Cambodia

Introduction

As I head off for my seventh international mission on January 11, I ask why has the world been so cruel to Cambodia throughout the years, and why have they been so mean to themselves? Why is it always the United States of America that is a major contributor to a country's problems, despite stating how great they are (at the sacrifice of the third world)? 

Cambodia's terrain must be a mess as you have animals, vegetation, and mankind trying to co-exist. Nothing new here, but in this case, with its tropical climate and humans living mainly in the country (80%), there is a variety of larger wild animals on the run, the vegetation is lush, and so this conflict is more pronounced. Cambodia also has amongst the agriculture lands plenty of modern and ancient ruins, jungle, garbage, and other pollution. You stir up the land/ vegetation, and something revolting could come to the surface from the past, or defend itself and attack you! Also be careful with the land mines! 

Things will be different here; this can be counted on due to organized chaos. For example, roasted tarantulas anyone? This is apparently a delicacy as they need to do something with the critters and so they choose to eat them. I rest my case. Actually they were a good source of protein and critical as a food source as a matter of survival during the Vietnam War.

Cambodia History and Facts

Some important facts about Cambodia's history and current status:

We plan to visit the Angkor Wat, which is the largest religious building in the world (originally Hindu), the central heart of the city, and represents one of mankind's most astonishing architectural achievments. Angkor Wat itself is surrounded by a 200 meter wide moat that encompasses a perimeter of more than 5 km. 

Most modern historians consent that several distinct and gradual changes of religion, administration, and military strategy, along with environmental issues and ecological imbalance brought on shifts of power in Indochina (source: Wikipedia). More specifically:

1. Ongoing wars with the Vietnamese and later with a large, powerful, and expanding Siamese/ Thai kingdom from the west (named the Ayutthaya) that existed from 1351 to 1767);

2. The forced conversion by a king of the empire's religion from Hinduism to Buddhism eroded (of course) the Hindu conception of kingship and sap the vitality of the royal personality cult. Nothing at all against Buddhism, but a king imposing change of religious beliefs will face much opposition as this is a personal matter; 

3. Ongoing war and erosion of the cult then undermined the government's ability to engage in important public works projects, such as the construction and maintenance of the waterways essential for irrigation of the rice fields upon which Angkor's large population depended for its sustenance;

4. Finally natural disasters such as disease (Bubonic Plague), earthquakes, floods, or climate related were also major contributors to the destruction of the empire. 

As a result of these factors, a lot of the residents abandoned Angkor and moved to the river basins of the Mekong and Tonle Sap and down to what is now Phnomh Penh. A final assault by the Siamese kingdom took over and destroyed the city in 1431. Cambodia never regained its flair and grandeur with the fall of the empire. 

What followed next was Cambodia's Dark Ages (1431 – 1863) with little or no advancement in civilization, causing the country to fall behind and become third world. Then French colonization (1863 – 1953) caused its own set of issues, but at least the French can be attributed to rediscovering Angkor after 400 years, and starting the restoration work of the temples. Then came Cambodia's attempt at independence under the reign of King Sihanouk (1953 – 1970). But lets focus here on other more recent events of the 20th century.

Vietnam War (1955 – 1975) 

The Americans certainly did not help matters at all with the country's well being since they bombed one half of Cambodia to smithereens in order to get those 'commies' from North Vietnam who were hiding in the jungle (as per map below), despite killing 750,000 Cambodian citizens in the process! Richard Nixon issued orders to Henry Kissinger and in his exact words: 'Go in there and I mean really go in...and crack the hell out of them'... and so they did, with no limit as to budget, dropping over 500,000 tons of bomb, with complete disregard to civilian life! 

The US gave up in 1973, allowing the North Vietnamese reunite all of Vietnam  by August, 1975. 

Most of the executions occurred within the first three months, completely insane! The Khmer Rouge wanted to turn the country into a socialist agrarian republic, founded on the policies of ultra- Maoism, and therefore its own version of communism (source: Wikipedia).  Cities were mainly targeted and emptied, forcing Cambodians to relocate to labor camps in the countryside, where mass executions, forced labor, physical abuse, malnutrition, and disease were prevalent. Mainly targeted were the smart and educated, teachers, doctors, military police, lawyers, and anyone else opposing 'the regime'. Families were split apart, never to be reunited. A lot of Cambodians do not know who their ancestors are. Not much took place in Siem Reap, where the Habitat build will occur, since this is where some of the support came from. 

Interesting point to note is that it was the North Vietnamese who overthrew this government to stop the hostilities and horror, and whom the Americans had been trying to take out earlier and failed! So adding the civilians the Americans killed to letting the Khmer Rouge conduct a genocide... American influence caused over 2.5 million Cambodians to lose their life! I recall that I was 25 when the genocide took place touring Australia and enjoying life on a motorbike, impervious to what was happening. The Vietnamese occupied Cambodia from 1979 to 1993. 

As for visiting any concentration camps outside of Phnom Penh, I have absolutely no interest, but they seem to attract a lot of tourists. Maybe the younger generation (tourist and local) do not realize this event occurred only a few years ago and even today many members of the current government should be tried in court for this major crime against humanity! They must be getting on in age though and so eventually will disappear, just as long as their ideas do not get passed onto the younger generation.

