Day 142: Phnom Penh to Kampong Cham

Locals
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First excitement of the day came as we pulled in at the bank next to the small village of Chong Koh and the crew begin leaping off a make shift gangplank to reach the muddy shore, before constructing a walkway complete with handrails for us to disembark. Quite a lot of effort propping and securing by several crew, even going as far as to appear with shovels and dig out steps in the drier land – god only knows what the locals, wandering the banks in their bare feet, made of all this.

As the afternoon excursion sounds quite similar to the mornings, and we can see the temple and locals from the deck, we stay onboard whilst at Chong Koh reading, blogging and generally relaxing. The later excursion takes us to Ankor Ban village where, after more steps and walkways have been created, we get to wander the dusty tracks of this very rural place. Population of 600 and I think we see most of them as we pass by their homes and the market - not forgetting the 100 or so kids that greet us off the boat, many of whom follow and surround us as we continue our tour.

Sundowners

Pandaw from shore
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Every one of all ages is very friendly, most offering a hello or a bow as we walk by and some managing a few phrases of English (much better than our Cambodian). We did see the few sights, such as they are - the small Wat (temple), monastery and a racing dragon boat – but the real highlight was just soaking in what such a place is like, untainted by the more commercial tourist routes that previous stops had been. In many ways it feels quite a privilege to have visited.

As we get back on our pandaw we see the beginnings of a fantastic sunset, watched by all from the sun-deck with a much needed cool drink (yes, it’s still hot and I’m still complaining!).