We woke up again to a driving rain storm and what seems like the real
monsoon. At breakfast, we discussed options including taking the time
to visit some local schools or travel around the area to see more
sights, but the rain was so heavy that Vy told us that the schools
wouldn't even be in session because the kids all rode their bikes and
scooters to school and the rain was too heavy for that.
Vy thought of buying tarps and using them to shield us from the rain
and wind, so she called Mr Song and it looked like we had everything
worked out. We loaded up just before 0900 during what appeared to be a
lull in the rain and everyone was pretty excited about the opportunity
to get some work done. However, about five minutes into our drive to
the work site, the rain started up again in earnest and was coming down
as hard or harder than ever. We turned down the muddy road from Highway
33 and it was barely passable. When we got to the front of the house
that bordered our work, we saw that the pond we'd been crossing on a log
was huge and the logs and bridge were invisible. Vy, Dan, and Winston
got out of the car to reconnoiter the situation, but it just looked
hopeless. We might've just waded across the pond, but the rain was
falling so hard and the wind was so strong that no one thought the tarps
would hold or be able to protect us and our work. Sadly, we decided to
turn back.
At the hotel, there was just not much to do except read, watch movies,
and wait for lunch. The rain never really stopped all day. A little
after noon, there was a short period of near clearing, so I walked about
a mile to the crab market just to get some exercise. I walked around
the market area to see what was being sold and I purchased some packages
of local peppercorns as gifts and souvenirs (white, red, and black).
The rained started to pick up then and I ducked into a restaurant for
lunch just as another mini-typhoon wave of torrential rain hit the
shoreline.
It seemed like the tarps and decking at the restaurant were going to
blow in for a while, but the rain eventually let up as I finished a
relatively quick lunch of grilled barracuda and rice with a big bottle
of Angkor beer. When I left, it was hardly raining and I managed to
make it back to the hotel before it started again.
That's how the day went. We'd have a short break,but you could just
see the clouds building and another wave would sweep in. Hansena and
Luke took advantage of one short break to rent mountain bikes and tour
the area a little, but they cam back soaked to the bone. I hung out on
the deck reading most of the afternoon, as did Dylan.
We talked about other activities, but not much was really possible.
Hansena brought up our desire to make sure that any unexpended funds
from our trip (that we'd already paid to DWC) to to Equitable Cambodia
to make sure the latrines were finished even if we couldn't do the work
and Dan assured us that that would be the case.
Finally, at 1830, we returned to Holy Crab for another great dinner and
talked about our chances of getting more work done tomorrow given the
forecast (bad) and how we would handle our school visit on Friday (if it
occurred at all) prior to the drive to Phnom Penh, dinner, and our
departure from the airport to return home.
The cadets have kept a good attitude and managed to find productive
ways to keep themselves busy during the breaks, but I can tell that it's
wearing on them as it is me.
I did manage to take a few shots in the rain today, and here's the slide show:
All the Best,
Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
July 8: Rain Out
We awoke to torrential rain and thunder, but hoped that things would
clear and we drove to our work sites this morning. It looked like our
hopes would be fulfilled as we saw a few glimmers of blue and the
precipation subsided for a little while. When we arrived and parked the
van, the little pond we needed to cross was swollen and the palm log
was insufficient to cross. The homeowner graciously waded out into the
pond barefoot (clearly thinking, "What's up with the American's that
can't get their feet wet") and placed another log to bridge part of the
gap. The last few steps were still tricky, though, much to the delight
of our spectators.
We each split up into our two groups and headed over to work. Just the senior sister was home at our project and she was very happy to see us again. Vy told us the day before that she was 49, but she looked easily 60. She doesn't know a word of English, but we're all trying to communicate and learn a few words--Winston most of all.
We bailed our cement pit of water--it had about two inches of standing water in it from the rain--and were close to beginning to mix concrete when Jay pointed to the Southeast and we saw a squall line incoming. We waited for almost two hours for the weather to clear, but we never go to the point of being able to mix concrete and go to work. Vy translated for me as I spoke to the woman of the house and senior of the three sisters that we met the day before. She said that five lived in the house, plus the grandmother who often slept there. This included her daughter (teenager), her youngest sister who had a small baby, and her son. All three of the sisters were widows. The youngest had just lost her husband recently, while the oldest had lost her husband in conflicts with the Khmer Rouge after the 1979 liberation. She said that her husband had been in the Army and had died shortly after their daughter (youngest child) was born. The daughter looks like she's about 16 or 17, so that would put his death sometime in the late 90s. She also said that her middle sister just lived a few kilometers away and visited often. I asked who worked the rice fields that surrounded the house and she said that she did most of the work. Having seen her use the hoe to dig the day before, I believed her! She also pointed out her well that had been built four year before with contributions from a Cambodian restaurant in California. Looking into the well, you could see that the water table was only about a meter down. Still, they got all of their water from it. Vy said that any drinking or cooking water is first boiled, though, and since it tastes so bad they usually only drink it in the form of tea. (Photos)
At about 1030, we decided to just go to the Vines, tour the peppercorn farm, catch an early lunch and hope things would clear. Lunch was again fantastic with a fish and tomato soup and some stir-fired veggies. We are eating healthily here. Soon after we started eating the weather seemed to clear and we went about a half hour without a sprinkle. Vy called Mr Song and we packed up after lunch and headed back to work. I did get a chance to take some pictures of Dan's friend, Savorn, and his 18-month-old son which I liked a lot. (Photos) I also took a lot of flower shots... (Photos)
When we arrived back the work site, the water had gone down in the pond and we forded it easily. It wasn't raining, so at our site we bailed out the new inch of water in the concrete ring and Annie and Winston wanted to start mixing a batch even though jay wasn't there yet to give instructions. I cautioned against it and Dan agreed. Dan pointed out that losing a full bag of cement was probably more costly to them that a day's work--the raw materials were relatively expensive--and that we should proceed without Jay's direction and some clearer skies. Sure enough, about five minutes later, the skies opened up and it rained for the next 90 minutes almost non-stop. We sat on the front porch of our homeowners house and just watched it rain. In the barnyard area, rain ran like little rivers towards the rice paddies that were gently terraced and connected with small drainage ditches to slow the flow between each and keep the young rice submerged by about three inches. The rain just didn't let up. We couldn't even get back to the work site for some time and when it slowed for a few minutes, it would recommence even harder than before.
By 1400, we just decided that we just had to call it a day. It rained all of the way back to the hotel and is still drizzling as I write this. The forecast isn't much better for our remaining days either. We'd been lucky in the first week to get the work done with only minor interruptions for rain, but this IS the rainy season and our luck seems to have run out. We're committed to doing as much as possible and will work into Friday morning if the weather allows. Still, the cadets are disappointed and frustrated to have a task in front of them and not be able to get it done. (Photos)
Everyone relaxed for about 90 minutes back at the hotel and we slowly congregated on the deck/cabana area to play some pool and cards. There's really not much else left to do until the weather clears, so we'll try to make the best of it.
Here's today's slide show...
All the Best,
Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014
We each split up into our two groups and headed over to work. Just the senior sister was home at our project and she was very happy to see us again. Vy told us the day before that she was 49, but she looked easily 60. She doesn't know a word of English, but we're all trying to communicate and learn a few words--Winston most of all.
We bailed our cement pit of water--it had about two inches of standing water in it from the rain--and were close to beginning to mix concrete when Jay pointed to the Southeast and we saw a squall line incoming. We waited for almost two hours for the weather to clear, but we never go to the point of being able to mix concrete and go to work. Vy translated for me as I spoke to the woman of the house and senior of the three sisters that we met the day before. She said that five lived in the house, plus the grandmother who often slept there. This included her daughter (teenager), her youngest sister who had a small baby, and her son. All three of the sisters were widows. The youngest had just lost her husband recently, while the oldest had lost her husband in conflicts with the Khmer Rouge after the 1979 liberation. She said that her husband had been in the Army and had died shortly after their daughter (youngest child) was born. The daughter looks like she's about 16 or 17, so that would put his death sometime in the late 90s. She also said that her middle sister just lived a few kilometers away and visited often. I asked who worked the rice fields that surrounded the house and she said that she did most of the work. Having seen her use the hoe to dig the day before, I believed her! She also pointed out her well that had been built four year before with contributions from a Cambodian restaurant in California. Looking into the well, you could see that the water table was only about a meter down. Still, they got all of their water from it. Vy said that any drinking or cooking water is first boiled, though, and since it tastes so bad they usually only drink it in the form of tea. (Photos)
At about 1030, we decided to just go to the Vines, tour the peppercorn farm, catch an early lunch and hope things would clear. Lunch was again fantastic with a fish and tomato soup and some stir-fired veggies. We are eating healthily here. Soon after we started eating the weather seemed to clear and we went about a half hour without a sprinkle. Vy called Mr Song and we packed up after lunch and headed back to work. I did get a chance to take some pictures of Dan's friend, Savorn, and his 18-month-old son which I liked a lot. (Photos) I also took a lot of flower shots... (Photos)
When we arrived back the work site, the water had gone down in the pond and we forded it easily. It wasn't raining, so at our site we bailed out the new inch of water in the concrete ring and Annie and Winston wanted to start mixing a batch even though jay wasn't there yet to give instructions. I cautioned against it and Dan agreed. Dan pointed out that losing a full bag of cement was probably more costly to them that a day's work--the raw materials were relatively expensive--and that we should proceed without Jay's direction and some clearer skies. Sure enough, about five minutes later, the skies opened up and it rained for the next 90 minutes almost non-stop. We sat on the front porch of our homeowners house and just watched it rain. In the barnyard area, rain ran like little rivers towards the rice paddies that were gently terraced and connected with small drainage ditches to slow the flow between each and keep the young rice submerged by about three inches. The rain just didn't let up. We couldn't even get back to the work site for some time and when it slowed for a few minutes, it would recommence even harder than before.
