14th April -Out in the country

This week marks the arrival of the Khmair New Year. It appears to be a 3 day event out here as opposed to the standard 1 day elsewhere in the world. The streets of Phnom Penh right now are very sparsely populated as it would appear that the city and his mate have migrated to the various provinces to do it Khmair Style in the countryside

Originally we should have been there ourselves now, but an alteration in work schedules made this an impossibility, so we had a slight adjustment. On monday therefore, Myself Ano, her newlywed brother and his wife, along with another brother, sister and niece made the 1 1/2 hour car journey to the heart of the countryside to visit the parental home - And Yes - they sure can pack em into a car !

One of the major promises I made myself prior to arrving here, was to try and help these people in some small way. I had originally considered doing voluntary work on maybe a water well project, or some similar type construction. Regrettably if understandably, this kind of labour usually starts extremely early in the morning. Doing so any later would be tantamount to slavery in the heat of the day. As someone who for many year considered countdown to be breakfast television, the early hours still arent exactly my finest. I subsequently have decided to donate a few quid here and there instead.

In the light of this decision I had informed Ano last week that I wanted to buy some rice for the needy and perhaps small cash donations or some clothes, and she had duly informed her parents. Prior to leaving Phnom Penh she reported that small donations of money would probably be better, so we stopped to change some money. Amazing, Online poker ( my occupation) appears to have understood this , and lady luck has duly been incredibly kind for the past few days. The frequency of such synchronized timing of this nature never ceases to astound me.

When we arrived at the village, Anos parents had already bought the rice, saving us the trouble of humping 2 30 kilo sacks of the stuff up and down - which was something of a Godsend. What was more impressive to me though, was that they had also taken the time to list those people in the village who most needed help. They had drawn up a list of around 15 names - mostly elderly or infirm - to whom a large bag of rice, or a small donation of money, or usually both would go. Most of the people listed were fit enough to walk to the house, but those who werent, were to be collected by Saret on his motor cycle.

Firstly of course it was food time - what else. As this was being prepared, I took the opportunity to go on a brief recconnaisance of the village. Every property is detatched and sits on the side of dusty track. Sleeping quarters are almost always located on a second floor, which is of coures imminently sensible, given the fact that when it rains around here youre gonna know about it. underneath the sleeping quarters are generally either the day quarters with benches and tables where people sit and eat and whatever. Underneath other premises, livestock such as cattle and Horses are occasionally kept, along with dogs, chickens, the odd goat, and so on. Since this is essentally the jungle, each property is surrounded by trees, palms and various other foliage. My ten minute saunter ended with a wonderful view of the Mekong River - the banks of which are maybe 200 yards at most from the family home. A few snapshots later ( see photo album), I was back at the said home and doing lunch Khmair style.

It was all something of a ceremony as the people on the list of appointed recipients arrived at the house. Anos mother weighed the rice, whilst her father divided the money into appropriate amounts. One by one the people came to the table where Ano sat, hands joined in prayer, and the recipients duly responded with prayers of immense gratitude and blessings to both Ano, myself and all involved. Overlooking the whole process was a man who was simply explained to me to be the village big wig if you like.

Observing the entire proceedings really did put a lump in my throat and was another life moment which for all my beer induced dementia , I will never forget. The old saying that its better to give than recieve simply never rang truer. As I sit here writing this, Im trying very hard to think of a time in my entire life when I consider that I have spent the princely sum of around One hundred pounds more wisely, or in a fashion that was more personally rewarding. I cant. I now actually regret not spending more, but there will be other opportunities out here for sure. Ive gotta get back to the online poker tables soon !

The remainder of the afternoon was spent basically snoozing/relaxing. I was invited to go to a wedding in the village for an hour, but politely declined. Whilst the men went to the wedding awhile, Ano prepared food and her mother and sister tended to the very small store they have, where children wander in with 100 riels ( just over 1 pence) to buy a small candy or other. Anos mother and father also dispense medicine and give injections. Apparently both her father and Mother qualified in medicine when they were young, which is not the kind of people the Khmair Rouge looked too kindly upon. From what I can gather, Anos father went into a temple throughout this time, training as a monk for cover.

