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.

Up Country

No sooner had we settled in to our appartment than we split up again. Sarah settled down to work in earnest (of which more anon), while Perry went off to Kampong Cham to do the main bulk of his language training.

Kampong Cham is a smallish town about 120 km northeast of Phnom Penh and situated on the River Mekong. It's an awful lot quiter than Phnom Penh and proved to be a good location for learning, exploring and, from time to time, socialising. A typical day would start at about 7 with breakfast at the communal house where most of the crowd were staying. Then off to class at 8 for 4 hours solid slog. Then lunch back at the house, followed by revision or, quite often, a wee nap. Most afternoons the more foolhardy amongst the crowd (yes, that does include Perry, but how nice of you to ask) then went off exploring on our bikes. Much of the countryside was delightful and we also gained a bit of an insight into rural Cambodian life. The picture below was taken from the top of a hill, looking down on the Mekong.

You can see what appear to be beaches in the distance. They're not - at least, most of the time, they're not. What you can see is the bottom of the river, which is at its lowest level at the height of the dry season. In a couple of months, the water level will be 15 metres (that's nearly 50 feet) higher. For what this means to Cambodians, see the next picture.

This is the bamboo bridge that runs across from just south of Kampong Cham to an island in the Mekong. It may look rickety. It is. Nonetheless, both Perry and Sarah cycled across it, avoiding the workmen who are constantly maintaining and repairing it, and without (quite) falling into the river. When the rainy season comes, the river washes the bridge away. This happens every year, and every year they rebuild it anew. Frankly, it felt as if you could wash it away with a garden hose. But, apart from the bicycles and motorbikes, it's constantly being crossed by ponies and carts, motorcycles with trailers and even cars (our view on that one is that there's no bloody way on Earth...). Perry has a great video clip he took while cycling across holding on with one hand. It almost ends tragically as he loses control of both camera and bike. Unfortunately, we can't post it as he had the sound recording on.

Sarah came up for the Khmer New Year weekend (12 - 14 April) and the whole gang made a bit of a party of it. One of the highlights was a boat trip up the Mekong, with exploring and, for the stout hearted, swimming. In the evening, we put on a barbecue and played our favourite music (jokingly called Mekong Island Discs). All agreed that it was a particularly fine day. In the photo below, Sarah is boarding the boat. The gangplank was fairly rotten, but then so was most of the timber on the boat. Sarah managed not to fall in and the pump on the boat worked just faster than the leaks.

As part of the in-country training, Perry got to spend a weekend staying with a Cambodian family in a small village some distance out of Kampong Cham along the banks of the River Mekong. It was a great opportunity to see Cambodian village life and to try using the Khmer (with mixed success and quite a lot of laughter). The picture below shows a typical village scene. Outside of the towns (and even in them in many cases), most Cambodian houses are still the traditional style, made of wood and up on stilts. Like all the wood in Cambodia, that used in the houses has often seen better days. Perry particularly remembers one ominous crunching, splitting noise as he was going upstairs in the dark. Hope the family eventually found the broken bit.

Oh yes, after we finished our afternoon's exploring, we had dinner and then either played games or occasionally went to one of the two rather fine bars on the waterfront. No need to say too much, but some of the crowd now know what time the sun comes up in Cambodia. Those games can be terribly addictive.

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

At Home

We moved into our bijou des res (appartment for any plebs reading) in April. The first thing we had to do was equip the place as it contained furniture, cooker, fridge (luxury!) and nothing else. Most of our stuff was bought and/or haggled for in the market. As you can see below, plastic appears to feature very heavily in this year's Cambodian chic.

Do you have it in any colour other than gop?

Please note that Sarah is not pregnant in the photo above (except with unknown expectation - she's just about to experience Pol Pot's revenge for the first time and is, at this stage, just wondering why she is swelling up).

Nonetheless, we were soon in and comfortable. Having our own space was something of a joy (SOMETHING - hah!) after the weeks of communal living (Sarah only had two of them, Perry rather more, of which more anon). The appartment is on the second floor of a family home, with three generations of the family living below us. The pictures below give some idea of the feel of the place.

This is the living room. Sarah has since moved the furniture around (No! Really?) Below is the vew from the living room out onto the balcony.

And now, as the song goes, we come to the tragic bit. We have to boil and filter all our water (unless we want what to get what are described by the volunteers around here as "pets"). We didn't quite get into a routine in the early days. Once upon a time, early in the morning, Perry put on a kettle to boil that he would later pour into the filter. Sadly, the wicked fairy (going to work) intervened and our hero was dragged away, kicking and screaming. Come lunchtime, however, he escaped and rushed home to have lunch. However, horror on horrors, as he opened the kitchen door, his first thought was "It's bloody hot in here". His second was "And steamy. Oh ****!". He rushed to the cooker but it was too late. We don't know what the melting point of aluminium is, but Perry had found it. The tragic remains were properly disposed of, although Perry's sugestion of giving them a viking funeral didn't go down too well.

Sarah points out that Perry has also since killed the iron in the background. He hasn't harmed her muesli bowl yet, so perhaps becoming a cereal killer is something for the next blog...

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

In Town

For the first few weeks in Cambodia, we stayed in the accommodation at the VSO Programme Office. Five star doesn't come close (no, really, it doesn't come close).



Let me show you to your room, sir. It's just in between the communal area and the meeting room and it contains every luxury...



Even a bed. Oh, allright then, only a bed.

Washing facilities were simple and shared and sometimes surprisingly necessary. One of the pleasures of Cambodia is walking around barefoot or in sandals much of the time. Our toes love the experience but the soles of our feet already seem to be permanently black.



Sarah discovers the drawback of being the first of the group to buy a washing up bowl.

Nonetheless, we did find time for a bit of relaxation...



Perry finds time for that all-essential Del Boy moment. Shortly after this, he resisted the temptation to fall sideways through an open hatchway. That happened later.

More soon - including our move to our own place and the tragic tale of the poor little kettle (murderer pictured above... but who?)

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

We're Not In Kansas Any More...

Here are a few photos of Phnom Penh that give a quick impression of the city as we saw it in out first few days. Clck on the pictures to enlarge.

Picture 1 shows the Old Market, with a couple of monks strolling by.

Picture 2 was taken at another market (at this stage we were blissfully lost, so I can't remember which one). The fresh fruit here is fabulous and abundant. It's as if it grows on trees...

This is Wat Phnom, the most important temple in the city. It's not particularly spectacular as Wats go, but has a very spiritual feeling that is rather diferent from the bustle of the rest of the city.

Last, especially for Eleanor, is a picture of the elephant at Wat Phnom.

More soon (now that we've finally got the blog to work!!). In the meantime, please don't forget the need to keep supporting VSO through our Justgiving page at www.justgiving.com/jagoteers.