By 1400, we just decided that we just had to call it a day. It rained all of the way back to the hotel and is still drizzling as I write this. The forecast isn't much better for our remaining days either. We'd been lucky in the first week to get the work done with only minor interruptions for rain, but this IS the rainy season and our luck seems to have run out. We're committed to doing as much as possible and will work into Friday morning if the weather allows. Still, the cadets are disappointed and frustrated to have a task in front of them and not be able to get it done. (Photos)
Everyone relaxed for about 90 minutes back at the hotel and we slowly congregated on the deck/cabana area to play some pool and cards. There's really not much else left to do until the weather clears, so we'll try to make the best of it.
Here's today's slide show...
All the Best,
Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014
Monday, July 7, 2014
July 7: Latrines Week Two--New Work Site
I woke up early and got some work done writing and working on photos and got a Facebook message from Annie that she wasn't feeling well. I went next door to check on her and she was nauseous and had spent most of the night dizzy and in cold sweats. She didn't have a noticeable fever, so I ruled out malaria and chalked it up to probably not taking yesterday's two plus hours on a rocking boat at sea too well. She admitted that she hadn't probably had enough water, too, so I encouraged her to drink a full bottle and start working on another. After a conference with Dan and Vy, we decided to leave Dan's cell phone with her and let her stay in the room and rest for the day.
We left the hotel on schedule and dropped by the local post office. Hansena mailed a bunch of postcards and was a bit worried because she said that she had to lick all of the stamps. Maybe not a good idea in Cambodia. Oh well--we'll see if that gets her.
We next stopped at a "hardware store" and I bought two shovels for a total of $7. These were medium-sized spades with handle grips that I thought would help us at the site since we didn't have very good shovels last week.
The drive to the new worksite was a little longer and we turned north off of the main road instead of south. Once onto the dirt road, we went about a half-mile into the countryside where we found the homes to be more spread out with rice paddies/fields separating all of them. It was really beautiful and we liked the area immediately.
We got out of the car and walked across a palm tree log bridge that spanned a small pond and then shortly arrived at the first work site (photos here). We dropped Team 2 there and they rejoined their team leader from last week who was already started digging the square trench for the foundation. Team 1 walked about another 100m across a couple of rice fields to the second site that was next to a rather larger house with accompanying palm frond roof barn for the animals. The land around the house was much more spacious and open and we were shaded by coconut palms.
Jay was there and he and Mr Song had already dug the foundation and were pouring concrete over the granite boulders that they'd placed with sand in the foundation trenches. We immediately started placing the first layer of bricks onto the foundation concrete following the guide lines and also started digging the septic pit.
Once again, we struck water before we made it much deeper than a meter, but that was proceeded by a lot of work cutting through palm roots to get to the base clay. Winston was schooled by one of the ladies of the house (age 49) on the proper use of a hoe to dig a hole. She was amazingly strong and effective and we were all humbled. She MAY have weighed 110 lbs, but I doubt it. Winston had another digging helper, too, whom we presumed was the man of the house, but that's still TBD since they speak no English and we speak very few Khmer words. Once they got through the roots, the work went very fast, though, and by lunch time it was clear that we would have the concrete cylinders in place later in the day.
As we laid the bricks, mixed the concrete, and really got into a groove, we noticed that almost everyone around us was supporting the effort. Little kids were delivering bricks and shoveling mortar into our buckets. The sisters that live in the house were helping dig holes, delivering fresh coconuts for refreshment, and doing as much as possible. At our last site, I have to admit, it was frustrating to see the number of idle people doing nothing--at least at our latrine site, though Team 2 had a little more support on their side of the road. Today, it was our team with the support and our work showed for it.
There was a lot going on at the farm, too. Seven-day-old puppies were yipping in the wood and palm leaf cooking shed next to us and a couple of them tried to crawl out from underneath. Chickens were constantly running around us and the kids were everywhere. Still, despite the distractions, we were moving at a great pace and had more than seven rows of bricks laid with the door mounted and sand and rocks inside the latrine before lunch. (Photos here)
We drove to The Vines again for lunch and had their amazing Cambodian salad with peanuts again, along with a squash and chicken soup. We decided to cut lunch short and get back to work earlier than usual since the weather was so good and we were being so productive. We called Annie to check on her and she reported feeling quite a bit better, but we decided to let her rest through the afternoon and prep for work tomorrow if she continued to improve.
We were back from lunch before 1330 and spent the afternoon placing the cylinders and working hard on the bricks. The ladies brought us rambutan fruit (like red, really spiny lichee nuts) and bananas (later) as well as sweet, iced Vietnamese-style coffee. The weather continued to be nice, so we mixed batch after batch of concrete on the hard ground near the front of the house and the kids kept us going. We had four bricklayers for most of the afternoon, except for mixing breaks and when we put the cylinders in. By the time the afternoon was complete--and we worked until 1700--we had at least 18 rows of brick laid (over 6' high), the cylinders placed, and Jay was installing the concrete vent pieces. (Photos here)
Vy came over and helped me chat with the family while I was laying the last couple of rows of bricks. They explained that three sisters (ages from the late 40s to early 50s) lived there and in neighboring houses with all of their kids, Grandma lived next door butslept i nthe big house at night to protect her from "ghosts," and that the small baby was five months old. I explained the composition of our group and our purpose and made it clear that we were in the US Air Force. They were very happy to have us and kept thanking me over and over again. I tried to convey how much we enjoyed the work and appreciated their support as we worked and their participation in the process.
We left at about 1700 knowing that both groups had had a great day. We were happy to be more in the country and around the rice fields and really like the families that we were helping. Of course, I spent most of my break times taking photos of people and our work, so you can see those photos here.
When we returned to the hotel, Luke suggested an early dinner, meeting at 1800 to walk over to a French Bistro named "Brise de Kep." Everyone showered and cleaned up quickly and Annie joined us, too, feeling much better and ready to work tomorrow. We walked over and generally enjoyed the meal. I ordered a tuna steak for $4 and it was overcooked, but Dylan had Magret de Canard and it was good, while Hansena had a good barracuda filet and Annie ate their version of a fried chicken breast. To pass the time, we played cards (the France Family's official card game that we call SOYN). It was a good time and it kept us busy and not complaining about the service all of the way through dessert--which was the best part of the meal.
We're looking forward to tomorrow and will finish the bricklaying in the morning and hopefully get most of all of the stucco done tomorrow afternoon. We're feeling good about finishing on Thursday now.
Here's the slide show of all of the photos taken today:
All the Best,
Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014
Sunday, July 6, 2014
July 6: R&R Day 2 - Boat Trip
Today, the cadets were allowed to sleep in and we didn't depart until
0900--my wife, Becky, can tell you how rare that is when traveling with
me. They all made it down to the van in time, though, but didn't order
breakfast from the hotel. I think they all made breakfast out of
leftover snacks from yesterday's trip and Friday's party.
We'd arranged, with the help of Vy and the hotel, to rent a boat for the day including the the boat owner/driver and planned to visit two or more of the islands off of the coast of Kep. We drove to the boat dock and were directed to the end of the pier where we met our typically long, skinny Mekong River-style boat that you see all over Southeast Asia. The engines are side-mounted diesel of gasoline motors that look like they've been stripped from a car or truck. The propeller is attached axially at the end of a long shaft that extends from the engine by 8-10 feet and turns a two-blade propeller at a shallow angle. Like the boats on Tonle Sap, the props have a lower protective framework to keep them out of the mud.
We loaded up without issue, put on our life jackets and left for the one-hour ride to Koh Pau and the fishing village there. The seas were moderate and we rocked a bit, but no one got sick (even me) and we pulled into the little bay at about 1010. Savorn, a Cambodian friend of Dan's, was with us. He translated and told us all to be back at the boat by 1100. (Photos are here)
We waded ashore past an abandoned boat and along the garbage-lined shoreline past several ramshackle houses with palm frond roofs. Dogs barked at us and kids scurried along as we passed, some of us looking for shells while I took photos of the boats in the bay and of the local residents.
We rounded the corner of the island and passed along an uninhabited section that was quite rocky. After clearing this, we had a shortcut through the jungle and past some houses to the main area. We saw a LOT of kids and I took photos. They started following us and I took more photos. They were all very friendly and obviously surprised to see us. The cadets and I had a great time interacting with them. They were just beautiful kids stuck in a very, very poor situation. It was difficult not to feel pretty about their lot as we waved goodbye and left for Rabbit Island. Here's an album of photos of the kids, plus another one showing other parts of the island.
Soon after the boat left Koh Pau, the wind picked up and the rain started. Almost then entire 25 minute trip to Koh Tonsay (Rabbit Island) was in rolling four-foot waves and a driving rain storm. We covered what we could, but we all got soaked to the bone. The rains stopped just a couple of minutes before we landed at the shore, though, and stayed nice throughout the rest of the day.
We left the boat and walked along a path to the south shore of the island that had dozens of thatch bungalows, a few outdoor restaurants, a nice beach, and plenty of hammocks. We ordered lunch and found the service to be, once again, lacking. Dylan finally got his food almost 90 minutes after he ordered it. They said they'd run out of beef and needed to run to one of the other restaurants to get some. We worried about the local canine population.
