Cambodian Rural Homestay

While still on pavement, a minefield warning, just beyond the roadside

The long tuk tuk drive to Sambor Village

Teng and Nai with their children

Sambor home stay  in morning light

Buddhas behind a gauze curtain at the local temple

Fish monger at the Kampong Cheuteal Market

Family members at the Sambor home stay

Digs at the Sambor home stay with mat on the floor and a pink mosquito net

The hand held device was not a road hazard  in this case

Prasat Yeai Poeun is part of one of the three temple complexes at Sambor Prei Kok

Children in the yard at the Sambor home stay

Whooping it up with home made palm wine paired with smoked fish

Fisherman on a stand in the lake beside Sambor

Sambor farmer in the rice fields

THE IDEA of a visiting a rural home stay came by accident. I was surfing for information back in Vancouver, on the pre-angkorian temple complexes of Sambor Prei Kuk, located in Northern Cambodia. Once in Phnom Penh, further searching brought me to www.samborpreikok.com and the correct contact information. With that I was able to get the reception at my hotel to kindly phone the community tourist organization in the village of Sambor. On the sixth evening, after leaving Vancouver i arrived in this community partially off the grid. The trip by tuk tuk (a trailer with two benches that is covered and pulled by a small motorcycle), from the provincial capital of Kampong Thom, took nearly 1 1/2 hours. En route I asked the driver to stop so I could photograph some signs by the side of the road, warning of land mines in the forest beyond. After all, this had been were Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge forces had battled back and forth, in the 1980s. The last 13 km (of the 35 km trip) was on a dirt road. The tuk tuk ride included clouds of reddish dust as well as numerous holes and washboard.

At Homestay #7 i met one of the tourist coordinators from the community tourist service. My host named Teng showed me where to sleep. It was in a simple wooden house, with cracks of light coming through the boards in the walls and floor. The large dark living space was partitioned off into smaller sleeping areas and the peaked roofed structure was raised on high posts, like most rural Cambodian homes. In Phnom Penh (at the Salita Hotel) I had enjoyed 3 star comfort but here conditions changed to a tiny $6 room (or cubicle) with nothing more then a mat and a blanket on the wooden floor, covered by a pink mosquito net. Meals were cooked under the house, at the back, and with the use of firewood and two open hearths. The first night I helped with dinner by cutting local vegetables. That introduced me to the spinach-like flavour and texture of Morning Glory greens, which was prepared with oyster sauce, for part of the family stir fry dinners. A young man and family member, named Samei, took me the first day to the rice fields where we visited two crumbling brick kilns beside a small shallow lake. A lone fisherman out in the water, stood on a stand and cast a long bamboo rod. As the light faded we followed a herder and his water buffalo back across rice stubble fields, up a dusty lane lined with cane fences and back into the village.

The next morning Samei took me on a bike ride. First we followed the red dirt road further East to the Kampong Cheuteal High School, a sprawling compound with a sports field, covered concrete stands and a series of one story buildings were some 1,000 students were taught. (www.kampongcheuteal.org – which is unfortunately in Khmer). Why would I go here? Your internet addicted blogger asked (but did not demand), at the home stay that is, if there was internet access in the village per chance. An hour in an empty classroom, equipped with a few computers seemed to be the best solution my hosts could come up, which I deeply appreciated. From here, my guide (and minder), took me first to the local Buddhist temple and then to the next village of Kampong Cheuteal. By mid-morning the covered market in this next village was coming to life. Around the outer perimeter were meat, vegetables and fruit stands while the dry goods, small electronics and other services (including getting nails done or a haircut) were available in the centre of the market.

In the afternoon it was off, in the cramped confines of an ox cart, to the 7th Century ruins of Sambor Prei Kuk. Given the age of these Hindu temples as well as a US Air Force bombing during the Vietnam War, there was still much to see. Before visiting temples like Angkor Wat, it seemed important to first visit this site first, from the much older Chenla era. Back at the home stay I joined four men in emptying a large plastic bottle of home made palm wine. Of course we all got a little jolly, on this sour tasting brew, which strangely different.

Otherwise of note, was the easy pace at the home stay. That included meals together with the family, playing soccer in the yard with the kids and drinking palm wine from next door with some of the men from around the neighbourhood.

Tuol Sleng Museum

                                          Images from the Tuol Sleng Museum


TUOL SLENG MUSEUM, once the Tuol Svey Prey High School in Phnom Penh, was re-purposed in 1975 to serve as the largest interrogation centre for the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. It was known as Security Prison 21 or S-21. As Phnom Penh was subject to the forced evacuation of its inhabitants to the countryside, these crimes against humanity took place within the confines of an almost deserted city. The new Pol Pot regime kept careful records and the process included taking photos of each prisoner before their demise. Some of their faces appear in the museum as a bleak and haunting testimony to this era of collective insanity. From 1975 to 1979 some 14,000 to 17,000 (depending on the source) were sent to the killing fields at Boeung Choeung Ek, just to the west of Phnom Penh.. It is estimated that nearly 2 million Cambodians (and a few foreigners too) died in these same years of starvation, disease or through violent means.

