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Published: January 17th 2018
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Day 7 Kampong Chhnang.
100km. Hot again dad. 32 degrees.
Just out of Pursat we came across another roundabout with a massive marble vessel in the centre to signify that we are entering the stone carving area. We watched men with angle grinders and chisels carving huge blocks of stone into a variety of objects. The large Black Cambodian man roundabout yesterday was to commemorate the Indigenous man, who in folklore, found the lost club, or mace, belonging to the king. The man was a pure Moa man who had dark skin, big round eyes and big lips. On the roadside at the edge of town large pots were boiling over a wood fire containing such as sweet corn for the breakfast of passers by. A man was washing clothes in the river at one point - a first in Cambodia so far. Today we had a few bends in the road for a change which made it a little more pleasant, although the traffic seemed a bit faster and sometimes impatient. A 6 wheeler pulling a trailer went past me at a steady 35kph so I jumped on the back and went about 15km at great speed and minimal pedalling.
He pulled in at one point so I passed him and went ahead only to stop to photograph four cows and a calf in a trailer behind a motorbike. The motorbike had its rear wheel rebuilt using reinforcing bar to stand the strain. I hope he also had a good clutch to enable it to set off. I am amazed at the traffic we see carrying a vast array of goods from pots, pans, furniture, timber, vegetables and even hens hanging off the side - dead of course. How can they pull the weights that we see? Anyway, as I set off again after the cows the lorry passed me again. Well you guessed the rest. Eventually I had to stop for the morning picnic and away he went into the distance. At the stop we had some lovely local fruit, mango, pineapple and passion fruit plus loads of crisps of all sorts such as banana and sticky rice buns etc etc. No need for lunch now. Whilst we were there a lady turned up to the houses behind selling fish and vegetables. Kristine was late in since she had been nail collecting but unfortunately in one of her tyres.
At the lunch stop further along the Highway 5 we had a session in the hammocks to rest our weary bodies in Cambodian fashion. The first policeman seen this trip was seen at the picnic stop and he was relaxing in a hammock watching the world go by. Kompong Chhnang is a pottery town and just before it we took a side road and saw clay building bricks being made. Very basic with a lady wielding a spade digging into a pile of clay to put into a hopper to be extruded into the bricks. These were then laid out to dry and then fired in a wood fired kiln. Two ladies and then two young boys were unloading the bricks from the extruder and an oldish man was sat watching whilst clutching a screwdriver and spanner before going to lie down. A baby of less than one year old was left asleep in a hammock. Following this we went to several other small enterprise, one making small earthenware cooking stoves and then firing them in a pyre on open ground. Another two making small noodle/rice bowls and a variety of ornaments. Very interesting and we tried to help the
local economy by buying several small pieces. The local children shout and wave at us travellers with white skins riding unusual bikes at great speed, which is nice, but they must think we are off another planet.
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