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The Weather
Well, I guess it had to come; an entry about the weather.
Mostly as you will have gathered it has been hot, very hot and when combined with humidity, uncomfortable. Sadly, for us, in one sense, Jenny tells us it is cooler now than a few weeks ago. Nevertheless, we still suffer.
At to the temples and walking between the various structures became hard work so we just went slower and slower. This was in the hope that we would not generate more body heat so one does not sweat more. It worked but only a little. Then one might try and mind any shady part, in a building or under a tree and relief was felt at least for a few minutes. Occasionally there cams a breath, a tiny shudder of wind that lower the skin temperature by a touch.However, the day took its toll and no matter how much water one tried to take on the result was the same; exhaustion and discomfort.
I guess the ability to return to an A/C room and have a cool, if not cold shower was a help, a relief.
Tonight we have the other side of the weather systems here: rain and more rain. It began just as we had finished a delicious veggie meal in town. I ate a Cambodian curry: not hot and sweaty like the Indian version but soft and gently with hints of coconut milk and tamarind. Meryl ate cassava fritters with a dip of some sorts with a peanut and pineapple salsa. All washed down with a Lao beer, which was not bad at all. Then the rain began. Just a little and, as we left, rather harder. With no coats, we took refuge in a photographic gallery and then a bag shop. By now heavy thunder rippled about with lighting crashes. And the alley we were in was slowly flooding, a river of warm water under our feet.
Not to be deterred we decided to head for home and so began the wade along the alley to a TukTuk, who obligingly had an umbrella. However, we still got wet. It's a warm rain so not that uncomfortable but we had had to sit in our own puddles as we were driven along the flooded roads. Huge puddles and large swathes of water cover the road….and the potholes so the ride, rarely comfortable was decidedly uncomfortable. Indeed, he seems to have hit many deep trenches and pots that we have never felt before.
At Globaltear the entrance was awash so on disembarking we got even wetter.
All of this in barely an hour!
Worse was to come. Our hotel is 100 yards form Globaltear and we had to walk to it. Although not raining much we still got a little wet until we reached the gates. The whole entrance and car park area had flooded to a depth of several inches! So we had to wade through the newly created 'swimming pool' to reach the stairs.
As I write this, now three hours after it began, it is still pouring and by the morning…. who knows but it could be floods out there!
And in the morning we were flooded. In fact the road outside was flooded! This according to a lady who has lived here for three years was the worst rain of the year. Many Khmers who live by the river are flooded. And the river continues to rise. The rain is descending form the mountains a long way to the north and is headed for Tonle Sap Lake which in the monsoon doubles in size.
Driving to Gracehouse today was a real issue and we had to wade through several hundred years of flooded road before we could find a TukTuk.And then he had to drive through several kilometres of flooded roads to get us to school. This meant risking his machine because if he stops or stalls the waters could flood his exhaust pipe and that can cause lots of damage to his engine and his means of living.
But it was worth it and we are really pleased to have got to the school. But, hopefully more on that elsewhere.
On the next day when we drove to Phnom Penh evidence of the rain was everywhere to be seen. Fields were flooded for nearly the whole way!
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