What we did in the Summer Holidays

Time for a quick update before we head back to the UK for two weeks for our daughter Anna's wedding. First and foremost, we've both been getting about a bit: Perry has now been to Kampong Chnang, Kampong Thom and Sihanoukville for work, and Sarah has been to Kiri Rom National Park for a picnic: of which, more below. The picture below shows where we've been so far but you can see just how little of Cambodia we have got to yet.

Unfortunately, Cambodia doesn't do straight lines or good roads; the picture below shows how we actually got to each of these places. What it doesn't show is how long it took: the longer journeys have taken more than 6 hours by bus. Even Perry's work trips in government 4-wheel drive pick-up trucks take what feels like for ever (especially with 6 people, bags and what one can only describe as everyone's kitchen sink all in one truck).



Nothing on the roads here goes very fast, but the road conditions (potholes'r'us) and mix of traffic (buses to buffalo carts) means that anything more than walking speed can quite often still be too fast. Still, it's nice to get those regular adrenalin rushes when you move your eyes from the beautiful scenery on one side of you to the fascinating village on the other side without closing them while your head is pointing at the road ahead. We will say, though, that Cambodian drivers all seem to have pretty good reflexes; perhaps it's the effects of natural selection.

As you can see from the map, most of the roads in Cambodia go via Phnom Penh. The one exception so far was a trip Perry took from Kampong Cham to Kampong Chnang which included a ferry crossing of the Tonle Sap river. The ferry is just like the street but everyone actually stops for a while (which is more than they do at any other time, especially for road junctions).

Not everyone seems altogether happy about the prospect of sharing the ferry with a busload of barangs, though...



The next picture is of a smaller ferry crossing the Mekong about 25km south of Kampong Cham. All together now in your best Scouse accents: "Ferry, cross the Mekong..."



Transport Cambodian-style is a delight that we will devote a future posting to but, in the meantime, here are a few of the local deluxe mobility options for you and your prized possessions:





We've carried on being adventurous on our travels too. Perry has now added turtle, tortoise, fire ants (and their eggs), sparrows, baby turtle doves and, last but not least, bull's penis soup (complete with large lumps of bull's penis) to the list of delicacies he has eaten. Interesting, but probably not going to make it onto the menu at the Savoy.

Sarah stuck to more conventional fare at her picnic. It was a typically Cambodian outing:

"We set off from the office an hour after the 7.30 deadline (although it was variously reported as being between 6.30 - 8 am) in a relative's minibus taxi. Crawled through the city traffic picking up other staff members laden down with vast amounts of food that they had started cooking at 3am (fridge? ...I know you can get them because we have one!). Finally left PP at 9.30.

Got to Kiri Rom National Park (more than halfway to Sihanoukville) & drove up a beautiful but precipitous mountain road to a blissfully cool pine forest. Parked in a car park where the rubbish from the weekend picnickers was being burned in the concrete waste bins, picked the furthest verandah from the smoke and overlooking a pretty river.



At 11.50 started unpacking and consuming said food. 12.30 - finished food & flaked out for an hour into a deep sleep (me anyway as I am incapable of staying awake all day at the moment).



At 1.50 - sort of cleared up, 2 pm headed back to PP. Got there 3 hours later due to arriving on the outskirts just as all the garment factories were finishing their shifts and thus blocking the roads with bikes. A thoroughly successful & memorable day was declared by all. I really love Cambodians, their expectations are about 150 years behind ours, & it's great".

Both of us have now ended up with gastric parasites (dear diary, today I made some new friends...). These don't come from the exotic meals but from the vegetables that are often washed with untreated water. The most common parasites are worms and amoebae and, from the evidence here, their natural habitat is lettuce leaves. The one thing not to eat in Cambodia, therefore, is the side salad. The little visitors are fairly easily treatable and, if you ask our lovely Russian Doctor Lioudmilla nicely, she will even give you antibiotics that still allow you to drink! Sarah didn't ask but Perry just happened to mention Anna's wedding, which was also convenient for the regular Friday night bash.

To close, here's a little edict that we thought of trying on the local parasites.

More soon when we get back. In the meantime, please don't forget the need to keep supporting VSO through our Justgiving page at www.justgiving.com/jagoteers.