Government Corruption 

Currently Cambodia's government is a "vaguely communist free-market state with a relatively authoritarian coalition ruling over a superficial democracy" (source: Wikipedia). In addition to political oppression, the government has been accused of corruption in the sale of vast areas of land to selfish foreign investors with no regard to protecting the interests of locals, resulting in the eviction of thousands of villagers as well as taking bribes in exchange for grants to exploit Cambodia's oil wealth and mineral resources. It is extremely difficult for locals to own land in Cambodia, and then keep title. Cambodia is consistently listed as one of the most corrupt governments in the world. Corruption affects the judiciary, police and other state institutions.   Favouritism by government officials and impunity is commonplace. Lack of a clear distinction between the courts and the executive branch of government also makes for a deep politicisation of the judicial system. Examples of corrupt practices include obtaining medical services, dealing with alleged traffic violations, and pursuing fair court verdicts. Companies deal with extensive red tape obtaining licenses and permits, especially construction related, and the demand for and supply of bribes are commonplace in this process. There is little to no protection for whistle-blowers, as they can be jailed for up to 6 months if they report corruption that cannot be proven.

Poverty 

While improvements have been made lately due to a growing economy, many Cambodian families are making just above US$1.25 a day. Nearly two thirds live on less than US$3 a day. Poverty is largely concentrated in the rural areas though urban poverty is on the rise. It is estimated that at least 10 million are in need of decent housing. Throughout the country, about 2 million houses require critical improvement to meet minimum quality standards. An additional 1.1 million houses will be needed by 2030 as a result of a population increase and rural urban migration. Out of the two million residents in the capital Phnom Penh, about 25,000 are living in slum communities that lack access to basic services and secure land tenure.

Land Mines

Cambodia has a major problem with landmines, especially in rural areas. This is the legacy of three decades of war which has taken a severe toll as there are some 40,000 amputees in this country. There may be as many as four to six million Chinese made mines and other pieces of unexploded ordnance remaining. I am glad our build is in a city! Land mines were placed all around the Angkor Wat at one point, and remain around four temples. The Americans had been doing some goodwill to search and disarm landmines, but have lately cut off funds for this program. Sorry, but this is 'your' problem now, Cambodia.

Poaching 

Sometimes the temptation of fast cash is just too great to resist for many families and individuals, especially those living in poverty. Wildlife is threatened by both subsistence hunters who target animals for their meat, and by poachers who aim to sell animals in the illegal wildlife trade. Illegal hunting is common despite the laws and regulations against it. Local hardware stores report their sales of short lengths of steel piping have been soaring, indicating that homemade firearms are on the rise. These homemade guns are used for one purpose: killing! No gun control here!

Environmental Neglect 

The rate of deforestation has been one of the highest in the world and it is often perceived as the most destructive, singular environmental issue in the country. Primary forest cover fell from over 70% in 1969 to just 3.1% in 2007. Cambodia also is visciously neglect when it comes to air quality, water resource management, sanitation, and the resulting impacts of fisheries/ forest management and other health and environmental issues. This country is considered Southeast Asia's most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, alongside the Philippines. Rural coastal populations are particularly at risk. Shortages of clean water, extreme flooding, mudslides, higher sea levels, and potentially destructive storms are of particular concern.

Laos Dam Development 

The huge Mekong River flows freely from Laos through the cultural heart of Cambodia before winding sideways through the southern part of Viet Nam. Laos, a notoriously secretive communist state, is pushing ahead with its ambitious plans to build dams along its rivers, including the Mekong, in spite of the negative impact dams have on the environment and people who make their living off the river. It wants to become Asia's battery, exporting electricity to its wealthier neighbours, such as Thailand. 

In 2012 construction began on a 1,285 MW hydroelectricity power plant on the mainstream of the Mekong. The plant is scheduled to begin operations this year and will be the biggest hydropower station in the country. Meanwhile, two thirds of the population in Cambodia live in the lowlands, where the rich sediment deposited during the annual flooding of the Mekong makes the agricultural lands highly fertile. The Tonle Sap Lake’s flooded forest and the surrounding floodplains are of utmost importance for agriculture and the center of the national freshwater fishery industry, the nation's primary protein source. Threats to the lake already include widespread pollution, stress through growth of the local population which is dependent on the lake for subsistence and livelihood, triggering over-harvesting of fish and other aquatic (often endangered) species, habitat destruction. But the final straw could be the potential changes in the hydrology from dam development, that disrupts the lake's natural flood cycle. This could just be what completely kills Cambodia's livelihood!

In July, 2018 for instance, one of the dams in Laos broke, causing extenstive flooding in northern Cambodia. Up to 6,000 displaced people took shelter in villages in neighbouring areas, coming to terms with the realisation that their homes and all their possessions had been washed away or destroyed in the 11.5 metre surge. It is very unlikely the Cambodian villages were notified of any incoming floodwater as there is no built-in warning system for flood or disaster management between Laos and Cambodia. 

