Hello All,
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| on our way to Kampong Cham |
Thought I would take a break from studying the Khmer language to post some pictures and tell you about my "never a dull moment" life in Kampong Cham.
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| all dressed up at the bus depot |
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| Getting fresh mangos at the bus stop on way to Kampong Cham |
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| Getting our luggage from bus depot to hotel |
Learning Khmer certainly has its challenges for me as I struggle with the k'nong, chang, p'tai. m'day, and kar y a lai type words, but truly I think my head is going to explode with all the new words going into my brain. Unfortunately to make room for my already stuffed brain, I am losing other functions. I have become accident prone. I made an impression with the fellow volunteers at 5:30 in the morning when I slipped on the wet-from-the-leaky-shower floor, landed backwards on the toilet, hit the toilet bowl which hit the wall then exploded spewing water all over. It sure woke ME up!
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| This is after we turned the water off! |
I have managed to get out for morning runs while the weather is...well cool isn't the right word...perhaps less hot! Running along the Mekong is quite pleasant, past women in pyjamas doing "jazz-aerobics" complete with music blasting into the streets. Otherwise it is a quiet time of the day.
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| Sunrise on the Mekong River |
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| Fishing boat heading out early |
Other than that, the food continues to be great, especially the fruit and veggies. Tamarind had become my new favourite snack food and fresh coconut juice my new favourite drink.
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| m-m-m-m steamed dumplings |
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| cooking fish with a big pot of rice |
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| more fish |
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| I know it doesn't look appetizing but this is nummy sweet-sour tamarind |
Yesterday, our only day off school, a group of us cycled across a bamboo bridge to an island in the Mekong River. Cycling around the island was along dirt roads lined with trees filled with all sorts of fruit, kids running up to the road to say ``hello`` and very friendly people.
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| Our Dutch contingent in her glory on a bike |
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| Pony and cart crossing the bamboo bridge |
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| Your truly and Ellen |
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| Happy people saying hello |
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| Jack fruit (interesting taste) |
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| plai chake ( bananas) |
On our way home form cycling we stopped for some sugar cane juice. Ellen is squeezing the sugar canes which is not as easy as it looks!
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| Sugar cane juice |
Seem to be managing the heat and humidity however I am dreading April which is supposed to be hellish hot. I really cannot imagine it getting hotter. I think I`m in trouble. But probably nothing that a little coconut juice wouldn't help.
Hope you are all well! See you next time.
Lots of hugs,
Andrea
I loved reading your update Andrea! My fav picture is of you cycling down the road, with tropical trees all around you....you look like you're heading off on an adventure into to the great Jungle :D
ReplyDeleteI liked the cycling pic of you too. The one of the bamboo bridge looks cool. But the little guy at the bus depot takes the prize - there's a Sammy Davis jr quality to his pose. Love it!
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