Mekong Day 5

Today our first trip out was to Kampong Tralach, a small village on the riverbank of the Tonle Sap River about 50km from Phnom Penh.

We were taken up to a local temple complex, yes by Oxcart!

And yes back again...oooh my buttocks.

Oxen and their lady drivers.

Our carriage awaits us

Paddy fields on the ways back to the village. We did feel that we were in the middle of nowhere, and that Phnom Penh was a couple of centuries away.

We spent the afternoon watching the scenery go past, small villages and fisherman at work.  We went through another floating village. We were told that it was full of mainly Vietnamese people, who were not welcome in their own country, either because of the war or politically.

The housings are lashed together so that they can rise and fall and the lake floods. Tonsap Le lake when flooded triples it's area.  Cambodia needs the flood to replenish it's soil like the Nile. But of course China is building 21 dams along the Mekong which will virtually cut off the lake flooding. There could be an ecological and people disaster waiting to happen. No flood, no soil equals starvation. Bloody Chinese.

The water is everything to them. The eat mainly fish and a few vegetables and fruit they can grow by the water. They drink, cook and wash in the lake, and it is their main transportation method.

These people have no residency, rights, not that you have many over here, no schooling, they survive on fishing mainly. Life in Vietnam must have been pretty rough for them to have preferred to come and live here.

But they are always welcoming and friendly.

Why does he need a bike?

We then went to a pottery village and spent some time with a family. Great fun!

Amazing to watch, all still done by hand. This you lady had been bought a potters wheel but didn't use it as she had been taught from the age of ten to hand throw, and found the wheel really difficult.

The potters father showing off how he collected coconuts.

The Family.

Another form of transportation taking us back to the ship.

You have probably realised that we had a great time today by my constant ramblings
. What lovely people they are.