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Post by hwinpp on May 25, 2010 6:11:46 GMT
One day, completely out of the blue, a journalist friend of mine called me from Siem Reap. In a conspiratorial voice he hissed into my ear, "I've found it, I've found the new floating village!". I said "but..." and immediately got a "shut up! Is this line safe?". Well not quite... The tourism industry in Cambodia being the tourism industry in Cambodia, places don't stay secret for long and sometimes places touted as the next big thing just don't live up to all the hype. That's why the title of this thread is 'The Road to Meachrey' and not 'Meachrey, Jewel on the Tonle Sap'. I'd been told about this village about half a year ago and seeing that our 'local' floating village had been taken over by a bunch of Khmer thugs masquerading as Koreans we decided to have a look- see and evaluate the new place as a destination. The road was good I'd been told so on my trip last week to Siem Reap I drove out. Meachrey is about 26km northwest of Siem Reap, follow the road to Poipet (please check K2's thread on the overland trip between Bangkok and Siem Reap for more detail) for about 16km, to just before the Silk Farm, then turn off onto a dirt road to your left. Another ca. 10km through little Cambodian villages gets you to the parking lot at the end of a canal that the boats come up to collect passengers. Leaving Siem Reap Just before the roundabout at the end/ beginning of town The new road to Poipet After the turn off Passing through little hamlets Then open countryside Rice seedlings being planted on specially irrigated fields, most are still bone dry The finished, newly planted rice
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Post by hwinpp on May 25, 2010 6:50:14 GMT
These ducks were lucky to still find some water Bullock carts going home loaded with wood Finally, Meachrey port The curve onto the parking lot with Phnom Krom in the distance How to use water resources properly And how not to Stuck behind the bullock carts on the way back Schoolchildren on their way home And back on the main road, pigs on their way to the market Sugar cane, also going to the market Just before the roundabout coming into town, to the left goes to the airport On a whim, off to my old house My old breakfast place My old laundry My old residence, actually I was in a little 1- room apartment behind the right gate post ;D
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Post by bixaorellana on May 25, 2010 17:17:57 GMT
This is great, HW! I love a road trip, and you take us on some good ones. What exactly is a floating village -- is it what you show here at #4? Are they generally tourist attractions, and what does your thug reference mean? And a last question -- what is that fabulous tree in front of your old gate?
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2010 17:22:17 GMT
Your pictures are killing me, Henning.
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2010 23:21:15 GMT
Wonderful HW!! Remains in the top three places I must go. Each time you, go and come back with these wonderful pictures to share with us,I feel the urge to go. Fabulous. Thanks for this HW!
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Post by hwinpp on May 26, 2010 7:50:16 GMT
Exactly that. All buildings built on pontoons, including motorbike repair shops, churches (though not Buddhist temples), schools, little gardens, houses, fish pens, everything a village needs on the water. In Cambodia they're (nearly) exclusively Vietnamese or Cham Muslims. You find them all along the Mekong and on the Great Lake. So what you see in the link you gave is just a couple of floating houses but get more of those and you've got a village Isn't the tree in front of the house hibiscus with white and pink flowers? We also get hibiscus with red and orange flowers. Get a load of that road, Jack. 1 1/2 hours to the border now with a fast driver ;D Unfortunately these pictures are not quite what I was expecting. It's our new 'little' point and shoot and I took all the pics through the car's windshield and windows. I'll add pics of the trip back to Phnom Penh as soon as I've uploaded them. Then you can compare the burnt dry season countryside with the pics I took in the rainy season (and to which Bixa linked above).
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Post by bjd on May 26, 2010 10:21:44 GMT
Is it the general humidity that means that the sky is never bright blue? I understand that is the case in some places in West Africa and French Guyana -- that the sky is rather grayish.
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Post by hwinpp on May 26, 2010 10:52:49 GMT
No, I took most of the pics through the tinted windows of the car, too lazy to stop and get out. The sky is very light blue, completely dry. You'll see tomorrow
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Post by hwinpp on May 28, 2010 10:02:47 GMT
Here are some pics of the landscape outside the lake zone, it's completely dry and burnt after no real rain since the middle of November. Lunch stop in Kampong Thom, first time I tried this place. Lunch was iced coffee, omelet with sa- om vegetable, red braised pork belly with sour mango shreds, free tea (check out that teapot!) and rice. Just outside these snacks were on offer. Deluxe Standard More countryside, nearing Skuon Finally, on the Japanese bridge Notice the difference of the water level? Must be 3 or 4 m. Jack's residence Motorbike shock absorber and air shop Air and barber shop Petrol station Chinese coffin shop Arrival, with the vultures waiting already And looking at the pics of the countryside again, that's why I recommend coming after the rains have started.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 28, 2010 14:53:43 GMT
Once again, I find it amazing that you have the same rainy/dry cycles I have here on the other side of the world. Are those rice fields in the second photo at #8? What other crops are planted around there?