Matter of Resiliency

So why has Cambodia been able to survive so far? A majority of the civilians changed their mindset about life to gain resiliency, which was to take care of those remaining, live in the present, be flexible, and (for the sake of survival) choose to never mess with the government! 

The problems of the world will not be solved based on the level of thinking we were at when we created them. - Einstein

Take note terrorists: while life can sometimes hold hardships beyond anything we can imagine, it does not have to harden our hearts, nor leave us living our lives filled with resentment, anger or revenge. While it may seem a harsh reality for some, the truth is that only when we accept life's realities, can we rise above them, rather than drown in despair, anxiety, or a sense of victimhood.

The remaining population must have had high energy levels, because in short order, what followed next was regeneration, resolution, restoration, some reclamation, reproduction, and renaissance. More importantly, for those who cared, they came together as one.

Further Good News

• On the rebound, Cambodia's population in the past 43 years has almost tripled, going from 5.7 to 16.4 million! This may not be that good as to news, but what is good is that the percentage of people under the age of 25 is now almost 50%, and so energy levels are high!

• Thanks to the members of the United Nations, they were given full authority in 1993 to supervise a cease-fire, repatriate the displaced Khmer along the border with Thailand, disarm and demobilise the factional armies, and prepare the country for free and fair elections. Cambodia became supposedly a democratic state. Despite government corruption since UN occupation, there has been less turbulence, violence, and crime. 

• The tourist industry has picked up quite significantly, mainly due to the interest in the Angkor Wat and other ruins and people being...well... a bit naïve as to the horror of the genocide. Cambodia's new generation, however, would not have experienced the horrors, the same as me for WW II. I have been told Cambodia is a relatively safe place to visit, although I still would not spend much time in the country, or away from tourist areas. Residents are extremely friendly and cater well to any foreign tourists, who in turn report to others their positive experience.

• Cambodia performs best when it comes to handling the nitrogen balance in the agricultural industry specifically, an area where Cambodia excels and are among the best in the world.

• I have been told that Cambodia has imported a certain kind of African rat that can be trained to snif and detect underground land mines in an area. They are too light to set off the explosion and simply sit on the trap until they get a treat, similar to a dog sniffing for drugs at an airport.

• Cambodia now has an unusually large area of wildlife protection, both on land and sea, with the land-based protections covering about 20% of the country. This form of protection, however, does not stop the poaching activity. The Wildlife Alliance’s goal is to stop illegal poaching, and they have saved some 60,000 animals and arrested more than 3,000 traffickers to date, an accomplishment atributed in part to the government’s commitment to eradicating the illegal wildlife trade. The Alliance is also helping to prevent poaching through community education, starting with the younger generation.

• Habitat for Humanity Cambodia seeks to break the cycle of poverty through safe, durable, affordable housing solutions. Since 2003, Habitat has enabled over 22,000 families to build strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter. Their efforts certainly help and hopefully they have also influenced others outside the program to come up with their own affordable housing solutions. Just because the government is corrupt does not mean that Habitat should avoid coming here to help, because, quite frankly, we would not be building at all anywhere as all missions done so far that I participated in were for a country with a corrupt government.

Concluding Remarks

So conditions could be worse for my mission, such as a rural build vs. urban, season being wet as opposed to dry, temperatures being hotter as opposed to cooler, mosquitoes (full of malaria or dengue fever) more prevalent and hungry, and more social unrest in the streets. Habitat would not allow us to come if there was any element of doubt over our health and safety (I am going along with this theory). I am looking forward to trying to make a difference and hopefully set an example and help influence locals to support each other in time of need.

Note: these log notes are based on emails sent to an audience and were done during each day.  The notes are often short and to the point with choppy sentences.  I have not taken the time to edit properly since they still report my observations.

Day 1, January 2019

I am with my Habitat buddies in a bit of a daze with little or no sleep for the past 40 hours.  We never stop eating either, as this was the longest day of my life, never ending.  My health seems fine and I am just going with the experience.  

It was such a loooonnnnggg way to fly from Vancouver to Hong Kong (13.5 hours).  I have no idea how much fuel the plane used as we were flying into a jetstream that reached 150 - 180 mph for a third of the journey.  

I cannot even begin to imagine what a big job and cost it was for the US Military to get all of their arsenal, equipment, and personnel over during the Vietnam War, since they live on the other side of the world.

Despite an over six hour stopover at Hong Kong International, we took a look outside at the ugly and stinky smog and decided it was not worth the effort to go through customs/ security and venture out.  Seeing the ominous monster planes break through the smog to touch down was not pretty.  I cannot see any sign of a live bird anywhere as the atmosphere looks dead.  

While waiting on the ground to take off for 20 minutes, I looked for any sign of life outside...nothing.  Some locals were wearing masks for virus control, bur probably more so for smog.  They should not have to worry about viruses with this pollution.  This airport makes Calgary look very small and planes are not the 737's that Westjet uses.  I actually do not like the design of the Calgary airport that much, where the new Hong Kong airport inside is the most awesome gigantic beautiful architectural design.

Day 2

We are staying at the River City Hotel right in the heart of Siem Reap, the tourist capital of Cambodia.  The whole city caters to the tourists coming in to see the Angkor Wat and other temple ruins.  

