Living it up at a homestay.

11/3 - I'm off to a homestay today, about 7Km from Kompong Cham. I don't know what to expect, but will soon find out. THe place belongs to an American bloke, Don and his Cambodian wife, Kheang. They have to kids a lad Ra, 5 and a lass Na aged 4. THe homestay is called Rana. I'm in a room on stilts, very nice too. The property has no electricity, but plenty of candles and torches. I arrived by tuk tuk and had glass of Vietnamese tea while sitting under the thatched awning. Kheang cooked eggplant with herbs spices and veg for lunch. It was delicioius, possibly the tastiest meal I've had in Cambodia. Kheang told me it is said to be a peasants meal. Well I guess I am a peasant, because it was delicious. After dinner we went for a late afternoon stroll in the countryside. Kheang explained the farming as we went along. Everything is done manually. We met a friend of hers, Pi. She lives in the same village, Srei Siam. She works the fields everyday and very hard, Kheang told me, but again we were greeted by a big smile. The kids came along and ate something from every bush or tree that it was possible to. After a break with Pi and the kids having fun in a straw pile we went on and found Kheang's Mam's bike lying at the edge of the field. It had a basket with cashews in. Some still had the fruit attached, but not for long once the kids saw. These 2 could survive in the countryside if they got lost. Mind you, Na would have some bumps and scrapes. She must have skin like leather. She went over at least half a dozen times and bounced back up laughing. They found a palm leaf that had fallen and had good fun dragging each other along on it like a sledge. We could do with the Western kids being sent out here for a few weeks to see how to have fun outdoors said the grumpy, old man.
Kheang was almost sweeping the track for me as we went along. She is a very considerate lady and like perpetual motion, as soon as we got back, she was in the kitchen preparing tea.
Kheangs Mam came along for a chat. I was supposed to ask her questions, but had no idea what to ask, but the conversation went along OK after a while with Kheang translating. Her Mam is 62 and still works hard in the field most days. She heard Kheang shouting her this afternoon, but had to get on with her work, as there was nobody at home to cook the tea, so she had to get finished in the fields and get home to cook tea, so couldn't stop. She must be a hard lady to have lived through Cambodia's recent history. She had to be up early in the morning to get to the market and then back to the fields, so she left about 20:00 on her push bike.
We then had a smashing tea of curry and then a chat. With hindsight I should have gone to bed earlier, as Kheang also has to be up early to go to the market, 5.30. She is a lovely lady. I showered by candlelight and retired under the mozzy net for a read.