This morning we are awake at 5.30 due to some interesting electrical occurrences. It happened a couple of times in the night as well. There is a crackling sound and a flash of light. We can't smell anything so there is no fire but it's really weird.
Now that we are awake we may as well start the day as our wake up call was booked for 6 anyway.
Because we are on the road by 8 we have an early breakfast, check in for the cruise and finish up in the room.
Our coach is very comfortable. Heaps of leg room and generous seats because there is 2 on one side of the aisle and only one on the other.
The country side we are traveling through is fantastic to see. The villages and people going about their daily life, it's so good to see. Nothing staged here just for the tourist. Our guide for this part if the trip is named Fin and he grew up in one of the small towns we pass through. He showed us his school and talked about his childhood of tending to the cattle, what they ate, where they got their water and living through the nightmare of the Khmer Rouge. Hiding in trenches to avoid being shot when the Khmer Rouge raided the town looking for food and supplies to take back to their mountain camps.
Most of the Khmer people are Buddhists. It's not a religion but a philosophy and a way of life. People pray to Buddha and worship their ancestors. Most houses have spirit houses out the front pointing toward the front door and scarecrow looking figures at the front gate to scare away the evil spirit.
40% of the population of Cambodia don't have access to clean water and so water borne bacterial infections are still very much in existence here. The poorer less educated people have no understanding of sanitation, many still drink and cook using the water in the puddles on the ground or the rice paddys. They go out the back in the field for the toilet and that's just the way it is. Some houses have wells which have been dug and lined with concrete but the depths that these are dug still probably doesn't offer much better water supply. A few houses have bores that have been dug deeper and the water is pumped to the surface. This the best of the options but not available to everyone.
Rain water is captured in large pots from the run off from the roofs for drinking water in some houses.
The cows and bulls are the currency for the farmers. If they need to pay for something they sell livestock. It's a simple life with very few frills but it's all they know. One of the comfort stops is where a local market is held and they sell fried crickets, beetles and tarantulas as well as other fruits and vegetables.
One of our passengers lets the locals put 2 live tarantulas on him and then he eats a fried one. Not good!!
We arrive at the Tonle Sap Lake where our boat is waiting. We walk through a muddy path to get to the vessel and are met by a number of staff. Our group is just 20 people and there are 28 staff on board.
The boat is nice with a lounge/ rooftop bar and sun deck, the dining room and reception on the 2nd floor with 14 cabins and the ground floor which has 13 cabins .
We have lunch while we cruise down the Tonle Sap River and we are hit by a thunder storm. After lunch we can go to our cabins Our cabin us in the middle of the boat on the second level.
We can unpack for the next 7 days which is the best.
We go up to the lounge and enjoy a beer and a gin and tonic and watch the fishermen on the river and talk to Rosie our cruise director and Fin our local guide.
Before dinner we meet in the lounge for cocktails and a briefing about the following day then it's down for dinner.
The food is delicious and the company is fun.
We are the last to leave the restaurant and head to our rooms. Tomorrow is a visit to a local village.