Cambodia's official language is Khmer.  Its script that you see on signs does not look anything like Chinese, closer to Arabic.  Very strange.  I thought I needed a new prescription for glasses as I could not read any signs since they looked blurry!  

We had our first rides in a tuk tuk last evening when we went to a fancy restaurant.  One weak old motorbike had to pull five of us in a rickety wagon along the bumpy streets.  Fortunately all streets are on the same level as there is not way the tuk tuks could handle taking us up a hill, and they would have little or no braking power coming down one either.  Most intersections for side streets are uncontrolled, as we experience life in the land of the little people.  

There are a few mosquitoes here which I am sure can still pack a punch if bit.  All locals are so sweet and kind, humble, and harmless, showing a lot of respect for us foreigners.  I needed to learn how to greet Cambodians with a bow.

We often think we are in Central America based on lively noisy street condition, organized chaos, with streets full of scooters, lush vegetation, sticky heat, little to no sidewalk, yet with people (locals and tourists) and strands of wiring on poles everywhere .    Car's steering wheels are on the left, but there are exceptions    We have figured out that most people drive on the right side of the road, but it is hard to tell on most streets.   Add the fact that a majority of the vehicles are scooters or tuk tuks and people are walking all over the place...oh what the heck, just go for it! 

 Indigenous Khmer are normally darker, taller, and slimmer as their ancestors from a few generations ago came from India, and therefore brought the Hindu religion to the region.  Others are lighter in color with more what I would consider oriental facial features.  

We saw our first bona fide amputee at a market, victim of a land mine.  He came with a sign to explain his plight, never being able to put it behind him, tarnished for life with a physical disability, and the government cannot and will not take care of him, and so he does what he can on his own with hopefully some support from family and donations from foreigners.

Food is tasty, cheap, and healthy.  Local brewed beer only cost 1 CAD.  

After our orientation Habitat meeting at the hotel, we went to a huge buffet restaurant (Amazon Angkor) to experience native Khmer costume and dancing, a must see for those venturing to this area.  They provided Khmer music and dancing on stage, which was traditional from the days of Angkor glory.  Very foreign to me.  For an explorer visiting Angkor in the 14th century, you would  not have seen a world like this before. 

We are off to our build site in the morning.  This will be wood framed construction for the most part, building two  huts on stilts to be used as sleeping quarters for two different needy families in the same area in the country outside of Siem Reap.  Remember that 80% of Cambodians live in the country.  Should be interesting!

Day 3

I am so happy that our build is 30 km. outside of Siem Reap in a small community so we can see some country c/w tropical forest and do a build that is more relevant for the flood plane.  On the bus looking out, I see that cattle are all skin and bones due to the warm climate.  Upon arrival, we meet the two cute young families that will benefit from our effort.  You would be horrified of where they live now.  

Habitat builds most homes based on stilts in case of flooding, but also for insect, wild animal control, and for coolness in the evening.  The stilts are made of cement for strength, but also for termite control.    Habitat standards will not allow stilts to be made from wood even though the wood is treated.

I noticed some prefab concrete pillars in the lot that I thought we were going to use, but they were for some other land owner and were too short anyways.  Habitat can appreciate that volunteer labor is cheap and so we made our own.  

Dana, Brenda, et al would like to play with the kids but they are so incredibly shy and will not come close.  It is only Monday, but their culture does not allow kids to have close contact with other than local family.  Hugging is not done.  Our interaction with the kids is completely opposite in Zambia.  This is the first build that I have done with maximum barrier as to culture and language.  The ladies and kids really do not know what to think or expect from us big, tall, and heavy foreigners.

I loaded Google Translate onto my cell phone so I could communicate more effectively with locals.  The only problem is the Khmer language only seems to be an option on the iPhone.  All I would need to do is say something in English, then my cell phone would speak the Khmer equivalent and also display on the phone.  

Marc had his drone flying around the construction site taking videos of us working.  The little ones were very fascinated with this technology, but they kept their distance from us.  

We are working on two different homes close together and so Dana split us into two groups. 

Fortunately we have shade while working and so the heat and humidity are bearable.  You cannot get enough water and electrolytes to drink.  

I am really into mango fruit here and the little tasty bananas.  Too much food to eat constantly.  

Today was for mixing sand, gravel, cement, water and pouring into the forms used to make the pillars/ stilts, which are reinforced with rebar.  We also cleaned bamboo slats to get ready for use as flooring.  A rather sophisticated septic system was dug out, to be used for both white wash and brown and somehow withstand any flooding during monsoon season.  Except with global warming,  I question how effective it will remain if the weather becomes more extreme.  

So as I type this on the bus trip home,  we are slowed in Siem Reap due to heavy congestion of hundreds of scooters and tuk tuks!

 Only one home had been started before arrival, but both homes will be completed by Friday noon!  We are right on if not ahead of schedule!

Day 4

Now I know why this area is called Indo China.  Just study the people.  I have been told that one reason the Cambodian women and kids in the country are quite timid is that  they have been subject to a lot of sexual harassment.  All seemed to be a lot more comfortable with us today and the little  ones are getting  closer.   

