I am glad we decided to ride in the van to get to the ferry, especially since if we missed the ferry it would be a 300+K ride to our next hotel in Kompong Chhnang. (I cannot pronounce these city names either so no worries!) We got to the ferry boat in more than enough time and as soon as we stepped out of the van we were surrounded by kids trying to sell us food for the boat ride. Our hotel packed us our breakfast so we had no need for the bread and laughing cow cheese that I am sure had been sitting out in the Cambodia sun for most yesterday. Even though my stomach was feeling better and I had a real craving for some cheese, I wasn’t going to chance it on a slow boat (4 hours) to Komping Chhnang! And I am quite sure the bathroom facilities were first class.

When I laid eyes on the boat we were going to take a very long ride in, I almost turned around and tried to hire the van to take me anywhere but on the river. As you will see from the pictures, it was a long, long boat that had all the modern conveniences of something out of the 1800’s. Waht Tah said we would be able to sit on the top of the boat and I was rather relieved, although there was nothing more than two railings to hold onto. I am telling you, it was rather scary looking. As we waited to board our trusty ferry, more and more people began arriving. I still didn’t want to go down into the bowels of the boat until I absolutely had to. Some of us climbed on top of the boat and then more and more decided to do the same. Unfortunately, the police came and told everyone they had to get into the boat in order for it to leave the dock.

Three feet from the dock and out of police range, we all piled on top of the boat to get a birds eye view of the floating villages as we made out way onto Tonle Sap Lake. It is very hard to accept the poverty level of some of the Cambodian people. To see the way they live is heart breaking. The question for me is it as heart breaking as I make it out to be? The people seem genuinely happy but man do they work hard. They wave and smile and they endear themselves to my heart. This is not a country for people like me that want to fix everyone’s problems. I can see why people come here and then want to get involved in some way to help get the people have a little better life or some modern conveniences like running water or even drinkable water. It is obvious that the government is not getting involved. A lot of the problems also stem for the millions of dollars of aid money flowing into this country and right into the pockets of corrupt government or agency pockets. And when I see the way these people live and how hard they work, it is just enough to make my blood boil.

Some staggering facts about Cambodian life:

Life expectancy: 57 years, if you are lucky!
84% of Cambodians live without running water or indoor plumbing
The average Cambodian family is 6 children

Medical insurance is non-existent and most cannot afford to go to doctors. There is a terrible story recently about a man and his pregnant wife that walked into a hospital and the doctors would not help them because they could not afford the $25 fee. The wife and the baby died. In Siem Reap there is a private children’s hospital supported by donations from overseas and the children can be seen there for free. On leaving Siem Reap the line was a couple blocks long. Waht Tah said that hospital alone saves thousands of childrens’ lives a year.

The boat ride across the lake took a good four hours, 3 hours and 45 minutes spent on top of the boat. That was 2 hours too long for me because I got fried like a white egg. Now besides the pain of my knee, I have the pain of a bad burn. This is a great trip! All my fault, I am not trying to pass blame. Rich was smart enough to go inside. He did have a minor accident getting off the top of the boat. The boat heaved and he pulled with his bum arm and now it is sore again. We’ll have to wait and see if he gets to ride. He did go to the toilet on the boat and said it was a direct hole to the lake. Nice.

The ferry boat slowed down as we made our way to Kompong Chhnang. Yeah! Off the floating vessel! None too soon because I was turning into a french fry. I don’t care what our guide book says, Kompong Chhang is not very charming. It is dirty and for the first time since leaving Pailin, I didn’t feel very safe. We pulled into our hotel, one of the better ones mind you, and I knew straight away this wasn’t going to be good. Our hotel room smelled and the bathroom smelled even worse. The air conditioning was practically useless. The rates on the door read: $10 for whole day, $8 after 7 pm and after 12 midnight, charge for another day. Now I can be a pampered snob at times but this was pushing the limit for me. Outside and downstairs the reaction to our hotel accommodations was about the same from Janie and Jim. We needed to go to lunch quick!

Lunch was at a hotel that was a bit more expensive than ours and 100% better. While we were eating we decide that we were going to change hotels no matter the cost and we were taking our guides with us. Jim went and checked out the rooms and found out the cost was only $3 more a night. We didn’t want to get Waht Tah into any trouble but staying at this hotel was going to be better all around. Waht Tah made a call to the Buffalo Tours office and they actually agreed to pay for our night’s stay at the new hotel. We suggested they never use the other hotel ever again.

After lunch we took a ride to the village that is famous for the clay pots. About 7K out of town in the village of Ondong Rossey, you can see the people making these clay pots by hand as they have been doing for over 5000, yes 5000 years! We also saw people breaking stone up into small pieces with crude hammers and spikes that they will then sell. The road to the village is just a dirt trail that we share with cows, chickens, motorbikes and bicycles. What Cambodia lacks in the amount of dogs, they make up for in the amount of chickens running everywhere and yet I have yet to see one dead on the side of the road. People know how precious the animals are so they are very courteous to stop or get out of their way, especially the cows. Cows here are used for pulling carts and plows opposed to eating.

We did stop to visit with a family and soon had many people coming around to see the interesting white folk. They loved to have their picture taken and then get to see. I am guessing most of these people did not have many pictures of themselves, if any. The women are very shy but the children cannot get enough attention from you. They are so precious, dirty faces and all! Janie and I want to scoop them all up and take them home with us. We passed a young man carrying a huge rack of palm tree juice on his bike and we gave him the thumbs up. I am telling you, there are some future Tour de France riders here. Put these kids on bikes that actually work and they would blow your socks off.

This is a climate where 3+ crops of rice a year are possible but because there is no central water system there is only water for one crop a year during the rainy season. Occasionally we see a rice field but usually it is near a river for water. Most of the rice fields we see are brown and have cows grazing in them.

And speaking of bikes, every family has at least one and most only one. And everyone uses it no matter what size you are. Since the family can only afford one, they buy the biggest because more can use it. We see kids standing and pedaling because they cannot sit on the seat and reach the pedals. Or maybe they can reach the pedals barely and they push with one leg until the pedal makes it up on the other side. Today I saw four people on a bicycle! Yep, count ‘em, four people. Mom on the seat rack with a little person, the young daughter pedaling and another little person in front of her. She wasn’t moving fast but she was moving. I shake my head in amazement and chuckle when I complain about the bike I am on (which still is a piece of....).

On the way back into town we stopped at one of the clay pot stands and bought a few things to bring home. Our way of helping the local economy! I am not sure if they will make the voyage home because they are quite fragile but I will do my best. It will be a nice momento of our trip.


I think Waht Tah is trying to gross us all out or shock us. Tonight he had Beef with ants. Beef with ANTS! He said they are very good and held one up for us to see before he promptly put it in his mouth. Nice! Thank God my medicine is kicking in otherwise I am not sure I would be able to handle the sight. I had garlic fish and that is what I got! There on my plate lay two little fish, heads and all. I can do this! Actually, they tasted very, very good.

We decided that tomorrow we would begin pedaling towards Phnom Penh at 7 a.m. to help beat most of the mid-day heat. Our itinerary said 110K but Waht Tah said in reality it was 160K door-to-door. Too far for me on a mountain bike but we will have to discuss that at breakfast. I needed some sleep and yet another shower! I really don’t believe I have ever smelled this bad in my whole life!


Link to today’s photos

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