After football at the orphanage we stopped on the way back for a river trip to see Kompong Chhang. This is a floating village, literally loads of little houseboats glued together in a marshy river system on the lake of Tonle Sap. It's about 90km or so from Phnom Penh. Interesting is that most of the inhabitants are actually Vietnamese not Cambodian, I found out.
Sad was that this was true poverty.
Such small small huts, knocked together with bits and pieces of tin. No electric, plumbing, sanitation - literally nothing. Rubbish strewn all over. Kids sitting in grime. Families sat on their "living room" floor, just sitting and watching, up to 8 I saw that would then have to sleep in a room no bigger than a double bed in space terms. So small. So squalid.
BUT you know what. We drove past some of these and every single person, kid, adult, young and old waved and smiled at us. And I mean EVERY SINGLE person. This for me was very humbling to be honest. These people truly have nothing, but were still happy with their lot it seems and happy for the distraction of a load of tourists interrupting their day.
A little moody for the above in sepia, but it seemed apt. This is home to someone. Look at the bike, yep up to the chain in water, which therefore means so would the floor of the house be in the same depth of water.
The first houses along the road were the worst for me. So sad. But once we boarded boats and the sun came out a little things cheered up. We even had some fun rocking the boat to the squeals of terror from the girls behind us. Great fun.
Pigs - I know how funny is that.
We were sort of pottering along, turn a corner there's a house boat but actually it's a mobile phone shop, it's full of pigs, it's a paint and DIY shop, it's selling ice in blocks, it's just someones front room who happens to have a TV so is packed with neighbours all watching.
This really was a crazy place.
Our driver clearly could learn a few things from the guy in front here. Our guy hit literally every boat on the way there, and then must have thought - "I know I'll hit em all on the way back too!" Literally.
He could not turn corners.
He stalled the engine countless times.
He even got us stuck in weed at one point and another driver had to jump from his boat, to a row boat to come free us. Ahahahahahahah! Ha Ha, of course this made us all laugh so we had great fun.
Here's the kids and other adults in their boats. I think our driver was set to ramming speed here.
"Look, look - boats I haven't hit yet!!!!!"
OK artistic license, some moody ones.
But how beautiful do these look. Placed in sepia and black & white it looks almost magical doesn't it.
What do you don't get is the smell, rubbish everywhere, dead fish floating, hotch-potch building creations using different materials, different colours etc.
Final photo from the trip is Ollie with Max and Hari aboard their boat. Why have stopped? Well we were stuck in weeds again and had to be rescued. We also were meeting some of the orphans from this village that eventually will go to the orphanage we played football against.
What's that song - "The circle of life!"
Back to my first observation of what this place is like to live in. An observation is that potentially if the kid is an orphan he/she could get a better start to life by getting in to the orphanage, rather than staying with Mum and Dad. A sad but VERY true observation as you'll see from what it is like in the orphanage compare to this place - my next blog.
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