Homestay day 2.

12/3 - up early, but not as early as Kheang, who is up fed and off to the market to sell some of their produce. It is a frugal existence for them, buy and sell as needed. The market is only on for a few hours in the morning and starts about 5.30. Kheang gets back from the market and sets to making me some breakfast, omlette, bread, a bit of fruit and Khmer sweets, which are great. She is dealing with the kids too. She tires me out just watching her. Don has an easier life, he looks after the garden and manual matters around the house. He does well for his age. I forgot to mention that Kheang teaches English to some of the local kids. She had a lesson yesterday, so I went up to sit in when the kids arrived and ended up getting completely involved. It was good fun, but I don't think I am the best example of English. We had a laugh and Kheang seemed pleased.
Back to today. Kheang has arranged for a small tractor and trailer to take her, the kids and me into the countryside. Kheang brought a kids stool for me to sit on, but I would have been flat on my backside before 50yds, so put myself on my backside at the start. It was not a smooth ride. We made it to our destination with Kheang commentating along the way. We stopped at the edge of a paddy field ready for harvesting. It is the first one I've seen at this stage. We strolled along the side of a cucumber field and Kheang shouted as we went, so we ended up at a 3 sided thatched palm shelter where there was a couple and their son sat. The lad is here because it is Khmer New Year tomorrow, so he has some time off school. The couple stay here for 6 months, from when the Mekong recedes from their cucumber field until it comes back again, which should be soon, around the end of May. In the shack/shelter there's a bamboo bed and the ubiquitous hammock. Cooking is done on a wood fire. The husband goes catching fish in a nearby pond off a river. They have a couple of motorbike batteries for lighting and their son-in-law, today, or any family member, replenishes the batteries and also brings food for them. They don't even take New Years day off, as the cucumber wholesaler comes to collect the cucumbers the following day, so they have to be picked. They also have paddy and cashew fields nearby that they farm. I asked if they go back to the village for odd days, but they don't want to. THey are happy here, living out in the country and the quiet. They are a smashing couple and seem really content. Kheang was discussing market prices with them. The price of fuel has doubled very quickly, the world rice price has shot up, but the farmers are being paid less for their produce. The corruption in this country is insane and the rich seem to want to grind the poor into their fields. The average Cambodian seems to be very resilient, but they are getting a real bum deal. I think the village environment stops life being worse. The villagers sell and buy locally and help each other whenever possible. Kheang said the prices are the same for the produce on the market, nobody tries to undercut another person.
Nearby, there is a dam that was built by the local children when the Khmer Rouge were in power. The kids were between 5 and 10 years old, Kheang being one of them. The dam was just dirt piled high, so is now just back to the land level around it. We were going to go over for a look and a ride on a fishermans boat, but the husband of the couple told us there is nobody there because of Khmer New Year, so we gave it a miss and wandered back to the tractor.
Kheang and Don are having trouble with rats killing their chickens. The farmers use a car battery and wire to kill the rats eating the rice in the paddy fields, so Kheang thought, but the couple showed us there is a device in between that steps up the voltage to 240 AC. DOn was going to do the same, but this may cause a rethink with the kids and dog around.
Yesterday, Kheang showed me how a bamboo shaft is setup so the sugar palms can be climbed and the sugar sap collected. Today we stopped on the way back to see how it is made into palm sugar. I got a taste and it was like fudge, very nice. The lady wanted me to take a great lump, but I restrained myself. The kids got stuck in though. It would be great to talk Khmer, so I could talk to the locals, but I have enough trouble with English, so I suppose I am being a bit ambitious. We headed back with the kids licking their lips, they had had about 3 cucumbers each at the field too.
Kheang made some dinner and afterwards was telling me what it was like to be 5 and under Khmer Rouge (KR) rule. She was moved out of the village to work in the fields and on the dam. Any minor misdemeanours were punished and food was scarce. There is a killing field near the village and the clothes from victims were piled up nearby. Some of the kids went to try and steal some of the clothes, so they had another set. Kheang got caught. The soldier put her in a wooden box. She paniced after a few minutes and kicked the lid off, luckily enough there was nobody around, so she legged it. I don't think the KR were organised enough for the soldier to have told anyone else. The kids rarely got to see their parents and they got minimal rations. Eating food whilst harvesting was a big NO NO, but Kheang had a couple of stories of how they tried to get around it. Not always successfully, but sometimes. The KR promised a great life and delivered misery, yet there are ex-KR people in the government and one from the torture camp S21. The war criminals are not being tried either, for some strange reason. Money would be my first guess in this country. Many KR are rumoured to have escaped as refugees to other countries, very reminiscent of the Nazis.
It was good to sit and talk to Kheang, she is a smashing lass. She is off again now, running around, but me being an old knacker went for 40 winks. When I woke, I saw Kheang disappearing with the kids on the moto and Don was nowhere to be seen, so I wandered into the village. I stopped for a coke and a sit in the shade. A lad who lived at the stall, came over for a chat. He is home from Phnom Phen for New Year. He works in a mobile repair place. Half of the shops in the towns and villages are mobile shops, so he will be busy. Someone came over while we sat for him to change the settings on their mobile. He can't afford a room in Phnom Phen, so stay with some monks at a Pagoda. He gets free board and food, only the electric and water have to be paid for. Kheang spotted me at the stall and came over to say hello. Ra wanted to walk back with me, but Kheang is a typical protective Mam, so wouldn't let him. I wandered back after a good chat. I was going to get my hair cut, but the barber was busy as I passed, in both directions, so I bought some water melons instead, an obvious replacement for a haircut. I had a real good laugh with the ladies on the stall, even though the only Khmer I know is thank you and some numbers. They thought I was trying to barter. We did some laughing. I saw Don on the moto as I went back, he almost ignored me and when I got back, he almost had a go at me for going into the village alone. It is a long story why, but not being phsycic, I didn't know I should not have. I think he overplayed it a bit too. He is starting to get on my pip a bit. He picks on Kheang constantly. I think she could do without it. I chilled for the rest of the evening until Kheang served up another great meal, fish Amok. This lady can cook. I should have gone in to watch her cook, but didn't like to intrude. With hindsight, I would not have been. In the evening, once it is dark, she works using a lamp on her head, she is good with it and just gets along with life. After the meal Don started giving her grief. The lady was knackered and didn't need it. I had a shower and did a quick exit to leave them to it. Not my place to get involved, but I was very tempted.