Cambodia

[Raiders]

Original post by Faidenk in the sister forum. I have read through and copied only the travel part, leaving behind the erotic moments. Leongsam and the two super moderators, hope you can leave the thread here. I find this travel journey very well written. Thank you

Thank you Faidenk for giving me the permission to repost your journey here.

New Year In The Cambodian Countryside Part 1


The Khmer New Year falls on the 13 of April this year and, faced with a Phnom Penh that will soon be emptied, I agreed without any hesitation to go with a few friends to go visiting some of their employees who hailed from Preah Veng Province. I know, I know, there will be no electricity, lots of mozzies.


So it was to be that Thursday morning the 5 of us Singaporeans packed ourselves in a rickety 10-sitter van, Sam, a long time buddy, and who’s been here in the Kingdom for like 15 years. There were 3 other new arrivals - R, T and RL, semi-retirees on a mission to see if there’s anything they can invest in. The others in the van are Cambodians, the driver, who works for Sam; the driver’s fiancée; Chhan, Sam’s manager and also his right-hand man, Chhan’s uncle.


How is it that so many of Sam’s employees are going to the same kampong? Yep, you guess right, all his employees hail from the same village. 10 years ago he hired his first employee, Chhan, who, as the company expanded, got more and more of his relatives and friends to work for Sam. Now, almost 80% of the employees are related or childhood friends.


The distance from PP to the village isn’t that far, to be fair. The first 2 hours of the journey was travelled on the Highway No. 1. This 4-lane road, although unlit except in towns, is fairly good, all built with money from grants from foreign countries. The rough going starts on the 3rd hour when the van turns off the highway, from then until the village proper, it’s a 2-lane dirt track. If we were going slow, I can imagine how much slower it would be in the rainy season. When the rain comes, it pours for days on end, lasting like 2 months. The entire countryside, now browned with cracked dry padi fields, would be completely flooded as far as the eyes can see. From the air, it’s like a giant lake criss-crossed only by roads and peppered by housed built on stilts. All roads in Cambodia are raised by a good meter or 2.


After another hour or so, the van turned into another smaller road, more bumpy, less cars. The van’s air-con was acting up and we had to turn it off. The windows were slid back and first whiff of the countryside permeates the van. The earthy smell of dung, from cows, pigs and occasional pony. As we passed houses after houses, it seems a lot to me these country folks are animal lovers, there are cows under their houses, peacefully cohabiting with a pig or 10, and chickens, lots of chickens and the inevitable dogs. Now I am beginning to wonder, if I can smell them from a moving vehicle….

Eventually we reached our destination at around 11am. Chhan’s uncle has agreed to put us up at his house. We unloaded our overnight bags and hauled them up to the house. As you can see from the pic, the house is built on concrete columns although I came across some that are, I’m sure out of cost considerations, fashioned of wood.

The entire house measures 150sqm, with 3 tiny rooms about 3 x 4 m, 2 of which are bedrooms and one’s a kitchen, which is odd, considering there’s no sink nor plumbing. The rest of the house is quite bare, a small cabinet of sorts, on top of which sits a antique 16” JVC TV, I’m not sure if it’s a CTV because, well, there’s no electricity supply. The rest of the space is one big living room. The uncle has already prepared our ‘beds’, 6 mats on the bamboo floor from which we can see the ground below through the slits between the bamboo strips. Each of us gets a cushion for pillow with a blanket. Ah, good, the blanket can be doubled up for a bolster. Other than that, the house is tidy and nicely kept.


All of us are now ready to take a shower to wash the grime and dirt of the journey off. There’s only one outhouse so we had to take our turns. When it came to mine, I negotiated carefully the 10m of ground generously littered with cowdung. The bathroom was quite pleasantly tiled. I had expected it dark and damp, pieces of rotting planks over ground for floor and horrors, cobwebs everywhere and mosquitoes. The toilet was of course squatting type, OK, I can live with that. I looked around, the bathroom was illuminated by the pre-fab bricks with holes patterned in and wondered what if I had to take a dump in the middle of the night.


