A View of Rural Life from a Van

SUNDAY, JULY 4

As noted in the closing of yesterday’s blog, we travelled to Siem Reap today; 315 km northeast of the Phnom Penh. It was a comfortable day of travel; leaving the capital at 9:00 am and arriving at our destination before 4:00 pm. Although we didn’t have the Tonle Sap Lake in sight, we travelled along the northeast edge of it; until we reached our destination.

It was a feast for the eyes to observe the countryside for our hours of travel in the van. Narin was more than our driver today. He made several stops along the way to offer explanations and opportunities for picture taking.

The rainy season has recently begun, so farmers are out in the fields transplanting rice. They are transplanting the seedling plants into larger water fields, where they will grow to maturity and be harvested in about 6 months.

We stopped for our noon day meal in the town of Kampong Thom. Narin, perhaps appreciating our enthusiasm because of our many cultural and geographical questions, offered us a Cambodian treat of deep-fried crickets. While I cannot tell you firsthand how they taste, one of the more adventurous of our group commented that “they have a taste of their own”.

Getting closer to Siem Reap, as we travelled along, we noticed many poles with plastic sheets attached to them. Narin explained that these were cricket catchers. At night, the plastic sheet is opened across two poles, while a second plastic sheet holds a trough of water. A battery powered light on the back side of the open sheet attracts the crickets. The hapless crickets hit the sheet, fall into the water and are there to be scooped up for selling. There is an international market for crickets, especially in Thailand. Judging by the quantity of cricket catchers that we saw and the cost of deep-fried crickets ($UD 1.00 for 10), this seems to be a significant industry.

We saw an ancient stone bridge in the Chi Kreng district; built before 1200 AD which has outlasted the river. We saw beautiful countryside Wats (Buddhist temples), and rural housing on stilts, pigs being carried on motorcycles, and countless roadside stops for things to eat or drink. The day has been wonderfully full!

by Armella Sonntag