Happy Fish Day!

As I'm sure many of you will know, 1 July is National Fish Day in Cambodia. Before you say "what???", perhaps a few facts are in order. Cambodian people rely on fish for over 70% of their protein intake; in remote wetlands areas (much of the country), the figure is even higher. The great majority of this fish comes from fresh water: the Mekong and its tributaries, and the Tonle Sap Great Lake. Cambodia (population around 14 million) ranks only behind China, India and Bangla Desh (all just a touche bigger) in the size of its fresh water fisheries. Fish, and the water they come from, form a very large part of the Cambodian soul. Cambodians have an adage:

In English script, "mean teuk, mean trei" - where there is water, there is fish.

Very early on 1 July, then, Perry jumped in the truck with the rest of the office and headed off to a tiny village on a lake in Kampong Chhnang for the Fish Day Ceremony. In fact, it was so early that the fruit bats were still flapping across Phnom Penh on their way home to roost. On the way, we saw a real picture of Cambodian rural life: paddy fields being tilled by oxen while the family followed behind planting the rice shoots in the water; pony carts taking harvested rice to market, and water buffalos pulling huge carts of all and sundry slowly along dirt tracks past small wooden houses on stilts. Almost no cars, very few motorcycles and lots of children (and adults) on bicycles. All very idyllic sounding, until you remember that this is all that these people in the countryside have. Unlike Perry Townmouse, they're not just having a nice day out.

After a few hours, we arrived at the lake where the ceremony was to be held. As always in Cambodia, a band was playing Cambopop much too loud. (Actually, in my humble opinion, just thinking about playing it is probably too loud.) Still, you can't beat a good bit of feedback at 110 decibels for making you feel better when it stops.

The band. Why she's wiping a tear from her eye is beyond me.

And one third of their sound equipment. Where they got the power from is a mystery - no wonder we keep getting power cuts in Phnom Penh.

Having been blasted clear by the audio version of shock and awe, the chaps approach the venue for the event: two very large covered seating areas, for perhaps 5,000 people, facing a stage. The seating areas are rapidly filling up with everything from local villagers to gold-encrusted senior police officers (not something you really want to encounter too much of in Cambodia).

A small item of ancillary information is now introduced by Perry's colleagues: he is a VIP and his presence is required on stage! He tries to sneak to the back but to no avail. Come and sit up front here, where you can be right next to His Excellency. By now, it's too late to cry out "what else haven't you told me?" so he does what he is told, sits down and picks up what looks for all the world like a nice gizzit bag that has been placed on all the "VIP" chairs.

For what happened from now on, you need to know that Cambodia is currently in the full fling of a run-up to a General Election. Government and Politics in Cambodia never separate. The gizzit bag turns out to be full of copies in Khmer of all the laws pertaining to Fisheries, plus copies in English of the speeches that are going to be given (which are mainly about what a wonderful job the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) has done in writing all these laws and what a great job it's doing in general). First speech is going to be by the Director General of the Fisheries Administration. No problem, he's a well respected and personable chap who Perry has met on a few occasions. He's also a political appointee, but that's par for the course.

But he's just the warm up man. As Perry reads the rest of the running order, he discovers that this is the 6th National Fish Day. All have been presided over by the Prime Minister, His Excellent Excellency (and many other honorifics) Hun Sen. Reformed Khmer Rouge officer (no, not joking - look him up on-line) and capo di tutti cape in Cambodia for more than 20 years. Now, bear in mind that both VSO and the British Embassy have strongly advised all of us to avoid any political events in the run up to the election. But hurrah! - because of the election, he's not coming today. Nonetheless, there's no real escape for our hero: Hun Sen's delegated it to his deputy, who also happens to be the Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. So Perry's on stage, 2 seats away from the Number 2 man in the CPP, in front of 5,000 people. Oh, and the news cameras have just turned up. That's good. Hope the Ambassador's watching.

