Sorry it has been so long since my last post. We have been busy during the week with surveys and entering data. Sometimes we don’t really have anything new to talk about. As Matt puts it, it can be a lot like ‘Groundhog Day’, with every day being exactly the same. On our days ‘off’ entering survey data we have time to go out into the city, but as of now we have really seen all there is to see and do all of the things to do. Thankfully this is our last week here. We are all looking forward to a change of scenery when we finish up this project and get to go to Angkor Wat this weekend.
This past week we finished up our surveys in Kandal Province, having to take the ferry two times. The one day we took the ferry across to Mekong Island. On board there were ladies selling all kinds of snacks for the short ride. One lady was selling fried insects that looked kind of like a grasshopper/cricket. Sinel, one of the NaVRI people we are working with eagerly bought a bag of them when I asked him about them. He showed us how to rip off the wings and the serrated lower parts of their legs used for ‘chirping’ before you eat them. They were crunchy and kind of salty, but didn’t taste bad. The only thing you need to get over is the fact you’re eating a bug…
One of the last villages we surveyed was one of the pockets of Muslim communities that exist in Cambodia. About 80% of the population is Buddhist and the other 20% is predominantly Muslim. Anyways, needless to say surveys went really fast as Muslim people do not own or keep dogs. So in the end, because there were no dogs, we were able to finish the surveys early, which was nice.
On the way back over from the island we ended up taking a larger ferry because the one we had taken was too small to handle crossing the now rough waters of the river. Some of the trucks that boarded the ferry were massive petrol trucks. Sinel explained to us that they were too heavy for the ferry but that they could just pay extra and the officials would look the other way…this seems to happen a lot here. It made us nervous, and the whole way across we were hoping that the ferry wouldn’t sink. When we made it safely to the other side we were relieved, but just as we were about to drive off, the bus started rolling backwards! We almost rolled right into the water (there were no barriers in the back), nearly hitting a farmer and his cow…
This week Matt and I also went for ‘blind massages’. The massage parlor we went to was called ‘Seeing Hands’ and all of the masseuses are blind. I lucked out and got a really nice lady and my own private room whereas Matt got this ‘huge dude’ (as he described them), who just ‘destroyed’ him, AND he was in a room with a bunch of people. We are going to go to get another massage this week, but Matt is requesting we try somewhere else…
This weekend we went to Sihanoukville to go to the beach. It was SO nice to get out of the city and it was just beautiful. We had a bungalow right on the beach with a nice huge deck and comfortable chairs overlooking the water. I got to do some kayaking and we did a lot of swimming and relaxing. For dinner we went to one of the many bars and restaurants that are right on the beach, with the tables and chairs sitting in the sand by the shore. We had a huge spread of seafood for dinner for only $5 a person! Beers were only 50 cents and some bars were offering free shots and drinks. It was so cheap!
Matt and I had considered staying an extra day, as today is our ‘day off’ for data entry. We would have gone on a cruise yesterday had we stayed, but when we got up in the morning it was overcast and looked like it was going to rain, so we decided against it. We made the right choice because it started raining shortly after the cruise left. So in the end we ended up taking the bus back to Phnom Penh.
Anyways, I think that’s about all for now. Will write again soon.
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