Two Modes of Transportation - Boat and Ox Cart!

 Thursday, March 13, 2025   (Happy Anniversary, Jenny and Ole!)

Our sleep schedule is still quite weird, but it seems to be working for us! Waking in the middle of the night, blogging and talking, maybe napping, having lots of time to stretch before breakfast. The buffet is a bit different this morning with a different kind of noodles and bacon and we opt to eat outside by the pool. There are kittens!  And one is probably the mom but she isn't much bigger than her babies. The little Rosa lookalike is trying to climb a palm tree and the mom actually likes people and came to me as her babies scattered.  Made my morning!  The coffee is as black as coal and about as transparent!  But mixed with hot water and a lot of milk and sugar it actually has a delicious flavor! We're trying to load up on protein for the day ahead, as much as possible, with two-egg omelets and French toast  and bacon (I hear you, never mind!).  The do-it-yourself soup looks really good, too, but I just can't wrap around soup as a breakfast food and I'm quite uncertain about the identity of most of the ingredients from which you can choose.

My temple pass

                               

We are nearly finished when it begins to drizzle and we take our cups to one of the tables that is under cover and learn what a great location that is, away from the elements, with an overhead fan and the same lovely view of the pool and lush garden. I apologize to one of the kittens for disturbing her.

Back up stairs to get our things and we go down to meet Soy.  We're all so punctual!  Have I mentioned that our chariot is a Lexus?  There are quite a few on the road here but Soy says that, although they all look pristine the are actually quite old and sell here, used, for about twelve thousand dollars.  That's still quite a hefty price in a country that is mostly agricultural and where a teacher or nurse might make two hundred and fifty dollars a month.

Our drive begins auspiciously enough, but soon the rain begins in full throttle and it becomes obvious that our plans will need to be modified.  We drive through Soy's village and pass his old school.  It is now a 1-12 education center with new buildings and curriculum.  The open air markets are not doing any business and we stop a couple of times for Soy to exchange brief greetings with people he knows. 

We agree that stopping for coffee or tea is a good idea.  What a charming place! So many plants and warm, polished wood.  One of the back walls has a bookshelf in many books in English, some fection, some dictionaries, one on managing a small business.  The there is a white board where someone has been teaching English grammar!  We don't know what Baball Drink is so Ginger selects Batterfly Tea and I'm intrigued by Purple Potatoes Milk.  The young lady says that isn't recommended and when I press the issue she tells Soy that it is made with a powder and is only for kids.  I'm guessing it's like Quik chocolate milk.  I follow her suggestion and order the green tea and milk.

The drinks are beautiful!  And part way through I realize that there darker ice cubes are actually something different and use the two straws like chopsticks to force one to the surface.  Aha!  It's actually Boba tea! That's why the other straw has such a large diameter!  Should have spotted that right off!  Oh, and we have sweet fried banana chips, too.

Upstairs is a collection of antique technology, ancient sewing machines, old instruments, an early computer, transistor radio, an old hand scythe, which Soy says he dad used to make, and old photos. We've had to take off our shoes to go upstairs and when we come back down we put them back on and head for the car.  The have umbrellas for us, since it is still raining.

Photo of some of the thousands who were forced to leave the city when
the Communists took over. The history of Cambodia is filled with victories
and defeats, fluid boundaries, and conflict.

This is the keyboard of the typewriter downstairs.

Back on the road we see rice paddies, which will be planted in the rainy season, cassava that is growing quite well, one lone field of corn, and even a herd of water buffalo.  Our drive rolls down the window so I can get a quick photo.

Soy's school

The rain seems to be letting up and we're going for an ox-cart ride!! We'll get to see Soy's village without a curtain of rain between us and the sights! We are instructed to never grab the wheel of the cart! Seems right to me! Ginger mounts up first, once we've learned that we really don't have to drive it ourselves!  Soy was so earnest in teaching us how to go right and left with the reins!!  I climb in next and Soy hops on the back!  (All that kick boxing has made him quite fit and agile!) He says it's the first time he's ever ridden one and we are amazed.  I guess he usually just waves good-bye to his tourists and waits for their return!

It is quite an experience and much more fun than I expected.  It adds nicely to our list of elephant and camel rides!!  I realize that I've dropped my hat and the cart doesn't stop!  Instead Soy jumps off, grabs it, and sprints back with a huge smile on his face!  Then he does a James Bond mount back onto the cart!

Green mangoes

We go all around the village and crawl off, hoping we'll be able to walk.  Ginger has been sitting on her knees and I've had my legs spread in a most unlady-like fashion, trying very hard not to get the filthy bottoms of my shoes on Soy's shirt!

Back to the car and we're off to see the stilt houses and the floating houses on Tonlé Sap, the largest fresh-water lake in Southeast Asia, due to is unique biodiversity ii was declared a UNESCO Heritage Site in 1997.  The floating village houses about three hundred families or over a thousand people and even has a floating school and market.  The people live on fish but do not catch them with a rod and reel, instead they have fish farms and wait for the fish to die. All the inhabitants are of Vietnamese origin, having escaped during the Khmer Rouge reign in Vietnam from 1975 to 1979.  They are now Cambodian but maintain their Vietnamese traditions and language. Their presence is not appreciated by many other Cambodians.

This ramp is even steeper than it looks, and slippery!

There are lots of boats but very few tourists.

See???

The famous stilt houses

Buddhist structure

Buddhist shrine

Soy points out the floating market.

Obviously we've arrived at the floating village.

Note the hammocks and plants.

Fish farm.  They also farm the tiny salad shrimp.  It is fresh water, so
no lobsters!

We're heading back from the center of the lake.

A herd of goats!

Metal recycling!  Each of the boats had a net full of aluminum cans.
They must bring them here, I guess.

Water seller

Life on the water.

Some people live very well.

Politics is everywhere.

Back to the center of town much quicker than I expected!

During the drive Ginger commented to Soy that he talks a lot about his mother, whom he says is very funny.  But we don't hear anything about his dad.  Soy, who is the seventh of nine children, says he is close to his mom, but when he was a kid his dad smelled of rice wine!

Time for lunch! The restaurant is elegant and is probably mostly for tourists, with its set menu; but we're tourists and that's fine! Once again it is more food than we can eat and two of the courses are fish-based, which is a problem for Ginger.  But the waitress substitutes chicken fingers for the fish-finger appetizer and chicken for the fish in the soup.  Somehow she decided that pork was also off limits so there was another chicken course!  But Ginger said it was good and may have been the better choice anyway!

Look at all those knives, forks, and spoons! And we used all but one of them!

I don't know where it's brewed;  but the label on the back is in Cambodian!

                               

You're welcome, Jan!

We've had a full day despite the weather, due to Soy's ability to pivot and regroup, and we're ready to go home!  We leave tomorrow for Battanbang and will meet in the lobby at 8:00 with our bags ready to go.

Hmmm, another nap before venturing out has turned into an evening at home, in bed.  Guess we're not the night owls we used to be.  The long flight, the heat, the exercise...resting is the better part of valor!!