Now Perry notices that there's also a group of Buddhist monks on the stage. Unlike Burma, in Cambodia the monks are not political; it's just that they're all staring at him and muttering to each other. He never does find out why: the initial essential check confirms that his flies are indeed done up. Mind you, in a country where many people are not much over 5 feet and 40 kilos, perhaps they're just running a sweep on when the part of the stage that he's sitting on is going to collapse. Now the wheels arrive and take their places on the stage (And blessed are they that go round in circles, for they shall be called wheels). The role of the monks now becomes clear: they are there to give a blessing to the ceremony. Quite fascinating - lots of beautiful rhythmic chanting whilst strewing around what looked like popcorn (but probably wasn't) from out of copper bowls.

Now the speeches begin and they're everything you would expect them to be, and in Khmer.

The Minister doing what politicians do best.

Us VIPs then trooped down between the two seating areas to conduct the fish releasing ceremony. All the way down there was applause from the crowd and salutes from the large contingent of military policemen that were lining the route. At the end was a jetty where there were three large tanks of fish fry and quite a few hand-held nets.

Our task was to scoop the fish out of the tanks and release them into the lake, where they would live free until they were all caught and eaten. Some of the local kids were already waiting for them.

And then it was over. Perry was found by his colleagues, who at least bought him a beer at a nearby roadside emporium before heading back to Phnom Penh.

The lake was beautiful, though.

We'll close now with the four kinds of Buddhist benediction that Khmer people wish each other: Longevity, Beauty, Health and Strength.

Oh well, at least we're still alive, healthy and kicking.

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

Butterflies

Oh, allright then. Here, as promised, are some pictures of the butterflies.

The photos don't even begin to do justice to the amazing butterflies that are everywhere in the jungle here.



All shapes, all sizes, the most astonishing colours and, most of all, the sheer numbers.



But the most incredible thing about them is their uncanny ability to take off and disappear just as you think you've got them in the viewfinder.



Sometimes, though, you strike lucky and capture just a glimpse of their real colours.



More from the Attenborough team soon. In the meantime, please don't forget the need to keep supporting VSO through our Justgiving page at www.justgiving.com/jagoteers.

Beasts

Following on from the last posting, Cambodia also has its share of larger animals. Some are domesticated, some are wild, and some are... well, just wait for the last photo.

Starting off, here's a picture of the pig that came to school with us when we were doing our language training at Western University in Kampong Cham. It just walked in, ate everything out of the rubbish bins, and then walked off. Not quite a typical student - it didn't crash out on the sofa at any point. Still, it makes a change from dealing with students who are pigs to meeting a pig who's a student.



We've seen quite a few wild monkeys in a number of places but this one was a real character. We were taking in the stunning view from a Wat on top of a hill overlooking the Mekong when this gibbon just ran along the railing in front of us and swung himself up into the rafters.



He had a laze, a groom and then another laze (that's the life for me!), then swung off into a tree and started looking for fruit. Even then, he was only about ten feet away from us and continued to find us apparently quite as fascinating as we found him.



The next fellows were quite clearly domesticated and made up a rather splendid formation barking team as we walked past their home - a buddhist nunnery at the top of a small mountain. Like most Cambodian dogs, they weren't aggressive, just interested and noisy.



And now for afters. Some are cooked. Anyone fancy a deep fried spider? No? How about a crispy cockroach then?

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

Bugs

Those of a nervous disposition, look away now.

We thought it was time to show you some of the more creepy little friends we have met so far. First is this millipede that we found wandering across the path on a jungle trek in Kep.



He was about a foot long (we've seen bigger) and just one of many that appear to aimlessly criss-cross the paths through the jungle. In the photo, Sarah is training him to walk up and down a stick (if you really want it, we also have a video of the event). The next view is one of his cousins, but in a more natural pose.



Next is something a little harder to make out but really fascinating: a Weaver Ants' nest. These ants fold and sew leaves to make their nests in the trees. This one was about 10 feet up and about two feet in length. We resisted the temptation to climb up for a closer look.



The Praying Mantis in the photo below simply decided to join us for breakfast one day in Kampong Cham. She was a good 6 inches long, which we think you'll agree is big for a bug. Beautiful, though.



And now for the piece de resistance. The lady below was stretched out across a path that we wanted to use. The bottom of her web was about 5 feet up and, when we arrived, she was at the top of it. As Sarah snuck underneath, the vibrations attracted her interest and she came down to have a look. If you enlarge the picture, that's about a third of the size she actually was. Yes, that's quite big.