Finally, just before 1400, we were done with lunch. I set a rendezvous time for 1600 at the boat and then allowed the cadets to do whatever they wanted along the beach. Dylan joined me on a hike around the island on a path that was easy to follow but contained enough thorns to lacerate each of us pretty well, take my hat off of my head, and make for a lot of crouched walking. Along the way we saw locals cultivating sea weed as well as several small fishing settlements and boats. The hike was supposed to take us two to two-and-a-half hours, but we made it back in 75 minutes and were happy to have the time to order a beer and enjoy it on the beach before we left. Annie and Hansena were catching some rays on the beach, while I think Luke and Winston napped in the hammocks. We were all entertained by and Australian couple (we think they were Aussies) that were in their mid-50s, tattooed, over-weight, bikini'ed, and getting the sunburns of their lives while constantly drinking and smoking, standing in the waves. It made me think of the US Gulf Coast... I took no photos, fearing for my camera's well-being.
The trip back was again through fairly rough seas, but there was no rain (photos). Dylan sat on the bow, which was probably drier than the mid-boat areas as the waves crashed over the sides. We returned to the pier at about 1615 and were happily back at the hotel by 1630. We set a meeting time for 1830 for dinner and everyone went to their rooms to dry out, clean up, and relax again--I worked on photos.
We went to dinner at 1830 to Holy Crab along the Crab Market area and (for once in Kep) were very impressed with the service--the food was excellent, too, and the prices quite nice. There's a reason that it's the #1 ranked restaurant in Kep by Tripadvisor. We talked a lot about photography at our end of the table. The food exceeded expectations, too.
Tomorrow, we start a new pair of latrines in the same village but along a different road. We're all looking forward to doing the project again with the knowledge that we've gained from the first week and are sure that things will go much more smoothly. I'm planning to go to the local market and buy a couple of good, new shovels for the team and then donate them to Equitable Cambodia. Winston's looking forward to more digging and I'm happy to make sure he's well-armed.
We should finish this pair on Thursday, then the plan is to meet at a local school on Friday and do a little more local touring before we board the minivan with our bags and drive to Phnom Penh. Our flight leaves that evening, so it'll be a busy day.
Here's the slideshow from today:
All the Best,
Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014
We'd arranged, with the help of Vy and the hotel, to rent a boat for the day including the the boat owner/driver and planned to visit two or more of the islands off of the coast of Kep. We drove to the boat dock and were directed to the end of the pier where we met our typically long, skinny Mekong River-style boat that you see all over Southeast Asia. The engines are side-mounted diesel of gasoline motors that look like they've been stripped from a car or truck. The propeller is attached axially at the end of a long shaft that extends from the engine by 8-10 feet and turns a two-blade propeller at a shallow angle. Like the boats on Tonle Sap, the props have a lower protective framework to keep them out of the mud.
We loaded up without issue, put on our life jackets and left for the one-hour ride to Koh Pau and the fishing village there. The seas were moderate and we rocked a bit, but no one got sick (even me) and we pulled into the little bay at about 1010. Savorn, a Cambodian friend of Dan's, was with us. He translated and told us all to be back at the boat by 1100. (Photos are here)
We waded ashore past an abandoned boat and along the garbage-lined shoreline past several ramshackle houses with palm frond roofs. Dogs barked at us and kids scurried along as we passed, some of us looking for shells while I took photos of the boats in the bay and of the local residents.
We rounded the corner of the island and passed along an uninhabited section that was quite rocky. After clearing this, we had a shortcut through the jungle and past some houses to the main area. We saw a LOT of kids and I took photos. They started following us and I took more photos. They were all very friendly and obviously surprised to see us. The cadets and I had a great time interacting with them. They were just beautiful kids stuck in a very, very poor situation. It was difficult not to feel pretty about their lot as we waved goodbye and left for Rabbit Island. Here's an album of photos of the kids, plus another one showing other parts of the island.
Soon after the boat left Koh Pau, the wind picked up and the rain started. Almost then entire 25 minute trip to Koh Tonsay (Rabbit Island) was in rolling four-foot waves and a driving rain storm. We covered what we could, but we all got soaked to the bone. The rains stopped just a couple of minutes before we landed at the shore, though, and stayed nice throughout the rest of the day.
We left the boat and walked along a path to the south shore of the island that had dozens of thatch bungalows, a few outdoor restaurants, a nice beach, and plenty of hammocks. We ordered lunch and found the service to be, once again, lacking. Dylan finally got his food almost 90 minutes after he ordered it. They said they'd run out of beef and needed to run to one of the other restaurants to get some. We worried about the local canine population.
Finally, just before 1400, we were done with lunch. I set a rendezvous time for 1600 at the boat and then allowed the cadets to do whatever they wanted along the beach. Dylan joined me on a hike around the island on a path that was easy to follow but contained enough thorns to lacerate each of us pretty well, take my hat off of my head, and make for a lot of crouched walking. Along the way we saw locals cultivating sea weed as well as several small fishing settlements and boats. The hike was supposed to take us two to two-and-a-half hours, but we made it back in 75 minutes and were happy to have the time to order a beer and enjoy it on the beach before we left. Annie and Hansena were catching some rays on the beach, while I think Luke and Winston napped in the hammocks. We were all entertained by and Australian couple (we think they were Aussies) that were in their mid-50s, tattooed, over-weight, bikini'ed, and getting the sunburns of their lives while constantly drinking and smoking, standing in the waves. It made me think of the US Gulf Coast... I took no photos, fearing for my camera's well-being.
The trip back was again through fairly rough seas, but there was no rain (photos). Dylan sat on the bow, which was probably drier than the mid-boat areas as the waves crashed over the sides. We returned to the pier at about 1615 and were happily back at the hotel by 1630. We set a meeting time for 1830 for dinner and everyone went to their rooms to dry out, clean up, and relax again--I worked on photos.
We went to dinner at 1830 to Holy Crab along the Crab Market area and (for once in Kep) were very impressed with the service--the food was excellent, too, and the prices quite nice. There's a reason that it's the #1 ranked restaurant in Kep by Tripadvisor. We talked a lot about photography at our end of the table. The food exceeded expectations, too.
Tomorrow, we start a new pair of latrines in the same village but along a different road. We're all looking forward to doing the project again with the knowledge that we've gained from the first week and are sure that things will go much more smoothly. I'm planning to go to the local market and buy a couple of good, new shovels for the team and then donate them to Equitable Cambodia. Winston's looking forward to more digging and I'm happy to make sure he's well-armed.
We should finish this pair on Thursday, then the plan is to meet at a local school on Friday and do a little more local touring before we board the minivan with our bags and drive to Phnom Penh. Our flight leaves that evening, so it'll be a busy day.
Here's the slideshow from today:
All the Best,
Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014
Saturday, July 5, 2014
July 5: R&R Day 1
The started with plans to leave at 0600 with our driver, Dee, and a
guide that was to be provided by the hotel. We would spend the day
visiting Bokor Mountain
for hiking and then go into Kampot and also visit some local caves.
All six of us were ready to go, but the driver couldn't find the guide,
so Vy got involved with her mobile phone. We were told that he was "on
his way," but by 0630 no one had shown up, so we decided to just take
off on our own with Dee.
I rode shotgun in the van and enjoyed taking photos out of the windows with my 70-200mm image stabilized lens. The morning light and traffic gave me some pretty good shots given the circumstances. You can check those out directly in this Facebook Album.
We arrived in Kampot at about 0715 and Dee drove us around a little bit to see the Durian Monument, the external views of the Central Market and also to see the new and old bridges. We headed out from there a few minutes later, crossing the New Bridge on National Road 3 (two lanes, no centerline) towards Sihanoukville and Bokor. The phone rang a few minutes later and it was Vy asking us to go back to Kampot because she had found a guide that could meet us at the Durian monument at 0800. So, we turned around and were there by 0730. Dee let us out of the van and we walked around a little bit.
One of the cadets needed to find a bathroom, but he soon discovered that not all gas stations in Cambodia are really "rest stops." So, we were on the search for a WC. He tried a couple of guest houses, but they wouldn't let him in. A few blocks down the road, we came up on the Kampot Pie and Ice Cream shop that we'd seen in an advertisement on our regional maps and found it open. We ordered drinks (espresso for me, iced Vietnamese coffee for Annie and Dylan, and some fruit juices I think for the others while first Winston then others cycled through their bathroom. The servers were very pleasant and asked us to come back later in the day for ice cream--which we did because they gave us two-for-one coupons for ice cream. The espresso shot was only $1 and the same was true for the ice cream.
Back at the Durian Monument, we took more photos, but the guide never showed. We waited until after 0830,but just left. We'd now wasted almost two hours of the morning.
The drive up to the top of Bokor Mountain was not unlike driving up to Olympic National Park in Washington--a long, winding road taking us from the shore to over 3,000 ft in altitude over about 20 miles (32 km). Along the way, we saw a giant Buddhist statue that was partially covered in fog. I was just happy that no one got car sick and we didn't have any head-on collisions with on-coming Vietnamese tour buses cutting the turns.
By the time we arrived at the summit, it was foggy, misting heavily and refreshingly cool. We went past the new. modern casino to the "Old Casino" built during French Colonial times (1921) and long since abandoned and stripped of everything except maybe a few tiles. The starkness of the stucco and architecture, along with water settled on many of the floors (even upstairs) made for some fun photography and the cadets enjoyed roaming around the haunted house. We followed all good horror story laws, though, and didn't let anyone go off alone or run towards any screams. We were also lucky that we got a clearing in the clouds for about two minutes, allowing us to take a few good exterior shots.
