Baby Ducks!

Another Maton in Phnom Srok! Ruth and I made it to Phnom Srok after a quick but emotional pit stop in Sisaphon (my lil' brother had a baby girl so I found out I'd become an auntie again, I spoke to my mum for the first time since Christmas, also spoke to the new 'dad' himself and my big sister arrived, practically all on the same day!).

We spent a very hot 3 days and 4 nights in my home. That was plenty for Ruth and I think she was impressed by how well adjusted I am to constantly dripping with sweat, needing to take 4 showers a day, having to sleep through more noise than an 18-30s campsite could produce at the height of season, not to mention the seemingly endless (and often quite annoying!) misunderstandings with my landlady and family!

I was so fantastic to see her in my little bit of world- not only because of the new M&S underwear she had brought me! We filled many an hour chatting, catching up and discussing the delights of Phnom Srok. I, of course, took her to all the best places in the village and we were generously invited to dinner by various colleagues of mine!

We also managed to invite ourselves on a tour of the district's silk sericulture and witnessed the whole production line of traditional Khmer silk, from growing mulberry bushes (which silk worms are a tad partial to), breeding silk worms, spinning the bright yellow silk, dying it with natural dyes and then weaving it into the final beautiful silk products! It was amazing!

A lazy day by the lake was enjoyed too and we slept in hammocks, ate Bok Lahong and swam with the locals!

Ruth has not been shy at sampling the local delicacies either (you can tell she's a Maton!). As well as eating not one but two whole duck foetuses on her bus journey up the country (apparently she switched into denial and they were actually quite tasty - I refuse to comment further!) she also downed a boiled silk worm during our silk tour of the district.

Ruth lived in Cambodia 10 years ago when she worked for a Christian NGO just outside Phnom Penh. She says that Phnom Penh is unrecognisable and she loved experiencing 'village life' in Phnom Srok (despite the heat and noise!) as it was so different from her own experience a decade ago. Her highlights were:

• drinking coffee in the breakfast restaurants each morning. The sweet caffeine taste is a small but necessary reminder of the civilization we are more used to.







• spending a lazy day at the lake. Beautiful scenery, fresh fish to eat and friendly food stall owners (even if some do stare a little too much to be polite!).







• meeting the many children I have befriended through visiting the English class down the road. We didn't get to a lesson as the teacher has been in Phnom Penh and everyone's busy preparing for Khmer New Year but we did bump into most of them around the village who all greeted us with "Hello Anna!"and tried to practice their English on us.


• meeting Mr Sophan, who first presented himself drunk and shirtless on our first evening in the district (I personally think he was almost as excited as I was to meet my big sister!). Ruth saw many different sides to him in many different situations over her few days visit, creating a picture of the man who has become my Khmer counterpart here, someone I hold in high regard and who, despite the obvious language differences, I have found some connection with! I think she liked him too!
  

However, as well as experiencing the highs of village life, Ruth also experienced the lows. She suffers the same skin type as me, burning quickly in the sun and attracting mosquitoes like bees to honey. At the last count, she was furiously rubbing Tiger Balm into more than 12 bites on her bum which understandably caused her some discomfort! Added to this was her inability to sleep through village heat and noise (a skill I am developing).

As well as finding it hard to get to sleep while Khmer kareoke was blasted down her eardrums, she was quite perturbed by the early morning alarm, starting with the dogs howling at 5am, followed by the cockerels cock-a-doodle-doing, then hundreds of sparrows sitting in the tree outside following suit with loud chirping, then plinky-plonky-monk-music from the local pagoda and to top it all off, a Khmer male voice chanting down a microphone. In the UK it would be enough to serve at least an ASBO or 2! On the last morning, kareoke, plinky-plonky-monk-music and a man with a microphone could all be heard at the same time, same loud volume from different directions. Torture in stereo! Looking on the bright side, it did mean that Ruth got to see some beautiful sunrises from my roof though!

I think it's safe to say we were both ready and relieved to leave Phnom Srok when the time came, although our adventures were far from over as we hopped on the back of a pick-up truck to take us to the main road. We got absolutely covered in dust on the 20 minute journey and shared the experience with a convict, arrested in Phnom Srok and on his way to Sisaphon! We successfully met our taxi to take us the rest of the journey to Siam Reap where an air-conditioned dust-free bedroom and swimming pool awaits us! Can't wait!