Last Day

                        Our last full day in Cambodia was jam packed with some extraordinary experiences…. not that the other days weren’t as jam packed, maybe just because it was our last day.

                        We started out early on our way to visit a village that floats on water. This is the Dry Season, wet will soon be upon them and the difference in water levels is extreme, like another thirty feet of water in the lake!

                        This makes for these villages to be able to pull up anchor, (or rope, or rock, or tree) and move! We visited the Mechrey Village, one that is entirely floating. Some of the others employ very long stilts to deal with the rise and fall of the seasonal waters.

                        This means that every aspect of everyday life is always conducted on the water.

                        Want to go to the local store?

                        How about school?

                        Maybe you want to go out for a bite to eat?

                        Visiting friends?

                        Get in the boat!

            The lives of these villagers centers around mining and manufacturing.

                        (Ok…. how many of you said.. What???!!!)

                        That was just to see if you were paying attention!

                        Yes, of course, fishing is the predominant industry and having this lake as their benefactor works well because it is one of the most biodiverse lakes on the planet. It is obviously suffering from encroachment as of late, but it is still under control. That giant Mekong Catfish that is seen on River Monsters lives here, but it is threatened so it is illegal to catch. The largest one caught was over 600 pounds! (We did not see one ☹)

                        There are about 2000 inhabitants of the Mechrey Village some of which have roots back as far as the twelfth century when this style of living was first attempted here. Today their homes float on combination of bamboo (which has hollow sections) and more recently, large plastic barrels or even plastic bottles gathered in nets to make a type of floating “mattress” that a house may sit upon. The obvious question that seems to work its way into almost any conversation about where people live differently (like the astronauts!) is…… where do they go to the bathroom? And this answer is unfortunately another obvious one. Through the hole in the floor. Sanitation issues abound and there are some more modern treatment options that are available, but the cost is something that needs to be dealt with on a family-by-family basis. And when all of your income is derived by fishing the backwaters of Tonle Sap Lake, well… let’s just say that there are no mansions floating around out there.

                        Our trip out to the village started in a small tributary of this lake that is part of the Mekong River. The water is very low and it’s a good thing that the motors on these boats are made to tilt their propellors so that they don’t run aground. Much.

                        We visited with a family whose Grandmother was the midwife for the village, and she regaled us with her stories from those times. Since then, transportation has improved and getting to a somewhat proper medical facility is easier but not guaranteed. There are a few others that had been trained by Grandma for this reason and from time to time their skills are pressed into service.

                        We motored past some small stores, the Catholic Church, the floating regional school, and many, many homes. The people were friendly, waving at us as this kind of experience is becoming more and more popular with visitors that are staying in Siem Reap, which is only about 45 minutes away.

                        Back to Siem Reep and the hotel for lunch and free time until late afternoon when we went to visit the old temple at Ta Prohm. This is the one that has been partially let stay “natural” with some of the strangest trees growing out of any number of walls, temples and courtyards. It looked like an Indian Jones movie set on steroids!

                        After our visit there was over we went back to Angkor Wat to see the western walls of the Temple and the grounds (hopefully) glow in the late-day rays of sunshine. Oh, and we had a ‘toast’ as it was our final night in Cambodia, the next day would be the airport and back to Saigon. Ting found us the perfect spot to sit and watch the Temple. The Temple was closing and the visitors were pouring out as we sat there. Soon all that was left was the temple, the sun, and us with our shot glasses of local whiskey.

                        And….. some snacks!

                        Ting’s wife had made sure that he with him some of her favorite snacky-type things…… BUGS.

                        There were all sorts of critters involved including some beetles who could be heard singing their version of “Here Comes the Sun” as the rays broke through the clouds illuminating the Walls…

                        Actually, they were not singing because they were dead.                                                     And roasted.

                                                Or fried.

                                                Don’t know, don’t care. Sorry to deprive you of me explaining an actual insect-eating experience but even before we started out I swore that I would draw the line at bugs. Even the chocolate covered ones.

                                                Reports from my more adventurous comrades indicted that it was … OK…..the beetles seemed to get high marks and several descriptions of a flavor profile that has escaped me…. Sorry! But everyone survived and were all present and accounted for the next morning on our way to the airport.

                        If you’ve stuck with this month-long foray into the wilds of Vietnam, either being the Hills north of Hanoi or the crazy motorbike street rides in the cities, I thank you.

                        I hope that you can tell that this trip was one of the most interesting and rewarding experiences that we have ever had, on sooooo many levels! But the loftiest level was the opportunity to meet and converse with the people. Sights are cool and good photos abound, but when you come down to the “feelings” that you can come away with, it’s just all about the folks that me met.

                        They were the best.