Apparently, Dee didn't want to take us to the other "ghost town"-like spots. Communication was difficult as Dee knows only about 5 words in English. I was texting questions and tour suggestions to Vy who was then texting or calling Dee to pass along that info. Much was lost in translation.
From the Old Casino, we went to a beautiful Buddhist temple complex and monastery on a hill well above the modern casino. Shrouded almost completely in mist while we were there, it reminded you of being much higher in the mountains as clouds raced up the cliffside from the valley below. During the few clear moments, though, we could see all of the way to the beach and the Gulf of Thailand. The cadet and I explored the entire area and even made it into the monk's area for their lunch to get a few photos.
From the temple, we went to the (supposedly) four-star New Casino to look around. This was a large, Las Vegas Resort-sized complex with hundred of rooms in several buildings, bars, gaming areas, etc. It was also almost completely empty. We walked around in it almost like it was the Old Casino--only with uglier interior decorating and architecture. It just reeked of the style of cheap, garish decor, lines, and design that I've seen so many time before in bad Chinese construction. I took zero photos of it because it was just so ugly--and not even in the good, quirky way that makes for some good photos. Ugh. We were happy to leave.
From there, we'd hoped to be able to go see some local waterfalls, but all of my suggestions and map-pointing apparently did not impress Dee, so we headed down the mountain for lunch in Kampot, stopping along the way to get a panoramic photo.
We lunched in Kampot at the Rusty Keyhole on Vy's recommendation. She said that they had the best ribs in Cambodia. The placed looked good and had small pitchers of beer for $2.50 and reasonable prices, so we stopped in. The drinks were quite good,too, though the ribs were nothing special. Luke had a cheeseburger with egg on top and fries. Annie had pasta, Hansena and Dyland shared ribs, and Winston got some stir-fried squid dish. I ordered the daily special grilled barracuda. In what has become a common theme of restaurants in this area, everyone's food was served, but it took well over 30 minutes for my "special" to arrive. When it did, it was quite good, but knowing that it doesn't take long to grill a barracuda filet, they may well have gone across the street to the fish market to get my lunch.
After lunch, we decided to split into two groups and then meet back at the ice cream shop at 1500 and then at the Durian Monument to meet Dee at 1515. Winston and Dylan came with me and we made our way to the Central Market, pricing scooters along the way and taking photos. The market was pretty amazing and ALL locals. We didn't see any souvenir or T-shirt shops here. We did buy some durian fruit here and Winston was the brave man who tried it first, much to the viewing pleasure of the locals. Kampot is the center of both the agricultural durian market and also for the production of peppercorns. We saw lots of peppers (black, white, green, and red) and even some jars of pickled green peppercorns that we almost bought.
We all rendez-voused on time at the ice cream shop and passed around the tray of durian for the others to enjoy. I'm no fan--primarily because of the muddy texture that is somewhere between a rotting avocado and pudding, all with a smell that would clear out a public bus (you can't eat them in public transpo in Singapore), and a bit of a sickly sweet taste. Winston had another piece and I ate three chunks to help encourage the others. Dylan, who'll eat almost anything that crawls or flies or can be found under a rock almost gagged on his and the other three cadets tried their best to choke down one segment, but couldn't quite finish their small bites. Still, we'd all done our duty and tried the treasure of Kampot.
On our return, we turned left off of the National road towards Phnom Chhnork, a cave complex in the nearby hills that houses a Pre-Angkorian Hindu Cave Temple and an interesting rock formation at the entrance that looks like an elephant. The admission cost was $1 apiece and we climbed the 203 stairs to the entrance accompanied by three ad hoc tour guides all about 13 or 14 years old. They spoke excellent English and some French and asked the cadets with help on some idioms--though they knew quite a few. (For example, when one of them asked me to climb/slide down into a steep, dark part of the cave and I said, "No way", he chimed in immediately with "Way!" I then taught him the phrase "November Foxtrot Whiskey," thus contributing to his cultural knowledge of the American military.
We took some photos near the entrance of the small temple and all went with the guides into the depths of the cavern except for Annie and me. I used the time to take a panoramic shot of the view from the cave entrance. They all emerged about 10 minutes later from another entrance down the mountain much to our relief.
From there, we walked back through the fertile and busy farmland about a half-mile to where Dee had parked the van. We crossed a two-log bridge over a canal and chatted more with the kids. They said that they'd only been studying English for two years bu that their school was very good.
It rained lightly for most of the return to Kep. After a shaky start, we'd had a good day and all of the cadets were happy to return at a reasonable hour. We later met for dinner with Dan, his Cambodian friend, Savon, and Vy, discussing our plans for the next day (boat to Rabbit Island (Koh Tonsay) and Koh Por) and turning in early. Here's the link to the entire slide-show from yesterday.
All the Best,
Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014
I rode shotgun in the van and enjoyed taking photos out of the windows with my 70-200mm image stabilized lens. The morning light and traffic gave me some pretty good shots given the circumstances. You can check those out directly in this Facebook Album.
We arrived in Kampot at about 0715 and Dee drove us around a little bit to see the Durian Monument, the external views of the Central Market and also to see the new and old bridges. We headed out from there a few minutes later, crossing the New Bridge on National Road 3 (two lanes, no centerline) towards Sihanoukville and Bokor. The phone rang a few minutes later and it was Vy asking us to go back to Kampot because she had found a guide that could meet us at the Durian monument at 0800. So, we turned around and were there by 0730. Dee let us out of the van and we walked around a little bit.
One of the cadets needed to find a bathroom, but he soon discovered that not all gas stations in Cambodia are really "rest stops." So, we were on the search for a WC. He tried a couple of guest houses, but they wouldn't let him in. A few blocks down the road, we came up on the Kampot Pie and Ice Cream shop that we'd seen in an advertisement on our regional maps and found it open. We ordered drinks (espresso for me, iced Vietnamese coffee for Annie and Dylan, and some fruit juices I think for the others while first Winston then others cycled through their bathroom. The servers were very pleasant and asked us to come back later in the day for ice cream--which we did because they gave us two-for-one coupons for ice cream. The espresso shot was only $1 and the same was true for the ice cream.
Back at the Durian Monument, we took more photos, but the guide never showed. We waited until after 0830,but just left. We'd now wasted almost two hours of the morning.
The drive up to the top of Bokor Mountain was not unlike driving up to Olympic National Park in Washington--a long, winding road taking us from the shore to over 3,000 ft in altitude over about 20 miles (32 km). Along the way, we saw a giant Buddhist statue that was partially covered in fog. I was just happy that no one got car sick and we didn't have any head-on collisions with on-coming Vietnamese tour buses cutting the turns.
By the time we arrived at the summit, it was foggy, misting heavily and refreshingly cool. We went past the new. modern casino to the "Old Casino" built during French Colonial times (1921) and long since abandoned and stripped of everything except maybe a few tiles. The starkness of the stucco and architecture, along with water settled on many of the floors (even upstairs) made for some fun photography and the cadets enjoyed roaming around the haunted house. We followed all good horror story laws, though, and didn't let anyone go off alone or run towards any screams. We were also lucky that we got a clearing in the clouds for about two minutes, allowing us to take a few good exterior shots.
Apparently, Dee didn't want to take us to the other "ghost town"-like spots. Communication was difficult as Dee knows only about 5 words in English. I was texting questions and tour suggestions to Vy who was then texting or calling Dee to pass along that info. Much was lost in translation.
From the Old Casino, we went to a beautiful Buddhist temple complex and monastery on a hill well above the modern casino. Shrouded almost completely in mist while we were there, it reminded you of being much higher in the mountains as clouds raced up the cliffside from the valley below. During the few clear moments, though, we could see all of the way to the beach and the Gulf of Thailand. The cadet and I explored the entire area and even made it into the monk's area for their lunch to get a few photos.
From the temple, we went to the (supposedly) four-star New Casino to look around. This was a large, Las Vegas Resort-sized complex with hundred of rooms in several buildings, bars, gaming areas, etc. It was also almost completely empty. We walked around in it almost like it was the Old Casino--only with uglier interior decorating and architecture. It just reeked of the style of cheap, garish decor, lines, and design that I've seen so many time before in bad Chinese construction. I took zero photos of it because it was just so ugly--and not even in the good, quirky way that makes for some good photos. Ugh. We were happy to leave.
From there, we'd hoped to be able to go see some local waterfalls, but all of my suggestions and map-pointing apparently did not impress Dee, so we headed down the mountain for lunch in Kampot, stopping along the way to get a panoramic photo.
We lunched in Kampot at the Rusty Keyhole on Vy's recommendation. She said that they had the best ribs in Cambodia. The placed looked good and had small pitchers of beer for $2.50 and reasonable prices, so we stopped in. The drinks were quite good,too, though the ribs were nothing special. Luke had a cheeseburger with egg on top and fries. Annie had pasta, Hansena and Dyland shared ribs, and Winston got some stir-fried squid dish. I ordered the daily special grilled barracuda. In what has become a common theme of restaurants in this area, everyone's food was served, but it took well over 30 minutes for my "special" to arrive. When it did, it was quite good, but knowing that it doesn't take long to grill a barracuda filet, they may well have gone across the street to the fish market to get my lunch.