This left Perry with a small dilemma. A well-known arachnophile, he had one or two qualms about trying to sneak under the web, especially since he was wearing a back pack and leaning forward just made him taller. Eventually, he hit upon the solution: poke it with a stick! The idea was to see how the spider would react to the web being twitched more than she might like. It worked, and she withdrew back up to the top without any damage being done to web, spider or planet Earth's dominant species and top predator.

Eventually, the top predator snuck through underneath without even crying.

We might put some pictures of the beautiful butterflies we've also seen on here at some point, just to balance things up a bit. In the meantime, please don't forget the need to keep supporting VSO through our Justgiving page at www.justgiving.com/jagoteers.

To the Jungle! (And the Seaside)

As May rolled in, we decided it was time for a break. We went off to the town of Kep, on the Southern coast of Cambodia. The attraction was multifold: jungle, sea and a very comfortable lodge to stay in. Despite walking our feet off and meeting some interesting new friends in the jungle (of which more in a future post), it was probably the most relaxing time we have had in years. For both of us, walking in the jungle was a whole new experience.

Above is what the jungle looks like when you're not in it. Below is what it looks like when you are.

Behind the lodge where we were staying was Kep national park: a series of hills that were largely still pristine jungle. However, there were two paths you could follow: one around the hills and one to the top. When we say paths, please don't get the wrong impression. We had to dodge spider webs, clamber over fallen trees, avoid soldier ants, watch out for treading on millipedes and, at times, slide downhill on our backsides, grabbing at ant-infested branches to slow us down. All in all, a bit of an adventure. It took us all of one day to walk around the hills, and most of another to get to the top. The evidence is below.

The other great attraction of Kep is the sea, and especially the small islands that are dotted around just off the coast. Unfortunately, the weather turned unpredictable (read downright scary) so we stayed on-shore. Nonetheless, there was plenty of fabulous seafood to be had, fresh out of the water. The picture below was taken from our table at a little wooden restaurant that sat right on the sea. In it, a fisherwoman is dragging a crab pot ashore straight to the restaurant. That's fresh.

Before you all mark Kep down as the next hot destination, perhaps we should point out a few things. First, Kep is not easy to get to. There is a bus, but until you've sampled the delights of the Phnom Penh Sorya Transport Company, you can't really understand what that means. Suffice it to say that it arouses comment when the driver actually has a proper seat that is fixed to the floor. No problem, you might say. No, not until you're hurtling along a potholed road at about 70 km/hour and a bullock cart pulls out right in front of you. No problem, you might still say (you can go around it) until you see the 5,000-ton Russian Kamaz logging truck coming the other way and taking up just about the whole of the road. What we're saying here is that it's almost as bad as going by Ryanair, but probably takes even longer.

Then, when you arrive, there's nothing actually there. Administratively, Kep is a city and has the same theoretical status as Phnom Penh. This is because, up to the 1960s, it was indeed Cambodia's premier resort. Unfortunately, that kind of thing did not go down well with a particular previous Cambodian government. Consequently, Kep is now mostly a ruin, although many of the ruins are still inhabited.



There are one or two hotels, a nice, if small, beach, and what is known as the Crab Market: a series of landing stages and restaurant shacks where the food is as good as the menu is incomprehensible, and where the subject of food hygiene or safety has never reared its ugly head. If you're looking for the Costa del Sol, go to the Costa del Sol. On the other hand, we found it one of the most fascinating, charming and relaxing places we had ever been. We've already booked to go back.

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

A Man Needs a Fish Like a Woman Needs a Bicycle

Perry has started to settle into his job with the Fisheries Administration. His title is Provincial Planning Advisor. Sounds good, but there are one or two wee snagettes with providing advice to the provincial fisheries departments. First, none of them speak English. Second, there can be anywhere from 1 to 97 staff within the department (no, not joking) to do the same job. Third, none of them has any experience of planning. Fourth, very few of them have ever seen a computer, let alone used one. Just the environment that Microsoft Project was designed for. Perry is now starting to understand why his department in the Headquarters went pale when he produced some Gantt charts recently. Still, at least there's only one direction to move in - forward. Oh yes, and some of the provincial fisheries departments apparently take a couple of days just to get to from Phnom Penh. Oh well, we wanted fresh challenges.