The portion of the small room was bricked up to store water for the shower, how the uncle gets the water in I can only guess as I don’t see any plumbing, and where does the water comes from? I don’t see a well outside. Anyway the water is a good relief from the 35 degree heat outside.


OK, everyone is done and we’re ready to start the New Year celebrations at Chhan’s house.

 

[Raiders]

New Year In The Cambodian Countryside Part 2

First destination of many was Chhan’s house. A humble shophouse along the dirt road, the family runs a grocery shop of sorts, selling ice and rice, coffee, noodle soup and as far as I can see, not much else. Needles to say, every time a car or a truck goes by, it brings in its wake a cloud of dust, settling down on everyone and everything, including that cuppa coffee or bowl of soup you are eating.

We greet the parents, pinched the cheeks of the little kids and were ushered to the backyard. We walked by the kitchen housed in another shack, past the pigstyle with a pig and a few piglets in it, I didn’t count because the smell was overpowering. On the right was another shack - the bathroom, then a overgrowth of trees, mangoes, guavas and other fruit trees which were not fruiting yet therefore unidentifiable by me. Further in, a pond, no, 2 ponds, with ducks swimming about. The shed has been built besides the pond with a raised bamboo platform, able to sit maybe 10. Cambodians loved to do their social interactions sitting on these, eating, drinking and talking. There are beer gardens on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, along the beaches down in the south, where people eat & interact.

Chhan, knowing foreigners are not accustomed to sitting without chairs, had thoughtfully laid out tables and chairs. The beers were already chilled and ready In large ice boxes, 5 cartons at least. Before the session ended, we would consumed another 5.

The food was brought out, chicken pieces fried with ginger, lemongrass and garlic, stewed duck, served by the sisters and other relatives. We ate, and we drank, and we drank. It was just before noon. By 2pm, 3 hired hands came and wade into the waist high pond and plucked and removed the large tree branches from the pond. Curious, I asked why they were there in the first place. To prevent the ducks from eating the fish. Ignorant city bumpkins, they were polite not to add.

After the pond was clear of the debris, 2 of them went in again, each holding an end of the net shaped like a tennis net, and walked from one end to the other of the pond. Fishes were jumping all over by the time they neared the other side. They lifted the net out onto the ground. The fishes were then sorted, those to be eaten, the fries, catfishes and so on. The smaller ones were thrown back, the catfishes were thrown into the other pond, the fries surprisingly were poured into a small basin. The larger ones size of an adult’s palm were immediately washed but not scaled or gutted, and put into a bucket with ice and water and salt in it.

While all these was going on, a charcoal stove was lit. 5 fishes were grilled on a chicken wire at a time, and served to us, scales and all. I took one and used a fork to brush the scales off easily. Chhan’s friend told me not to, the scales are crispy and nice, he said. I tried a piece with scales and all and yes, the scales were indeed crispy.

More friends of Chhan came, more plates of chicken and duck were served. We were completely stuffed and were content to just sip our beer. The newcomers will not have that from their foreign visitors and keep filling our glasses and ‘che mui’, bottoms up. I took refuge after a while by going to the bathroom and took a quick shower to wash off the sweat and grime accumulated from the journey and afternoon sun.

By 4 pm, I was flat out sleeping on the bamboo platform. When I woke, it was already 5. The others were still drinking and eating. In a while more we were scheduled to visit some relatives of Chhan, and more drinking and eating followed.

 

[Raiders]

New Year In The Cambodian Countryside Part 3

The stream of events that followed became a haze, we must have gone to visit at least 2 other families. Each plied us with beer, and chicken fried with ginger, and more beer. One of my friends remarked don’t they have some variety but another wisely said hey, look around you, these people are dirt poor, we ought to be grateful, this probably is the best they have and they’re putting it out for us. That woke us up a bit and we tried our very best to show our gratitude to the host. So, we gave maybe $10 to $20 to the children at each destination, knowing it is a huge amount to these folks and goes to defray the cost of food and beers incurred.