For those who have little ones in their life and it is bath time, you can always use a 4.5 gallon pail. The little one then takes a sauce pan of water from another bucket and pours it over her head and so the pail also acts as a shower stall.

There are a lot of palm trees here, especially near the rice fields, but not native to this area. Apparently all palm trees in Africa were brought in from India and I expect this is the same here.  

I had some young bamboo in a salad last eve. It was tasteless and woody. I have no idea why Pandas like it.  I think my daughter said that the green mango salad is the best, and I would have to agree with her.  The family getting our home we are building are growing lemon grass and cashew nut trees on their lot.  They also have some chickens running around.

All framing for our hut on stilts is in place.  The wood is extremely hard and not planed to perfection.  Each beam was carefully measured so that notches could be chiseled out to catch a cross beam and the two are either nailed or bolted together.  

I filled my canteen up at least five times today using electrolytes.  34 degrees today.  

When we were putting the final beam in place about 22 feet in the air, the locals  tied some good luck charms on the beam first, such as clothing and a branch from a local banana tree.

 If you are driving out of Siem Reap and you need to pass someone, just as long as there are no vehicles coming at you, other than a hundred scooters and tuk tuks, then it is safe to pass!  The scooters could be coming at you from both sides of the road.  For the thousands of vehicles on the road where one lane can be used for three in either direction, I am totally amazed that I have not seen anyone lying dead on the road and not even a fender bender.  Maybe they can react to oncoming traffic more quickly than me.  They also know when they can squeeze between two vehicles, such as a scooter going between two buses.

Day 5

Thank God for light wind pants!  After a day on the construction site, I come back to the hotel so filthy from the dirty conditions.  But I wash them in the sink, hang them to dry overnight, and despite the humidity, they are dry and fresh by morning! 

 In Central America, material things that are generally mandatory are televisions, cell phones, and scooters, except maybe not so much in Nicaragua.  In Cambodia, very few TV's anywhere, but most families have a cell and most have scooters.  

Cambodians are naive as they are isolated from knowing what is really going on in the world.  As such they have been taken advantage of by others.  Even when Khmer Rouge were taking over the country, the civilians in Phnom Penh believed the Americans were going to bomb their city and so cooperated initially with the soldiers and left their home.  

So we have Chai as a Habitat employee, and now as of today, we also have Thy, which is most appropriate.  Chai Thy, do you get it?  Thy is pronounced as tea for those who cannot figure this one out (picture below).  

Marc worked with a local to get his drone coordinated and going in the right direction and then sent it on a mission!    The drone was to fly out 400 metres above the jungle forest, report back with picture, do some exploring to find a landmark, then travel to the other construction site, take some pictures, then come back to base!  Marc was relieved to have the drone make it back.

I am getting used to turning my shoulders to directly place myself in front of a local, then bowing in front of them with my hands in a prayer position.  I may subconsciously do this when I see you next!  I actually like the idea as you are taking the time out of your day to formally greet someone and thus show respect.  

Cambodians live their life outside, not in a home.  Therefore their dwelling can remain quite crude.  But I cannot imagine what it would be like to live here during the wet monsoon season.  The existing home of our family has a crude thatch roof, dirt floor, and a wooden platform inside for them to sleep on.  

Working on the scaffolding,  I was instructed to go through the monkey bars down to the second level.  That was easy for him to say since he was 2/3 my height and 1/2 my weight, and five times more flexible!  I had to work my way to the outside of the scaffolding, come down to ground level, then figure out how to get where I was to go.

We installed bamboo flooring today!   Not engineered flooring, but it will do the job.  We also worked further on the septic system and also the base for the steps that will go up into the hut.  

Brenda left some blood in her work as she bashed her finger with a hammer and split her skin.  As she has a nursing background, she instructed others to care for her finger.  She should not lose her nail, but it will be black and blue and swollen along its side.  She will be fine.

Day 6

The metal roof is on.  We were not allowed to help due to safety and liability concerns and so the local Habitat worked on it after hours.  Plus, let's face reality; we are bigger, older, and heavier.  

Unlike Central America,  we have seen absolutely no military anywhere.  The very few police on the streets not doing anything suggests how safe Siem Reap is.  

Driving along main street, there is the odd orange clothed monk giving morning prayer and blessing to those individuals requesting it at the start of their work day.  The monks probably have their regular clientele.  I always thought monks wore brown clothing but apparently Buddhist monks are always orange.  Something can be said for their religion influencing locals to live a peaceful life.  

Our family have a couple of little skinny dogs for pets, but also to help with control over spiders and snakes.  Not the season for snakes and although I have not seen a tarantula, i saw a daddy long legs on steroids that must have been lifting weights.  They also move quite fast.  

The one 'mountain' we see as we drive to the work site where the terrain is so incredibly flat has a Hindu temple at the top with 750 steps to take you there once you have climbed up to a point.  The temple was built before Angkor Khmer regime glory days. 

Lynne has diarrhea and so made an adult decision to stay behind at the hotel.  There is no toilet onsite that is functional yet. 

