in ethanol production and is a common site as it is laid out to dry on many open spaces.
It has a distintive smell when cut and laid out to dry and I caught the familiar whiff when getting up this morning.

 

This is the view from our bedroom window this morning- what was an empty field yesterday is now being used to dry cassava.

 



It looks like small, hard, white stones when it is drying on the ground.
A lot of labour is needed to process the crop and dry it.

Some cash has been invested in this operation as the hand barrows look new and in better condition than most I see.

 



Local farmers say they are seeing increasing demand by foreigners to grow and export the crop.
Cassava is planted in March or April and harvested from December to February in Cambodia.
I read in the local paper interest came largely from Korean , Chinese and Thai businessmen who sell cassava abroad.

The strangest sight is driving along the main highway to Phnom Penh and seeing it laid on the verge of the road to dry.

 



About this time last year I was riding the motorbike and stopped to have a closer look.

 



The people tending the cassava camp by the side of the road and never leave it un-attended as it is valuable and relatively easy to scoop up and drive away with a load.
So, looks like they will be drying the stuff until we leave so will have to get used to the smell. Just hope they dont start work too early in the morning.

Midwives, Fob watches.........

This picture was taken during a normal ward round where Angela walks around the Maternity ward checking on the new mums and babies to see if they need any help and support.

Angela's ward round with spectators.

 



Angela has stopped to give help to a woman having breast feeding problems. To achieve this there should be 3 people around the bed ie Angela, Interrupter and Lisa, a visiting midwife from the UK.
However there are eleven people, as Cambodians are very curious and like to stand and stare at anything happening especially when it involves a foreigner. Soon after I took this pic a man wearing a motorbike helmet wondered in and he stood to look and listen still wearing the helmet.

 

Midwives wearing their new fob watches.

 

The members of Soroptimist International, Rishton and Great Harwood, sent Fob watches, hand gels, and tiny knitted cardigans and hats to Cambodia to improve the care in Stung Treng hospital. Here the midwives  have been given the watches by Angela. Prior to this they used their mobile phones to time any checks they did on mothers and babies.

 The knitted cardigans and hats were quickly put to use as many mothers do not have clothes to dress their new born babies in , and although it is very hot in Cambodia, they still need covering to keep warm in the early days.

 

 



 

 

 

A lovely bike ride by the Mekong

After living in Stung Treng for twenty months, we have not yet exhausted areas to explore within cycling distance of our house.

A couple of months ago, Angela, Linda and I decided to go exploring on our bikes, setting off about 8 am one Saturday morning. The sun was already up and it was hot but we covered up with clothing and sunscreen and pushed on.

Linda has some detailed maps of Stung Treng and surrounding villages and our eye had been taken by the West bank of the Mekong, in particular a large island in the middle of the river.

The usual ferry we use to cross the Mekong had just motored off (using a naked engine similar to a wagon without a silencer) but we had a backup plan, which was cycle out of town and catch a smaller boat across which Angela had used before on her travels to Health centers. We weren’t to know it was the first of four ferries we took that day, all of them different and adding greatly to the fun and spirit of adventure.

 

 

Small ferry crossing the Mekong with our bikes on board.

Once across we were on familiar ground at Thala Borivit district, landing South of the town. Of the town, Lonely Planet says:

For all its past glories, there is very little to see today. It is hardly worth the effort for the casual visitor, but Temple fiends may feel the urge to tick it off.

How unkind, the temple reference refers to local concentrations of old temples dated between the 6^th and 9^th Centuries.

 

I found it hard to believe but this ancient structure is claimed to be older than the Temples of Angkor Watt.

 

 

A Sacred stone cow which again pre-dates Angkor Watt.

We cycled South along the river bank passing wooden house on stilts with really friendly Cambodian people outside surprised, but delighted to see, crazy Barrangs cycling in the heat.

Hello! What your name?- next house- Hello!, What your name?- interspersed with- ......where you go?

I then had a rear wheel puncture and being the practical lad I am, I had brought a few bike tools and a new inner tube. However, VSO bikes are fiddly things to work on especially the rear wheel so whenever possible we let the local repairman do the job with his special tools.

We stopped by a sort of repair place, the repairman wasn’t in, unbeknown to us a phone call had been made and the repairman appeared.

Soon we were on our way halted by a small tributary feeding the Mekong. This location had the smallest ferry of the day powered by the operator pulling on ropes. In this case three children aged maybe 10 y.o. pulled us across; smiles, embarrassment and pride in the job all the way.

At this point I was on unfamiliar ground, we came to the point at which the new bridge under construction will strike the West bank, more on the new bridge another time.

 

The Bridge crossing on the West bank of the Mekong.Construction underway for completion in a year or two.

 

We were searching for a ferry crossing to put us on a large island we could see lying of our bank of the Mekong.

