16. Jeep Trip: ‘Dusty’ Back Roads
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| Our Jeep and Driver Seyha With Pick-Up at Our Hotel |
We did not want
to ride an ATV, nor a moped in Siem Reap. We hired a car and driver to take us
to the Floating Villages. We took a Jeep Tour.
Naturally, a
Jeep, an old fashioned Jeep is made for dirt and back roads, a good way to
drive the rural country side - I thought.
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| Towed by a Moped? Wow! |
Including
everything, the trip cost us $95/person. Pick up at our Hotel at 8 AM.
Our Driver was
Seyha Kim, call me Seyha he said. His English was good.
27 years old,
married for 2 years with his first child (girl) due in April. He was a nice
guy, we learned a lot on this trip.
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| Dusty Trashy Roads in the Country |
He drove well
in our open Jeep. I sat on the back seat, Carol in front on the passenger side.
So…off we go.
I cannot tell
what roads Seyha took, He drove the back roads going towards the town of Kampong Khleang, our final destination
for the day.
We are in
Cambodia in the dry season; the above video I found however was filmed during
the wet season. I will try to find a dry season video in later reports.
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| Spirit Houses For Sale |
While driving,
Seyha tells us about life in Cambodia. He has lots of details, lots of news but
here are some highlights.
·
80%
homes in the country side have electricity now but that is very recent.
·
Most houses
now have tap water – they used to have to carry water from a well
·
A boy
cannot touch a girl until after they are married.
·
80%
homes in the country side have electricity now but that is very recent.
 |
| Drying Rice - The Worker and ? |
·
House
lots of 5 meters (16.5 feet) by 20 meters (65.6 feet) cost: $4000. Naturally it’s negotiable depending
where it is.
·
Most
houses have a ‘spirit’ house someplace.
·
Rice
is harvested once a year in the dry season, 2 to 3 times in the rainy season.
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| Well-Tended Crops |
·
Rice
is dried along the roads; it takes about 3 to 5 days to dry, depending on the
season.
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| Scarecrow With Helmet |
· Spinach,
lemon grass, sweet cucumbers are other good crops.
Rural life in
Cambodia is very different from life in the cities.
We stopped at
Seyha’s parent’s place, met his father and his mother. His father is a
mechanic, mostly fixes bicycles but can work on mopeds, too. His mother has a
road-side stand, cooks over an open fire for passers-by; she had 2 customers
when we stopped for a short visit.
 |
| Seyha's Dad |
What was odd
was the meeting of father and son and mother and son.
They had not
seen each other for some time, yet the meeting was very formal. Seyha just said,
“Hello, mother!” or “Hello, father!” but no touching, no hugs, kisses, nothing
demonstrative.
 |
| Seyha's Mom Cooking Over an Open Fire |
It’s not appropriate to show sentiment in public.
What would
they do in France?
Across the
street from Seyha’s parent’s place is a primary school and they were having
recess. Seyha took us to visit this school during their break. The children
loved having their pictures taken.
(see next blog for pictures)
Nobody minded strangers being in the school
yard. Peeking into the classrooms was interesting, I noticed the windows had
bars on them, but also had no real window, just the bars.
 |
| Children of the Customers |
We went to the
local, open market, where Seyha’s family shops all the time.
Oh, boy! This was the real thing.
·
Very
small clams called cockles, marinated with hot chili peppers. They have to be
cooked to eat and the lady selling would do that for you but… no thanks!
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| Marinated Cockles - Need to be Cooked |
·
Young
woman making palm juice, squeezing the stems and you drink it just like that,
impurities and road dirt included. No thanks.
·
Dried
fish, including the flies… no thanks!
·
Palm
sugar, sitting there in a pot, you can stir it, ladle it…
 |
| Palm Juice |
·
Roasted
crickets and some kind of larvae… somehow I am not hungry.
·
Raw
meat sitting on the counters, dead foul, already de-feathered.
You get the
idea; the pictures will help you to understand. Are you hungry yet? It sure would take me some time to get used
to this. (More pictures later)
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| Dried Fish - Flies Are Free |
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| Fried Crickets |
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| Fried Larvae |
From Seyha’s
parents place we now drove directly to the Chop Stick village of Kampong
Khleang. See part 2, after pictures Blogs.
