February 9, 2015: Ferris Wheels and Muddy Feet!

First day on project started with a carnival type atmosphere. What started as a photo opportunity, turned into an unexpected early morning ferris wheel ride at a small carnival on route to Odong community.

Then it was on to begin construction of two irrigation gates. The gates will be used to manage water flow while providing access across the many irrigation channels. 

Our extended travel to Kep (32 - 36hrs) over the last two days did not deter anyone from enthusiastically getting started with both hands and bare feet. Prior to lunch, footings were excavated for both gates, rock was placed and cement mixed. Then it was off to the Vine Restaurant for lunch.

The afternoon started as everyone expected with placement of the concrete pipes when unfortunately one of the near by gates was opened and resulting in the flooding of our work site. Amazing to see everyone's quick response to remedy the situation (creating a new ditch block up stream and dewatering the project sites). A slight delay. Huge effort by everyone today rewarded with a well deserved swim at Kep beach (muddy clothes and all) and a refreshing Angkor Beer.

Don Brimacombe

DWC Volunteer Team Leader 

Cambodia: February 2015

January 28: Living on a Dollar

Today, I woke up, had breakfast, and then the kids who were working on the latrines got to go to the market.  Many people in Cambodia live on less than a dollar a day.  My group was given one dollar in the market to buy food for two meals.  The market was extremely different from all the grocery stores and markets in Canada.  All the food was fresh and there were even live chickens.  The market was crowded with little huts of Cambodians selling food.  Flies were everywhere, swarming over the raw meat.  It was interesting to see how different our culture is from Cambodian culture.

Trying to buy food at the market with only one dollar was very hard!!  Things were expensive.  We tried bargaining with the women but they couldn't understand us.  It was challenging.  Half way through the market, I began to think about the people in Cambodia that actually live on a dollar a day.  It made me sad, especially when I realized how hard it really is to do.  This was an experience I will never forget.

Alexandria Collymore
DWC Volunteer Participant
Cambodia.  January 28, 2015.

Sunday, Nov 23: Visit to Rabbit Island

Now for the REAL rest and relaxation! We had a late start to the day and the only item on the agenda was to head to Rabbit Island where there is not much to do aside from lay on the beach or get a massage. We hopped on a tuk-tuk to head down to catch a boat to Rabbit Island for the day. 

It took about 20 minutes to boat across to the tiny little island, which featured a beautiful beach, a few eateries and watering holes, and cute little bungalows if you wanted to stay the night. 

We all lazed around the beach and had a massage at our own pace. Sandra, Cathy, and I chose the traditional Khmer massage which came with a “strong” warning, while Todd and Scott decided on an aloe vera massage – which also turned out to be fairly high pressure. The day gave everyone a good opportunity to really unwind, which is just what we needed to get ready for one more week of work on another latrine.

Sarah Armstrong

DWC Team Leader

Cambodia, November 2014

Saturday, Nov 22: Visit to Kampot and Bokor National Park

Today was our first official day of rest and relaxation, and we decided to visit Kampot and Bokor National Park. 

We drove along the southern coast to Kampot, which is famous for their peppercorns and pork ribs. You could definitely see the French colonial influence in the architecture throughout the city. 

In the first half of the day we drove up the mountain to Bokor National Park and took in a variety of sights - I mean a REAL variety! First we saw the huge Lok Yeay Mao monument, which was built within the last few years and is said to protect travelers, fishermen and hunters. Our next stop was to see the Popokvil waterfalls, where you could essentially walk or climb all around the falls to see it from different vantage points. We also saw the casino, Chinese temple, Catholic church, and the abandoned hotel casino ruins. It was quite a mish mash of sights but we got to take in a great view from the mountaintop and the old hotel casino ruins were really neat!

Once we made our way back down the mountain we went into Kampot and had lunch at ‘The Rusty Keyhole’ for "the best ribs in Cambodia". We ordered the 1.5 kg order of ribs to split amongst our group of six people; the restaurant challenges customers to attempt eating this meal – for one – in less than an hour, we definitely weren’t going down that road though! 

After our bellies were full, we walked through the market to check out the multiple displays of wares and food, and to track down some of the famous Kampot peppercorns to take home. 

There were all sorts of fish and other sea creatures laid out on tables or sitting in buckets of water, as well as a variety of meats, vegetables, and fruits available. 

We were on the hunt for durian fruit in particular, which is said to have a very pungent odour, but had no luck since it is currently out of season; we did, however, get to see the durian statue at one of the traffic roundabouts in Kampot. 

We made it back to Kep just in time for a dip in the pool before sunset and then headed out for dinner near the hotel, most of us could barely keep our eyes open through dinner since it had been such an eventful day – good thing we still have one day of some serious rest and relaxation on Rabbit Island planned for tomorrow!

Sarah Armstrong
DWC Team Leader

Cambodia, November 2014