After lunch, we decided to split into two groups and then meet back at the ice cream shop at 1500 and then at the Durian Monument to meet Dee at 1515. Winston and Dylan came with me and we made our way to the Central Market, pricing scooters along the way and taking photos. The market was pretty amazing and ALL locals. We didn't see any souvenir or T-shirt shops here. We did buy some durian fruit here and Winston was the brave man who tried it first, much to the viewing pleasure of the locals. Kampot is the center of both the agricultural durian market and also for the production of peppercorns. We saw lots of peppers (black, white, green, and red) and even some jars of pickled green peppercorns that we almost bought.
We all rendez-voused on time at the ice cream shop and passed around the tray of durian for the others to enjoy. I'm no fan--primarily because of the muddy texture that is somewhere between a rotting avocado and pudding, all with a smell that would clear out a public bus (you can't eat them in public transpo in Singapore), and a bit of a sickly sweet taste. Winston had another piece and I ate three chunks to help encourage the others. Dylan, who'll eat almost anything that crawls or flies or can be found under a rock almost gagged on his and the other three cadets tried their best to choke down one segment, but couldn't quite finish their small bites. Still, we'd all done our duty and tried the treasure of Kampot.
On our return, we turned left off of the National road towards Phnom Chhnork, a cave complex in the nearby hills that houses a Pre-Angkorian Hindu Cave Temple and an interesting rock formation at the entrance that looks like an elephant. The admission cost was $1 apiece and we climbed the 203 stairs to the entrance accompanied by three ad hoc tour guides all about 13 or 14 years old. They spoke excellent English and some French and asked the cadets with help on some idioms--though they knew quite a few. (For example, when one of them asked me to climb/slide down into a steep, dark part of the cave and I said, "No way", he chimed in immediately with "Way!" I then taught him the phrase "November Foxtrot Whiskey," thus contributing to his cultural knowledge of the American military.
We took some photos near the entrance of the small temple and all went with the guides into the depths of the cavern except for Annie and me. I used the time to take a panoramic shot of the view from the cave entrance. They all emerged about 10 minutes later from another entrance down the mountain much to our relief.
From there, we walked back through the fertile and busy farmland about a half-mile to where Dee had parked the van. We crossed a two-log bridge over a canal and chatted more with the kids. They said that they'd only been studying English for two years bu that their school was very good.
It rained lightly for most of the return to Kep. After a shaky start, we'd had a good day and all of the cadets were happy to return at a reasonable hour. We later met for dinner with Dan, his Cambodian friend, Savon, and Vy, discussing our plans for the next day (boat to Rabbit Island (Koh Tonsay) and Koh Por) and turning in early. Here's the link to the entire slide-show from yesterday.
All the Best,
Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014
Friday, July 4, 2014
July 4: Fourth of July
Once again, I took a morning walk along the coastline, this time with
Winston joining me. We were lucky enough to see a few fishing boats come
into the shore and enjoyed seeing them unloading. The rest of the walk
was uneventful, though we had some great conversations on corruption,
the future of Cambodia, etc.
Once the van picked us up, we stopped at a local beverage shop and bought four cases of drinks--two of beer and two of soft drinks--as well as some snacks and other goodies that we intended for later in the day when our work was complete.
When we arrived in the village, we started work right away. Mark, who joined us yesterday and is interning with Equitable Cambodia, joined Winston and Dan, along with our homeowner in bailing out the septic cylinder area and then adding the second cylinder so that they extended a few inches above the ground. The evening before, pipe had been run from the latrine to the tanks, so they were also able to install the lids to the tanks with cement.
Meanwhile, Annie and I were still stuccoing the interior walls and sealing the cistern compartment with pure cement. We worked non-stop through the morning and got quite a bit done, including some patching of bridge work that I screwed up from the day before. Jay was very patient, though, and let me do more and more of the actual skilled work.
On the other side, Team 2 looked to be well ahead of us, but they had lots of interior work to do, too. Dylan was their stucco-master, and the others did a lot of work in that area, too. They had their roof on and were just concentrating on sealing and stuccoing as were we.
By 1130, we were ready for lunch having worked just about three hours in the sun without let-up. Winston was constantly mixing and shuttling mortar to us and as Jay finished each wall we helped him with some spot patching. Dan was entertaining the kids when he wasn't mixing mortar with Winston or working on installing the septic cylinder lids.
Lunch at the Vines was again excellent, this time with an egg, spinach, and winter squash soup along with another chicken stir-fry concoction. The cadets only had about 20 minutes to nap again, but I passed the time by finally remembering to bring my tablet so I could read.
In the afternoon, our roof was installed and we finished stuccoing the internal walls. The roof kept the temperature down just a little bit in the latrine, but the lack of a breeze made up for that. Mr. Sing worked most of the afternoon prepping and then installing our combo sit/squat toilet. The design is such that there is no flush tank. Instead, the cistern area will hold water that can then be used with a shower head to rinse the toilet after use with all of the contents flowing down through the toilet through PVC pipe to the septic cylinders. We were happy to be the first to have our toilet installed as that marked the essential end to our work. Jay and I still patched and finished a little and there are remaining steps to complete the whole thing (pour the final main floor coat of concrete, install a tank in the cistern area, and (we heard) tile the floor and some of the lower internal walls. I wouldn't liked to do some tiling as that is something I actually know--oh well.
With the completion, the family where team two was working brought out snack for all of us. The grandmother had these wonderful dumplings stuffed with coconut, peanuts, rice flour, and palm sugar wrapped in banana leaves and cooked until steaming hot (and safe). We each at two of them I think--they were delicious.
Dylan was the last one working, sealing their cistern area with cement, but we began to gather around team two' project area. When Dylan finally finished, we started our little party by spreading out plastic tarps on the ground and bringing the coolers and snacks for everyone. We took photos in front of each latrine and then, with the help of Vy, I said a few words to the families about our Independence Day and how much we'd enjoyed working and helping the village.
The grandfather (age 53) of the home where Dylan, Hansena, and Luke were working then said a few words, too, and was quite sincere and moving. He said that the village had never had foreigners come in and help them before--that they were thankful for our hard work and how friendly and enthusiastic we were. Vy's translation of his words was that this "was an historic event" for the village and they were very, very thankful to all of us. We were all quite moved by his words.
After this, we pulled out the drinks. I toasted Jay, my mentor, and gave him a pair of Air Force Academy sunglasses. The kids were having fun because they were all drinking Fanta and Sprite getting all hopped up on sugars that they probably didn't see very often. Dan was corrupting them by showing them how to say "Ahhhhhhh!" with a big wide open mouth when they had finished a slurp. He also put his GoPro camera on one of the boys and promised to post on Youtube what the world looks like through the eyes of a Cambodian 4-year-old.
We stayed for some time drinking and eating, talking to each other with Vy's assistance. The village leader was there as were members of the extended families, all excited about our work and anxious to catch a glimpse of the latrine.
We left at about 1700 and drove back to the hotel. I had just enough time to process my photos and get ready for dinner. At 1830, we left for dinner at the Kep Sailing Club along with Vy and Mark.
The view at the atmosphere was wonderful at the Sailing Club. The food was quite good, too, after we worked through a minor glitch--they said, when we were placing our orders, that the kitchen was closed (at 1900?). With some cajoling, Vy managed to get them reopened as quickly as possible and they finally agreed.
Great seafood and some fancy mixed drinks were available at the Sailing Club along with good seafood and the usual drinks. The ocean breeze was enjoyed by all and we didn't leave until after 2100. We'd like to go back on another day when the sunset is at its peak and may do that Saturday or Sunday.
Tomorrow, we're going touring again since the work doesn't recommence until Monday. Our driver will be taking us to Bokor Mountain National Park to see some old ruins as well as to hike on their many trails. From their, we'll go to Kampot for lunch and then look into some of the local caves before returning for dinner.
Here are the slides from the day--enjoy!
All the Best,
Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014
Once the van picked us up, we stopped at a local beverage shop and bought four cases of drinks--two of beer and two of soft drinks--as well as some snacks and other goodies that we intended for later in the day when our work was complete.
When we arrived in the village, we started work right away. Mark, who joined us yesterday and is interning with Equitable Cambodia, joined Winston and Dan, along with our homeowner in bailing out the septic cylinder area and then adding the second cylinder so that they extended a few inches above the ground. The evening before, pipe had been run from the latrine to the tanks, so they were also able to install the lids to the tanks with cement.
Meanwhile, Annie and I were still stuccoing the interior walls and sealing the cistern compartment with pure cement. We worked non-stop through the morning and got quite a bit done, including some patching of bridge work that I screwed up from the day before. Jay was very patient, though, and let me do more and more of the actual skilled work.
On the other side, Team 2 looked to be well ahead of us, but they had lots of interior work to do, too. Dylan was their stucco-master, and the others did a lot of work in that area, too. They had their roof on and were just concentrating on sealing and stuccoing as were we.
By 1130, we were ready for lunch having worked just about three hours in the sun without let-up. Winston was constantly mixing and shuttling mortar to us and as Jay finished each wall we helped him with some spot patching. Dan was entertaining the kids when he wasn't mixing mortar with Winston or working on installing the septic cylinder lids.
Lunch at the Vines was again excellent, this time with an egg, spinach, and winter squash soup along with another chicken stir-fry concoction. The cadets only had about 20 minutes to nap again, but I passed the time by finally remembering to bring my tablet so I could read.