Enough waffle, time for some pix. These show some of the ways that Cambodian people actually catch fish, with or without the assistance of the Provincial Planning Advisor.



This is probably pretty much as you would expect to see: a small boat with nets and most of the effort done by hand. It's pretty typical; although there are quite a few larger boats on Tonle Sap lake and along the coast, this is still how most Cambodian fishing people sustain themselves and, if they're lucky, make a living.



These are the sort of larger boats that are used on the coast. Bear in mind that a lot of other nations in the area are using large trawlers (often illegally), and you can see that the Cambodians have a struggle on their hands



Perhaps more surprising is that a lot of the fishers spend pretty much all of their lives on the water. This is a small floating village on the Mekong. On Tonle Sap Lake, these villages are widespread and sometimes of considerable size.



Cages like this are also used, both to catch and to rear fish. Aquaculture (fish farming) is becoming increasingly important in Cambodia, as fish catches at best remain level, whilst population continues to increase.

But what do you get as a result? Ah yes, fish. The Giant Mekong Catfish can grow up to 4 metres long, but you're more likely to find something a little smaller in the market. The fish below went from river to market to barbecue all in the same day. Tasted pretty good, too.



So why the title for this post then? Well, while Perry has been learning about fish, the shocking truth is that Sarah has been riding a bicycle and has even taken delivery of one of her very own from VSO's Arthur Daley concession lot. Here's the evidence of her pedalling prowess, taken on the bamboo bridge near Kampong Cham - one false wobble and she's in with the fish, hence completing the cycle (sorry).



It may take a few moments for the clip to download, so please be patient.

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

The Cambodian Times Educational Supplement

Sarah goes to school...

This was my first experience of the Cambodia outside of Phnom Penh, at the end of March. A beautiful communal verandah in a tranquil meadow in Siem Reap, being used from 7-11am for the village preschool. A few of the '5' year olds looked at least 7. The charming teacher was teaching simple numbers (like 6=first grade maybe?) & colours & names of animals & how they should look after the fish in the river. ... And eat them prepared with ginger & greens & a nice bowl of steamed fragrant rice... I was starting to think about lunch as we had set off at 5 in the morning...



This below was a delightful scene. This little chap turned up with mum & just stood quietly & peeped in rapt attention at his elders & betters having the lesson. Uniform optional as you can see!



The village had an NGO supported handicraft scheme where women weave silk & rattan & sew really very nice purses, bags, scarves etc.



This is how the silk is made, one single thread at a time, that is brought in line with the rest & checked carefully for straightness, the frame is adjusted to bring the next one over or under. It is beautifully patterned, & can cost $50-60 for enough for a skirt length - & that's not tourist prices but what Cambodian women also would pay for a skirt for weddings etc. I bought a beautiful scarf for $9. Note the beautiful shiny black hair of the young lady. People's hair here is wonderful, sure there is something in the river water... hmm marketing oppo!



Now to Koh Kong on the Thai border for Education Training Conference in May. Below is a typical fishing boat on the river front. These very attractive boats are all a bit different but all painted in various blue/green shades with complicated 2 storey cabins on top. They are sea -going as the river flows into the sea about a mile up the river. Needless to say the fish & crabs are stunningly fresh.



NOT on one of those boats but a classic long narrow Vietnamese style fishing boat... 20 of us went up the river to visit a wonderful fishing village community school right where the river meets the sea. Annoyingly, a lot of the photos didn't come out but the view of the banks was lovely with forested hills coming down to palm trees & mangrove swamps.

The village shop - fresher fish than Sainsburys!

This is a view down the library of the school, note the hammocks lining the sides, the books hang up on lines under the thatch. When you hear that the village is knee deep in water at seasons of high tide, you know it makes sense!

There is a great little ecology micro system next to the library. The school director is inspirational & set this mini mangrove swamp up to show the villagers why it works not to burn the mangroves for charcoal, how the crabs there live in seashells & how when the tide rises, fish can be farmed. It may sound odd to have to teach them why their traditional ways work, but they can be so easily wiped out, with bad consequences for the whole eco system & the humans in it.

More from your intrepid correspondents soon. In the meantime, please don't forget the need to keep supporting VSO through our Justgiving page at www.justgiving.com/jagoteers.