 

A possible ferry landing point? Let's ask the locals.

 

We found a probable site and Linda asked some curious locals to phone the ferry driver (I could see the ferry moored to the side of the island, off in the distance).I watched and imagined the driver waking in the shade to the sound of his mobile, mumbling something and shaking off the sleep as he coached the oily engine into life.

 

Here comes the ferry so we make our way down to the river with our bikes.

Slowly the ferry came across and picked us up.

 

Linda and Angela on the ferry with their bikes.

 

What a lovely island we had discovered. We cycled east across the island from bank to bank, maybe 10 mins cycling.

 

Peaceful cycling across the island to the far side.

 

 We turned and rode down the island some way, stopping for a rest on a patch of grass by the river.

 

No traffic insight.

 

Soon a crowd had gathered whispering and growing bolder edging nearer to us. Crazy barangs why lie there when you can rest at our house? An older women shouted, well it sounded as if she was shouting but it was probably just the passion in her invitation coming through.

 

A well earned rest on a Kamai families raised platform.

 

We followed and were hosted by a lovely Kamai family who peeled us Pomaloes and let us rest on their sleeping platform; they went off to continue harvesting the rice crop.

The children stayed practising their English language and having their photos taken, finally asking us for some dollars- ah well.

 

Curious local children wondering what we are doing lying on the ground in the sun- why would you do that?

We retraced the track and found another departure point for the 4^th and last ferry of the day, again a friendly local phoned and the ferry motored across from the mainland to pick us up.

 

The ferry had motored from the mainland to come and pick us up.

Once across with the bikes unloaded we were back on the mainland South of Stung Treng town having travelled in an anti-clockwise direction. Returning along a familiar road passing the prison and new bridge construction site, we completed the loop back to town.

 

The new bridge under construction it will take a year or two to finish and then it will have a big impact on the local area- the ferries will be mostly redundant and a lot more traffic will pass through the area.

 

A really enjoyable, successful adventure which I will remember for the beautiful countryside, the peaceful river, the smiling friendly, happy, curious Cambodians living along our route.

I would recommend the trip to any visitors, maybe next time it wouldn’t go as smoothly, but who knows all part of the adventure?

 

 

Bringing on 2013 Cambodia

Been having problems with loading pics onto the blog site but all seems OK now so back in business.

All went according to plan for the Xmas hols and we had a lovely time in Laos staying on the islands of Don Det and Don Khon. We stayed in lovely but basic bungalows which had a double bed and cement finish bathroom with cold shower and running insects.
Xmas day we managed a full turkey dinner with roast potatoes, gravy etc then lots of dancing. Because we were in a restaurant there were many new people to meet and share the experience with.

 

Xmas Day dinner on the Island of Don Det Laos.

 

When we weren't eating and drinking we were cycling on lovely sandy paths around the islands.

 

 

New Years Eve party at our rented house. Friends of many Nationalities eating, drinking and talking on the balcony.

Paul, Angela's brother, is staying with us for a few weeks having arrived in the New Year.

 

Andrea, Jane and Paul posing with the super efficient bicycle.

 

To show him some of rural Cambodia , I went with him and Andrea on a motorbike ride along the banks of the Mekong.We met Jane Woodman an Australian who is cycling from Beijing (China) to Melbourne (Australia). We had coffee together and exchanged experiences : her cycling stories and our living and working in Stung Treng.She is a very interesting, friendly positive person and if you are interested in her adventures please visit : www.intrepidcycle.com

The holidays over we finally got back to work; I'm working more or less full time at the hospital now helping Angela on the Infection Control Project which we have blogged about before.
The idea was Paul would come and help me on the bigger parts of the project and this has worked out really well.
Together we discovered the worst hand basin in the Hospital to date:

 

This is in the Pharmacy; being the staff toilet. It leads through an open door to the main body of the Pharmacy where the drugs are stored and dispensed.
 Paul has since replaced the tap and put a more functional waste pipe in. We are standing back now to see if the staff clean the wash basin.
A very satisfying job we have just completed is to replace a large length of broken sewage pipe.

 

Broken sewage pipe discharging directly onto hospital path.

 

The problem has come about because the pipe is on the surface and has been ridden over by motorbikes breaking the plastic pipe.

 

Black stinky mess from pipe- worse in the wet season.

 

The pipe has now been replaced with new and a very satisfying job it was.

 

 



Paul mending the pipe whilst the Cambodians stand and watch

 

New pipe with old piece along side.

 

The repair work is now coming to an end and we have to quickly  work with the Cambodian Hospital staff to try and make things sustainable for when we leave in 5 weeks time. At the moment they report blocked sinks to us and expect us to unblock them - why? its not rocket science. Perhaps some training and handing over all our tools will help.

So I'm please the blog site is working again and will try and keep posting on the run up to us leaving and returning to the UK.