 Injury report: It was Frank's turn to bash his finger that required attention, then Dana cut an artery with a hand saw that was spurting blood, but after applying pressure, the flow soon stopped.  A clean cut and you can hardly see it, so she is fine.  I think with the heat and driving a bit to the finish line, maybe we are not as careful now.  

The walls are done on three sides and the stairway is 60% done.  The place is going to look incredibly awesome, quite majestic in the trees. The actual hut will be too hot during the day unless pouring with rain.  So it will be used mainly for sleeping.  There will be three windows with shutters (no glass) that they can open up to keep the hut cooler, or shut when raining.  The walls to the hut on the outside will be painted a light forest green.  Apparently there is a painter that comes along and paints all huts built by Habitat.

I was impressed at how they were building the stairway, but the design would not work as well with our softer wood in Canada.  

Of all the builds done so far, which have all been good, this one has the most variety of experience.  

Our family really appreciates any leftover food from lunch and snack time, especially fruit.  We are going to present them with a great big bag of rice which goes against Habitat policy but certainly is a very practical gift.  They will get many meals from that bag.  It will cost about $30, the money of which they do not have.  

Two Habitat employees live 60 km away and so they stay at the build site and sleep wherever until the job is done.  We give them food during the day.  It works for them as the weather is quite nice anyways.  I bet someone will sleep in the hut tonight.  

Experiencing quite the traffic jam in Siem Reap after our day of work even though 80 percent of the vehicles are scooters.  When it is time for a flow of traffic to turn,  it is a sight to see scooters driving in formation and leaning into the turn to go around the corner.  

Tomorrow whether the home is completely finished or not, we will be having a home dedication ceremony.

Day 7

One saying that seems to be popular and uniform throughout the world in English, even in Cambodia is (the equivalent of yes): 'yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah'.  Sometimes there is an 'oh' in front of it, but never 'eh' following and so will blame the Americans.  This seems like a natural thing to do these days.  Note 'yeah' is said five times, not four or six.  

On the way to the job site, we stopped by on the side of the road to a crude, but large rice warehouse with a dark dirt floor and bags of rice on pallets.  Thy inspected the rice quality like a true farmer, and we bought two 100 pound bags, one for each family.  One bag should give a family enough rice for two months.  They will be able to keep it dry in their new hut even in monsoon season.  

You know I really should be wearing my seat belt.  I have no idea how our driver missed hitting a bus coming our way since we were in his lane trying to pass a cement truck.

Both Thy and Pak are our Habitat foremen for this project.  We found out that neither are married or have a girlfriend.  Thy's response received was that they supposedly get discriminated against based on color because they are darker.  People here do vary quite significantly as to color but you cannot really separate them based on race as it is 'one can of soup'.  Pak even covers himself up a lot during the day so he does not get darker.  This is unfortunate and goes with Cambodian's naivety and lack of education.  Some people like Chai and Thy look quite a lot like Mexicans, but Chai is slightly lighter and does not have as many issues.  Cambodians are basically creating their own cast system based on color.  But even the Americans discriminate based on color by the clueless and so nothing much new here.

Well, we did not quite finish despite asking and working an extra four hours today.  What a difference those four hours made as to completion though.  We ran out of wood for three steps and the door and frame need to be worked on yet.  We installed a canopy/ awning for the stairway and this will be really nice when raining.  

Our home dedication was a happy celebration with lots of best wishes shared.  We did a ribbon cutting ceremony with each of us taking our turn. then throwing flower petals for the final cut by the family.  One lady later went around to each of us and tied a red string around our right wrist and gave us a blessing for good fortune and life.  I am supposed to leave it on until it falls off.  

We presented a Canadian flag that we all had signed, took lots of pictures.  There were balloons galore and lots of kids.  Not a tear was shed as this is not common (?), but each family member showed their warmness and gave us a hug of gratitude.  Coke, white bread, and fruit were then handed out for all to share.  The big bag of rice was given to each family unofficially without Habitat looking, and so this was dealt with properly.

There is certainly no shortage of children in the community of our build.  They all look so petite and cute, but have to be malnourished.  All kids going to school have a uniform.  

We definitely felt that our week of work was quite rewarding and I would  be happy to do another build here anytime as we made a major contribution to their quality of life.  It is comforting to know they will be dry and safe in the worst of weather, including all the little ones who will have a safe place to sleep, away from what the jungle has to offer at night.

Although we are finished the build part, we are not done.  

Day 8

We are not finished with Habitat yet.  We always have a culture half day during our build so we can experience how people live.  Habitat chose to do this at the end of our build and expand the time allotment for the activity.  

We are off to see a floating village, but first along the highway we stopped where they were making sticky rice in bamboo stalk, a traditional Cambodian snack.  I was not the least bit hungry but felt obligated to try.  They use bamboo for absolutely anything such as food and construction, a miracle plant, so valuable.  Locals were burning bamboo stalk cut to size (picture below), then using a machete to scrape the carbon off, only to cook for a second time.  The bamboo stalks then get stuffed with sticky rice c/w a local black bean and sugar added.  So what did it taste like?  It tasted like sticky rice in a bamboo stalk.  What did you think it would taste like?  Devon says though he could taste the bamboo in the rice.