In the afternoon, our roof was installed and we finished stuccoing the internal walls. The roof kept the temperature down just a little bit in the latrine, but the lack of a breeze made up for that. Mr. Sing worked most of the afternoon prepping and then installing our combo sit/squat toilet. The design is such that there is no flush tank. Instead, the cistern area will hold water that can then be used with a shower head to rinse the toilet after use with all of the contents flowing down through the toilet through PVC pipe to the septic cylinders. We were happy to be the first to have our toilet installed as that marked the essential end to our work. Jay and I still patched and finished a little and there are remaining steps to complete the whole thing (pour the final main floor coat of concrete, install a tank in the cistern area, and (we heard) tile the floor and some of the lower internal walls. I wouldn't liked to do some tiling as that is something I actually know--oh well.
With the completion, the family where team two was working brought out snack for all of us. The grandmother had these wonderful dumplings stuffed with coconut, peanuts, rice flour, and palm sugar wrapped in banana leaves and cooked until steaming hot (and safe). We each at two of them I think--they were delicious.
Dylan was the last one working, sealing their cistern area with cement, but we began to gather around team two' project area. When Dylan finally finished, we started our little party by spreading out plastic tarps on the ground and bringing the coolers and snacks for everyone. We took photos in front of each latrine and then, with the help of Vy, I said a few words to the families about our Independence Day and how much we'd enjoyed working and helping the village.
The grandfather (age 53) of the home where Dylan, Hansena, and Luke were working then said a few words, too, and was quite sincere and moving. He said that the village had never had foreigners come in and help them before--that they were thankful for our hard work and how friendly and enthusiastic we were. Vy's translation of his words was that this "was an historic event" for the village and they were very, very thankful to all of us. We were all quite moved by his words.
After this, we pulled out the drinks. I toasted Jay, my mentor, and gave him a pair of Air Force Academy sunglasses. The kids were having fun because they were all drinking Fanta and Sprite getting all hopped up on sugars that they probably didn't see very often. Dan was corrupting them by showing them how to say "Ahhhhhhh!" with a big wide open mouth when they had finished a slurp. He also put his GoPro camera on one of the boys and promised to post on Youtube what the world looks like through the eyes of a Cambodian 4-year-old.
We stayed for some time drinking and eating, talking to each other with Vy's assistance. The village leader was there as were members of the extended families, all excited about our work and anxious to catch a glimpse of the latrine.
We left at about 1700 and drove back to the hotel. I had just enough time to process my photos and get ready for dinner. At 1830, we left for dinner at the Kep Sailing Club along with Vy and Mark.
The view at the atmosphere was wonderful at the Sailing Club. The food was quite good, too, after we worked through a minor glitch--they said, when we were placing our orders, that the kitchen was closed (at 1900?). With some cajoling, Vy managed to get them reopened as quickly as possible and they finally agreed.
Great seafood and some fancy mixed drinks were available at the Sailing Club along with good seafood and the usual drinks. The ocean breeze was enjoyed by all and we didn't leave until after 2100. We'd like to go back on another day when the sunset is at its peak and may do that Saturday or Sunday.
Tomorrow, we're going touring again since the work doesn't recommence until Monday. Our driver will be taking us to Bokor Mountain National Park to see some old ruins as well as to hike on their many trails. From their, we'll go to Kampot for lunch and then look into some of the local caves before returning for dinner.
Here are the slides from the day--enjoy!
All the Best,
Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014
Thursday, July 3, 2014
July 3: Day 4 - Still Not Done
Dylan joined me on my morning walk and we made it about 4 km down the road before the van caught up to us. We saw a lot of things along the road including many old, abandoned houses (some pretty big) and some new construction.
When we got to the work site, Team 1 got right to it with more stuccoing. We'd done three walls yesterday and needed to get another one done on the back side first. The fun part about this was that any step backward would put us right into the septic pit that was now full again. I tried to step on what looks like a bag of sand to get some leverage but then was comforted to realize that it was just a big bag of pig manure. Lovely. All over my shoes. Jay laughed. I laughed--the rinse them off in the dirty water that was next to the pig manure, too. I love my Gore-Tex lined Merrell hiking shoes.
Annie and I worked on the back wall while Dan and Winston were in charge of the mortar mixing and distribution. The other team was a little ahead of us and by lunch they'd stacked their second concrete cylinder and were starting to stucco inside as well as laying the brick on the inside for the flush water tank frame that would sit in the back left.
Annie and I made pretty quick work of the back wall and Jay started work on the finishing as well as working the corners of the building and laying the first rows of bricks inside for the toilet seat and the water tank frame. I felt pretty good because when he started to do the finish work on our wall, he asked for me to finish the bricks on the inside for him. Winston joined me and we got a few rows done before lunch inside the walls of the latrine with the sun beating down on us. I was just dripping sweat--enough to keep the mortar moist.
The time just flew this morning. We started by 0830 and I didn't even look up or take more than one sip of water for the next three hours before we left for lunch.
Lunch was again very good--we had a chicken green pepper stir-fry and a salad that we can only describe as Cambodian cole slaw. It's a wonderful mix of shredded young tamarind, carrots, green mango, peanuts, and a nice vinaigrette-like dressing. This was probably the fourth time we've had it at a restaurant and I think Hansena and I are particular fans of this. Lunch was shorter today, but a few of the cadets managed to get a short nap in before we returned.
While we were gone, Jay fixed a few of my bricks--I'd gone up too high on one side and he took the bricks down. He was working on those when we returned, so he asked Annie and me to begin stuccoing the interior. THAT was hot work, but we got a light, brief rain shower, so that helped cool it down a little. We finished two walls through the course of the afternoon and I finished the brick work, again with excellent support from Dan (who also did some stucco work) and Winston, whom we name "Sir Mix-a-Lot" for his skills in the mortar pit. The other team, with their flat open ground lacking booby-trapped bags of pig poop , banana breaks and other details that I'm not at all bitter about, were now well ahead of us. They didn't have as much brick work inside their latrine--presumably theirs is going to be a "squatter," while ours will be a high quality seat. Still, their pit was finished at the end of the day and they were close to finishing their stuccoing, too.
I'd wondered throughout the process why we didn't lay down PVC pipe to connect the inside of the latrine to the outside pits--building around the piping and having it in place. I still don't know why we didn't do that because near the end of the day,with a beautifully stuccoed wall on the back side, Mr Sing pulled out a hammer and a chisel and smashed about a 4" hole in the side of the wall at its base, below the interior's sand and rock floor that had already been layed. After smashing through the stucco and brick, they went inside and dug up their sand and moved rocks to make channel from the hole. We left at about that time, but I'd bet that they're going to wedge PVC though the hole and run the line to the squatter, then patch it all back up. Mine is not to wonder why, mine is just to keep laying brick, stuccoing, and trying not to step into any more pig shit. Tomorrow, we SHOULD finish. If we do, we're planing to buy refreshment for all those from the village that helped with the work--and their families--then go out for a nice 4th of July dinner in town.
Have a look at some of the photos from today.
All the Best,
Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
July 2: Day 3 - Stucco!
The day started out beautiful with an exceptional sunrise over the water. I decided to get a little exercise in and started walking about 40 minutes ahead of our minivan to take some shots of Kep in the early morning--those are the first shots in the slide show.
A very busy and productive day found us finishing the brick work early, then hauled sand a rocks into the latrine area. After spreading the sand and distributing the rocks around, we made little ones out of big ones in order to make the concrete floor (first step) in the latrine.
We went to lunch before starting to stucco on our latrine, but Team 2 was well ahead of us and they did a good job breaking rocks and also getting started on their stucco.
Lunch was again at the Vines restaurant and the food was excellent. The cadets (except for Hansena) fell asleep immediately after eating. A group of high school kids from Kent Denver showed up and they ate on the balcony while we were on the ground level below in the shade. The kids were just obnoxious brats and it hurt our ears to hear them. They were their as part of a school trip and planned to work one day doing some digging, but then they had a two day "home stay" with some families. If felt so bad for the team leader who was from Tennessee and didn't even know these kids before taking them on the trip as the leader.
We woke the cadets up just before 1300 and headed back for a full and satisfying afternoon of stuccoing outhouses. It really doesn't get any better. I liked stuccoing even more than laying brick. Annie was a great help, while Dan and Winston were the mixologists for the stucco (just concrete made thin) and Jay gave me hints and cleaned up behind me. We again worked well together and got a lot done. We finished two walls, while the other team did three.
We were back to the hotel at about 1630 and four of us decided to go on hike into the Kep Montain Forest National Park just above us. Luke and Hansena went for a 45 minute run, while Dylan, Dan, and Winston joined me for some serious climbing. We repeated what Dylan and I had done two days ago and then went to the Summit (286 meters!) as well as to Sunset Rock. The trails were well marked and maintained and we loved the exploring and the additional workout in the steamy air. We were back by 1800 a cleaned up quickly quickly for dinner.
At dinner, we went back to the crab market area and visited La Baraka--a place with both Western and Cambodian food. Three of the ordered pizza and we had some good conversation just along the beach with the Sun going down. I don't have time to pull out individual photos, so here's the link and the slideshow again.
Hopefully, we'll finish the outhouses tomorrow, but we were very happy with our progress today. Here's a link to all of the photos
All the Best,
Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014
A very busy and productive day found us finishing the brick work early, then hauled sand a rocks into the latrine area. After spreading the sand and distributing the rocks around, we made little ones out of big ones in order to make the concrete floor (first step) in the latrine.
We went to lunch before starting to stucco on our latrine, but Team 2 was well ahead of us and they did a good job breaking rocks and also getting started on their stucco.