The round of visits was deemed over for the day at around 6pm, the sun setting over the parched padi fields. In a while it would be dark. We went back to Chhan’s uncle’s house to shower and prepare for the evening’s activities. The district chief holds a party once every year at this time. The uncle had a genset running to power a foot-long fluorescent light up in the living room as well as another in the bathroom, a nice touch. So we all took turns to shower, walking gingerly to the outhouse to avoid stepping on any freshly dumped fertilizer. At around 8 or so we took off to the party of the year.

On arrival, our party were ushered to a table and served beers. We brought along 3 cartons of the excellent Angkor beer. The brewery was built by a Malaysian group. In the early years, the beer was far from palatable and sales lagged behind Anchor Beer. Ever since Carlsberg bought a majority stake in Angkor the quality has improved tremendously and today it commands a lion’s share of the Cambodian market. Considering its majority foreign ownership, its labeled ‘Our Country, Our Beer’ is an irony. Nevertheless, it’s an excellent beer.

The district chief came over and because foreigners are quite a rare sight to folks in this parts, we were treated like VIPs. A rather large dish was served, I couldn’t make out what it was initially in the poor light but upon closer scrutiny, turned out to be boiled pig offals. Intestines, stomach, brain, liver, tongue and other parts I couldn’t identify, served with a plate of salt, pepper & lime juice. I took a piece of liver and from its tastelessness, surmised that the offal is boiled in plain water without any seasoning. More cholesterol I do not need, and in any case we weren’t all that hungry from the food we had eaten the entire day.

We turned our attention to the throngs of people dancing away, doing the rhombong (spelling?). If it’s different from the Thai style of dancing, you know, hands doing the ‘$5 out, $3 in’ moves while going around in circles, I wouldn’t know about it, me, who’s born with 2 left feet. Nevertheless, we were dragged out by several ladies who wouldn’t see us boys sitting there. So there we were, dumb ignorant city boys trying hard not to embarrass ourselves going around and round a table with some flower arrangement on it. Eventually we got the hang of it, the routine isn’t that difficult, 6 basic steps and unlike line dancing, and it doesn’t deviate much, so that pretty much suits me fine.

The uncle has arranged for a gen-set set up to power up a small florescent light to the living room we were to sleep in and another to the bathroom. We were glad to pay the $12 for the rental of the gen-set for the night which includes the diesel. Except for S, who made a sad choice of sleeping near the tiny florescence light and had insects which were attracted by the light crawling all over him the whole night, our snores resonate throughout the quiet Cambodian countryside in blissful harmony with the crickets.

It came as a surprise to me in an environment like this, with a pond and animal droppings in the compound of every house, there is a noticeable absence of flies and mosquitoes. Perhaps the rain hasn’t arrived yet but that still does not explain the flies. Cockroaches too. The villagers are not exactly tidy housekeepers, they tend throw things discriminately everywhere, even in Phnom Penh and perhaps even more so.

Our cock crowed, I opened my eyes and it was still fairly dark. I looked at my mobile, it was 5.30. Damn, it’s too early to be up but the crowing continued every 30 seconds or so. A few of the others were also stirring save for S, the insect lover. The uncle was up and about, having already let the cows and chickens out, and was weeding his vegetable plot. His teenage son was surly, kept to himself and eyed us probably with resent in his heart. I don’t blame him, jobs in this part of the country are scarce, prospect even dimmer. Ill-educated, what can he can look forward to, there’s nothing constructive here to keep him occupied. He would probably end up in the city competing with other country migrants for odd-jobs, no wonder he is resentful.