We drove a little further down the road and stopped at a really huge country market.  Right by the road, they were selling roasted crickets with onion, peppers, and other spices.  The spice smell was inviting, but I simply could not wrap my head around giving it a try.  I know I will have no regrets either on my last day.  Frank tried it and said they had the texture and taste of a crispy potato chip.  

Our leader Pak then took us on a tour through the market.  I have never in my life felt as foreign as I did walking through the market as all food sold was so strange to me.  I was the alien from a different planet seeing things for the first time.  I saw fruit that I have never seen before, such odd shapes and texture.  I am not that adventurous to try anything new;  locals let me walk by their booth despite my lack of interest.  I was too tall for the roof line and had to be very careful where I stepped since I could easily trip and sprain an ankle and not to step on anything sticky or slimy.  You could buy anything in that market that you would find in a grocery or department store.  I felt I should not be there, but saving grace is that I saw a lot of little beautiful children in their sparkly clean school uniforms, such little angels they are.  

When we got to the fish section, I almost lost it since our line stopped and I was seriously looking around to where I could puke if needed.  Lisa's fortunes were far worse as she had a pair of reading glasses fall into a bucket of slimy fish guts, with locals laughing.  Fortunately a local reached in to pull them out.  She then had to find ways to get them clean again.

Back on the road again, we turned south to go to the 'lake' (Tonle Sap) and we came across first a village built on tall wooden stilts, not concrete.  You can see the water level lines during rainy season and there is no way we could drive on our road at that time as we would be at least 15 feet under water.  Every dry season, regular maintenance is required to fix or replace those stilts that can no longer do the job.  

At the heart of the village, there was a big metal wood boat to take us to the floating village complete with  a loud snarly diesel motor.  The water level of the lake varies by as much as 40 feet overall!  All trees regardless of height that we saw going out to the floating village get completed submerged by the flood waters.  The trees lose their leaves and fall asleep when submerged.

During the rainy season, muddy flood waters come in from the Mekong River.  During the dry season water flow is in the opposite direction as water goes back to the Mekong. 

 It is the Vietnamese who live in the floating village to live their life as agreed upon by the government, but they are not allowed to own any land, just float around.  I am sure they came in by boat from their home country.  

There are two schools in the village for the little ones.  

On the fertile flood plain when not under water, they grow green beans, not rice. Farmers set up temporary living quarters to tend to the fields during the day, but their place needs to be taken down after harvest is completed, before the flood waters come.   Rice fields are higher elevation.  It takes about four months before the beans are harvested by machine and it is critical this occurs before the rainy season starts. 

 I really would like to see this area when under water, just incredible to think how much water comes in.

Day 9

Today is the start of our official two day R&R time under Habitat's insurance umbrella.  Dana chose to go to a waterfall in the mountains where there are Buddhist and Hindu temples, then visit a silk farm, saving Angkor Wat until tomorrow.  

We started our day driving through the more luxurious area of Siem Reap.  This confirmed there is an unbelievable difference between the rich and poor, from green grass, beautiful buildings, and golf course to poverty.  I would like to comment more, but should not (editor's note: not knowing if my email was getting inspected by government authorities).  

We drove to Phnom Kulen National Park.  Phnom stands for mountain and so Phnom Penh was named after one.  Through the gates, we started our climb on a winding twisty road and got into some really dense luscious green jungle.  Traffic can only flow one way and so if you want to come out in the morning, the police will stop you until the PM.  The drive was rough and all the vegetation along the side of the road was covered in a thick layer of reddish brown dust.

At the entrance way to the stairs going up, there were elephant and tiger statues.  It is such a shame that these animals are no longer in this area considering their importance to mankind during the Khmer regime.  Things are just not the same now.  

I have never seen orange colored banana before, but yet, it exists!  They became this color because of the reddish brown soil they are grown in.

Cambodia riel is local currency and so 10,000 riel = $2.50 USD.  Before the climb, we were asked to purchase some riel to hand out as there are beggars along the steps and path leading up to the Buddha statue.  The paper currency was in 100 riel and so had 100 bills to hand out.  The walk up the stairs was an experience to remember.  Most beggars were little kids, but some were deaf and blind.  You would think I had plenty of bills, but despite handing out one at a time,  I ran out before the end of our climb. 

Our first stop was to see a Buddha reclining/ lying on his left side.  The real Buddha never slept but either sat with legs crossed, or rested on his left side, not right,  When he died, he was resting on his right side.  When carving out the statue from the big bolder, the shape of the bolder was such that they could get a bigger statue if he was resting on his left side.  Strange but I do not recall seeing a statue of him in this position before.  Do you?  

We had to take our shoes off to explore the area whether the path was dirty or not.  I was pleasantly surprised later even though I could feel I was stepping on grit, to see my feet were quite clean and so must have been stepping on sand.  The monks must keep the area clean, sweeping the paths daily.