I see grasshoppers are a delicacy in your area as well as here. You'll feel right at home when you come -- preferably in the wet season!
What a nice eatery, with all that sleek stainless steel. Was lunch as good as it looks?
The Skuon streets seem really empty of traffic, especially compared with places you've shown us in the past. Lots of motorbikes, though. I love the tiny open-air services. The coffin shop is another parallel with where I live -- the stores look about the same, only with somewhat differently shaped coffins. (hee hee on "vultures"!)
Still obsessing about the flowering tree outside your former residence. It looks as though it could be a two-tone bougainvillea growing up into a tree.
I always learn so much from your fun and fascinating presentations, HW. This one made me look up Cham Muslims, who have a super-interesting history and culture.
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2010 19:56:30 GMT
I really must start eating insects some day.
The Cham muslims in Vietnam say that they have special dispensation that allows them to drink beer and eat pork. Otherwise they would die.
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Post by hwinpp on May 29, 2010 5:13:11 GMT
How far are you from the equator Bix? I'd suspect you're still in the sub tropical zone, max 23.5 degrees(?) not more. You've got oceans left and right, basically same as us. And you're north of it, same as us. So weather patterns would be similar.
These insects are crickets, smaller than grasshoppers. They eat those here too but you have to remove the legs or you could tear your cheeks from the inside. They're ok, a bit like deepfried shrimp with peel and whiskers left on.
Lunch was good, I'd never had the combination of pork belly with mango before but it worked for me.
And regarding the flowers in front of my old house, yes, could be bougainvillea, I always mix that up with hibiscus.
I quite like the Cham, they're quite resilient.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 29, 2010 5:39:30 GMT
I had to look it up. I'm about 17 degrees north of the equator.
I like the teensy little grasshoppers -- too small to see their spiny legs or segmented thoraxes. You are right that they are sort of reminiscent of shrimp.
My favorite Cham factoid was the bit about their not actually practicing circumcision. They just have a guy wave a toy wooden knife around in vaguely circumcising motions.
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Post by imec on May 29, 2010 17:43:01 GMT
Fabulous HW! Fascinated by this part of the world. Funny how some of the pics if they were taken in another part of the world (e.g. pig on a motorbike) could qualify for the "Unexpected picture in your hometown" thread...
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Post by bixaorellana on May 31, 2010 21:50:26 GMT
HW, I'm sorry, but I'm confused. Did you all simply not find the floating village? When you show Meachrey Port, there's no water. And behind the "How to use water resources properly" billboard, there appears to be a dam area with no water in it -- same thing with the curve into the parking lot. Is that where the floating village was supposed to be? Sorry if I'm being dense.
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Post by hwinpp on Jun 1, 2010 3:31:31 GMT
Hmmm, I didn't know that... a bit soft... The forms of transport are a bit unusual here. At least piglets are put into a big basket when they're taken to the market. I'll have a look around for a pic which shows ducks being taken to town, that's a shocker! The floating village is on the lake, at the end of the canal (you see only one side so it can be mistaken for a dam) that's being excavated. Now, towards the end of the dry season it's quite far out.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 1, 2010 16:29:47 GMT
Guess the Cham baby boys are relieved that you aren't in charge of things!
Ahhh. So the village gets quite isolated as the water level drops. Wonder how they get supplies.
I hope you get a chance to go when the lake is up and before the village gets "discovered".
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Post by hwinpp on Jun 2, 2010 2:44:22 GMT
Yes, the village moves with the water level. After the rains it's much closer to town than at the end of the rainy season. Here's a picture of a duck transport, don't know if I've posted it here before. On the road back to PP but different occasion.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2010 4:57:54 GMT
I have seen many 'bouquets' of ducks and chickens transported by the feet on motorbikes and such. It's always amazing how after their initial protests, they just relax and go with the flow. I guess they understand they have no choice.
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Post by hwinpp on Jun 2, 2010 5:09:36 GMT
Yep, they're Buddhist ducks after all ;D
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2010 16:31:01 GMT
Great pictures, hw.
I won't ask you about the flouting village, I think you've explained that to me before. I'm amazed at how those ducks stay in place and how fresh are they once they are used?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 2, 2010 17:23:21 GMT
Yep, they're Buddhist ducks after all ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Post by hwinpp on Jun 3, 2010 3:13:58 GMT
They're individually tied to the van's sides and roofs. While being transported they're very resigned... might have something to do with hanging upside down for the trip. Once they're at the market and have got out of their daze they're alive as anything, quacking away until they lose their heads
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2010 12:05:23 GMT
Poor things. First the rough ride and then off with their heads.!
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 8, 2010 16:50:22 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2012 16:47:59 GMT
Oh Henning and his wonderful road trips through the Cambodian countryside...
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