Late in the afternoon, as we ate the dinner, that Ano had loving prepared, although if Im being honest not too successfully, darkness slowly drew in. It was of course now.......Mosquito time. So there I sat, armed with an electric tennis bat/mosquito killer and surrounded by fans blasting air around my legs in an attempt to dissuade the swines. Having seen a mosquito in action once over ( they have pads on their legs allowing them to cling on in the equivalent of a force 10 wind) and despite the constant crackling of the bat as I waved it around my body, i was only ultimately aided by the application of Tiger balm. The mosquitos made temporarily made their retreat. They would have their revenge shortly.

The longest night

For most Westerners, the longest night is usually the three days prior to December 25th and the new birth of the Sun of God. For this westerner however, it was 12th April. By 9.30 in the evening almost everyone was ready for bed. was to sleep on the veranda, armed with a fan, a blanket and hope in my soul for protection against the mosquitos. Needless to say, none of these were to prove sufficient.

Normally by this time , my day is just getting started, so despite having had a couple of cans of beer, and having a book to read, I sensed this would be a long night, when I turned in around 10.30 pm. At around 11.30 i managed to get a couple of hours sleep, but it was to prove a minor reprieve. Having covered my body, I woke with a very itchy head. The swines had bitten my bonce. As I laid on my unpadded mat on the floor - my bones sore in places, I just thought about the following evening when I would again have the luxury of a mattress and all the usual stuff. So I laid, and thought, and thought , and thought. I ran out of sheep to count. I ran out of comfortable positions in which to lay. I was fast running out of hope. By around 4.30, I was finally getting tired, and was just about nodding off when the shrill tones of Khmair music started blasting out from some loudspeaker somewhere out there in the night. When this eventually faded, it was rapidly followed by some kind of Khmair ceremonial ranting, which went on and on and on. Every time it faded, I managed to nod off, but only very briefly as MC Cambodia resumed his address.

At around 6.30 and with daylight setting in, the ranting ended, and I got about an hours sleep before the rest of the house started waking up. Ano came to say hello, and suggested I get up, and take a shower while she prepared breakfast. I showed her the lumps on my head, told her of the evening Id had ( everyone else had apparently slept through the entire thing) and suggested that if I didnt get some more sleep, I might look like the man with three heads . I was quickly moved indoors to a room that had been vacated, where I finally managed to get about 4 hours sleep.

The following day, after a shower and late breakfast, I went for a swim with Rotano on the banks of the Mekong. A couple of hours there proved to be just the ticket. I returned, hoping that we would now be making the journey home. My hopes were dashed albeit breifly when Ano said that more relatives were now appearing ( changes of plan are legion out here ) and tonight we were going to have a big party with "dancing and everything", and we would be leaving for Phnom Penh in the morning. Needless to say my heart wasnt dancing much. The Party commenced shortly afterwards, with the usual plethera of food and drink and banter. After about three hours of merriment, and just as I was getting inebriated enough to dispel my fears of another evening on the veranda, another change of plan was made, and we were to head back to Phnom Penh .......now. I dont think Ive moved as quickly throughout my entire stay. I packed my backpack at lightning speed, donated the remainder of the money on me to Anos parents as a goodwill gesture, and bade everyone a fond farewell before anyone could change their mind again.

One hour later we were back in Phnom Penh, and with a 6 pack of Beer Laos for company, I sparked up my laptop, entered a poker tourney , and laid there ......on my bed. ON MY BED.

On reflection now, 2 days later, I can honestly say that despite the discomfort of the longest night, the trip to the country was once again a tremendous experience. The villagers out here have a community spirit that is so horribly lacking in our part of the world. Everyone tries to help each other wherever and whenever they can. In this environment and context, poverty is thus far less of an issue than it otherwise would be.

Next stop .. Sihanoukville.