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Published: February 28th 2015
Kneading dough for rice noodles
Interesting process that starts with producing flour from rice kernels, kneading the flour, pressing out excess water, pressing through a sieve directly into boiling water to cook for a few minutes.My older sister is showing us up this afternoon as Ray & I decided to take a break from activities. Most of our group has gone back to the Angkor park area for a visit to Ta Prohm, an untouched temple with vegetation growing throughout. This a.m. we walked around the massive Angkor Wat (City Temple) which is the largest religious site in the world. Imagine it's size by picturing the surrounding moat that is 570 feet wide. Since I haven't written for 3 days I will quickly catch up.
On Feb. 26 another plane trip took us to Siem Riep, Cambodia. There are 11 flights for this trip, including the Burma pre-trip. This does not include the 3 flights each way, from U.S. I guess flights are better than day-long bus rides on bumpy, dusty roads.
A long-tail boat ride took us on Tonle Sap Lake. We are in the dry season when the lake shrinks to about 1/8 the normal size but will swell considerably providing fishing and farming opportunities for locals. We stopped at a "floating village" where the homes are built on bamboo rafts and rise and flow with the ever changing levels of the
Released 3 birds
Buddhist tradition to release birds granting freedom to the birds and self earning good karma. water. This is primitive living yet the people are relaxed and very happy. Children were helping parents with work chores including fixing fish nets as they swam in the murky brown water. Because they are surrounded by water it is required that all school children know how to swim prior to enrolling in local schools. We stopped in a home and spoke with the family who raise alligators for leather and food. Once back on land, a ride on carts pulled by water buffalo was an interesting experience.
A visit to the Angkor National Museum with it's impressive collection relating to the history of Khmer civilization, prepared us for today's excursion within the Angkor Wat complex. Also, a visit to Banteay Srei (Citidel of Women) which is one of the oldest (AD 967) and most beautifully preserved temple sites in Cambodia. Built by Hindu Raja Kuru, it is recognized as a tribute to female beauty.
Our guide Leap, is 36 years old with a wife and 3 year old daughter. For 7 years he lived as a novice and monk, where he was educated for free and received 1 hour of English lessons per week. As a tuk-tuk
Floating Village
elementary school driver he practiced English by listening to radio and TV. He met a woman from NYC who sponsored him in school and he has 2.5 years of college completed. His English is the best we have heard. Leap is the sole wage earner for 8 people that includes his immediate family, a sister and her husband, mother-in-law and a couple other relatives. They live in an apartment with 2 bedrooms and a living area. They eat on the floor and sleep on thin mats with several sleeping in the living room. Even though some work, he asks no money from them as he wants them to save their money so they can get ahead. This is the normal practice and he is happy to do this. It costs Leap $700/month to house and feed the family which is almost all his income. He has electricity, fans, a computer, cell phone and TV as well as a motor scooter. Several years ago he used his savings to pay for health care for his father who later died of complications that in a developed country with state supported health care, likely could have been treated. As a child, Leap remembers playing with
unexploded land mines where he and his friends would gather them from the fields. Daily, they would hear explosions and were thrilled, because this usually meant food -- the mine would go off after an animal stepped on it. There are 14.5 M people in the country who are disabled from these explosions. There are still 3 - 400 wounded per year. Leap has 4 childhood friends who got jobs as de-miners with $500/month pay. Two are now dead because of on-the-job explosions. The land mines from Vietnam were made from wood and plastic which can not be detected with a metal detector. They are now using German Shepard dogs to sniff them out and are in the process of training rats to do the same.
This afternoon we had lunch in a home within the Angkor Wat Park area where 10,000 indigenous people still live in this UNESCO protected area that spans 96 square miles . There are 7 people living together in this family including the mother and father, daughter, husband and baby and sister and her husband. They are farmers and the women served us a delicious meal which we helped cook. They also sleep on
Floating village
Children playing thin mats on the floor that get rolled up each morning. 77% of people in Cambodia do not have electricity or a toilet. Teachers earn $70 -$300 per month.
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Mary Grigware
non-member comment
I know for sure that I do not want to live in Cambodia !!!! I would have a lot of trouble eating where you are. You will be coming home in a few more days ?