who knew srimp came from a forest??? (posting from the road)

I wearily eyed the mode of transportation for our next adventure...a motorcycle, or moto as they are referred to here in Cambodia. Christopher and I were to be mounting these 2 death traps (don't anyone tell me otherwise...between the horror stories from my father and what I have seen in the ER....) driven by 2 young Cambodian men. Our solice was in the fact that we actually knew the 2 locals, well kind of. My friends from Seattle; Jason and Deena, introduced us to some people that they had met previously while on vacation in the same area. Last night we all went out and dined on some Cambodian cuisine to get better acquainted. The American, Denny, who is kind of the orchastrator of all, has some absolutely amazing insights to share into this unique land. We talked about the growing problem of child prostition, there are posters everywhere about it; keeping children safe, getting kids off the street etc. Denny explained the the corruption of the country runs deep. Sadly many of the kids who are in the field of prostitiution are there because their family has placed them there, in fact they bring the money home to mom afterwards (just like the postcard sellers, its another way to make a profit). Oops - off on another tangent - I could write pages on the intersting insights of Denny.

Anyway, it was here at dinner that we met Andrew and David, our tourguides and drivers for the following day. At the suggestion of Deena and Jason we headed out to see a local village. First stop however was for gas. Doesn't sound exciting does it? Well it is when the gas is poured into the tank out of old Johnny Walker bottles from a stand on the side of the road while everone around is smoking. Cheating death once again, we set off. After 40 min, on some rather rough terrain, we then boarded a boat for another 30 journey down a river to arrive at the villiage of Kampong Khleang. While not totally foreign to tourists, they are certainly few and far between. Kampong Khleang sits on the banks of a river, I did ask a local the name of the river with the help of the translator but was told it was called river. (on a similar note, all dogs appear to be known simply as dog). This river flows into Tonle Lake, which is the the largest freshwater lake in S.E. Asia and home to a natural phenomenon. During the rainy season the water actually backflows along the Mekong River and increases the lakes size from 2500 km2 to 10,000 km2. My point in telling you this is to explain why the houses, and everything in the town is on stilts. Ten metre high stilts to say the least. If its not on stilts then it floats (like some of the pig pens). As I mentioned, we were there during the dry season, this means that in order to enter the 'restaurant' that we ate at we had to climb a series of ladders.

I know what your thinking, but I didn't fall...came close. Actually the nearest brush to death while perched up in this tree fort came when it was time to visit the facilities. I watched as our food was raised up through a trap door in the floor and was worried that I was going to have to tackle some similar obstacle. And I did. Not a vertical challenge but a percarious walk across some loosly laid, very weathered, creaky wooden planks that would lead me to...a squat toilet. I contemplated the humilitaing manner of death this would be should I plunge to my death in a squat toilet - who knows what lays below - and decided against it. What's a little renal failure anyway?

After a delicious meal that consitsed of rice, the rest enjoyed some fresh fish as well (so for me, more rice), we walked through the town to the school. In case tourists do come, there is the opportunity to purchase pencils and notebooks. You then pick a classroom to enter to distribute your gifts. The kids immediately stand to attention and begin bowing with closed hands. With the help of our translators we had the chance to spend a few minutes visiting with the kids and learning more about them. We were in a grade 5 class that was comprised of 28 girls and 6 boys (I did ask the teacher, the discrepency is due to the fact that the boys are out helping their fathers fish. And sure enough they could be seen all along the river.) They were very grateful and could not stop thanking us. Unreal.

Our whirlwind tour of Kampong Khleang concluded with a paddle in some small, unstable 'boats' down the river and through the flooded forest. I tried to find out the type of trees that surrounded us, to no surpirse, they were simply referred to as tree. My boat did fairly well at the hands of the 8 y.o. girl who was paddling. Christopher nearly lost an arm trying to untangle his boat from a fishing net and then a shrimp trap that they got caught in, in the middle of the forest. I'll try and include some photos but I assure you that it was more surreal and peaceful then the photos...

All in all it was a fantastic day...for those of you who eat shrimp...I got to see it being 'prepared'. It is laid out on large bamboo mats in the center of the town. Dogs, roosters and children play in and around it. After a few days of drying in the sun, little Cambodian women pull the pieces off that shouldn't be there and then package it in large burlap sacs. My point in telling you this is not to discourage the eating of shrimp, afterall these people need the money, but you might want to chase it with an immodium....just a suggestion...

A-gun for reading!