Last days in Cambodia--a beach for mostly locals, a market, houses along the road, overnight in Kratie

I took some interesting photos as we were driving on the highway in Cambodia between stops.  Some are below.  On the way we stopped in Skoun or Spiderville.  I mistakenly put it in an earlier blog.


Houses in the rural area are mostly built on stilts for several reasons:
    --to avoid being flooded during the rainy season
    --to feel breezes and keep any animals out
    --to have a cool area under the house to work, rest, have animals in the shade

House with a hay barn next to it!  Other places just had tall haystacks on the ground.

Definitely upscale!

We saw a number of wats/temples along the way.  This one on the other side of the river was HUGE and look at the number of stupas (graves), mostly on the left.

Also nicer, but still on stilts

This road, Highway #6, is in contact state of repair.  It was built in 2007 by the Chinese  but has not held up in the rainy and dry seasons, probably because of graft, bribes, and shoddy construction and no limits on weight of trucks driving on it.  Below is what the highway we traveled on looked like for a lot of the day. 

Getting back on to the main road and off of the dust.

 The road is being redone and widened in the photo below and the houses are lower than the road, also on stilts.  These all hve wooden walls that are a bit nicer, pinted and better formed.

 Along the road, between the houses often, we saw rice paddies as in the low lands, rice is grown twice a year.  The pile of dirt below is from the road being redone.  Two farmers have come to work in their fields.

More rice fields along the road.  Can you see the dividers between fields?

Temporary housing (?) while working the fields

Every town has an office like this, usually this party, which is the ruling party in Cambodia

We often saw trees grown as crops along the ways such as the ones below.  Rubber trees are common (I was surprised) and also mulberry and banana are common too.   Often people have a small grove of banana trees by their homes.

Banana plants next to a home

Each town has its own Wat.  Some are simpler and some really are very ornate.

Well, at least the motorcycle driver has a helmet on!

We drove through a town where the road was being repaired.  Travel this day was slow as the road was in such terrible shape.  Anyway, the road was much higher than the houses, so notice the walkway to the houses and stores from the road.

 We followed the Mekong River much of the way.  Above is a view from the bus window.

We were caught behind the cycle with the driver carrying brooms and other household goods.  Note the fan-shaped broom.  It is common and works quite well, especially in the dirt/sand.

Drying food along the side of the road:

Tapioca drying at side of road with ruling party sign and party building nearby

More tapioca drying on both sides of the road

We stopped for the bathroom, to see a market, and to have lunch in this medium sized town along the way.

Fruit and vegetable area of market--people are quite happy to smile and have their photo taken when asked

Notice size of bananas--the most common ones in this area

Tiny river clams sold in the sun on a pink tablecloth on a table

Selling dried fish and talking on cell phone

Below--two specialities of duck eggs (neither of which I would choose to eat):The black eggs are ones that have been stored in jars of salt until the shells turn black.  By that time, the inside has turned into a jelly-like texture similar to a soft boiled egg.  The white eggs are called "duck eggs with duckling," It contains an unhatched duckling which is boiled and served with herbs, salt and pepper, to give strength and good health.

Note the pajama-like clothing typical for the area

Cutting up raw fish

One of the few men in this section--maybe helping his Mom cut up herbs

This young woman wears more modern clothes as she peels pineapples

Anyone know what this is?

Picking out a fish from a tank with live fish in water

Pickled and dry fish being sold

Cleaning out peanuts

We were a bit more inland and saw fewer rice fields and more young rubber plantations as well as mango, banana, and cashew nut plantations and also other seasonal fruit including tapioca.    Corn also grows in this area and is exported to Vietnam.  

We  arrived in Kratie, the major town in the agriculture area.  We checked into our rather nondescript hotel, the Santapheap, in Kratie and then ten of us headed out to a beach by van for locals and then to a quiet area to try to see the rather rare Irawaddy dolphins.  It was very relaxing.

As we approached the beach area, we crossed a wooden bridge.

 We got out, walked down some rough stairs and saw a bunch of huts below.

 During holidays like TET there were 15,000 local tourists that enjoyed this area.  This place is open 6 months a year.  Then it is ALL removed when the Mekong river rises in the rainy season.  Right now it averages 6 meters (20 feet) deep but it can go up to 12 meters deep in the rainy season.

Above:  Photos of the river as we walked by.

Cute little boy

Woman washing clothes

Who smiled when I asked about taking a photo

We turned into one of the long beach "piers" and watched past a group of men, chatting, playing a game, drinking beer, and eating.

We then chose hammocks and tried them out.

I tried out an internal one first that was easier to get into, but Marcy immediately headed to the one by the water and pulled out her Kindle to rest and read.

So I tried it too.

I then got up and walked around a bit to the start of this pier where there was a small sandy area where local children were playing.  Two girls wore dresses in the water--probably for modesty.

Little beach-ette where children had been playing in the water

Locals in the water, not worrying about the current

No so locals in tubes sied to the pier

Kakada got us some food made locally.  Mainly Dennis and I tried it.  I tried the chicken which was quite tough.  Yes, the sauce was spicy!

After about 45 minutes we headed out to go on the river and try to see the illusive Irrawaddy dolphins.

We saw several cows grazing in the sandy grass on the way.

The "older crowd" n the boat

The boat man

We were not the only boats out.  By this point, they had turned off the motors.

We landed on a larger island to get a better view.

We saw a number but this was about the best we could see.

Marcy and I took some silly photos jumping for the grandchildren

That night I had my first (of 2 total) local beers.  It wasn't  bad.  No hoppy aftertaste and a bit sweet.

Main building of hotel.  We stayed in building to the right.

I loved the elephant and rabbit in front of the hotel

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel.  The breakfast room was in front of the hotel with the cooking area outside of that room.

Cooking area

  The hotel was OK....but as Kakada said, it is not used to many international tourists.  The town's main value is that it is close to the border with Laos.

  Marcy walked to the local market and saw a lot of lotus flowers being sold for food.  They sounded lovely, and I never really saw them elsewhere.

Then we were off to the border crossing to Laos!  It was just 145 kilometers (87 miles) from Kratie to the border with Laos but it too 5 hours because of the terrible condition of this road.  I 2006, it took Kakade 16 hours from Phnom Penh to get to where he taught near the border with Laos, so even with shoddy construction, the road is an improvement.