Phnom Penh arrival

Hong Kong and Kowloon Peninsula viewed from The Peak.

FEELING FAR AWAY is what first comes to mind, perched here on a stool in the lobby of this Phnom Penh hotel, as i begin this very first posting of the much anticipated two month trip. Getting here began early in the afternoon of January 25. Thankfully, friends had driven me out to the airport. The Cathay Pacific Boeing Jumbo left almost on time for the long non-stop flight to Hong Kong. Our route did not follow the edge of the Pacific as i had expected but kept further to the north, passing over central Alaska, across the Bering Sea and south of Wrangel Island in Northeast Siberia. Far below the serpentine meanderings of great rivers, clusters of roundish lakes, then pillow like hills appeared almost white on white. Then ranges of mountains appeared as the route continued between Lake Baikal and the Sea of Okhotsk. Nine hours into the flight Eastern Mongolia unfolded below as vast frosted steppes in late afternoon light. Finally the jet was over China and the film of cloud was punctured here and there by the occasional long plume of smoke from some factory chimney. Finally the Jumbo ascended to the Hong Kong International airport in strong wind and rain before the 13.5 hour journey came to an end. Back on the ground, i got to sleep around 10 pm local time. The clock had moved ahead 16 hours.

After waking up at 3am on January 27, the day began disappointingly with a visit to a nearby McDonalds. Here in this corner of the Hong Kong's Kowloon District and on the mainland, it seemed to be the only place open during Chinese New Year, in the middle of the night. So much for my much anticipated bowl of rice congee. By 8 am i had taken the subway under the harbour to the actual island of Hong Kong, as i wanted to visit the famous Peak. At this early hour it seemed best to take a double-decker bus. The route followed a succession of tight switchbacks, up perilously steep hillsides, to the famous viewpoint. Once off, i was outside a funicular rail station and small shopping complex. It lay in a saddle between two steep peaks that overlook the Financial District of Hong Kong, and beyond. Prosperous looking citizens and some police were present for some jogging event. Runners came off an asphalted path that i decided to follow for over an hour. It took me around the peak to the west. With temperatures around 10 Celsius, it payed to walk briskly. Despite the cloud and flat light, i relished seeing the spectacular views and the unfamiliar semi-tropical vegetation.

In the afternoon, i was back out at the airport, with the jet lag beginning to take it's toll. It added to my flustered feeling during the check-in and departure procedures. Finally boarded the Dragon Air flight, some 3/4 of an hour late, for Phnom Penh. The light meal on board was very good with dim sum tidbits, fresh tropical fruit, etc. That was followed by the handing out of Cambodian Immigration forms - three in all! The plane landed in Cambodia after sunset, and the passengers entered the dimly lit terminal building. Customs officers processed the paperwork, photographing and fingerprinting (electronically) every disembarking visitor (except consular staff) in the process. Finally, a young man from the Salita Hotel stood outside in the Arrivals area, holding a sign that said "Robert Altwein." As he drove me into town he shared some of his background and told me a little about Cambodian politics and the emerging economy. Once at the hotel, i checked into the 10 storey high rise, in a quiet darkened neighbourhood. Had my first meal, another light one that is, here on Cambodian soil, The hotel staff served up a mixture of squid, green pepper and onions, in a thin curry like sauce and served with fresh roasted peanuts, rice and fresh pineapple.

Countdown

AT LAST, less then 24 hours left and everything is packed!

Wolfsburg Calendar 1975

AFTER 36 YEARS a DVD arrived in the mail on December 28. It was a digital file transfer from a Super 8 movie shot by a friend throughout 1974, in Wolfsburg, West Germany. A group of us had prepared large letters, in various materials that spelled out each of the months of the year in German. These were then photographed and included in a page layout for each of the months. The movie, which begins with the calendar cover, shows a German license plate of the time with WOB which stands for Wolfsburg, the year 1975 and "A typographical spoof" below. It should be noted that this city was the home of the Volkswagen Company and so Wolfsburg was very much an automotive town. We were able to even get some modest funding from the City of Wolfsburg and in the weeks before Christmas 1974, we sold all our calendars.

First day of retirement

THIS FIRST DAY of retirement. January 14, 2012 marks exciting and uncertain change. After long stretches of foul weather ending in snow overnight, the sun came out at noon and with it golden winter light. This view is from home in New Westminster with the camera panning from North to East. The video is partially to test uploading YouTube videos – it seems to work!

Week before Retirement

ON FRIDAY, January 13, I will leave Vancouver Community College, my place of work since August 1980. Retirement beckons! Here is my office of the last five years, which sometimes has a view of the Northshore Mountains, when the clouds are not low and rain is beating against the window.