Lunch was again at the Vines restaurant and the food was excellent. The cadets (except for Hansena) fell asleep immediately after eating. A group of high school kids from Kent Denver showed up and they ate on the balcony while we were on the ground level below in the shade. The kids were just obnoxious brats and it hurt our ears to hear them. They were their as part of a school trip and planned to work one day doing some digging, but then they had a two day "home stay" with some families. If felt so bad for the team leader who was from Tennessee and didn't even know these kids before taking them on the trip as the leader.
We woke the cadets up just before 1300 and headed back for a full and satisfying afternoon of stuccoing outhouses. It really doesn't get any better. I liked stuccoing even more than laying brick. Annie was a great help, while Dan and Winston were the mixologists for the stucco (just concrete made thin) and Jay gave me hints and cleaned up behind me. We again worked well together and got a lot done. We finished two walls, while the other team did three.
We were back to the hotel at about 1630 and four of us decided to go on hike into the Kep Montain Forest National Park just above us. Luke and Hansena went for a 45 minute run, while Dylan, Dan, and Winston joined me for some serious climbing. We repeated what Dylan and I had done two days ago and then went to the Summit (286 meters!) as well as to Sunset Rock. The trails were well marked and maintained and we loved the exploring and the additional workout in the steamy air. We were back by 1800 a cleaned up quickly quickly for dinner.
At dinner, we went back to the crab market area and visited La Baraka--a place with both Western and Cambodian food. Three of the ordered pizza and we had some good conversation just along the beach with the Sun going down. I don't have time to pull out individual photos, so here's the link and the slideshow again.
Hopefully, we'll finish the outhouses tomorrow, but we were very happy with our progress today. Here's a link to all of the photos
All the Best,
Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
July 1: Day 2 of Work
We arrived at about the same time this morning and found our latrines still standing and the walls well set. The locals had done little or no additional work after we left the day before, but that was okay with us.
I started the day by pulling out a couple of foam rubber baseballs that we got from the Academy's Admissions Office as souvenirs and gave them to a few of the kids that had been hanging around us and watching. Needless to say, they were pretty pleased by their new toys. Dan was nice enough to take a few photos before we got started.
The morning consisted of Winston doing more digging--but first he had to bail the pit out because we arrived to find his pit completely filled with water (well, to about 12 inches of the edge) and since it didn't rain that much, it confirmed what I deduced the day before. The water table in most of Cambodia is only about 12 inches below the ground!
Anyway, he and another local bailed it all out while Dan, Annie, and our Cambodia expert, Jay (sp?), mixed a fresh batch of mortar on the ground with five, five gallon buckets of sand and one 50 kg bag of Portland Cement. After that, we got to it with the bricks and made good time until we got near the top of the door frame. At this point, day installed the concrete-poured vent window pieces. Things were getting a bit sporty with the height, too, and you can see in the photos that I was standing on the equivalent of two parallel 2x4s that were on top of the one meter circular cylinders (in full rolling formation) because they hadn't been installed yet. I managed to make it through the whole day without a fall, which is a very good thing considering my potential impact points. The other group, despite being in much better ground, was only slightly behind us ;-) and progressing well, too.
The morning was generally uneventful except for the fact that they constantly asked Winston to widen his pit to fit the concrete cylinders. We measured the pit an few times and thought that the cylinders would fit, but we had a few Lost in Translation moments getting that point across, so Winston continued to dig and scrape and bail.
We left for lunch at about 1130 and again arrived at the Vine ravenous with hunger. Everyone looked like they were going to fall asleep on the deck, but the food brought them back to life. We had about a 30 minute siesta next, though, which I used to walk around the gardens with my camera and to explore the peppercorn fields.
When we returned, the work got very busy. We worked hard to complete the walls of the latrine and we had a few more translation issues dealing with how high the walls would ultimately be. Finally, after a few replaced, then disassembled bricks, we settled on a height over the door frame that included a slope to the back for drainage from the corrugated steel roof that would be installed later.
We finally got clearance on the pit for Winston after a couple of locals helped us pull out some big rocks and also dislodge an unside down five gallon bucket that Winston had been using as a stable island in his inland sea of muck.
Note: the pig was gone from his/her sty this morning. In the trash, we saw a pig's tail. You can do the math on that one. The family looked happy and well-fed.
The installation of the pipes/cylinders that followed was tough work. Each of the cylinders easily weighed 100 kg and probably more--reinforced concrete one meter in diameter. They were slid into the pit on poles and then set by a combination of methods that included digging out a little more around them for balance, Winston and I jumping on the them to set them, and, when was slid in wrong, looping a rope through the side drainage hole and hoisting it up with the help of three people. It was funny that the barefoot kids watched our every step, each of them only inches away from falling into the muck.
Finally, though, the first two cylinders were set side-by-side, to the great relief of Winston. We spent the rest of the afternoon completing the brick laying and got to the last few bricks just before quitting time. We let Jay and Mr. Senh do the last few bricks so that they would get it right and meet their expectations. We'd realized early in this process that helping is good, but there are times when we just need to step back and let them do their thing the right way without our good intentions or interference. Vy was very helpful throughout this process as she interpreted for us.
The other team was at about the same point as we were by about 1600 and twenty minutes later we decided to call it a day. The roof is left, as is setting the pieces and running the drain lines from the latrine to the septic cylinders.
Good news about today was that we had very little rain and the ground was a little drier. We had probably our sunniest day of the trip, but the cadets were pretty diligent about their sunscreen even if I had to play "Dad" and remind them a few times.
We left just before 1630 and made our way back to the hotel, arriving just before 1700. Winston, Hansena, Annie, and Luke made a beeline for the beach and I loaded photos on the laptop for later processing. I joined them a few minutes later and enjoyed cooling off in the water, wading through the shallows, and taking a few more photos. The water certainly wasn't clear, but it was a little cooler than I expected, too. I used the opportunity to do a little more washing of my DWC shirt, but still came back and did shower laundry with my shorts.
During the break before dinner, I post-processed all of my RAW photos and got them backed up. We left for dinner at 1830 and went to a very nice restaurant (The Veranda) which had a stunning overlook of Kep Bay. We could see thunderstorms over the water while we enjoyed a very good dinner. The cadets went "western" and ordered pizza, steak, and pasta, while Dan and I had one of the national dishes of Cambodia, Cha Kreung. Winston was kind enough to treat the over 21ers to fruity happy hour cocktails, too. Luke saved half of his pizza for later and took it back to the hotel room to refrigerate until the US-Belgium World Cup game starts at 0300 local time. We'll see how productive the cadets are tomorrow as we (hopefully) finish our first two latrines--what a big day!
Here are today's shots
All the Best,
Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014
I started the day by pulling out a couple of foam rubber baseballs that we got from the Academy's Admissions Office as souvenirs and gave them to a few of the kids that had been hanging around us and watching. Needless to say, they were pretty pleased by their new toys. Dan was nice enough to take a few photos before we got started.
The morning consisted of Winston doing more digging--but first he had to bail the pit out because we arrived to find his pit completely filled with water (well, to about 12 inches of the edge) and since it didn't rain that much, it confirmed what I deduced the day before. The water table in most of Cambodia is only about 12 inches below the ground!
Anyway, he and another local bailed it all out while Dan, Annie, and our Cambodia expert, Jay (sp?), mixed a fresh batch of mortar on the ground with five, five gallon buckets of sand and one 50 kg bag of Portland Cement. After that, we got to it with the bricks and made good time until we got near the top of the door frame. At this point, day installed the concrete-poured vent window pieces. Things were getting a bit sporty with the height, too, and you can see in the photos that I was standing on the equivalent of two parallel 2x4s that were on top of the one meter circular cylinders (in full rolling formation) because they hadn't been installed yet. I managed to make it through the whole day without a fall, which is a very good thing considering my potential impact points. The other group, despite being in much better ground, was only slightly behind us ;-) and progressing well, too.
The morning was generally uneventful except for the fact that they constantly asked Winston to widen his pit to fit the concrete cylinders. We measured the pit an few times and thought that the cylinders would fit, but we had a few Lost in Translation moments getting that point across, so Winston continued to dig and scrape and bail.
We left for lunch at about 1130 and again arrived at the Vine ravenous with hunger. Everyone looked like they were going to fall asleep on the deck, but the food brought them back to life. We had about a 30 minute siesta next, though, which I used to walk around the gardens with my camera and to explore the peppercorn fields.
When we returned, the work got very busy. We worked hard to complete the walls of the latrine and we had a few more translation issues dealing with how high the walls would ultimately be. Finally, after a few replaced, then disassembled bricks, we settled on a height over the door frame that included a slope to the back for drainage from the corrugated steel roof that would be installed later.
We finally got clearance on the pit for Winston after a couple of locals helped us pull out some big rocks and also dislodge an unside down five gallon bucket that Winston had been using as a stable island in his inland sea of muck.
Note: the pig was gone from his/her sty this morning. In the trash, we saw a pig's tail. You can do the math on that one. The family looked happy and well-fed.
The installation of the pipes/cylinders that followed was tough work. Each of the cylinders easily weighed 100 kg and probably more--reinforced concrete one meter in diameter. They were slid into the pit on poles and then set by a combination of methods that included digging out a little more around them for balance, Winston and I jumping on the them to set them, and, when was slid in wrong, looping a rope through the side drainage hole and hoisting it up with the help of three people. It was funny that the barefoot kids watched our every step, each of them only inches away from falling into the muck.
Finally, though, the first two cylinders were set side-by-side, to the great relief of Winston. We spent the rest of the afternoon completing the brick laying and got to the last few bricks just before quitting time. We let Jay and Mr. Senh do the last few bricks so that they would get it right and meet their expectations. We'd realized early in this process that helping is good, but there are times when we just need to step back and let them do their thing the right way without our good intentions or interference. Vy was very helpful throughout this process as she interpreted for us.
