Mekong Madness

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After leaving Phnom penh we headed of to Owen and Sreyda's home village. It was a wonderful thing that they opened their home and hearts for us. We never would have been able to experience a time in a Kmer village otherwise. We were able to distribute more shirts along the way and thankfully the bag is growing lighter with every visit to a school or orphanage. Some children are not orphans as such, rather their parents leave them so that they can go off to work. some families work at factories in the cities and are not in a position to lookaftert heir children. We did meet several children who did not have any family. the amazing thing is that these kids were clean and happy. In some cases they attend the local school.

On the way we were able to stop at a roadside market and sample a variety of fruits and other food including tarantulas - deep fried with garlic. they were OK.... Another thing ticked off the bucket list.

In the village of Baray we were able to visit the Samroeng Pagoda where we have made a small donation in the past to the school. the young monk was very happy to meet us and later that night we were able to go to the temple to go dancing. so, in the shadow of the local Buddhist temple we had a go at traditional Kmer dancing while the beats pumped from a pretty large set of speakers. Traditional dancing to Gangnam style music! it was a fabulous night, and the fish amok was pretty good too.

Wednesday saw us in in the big yellow car, with Sreyda's cousin at the wheel, and heading off to Campong Cham. the mighty Mekong is in full flood at the moment at has broken its bank at Campong Cham. Sandbagging was happening in the street below the hotel. we visited an orphanage that was flooded, and also distributed shirts here. Dinner at the Lazy Mekong Daze was pretty good, Cambodian lager 75c for a mug. chilled perfectly it was the ideal way to end off a hot dusty day. our beds for the night were at the Hotel Monorom -a little dramatic with the wooden decor but very comfortable. Our very ornate room with free wifi was $30.

One of the highlights of the day was definitely the blessing with the monks.

I think we are spending about $5-6US per meal. food has been really tasty and very nice.

Water in the Mekong has come from Loas and Vietnam where dam mitigation has resulted in releases from major dams into the Mekong, so although its flooding in the lower areas! the sky is blue and the weather hot.

Today, heading north up into Preahvihear province we travelled through crop lands where rice and bananas lined the road! as did the farmers. our stop tonight sees us at a beautiful guest house in Tbaeng Meanchey we are about 80 km from the Thai border. tomorrow we head off to a temple that has been hotly disputed between Thailand and Cambodia.

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