 

[Raiders]

New Year In The Cambodian Countryside Part 4 Final


So, what are we looking at today? Well, more of the same. Frankly, I am looking forward to going back to Phnom Penh. Going out to the country seemed a good idea at the time, smell the fresh country air, the flowers, relaxing by the stream. In reality, it’s bull shit I’m smelling; and the dust gets to you after a while. And to think 30 years ago I harbored dreams of a country home in Northern Thailand.

The day passed agonizingly slowly by, more Angkor beer and free-range chicken fried with ginger. One of my party wagered a bet of 2 cartons of beer when Chhan’s friend said tonight he will introduce a Dutch girl to us tonight. Yeah right, a Nederlandse frau in the middle of the Cambodian country where there is an absence of electricity and running water, and you can’t shit without your bum bitten by mozzies, where waft after waft of fresh cowdung hits your nose as you sleep on the bamboo floor above. Well, the bet is on, and nothing more was said about the Dutch girl.

About 6 in the evening, after we had freshen up with another much needed shower, we packed ourselves in the van and stopped at a pitch dark house in the middle of nowhere. The van’s headlights the only source of light, the host and a few other guys carried out 2 bamboo platforms that were to be out seating and dining area. Chilled beers from an eskie from the back of the van were distributed and another round of drinking began. I swear I’ll give beer up.

At the back of the house, several people were preparing food, all women folks, huddling over pots on on a makeshift stove dug in the ground. When the food was served, Chhan’s friend triumphantly tapped our friend on the shoulder, here your Dutch girl. Our jaws dropped, sure as the LKY is MM, a young (maybe 25) Angmo girl stood there and introduced to everyone. Anyway, I shied away because everyone was talking to her, the usual questions, what you doing here etc. She’s working for an NGO in Sihanoukville and she’s, well, making use of the Khmer New Year holidays, much like us, coming with her colleague to visit her family.

When everybody’s curiosities were satisfied, they went back to their drinking. I took a beer and handed it to her. She was a bit hesitant but I reassured her Khmer ladies drink as well, and in any case, even if ladies drinking is frowned upon, she’s excused because she’s a barang. I reinforced myself by saying many other things goes on behind the seemingly conservative frontage, I mean, look at the numbers of divorces, the single mothers, babies borne out of wedlock, numbers of girls working in bars, beer gardens all over Cambodia. Nah, I said, a beer is about as sinful as the Pope drinking wine in Communion.

We got to talking and the beer loosen my tongue and bit and I told her of my 3 years in Europe (then Western) and the 2 in Amsterdam, working in the CTA as a lashing gang crew in the 70s. She wasn’t even born yet and found it quite fascinating as I described Amsterdam, Ibiza (in sunny Spain) and other places as they used to be. Her English was excellent and that was useful, as my command of Dutch is all but forgotten, only some words unmentionable in polite company permanently etched in my storage drive.

Like us, she was leaving the next day back to civilization. We said our goodnights and bye byes, she promised to call me if anytime she’s in Phnom Penh and we left it at that. Nice girl, about 26, and yes, sometimes, she revealed, she indulges in a smoke or 2 of the happy herb.

After that, another ho-hum dancing around a bouquet on a table hosted by another local governor or something, eating unmentionables from the inside of the pig, it’s back to the uncle’s house before leaving for Phnom Penh the next day. This night, there was no generator, instead, the small lamp was hooked up to a car battery and left on for the night, by the next morning, the battery’s flat. I had been asked to source for used car batteries in Singapore and Malaysia and I was wondering what it’s going to be used for, certainly the batteries, no matter how good the reconditioning is, would be unsuitable for use in cars ever again. Now my curiosity has been satisfied.

We reached Phnom Penh round about 6 in the evening, a shower at home and all of us hit the bars that night, vows of giving up beer all but forgotten. It’s good to be back. And I’m never going to complain about the power blackouts that hit Phnom Penh ever again.

 

[PohLonTat]

can someone post some pics here...

 

[chuckyworld]

Cambodia, nice, it is the heat make me sweat like i just came out from shower, will look up for the photos, if i can find it among all the other photos i took.....