The other team was at about the same point as we were by about 1600 and twenty minutes later we decided to call it a day. The roof is left, as is setting the pieces and running the drain lines from the latrine to the septic cylinders.
Good news about today was that we had very little rain and the ground was a little drier. We had probably our sunniest day of the trip, but the cadets were pretty diligent about their sunscreen even if I had to play "Dad" and remind them a few times.
We left just before 1630 and made our way back to the hotel, arriving just before 1700. Winston, Hansena, Annie, and Luke made a beeline for the beach and I loaded photos on the laptop for later processing. I joined them a few minutes later and enjoyed cooling off in the water, wading through the shallows, and taking a few more photos. The water certainly wasn't clear, but it was a little cooler than I expected, too. I used the opportunity to do a little more washing of my DWC shirt, but still came back and did shower laundry with my shorts.
During the break before dinner, I post-processed all of my RAW photos and got them backed up. We left for dinner at 1830 and went to a very nice restaurant (The Veranda) which had a stunning overlook of Kep Bay. We could see thunderstorms over the water while we enjoyed a very good dinner. The cadets went "western" and ordered pizza, steak, and pasta, while Dan and I had one of the national dishes of Cambodia, Cha Kreung. Winston was kind enough to treat the over 21ers to fruity happy hour cocktails, too. Luke saved half of his pizza for later and took it back to the hotel room to refrigerate until the US-Belgium World Cup game starts at 0300 local time. We'll see how productive the cadets are tomorrow as we (hopefully) finish our first two latrines--what a big day!
Here are today's shots
All the Best,
Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014
July 1: Notes on Money, Tuk-Tuks, Motobikes, Driving, and the Population
I wrote these notes on Sunday trying not to watch as we drove to Kep from Phnom Penh. They're just my personal observations to date:
Money: The Cambodian currency is the Riel ($1 = KR4000), but the standard currency here in practice is the US dollar. It was explained to us that so many NGOs work here that the dollar has become fault because most of the NGO employees (from whatever nation) are paid in dollars. All UN activities are in dollars, too. There are no US coins here, though. Instead, the 1000KR and 2000KR bills take the place of quarters and half-dollars, while there are a few 10,000KR bills floating around, too, worth about $2.50 each.
Tuk-tuk rides to all about $2 or $3 from hotels and they tend to be a little more coming back. The price is the same whether there is one passenger or six, and we’ve seen as many as 12 in and on a tuk-tuk in something that looked like a family challenge. The tuk-tuks are just two-wheeled carts with front- and rear-facing seats and a roof, open-aired, that attaches to the back of the motorcycle. Most of the drivers where helmets, but there are no seatbelts on the tuk-tuks. I think top tuk-tuk speed is about 25 mph, maybe 30 but that’s pushing it. On most tuk-tuks, we could fit three across with our relatively narrow hips (for Americans), with some tuk-tuks being more comfortable and wide than others.
There are a few full-fledged taxis around, but most of the transpo—including 10 km out to the airport is by tuk-tuk. Individuals can catch rides on the back of motorbikes for a cheap price and there are some pedal-powered tuk-tuks as well, but again, not many.
Motobikes pull everything here—from the pig going to market photo I posted to a flat-bed cart with a family of 15 on it, charcoal bags, water jugs, mattresses. You name it ana motorbike pulls it around here. And EVERYONE’s on a motorbike. Families of four routinely were seen on them with mom of dad steering, the other parent in the back, one kid in between them and one standing (for scooters) in front or sitting on the driver’s lap. Many drivers had helmets, but most passengers did not. We saw some kids on motorbikes that could not have been 18 months old and the largest number that we’ve seen (several times) is five.
We noticed another thing along the sides of the roads in little shops. Lots of Coke-style beverage bottles (glass, one liter, and two liter) in racks, filled with a strange looking yellow liquid. I was afraid to ask what it was, but when I did, Sing told us that they were all filled with gasoline for motobikes. We see plenty of gas stations around, but he said that the people don't always trust the metering on the pumps and that it's a pain to pay at them, so when they want to be sure they're getting what they want in the amount that they want, they just guy it liter by liter on the side of the road.
Driving here is just crazy. Signals mean nothing except at the largest intersections and the only governing rule is that the vehicle with the highest overall momentum has the right of way. Minibus and automobile drivers honk constantly to warn motorbikes that they are coming from behind and the motorbike needs to get over to the shoulder or at least make room. Left turns are made at any point in time and are shaved off and shallow so much so that form sometimes 50 or 100 meters, the driving turning left is driving on the wrong side of the road. No one fully stops at uncontrolled intersections—they just slow down and find a gap to merge or cross, no matter how small. When traffic is snarled in one direction, most drivers think nothing of just moving over to the left and commandeering one of the oncoming lanes that may appear to be unoccupied a the time. Once occupied, though, and a face off is set, gridlock ensues.
Driving in the countryside is free form. The only rule is: don’t hit something. All else goes. It doesn’t matter what side of the road you’re on at any point, so long as you’re not about to impact someone else in the next microsecond or two.
Driving through villages is very much like what we experienced in Rwanda about seven years ago. The driver barrels through (as traffic allows), with dogs, children and bicyclists performing a calm but effective Darwinian Dance to avoid and evade. In Cambodia, you’re either aware, or you’re dead. The idea of distracted driving here (cell phones) is terrifying. We’ve seen very little cell phone use by drivers.
Population: According to our Intrepid Travel guide, Kean, Cambodia has about 15 million citizens with 58% of them being 18 years old or younger. Kids are just everywhere here.
All the Best,
Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014
Money: The Cambodian currency is the Riel ($1 = KR4000), but the standard currency here in practice is the US dollar. It was explained to us that so many NGOs work here that the dollar has become fault because most of the NGO employees (from whatever nation) are paid in dollars. All UN activities are in dollars, too. There are no US coins here, though. Instead, the 1000KR and 2000KR bills take the place of quarters and half-dollars, while there are a few 10,000KR bills floating around, too, worth about $2.50 each.
Tuk-tuk rides to all about $2 or $3 from hotels and they tend to be a little more coming back. The price is the same whether there is one passenger or six, and we’ve seen as many as 12 in and on a tuk-tuk in something that looked like a family challenge. The tuk-tuks are just two-wheeled carts with front- and rear-facing seats and a roof, open-aired, that attaches to the back of the motorcycle. Most of the drivers where helmets, but there are no seatbelts on the tuk-tuks. I think top tuk-tuk speed is about 25 mph, maybe 30 but that’s pushing it. On most tuk-tuks, we could fit three across with our relatively narrow hips (for Americans), with some tuk-tuks being more comfortable and wide than others.
There are a few full-fledged taxis around, but most of the transpo—including 10 km out to the airport is by tuk-tuk. Individuals can catch rides on the back of motorbikes for a cheap price and there are some pedal-powered tuk-tuks as well, but again, not many.
Motobikes pull everything here—from the pig going to market photo I posted to a flat-bed cart with a family of 15 on it, charcoal bags, water jugs, mattresses. You name it ana motorbike pulls it around here. And EVERYONE’s on a motorbike. Families of four routinely were seen on them with mom of dad steering, the other parent in the back, one kid in between them and one standing (for scooters) in front or sitting on the driver’s lap. Many drivers had helmets, but most passengers did not. We saw some kids on motorbikes that could not have been 18 months old and the largest number that we’ve seen (several times) is five.
We noticed another thing along the sides of the roads in little shops. Lots of Coke-style beverage bottles (glass, one liter, and two liter) in racks, filled with a strange looking yellow liquid. I was afraid to ask what it was, but when I did, Sing told us that they were all filled with gasoline for motobikes. We see plenty of gas stations around, but he said that the people don't always trust the metering on the pumps and that it's a pain to pay at them, so when they want to be sure they're getting what they want in the amount that they want, they just guy it liter by liter on the side of the road.
Driving here is just crazy. Signals mean nothing except at the largest intersections and the only governing rule is that the vehicle with the highest overall momentum has the right of way. Minibus and automobile drivers honk constantly to warn motorbikes that they are coming from behind and the motorbike needs to get over to the shoulder or at least make room. Left turns are made at any point in time and are shaved off and shallow so much so that form sometimes 50 or 100 meters, the driving turning left is driving on the wrong side of the road. No one fully stops at uncontrolled intersections—they just slow down and find a gap to merge or cross, no matter how small. When traffic is snarled in one direction, most drivers think nothing of just moving over to the left and commandeering one of the oncoming lanes that may appear to be unoccupied a the time. Once occupied, though, and a face off is set, gridlock ensues.
Driving in the countryside is free form. The only rule is: don’t hit something. All else goes. It doesn’t matter what side of the road you’re on at any point, so long as you’re not about to impact someone else in the next microsecond or two.
Driving through villages is very much like what we experienced in Rwanda about seven years ago. The driver barrels through (as traffic allows), with dogs, children and bicyclists performing a calm but effective Darwinian Dance to avoid and evade. In Cambodia, you’re either aware, or you’re dead. The idea of distracted driving here (cell phones) is terrifying. We’ve seen very little cell phone use by drivers.
Population: According to our Intrepid Travel guide, Kean, Cambodia has about 15 million citizens with 58% of them being 18 years old or younger. Kids are just everywhere here.
All the Best,
Marty France
USAFA Faculty Chaperone & DWC Volunteer
Kep, Cambodia: July 2014
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