Overnight Stay: Village location: Taing Bom Pong Village; 53 Kilometers out in Tasal Commune. Accompanied by: Pech Sophak and Soun Samnang.
The last couple days was a trek of about 53 kilometers away to the village of Taing Bom Pong. The mornings are cool. The nights are rather cold. And by cool and cold I mean about 60-70 degrees F. The day can still get up to the 80s, feels like 90s. It's winter. It's dry-season. Some leaves have fallen off of the trees. The harvest is over. The once magnificently green rice and sugar-cane fields that surrounded my home are now all but bare and brown.
On Tuesday Samnang, Sophak and I headed into the 'field'. I actually didn't know why we were going or really where we were going until I got there, which can often be the case. We made a couple stops in nearby villages saying hello to their other connections or friends they have made; I usually don't speak much in these cases. Of course there is always some tone of, 'oh look a foreigner'. In most cases when I go out into the villages I assume I am one of few, if not the only foreigner they have interacted with. If you head to the bigger cities, that's a different story. But out here, there are no reasons for a foreigner or traveler to venture out this far. And here I am, on there door step. Speaking their language. I always try to let them know where I come from, that I'm not French, but American. I'm proud of that fact, and I think they find it quite fascinating.
Anyways. We end up going out into the jungle! For the first hour of driving over rocks and 'pot holes' we were in what I would call 'woods', for the last half hour of the journey, we were in what I would classify as, jungle. Thick, dense, bamboo, palm trees, vines. The further in we got, the closer we got to the mountains in the background beyond the trees. We didn't make it all the way to the mountains, but we stopped at what was supposed to be a river to take a bath, but, indeed, it is dry season. No water. No bath. So we walk around for a while, I collected a couple shells and rocks that I hope to bring back home. In another month, I should have a new phone (and camera) so that I can take my own pictures and more of them. I found leaves as big as 3 or 4 heads. No monkeys though, or tigers (which may be a good thing). There in other parts apparently.
The woods, I described earlier, had to be once jungle. But it too, like 70% of Cambodia, has been chopped.. The trees and plants were young. I thought, maybe in another 100 years, it may look like it used to. Like the jungle up ahead. 70% of a countries wildlife and trees, gone. Could you imagine? Your home country losing 70% of it's wildlife and trees. Where I live in Cambodia, used to be filled with trees. But business is booming, and electricity here is fueled by wood. Much of the land now is desolate. But, preserves have been marked, and in certain areas logging is illegal, which is a huge concern for Cambodia right now.
The day was long, but rather simple (like most days). We headed back to base for the night where we feasted on fish, and beef, and pork, and, of course, Khmer Cheese. Local wine was gifted for evening. Neither Khmer Cheese or wine are really those things. The cheese here is actually a 'dipping' fish sauce type for leaves and greens. Wine, a strong vodka or whiskey with honey poured in it. Nothing is what it's name is. But if I really tried to explain it all, 1.) that would be boring for me and for you and 2.) well yeah, it'd be boring. Things are not what they appear to be, things are different, I think we've collected that so far.
We ended up sleeping on a wooden platform, which is where many people sleep in the rural area, often without mattresses. The hammock I traveled with for 2 hours didn't get used *grunt*. It's bed time now here. 10pm. The last pictures are of the funniest laughing man in Cambodia. His laugh is rare and rather sweet. It was his home that we stayed at for the night. In the morning, we had rice and pork, took a good-bye picture and went on our way.