Downstairs from the main Buddha statue, there were Hindu statues among the Buddhist ones which was rather strange.  Matter of fact, the whole experience was strange as I did not know what to do, with music playing, incense burning, donation plates everywhere, who is Hindu, who is Buddhist.  I needed to take my hat off at a few points.  One Hindu statue was the Goddess of Earth(?), not my expertise.  I paid $1 to have a heavily tattooed Buddhist monk give me a blessing and to leave a second string on my wrist.  He splashed water on me at one point.  I have no idea what he said, but it was an experience with good intentions.  

Second stop was to see the Khmer carvings from 800 AD in a creek bed underwater as the water was considered holy.  Third stop was what we came for but it was so crowded and that was a 100 foot waterfall in the rocks.  Both Devon and Frank chose to splash around a bit in among the kids.  General comment is that what we saw as to vegetation, rugged terrain, and walking around in steamy hot climate all reminded us of our outings in Central America.

Next stop after lunch, off we went to the silk farm.  We had a very interesting tour for how they produce silk.  This is totally amazing that the same process has been going on since the 10th century.  The farm employs 400  people as all garments are hand made.  Therefore the business is really good for the economy.  The ladies working in the factory get paid by what they produce.  They look so incredibly bored as it has to be non stimulating tedious work and very hard on the eyes.  If someone needs glasses they will be out of a job, but at least they have one for now.  Any product is only sold from their store at full price.  

I had bought a silk garment from a market in Siem Reap because I was told it was made in Cambodia.  I was really ticked to find out it was probably machine made from either China or Vietnam.  

On more that one occasion, I questioned the accuracy of our tour guide who spoke broken English.  Brenda asked him which direction we were going and he said East.  This confirmed my suspicion.  I corrected Brenda that we were going NW as per Google maps!  Cambodians will not necessarily give you the correct information.

Next on our list: Angkor Wat and sunrise early tomorrow morning!

Day 10

Why did I not know about Angkor Wat before going on this build?  Too much to tell I suppose in school and so the focus was on European civilization and North American history.  Getting up at 4 AM, arriving by 5:45, there were thousands of tourists already on site for the sunrise.  I forgot to bring along my flashlight that remained at the hotel and it was so pitch dark and we were walking over an uneven surface with tree roots!  The sunrise was not that colorful, but getting here early on the cooler part of the day made it easier to get around with less crowd. The rest of the tour however was steamy hot.

Facts remembered are what interested me the most:

1. Built from 1113 - 1150 ( 37 years) with a work force of 5000 people. Therefore the structure is over 900 years old.

2. There is an incredible amount of detail  carved throughout the temple telling stories from history.

3. Elephant power was used to haul huge heavy cut stone blocks from the Khulen mountains that we were at yesterday, supplemented by barge down the river when they could, traveling 60km to Angkor.  Each boulder still shows anchor holes that allowed towing lines to be used so the elephants could drag the boulders.  There is such an incredible amount of stone here, thanks to the elephants!

4. A Canadian company Candok built a floating bridge to allow tourists to cross the moat to visit the site.  Regular PVC pipe was used for the railing.  There were safety issues with the original bridge.  Nothing but positive comments received from locals on the design, cost effectiveness, and practicality of the bridge.

5. There were a lot of Hindu related statues missing the head, or a lion missing a tail etc. because in 1975, they were whacked off and sold on the black market.

We finally saw some 'wildlife': monkeys hanging out around Angkor Wat, then elephants giving rides for tourists at Angkor Thom.  

A temple in the Angkor Thom area was quite impressive and well worth seeing and so you need to go well beyond Angkor Wat and spend several days here if you can. 

I liked seeing the Chheuteal tree, which is hardwood and can be at least 300 years old.  The Sprung tree is softer and grows very fast. The base looks more like a fig tree.  The Sprung and Ficus trees were the ones that grew over top of certain temples.

The Ta Phrom temple is where you can see how the jungle trees completely destroyed most of this temple.  The trees looked like hideous monsters devouring a building or wall.  

There is so much to see and absorb that I am rather overwhelmed at the moment and also recovering from being outside all day in the heat climbing up steep stairs, only to come back down again.

Back in Siem Reap, I bought a few souvenirs as everything is dirt cheap, including a Cambodian cotton shirt depicting Angkor Wat.  

Shedding more light on my comment about whether the average Cambodian tells the truth, their culture is such that they never want to say 'no' to a foreign caucasian.  They would rather lie and say "yes', or say yes for a request and try to make it work.  I can see some of that behavior from our tourist guide.

This was the day I saw Angkor Wat, one of the wonders of the world and a day worth remembering.  

Day 11

The remaining time in Cambodia is all bonus.  If you come this far, you might as well see what there is to see.  I would have been quite happy to revisit everything we saw yesterday, but then we would not have seen other sites. We visited four other temples, then ran out of time, but on the way back drove past another one. Rather than trying to jot down detailed information, you need to come here for a visit to see for yourself.

As our group is now down to 10, the touring company thought about using a van instead of a bus.  That would be perfectly fine if we were locals or Asians but since we are Canadians, they chose a bus to haul our size of bodies around.  Good thing we are not that fat as this might call for a bigger bus yet and then we would lack energy on another steamy hot day.  If this is the cooler part of the year, then it must be quite unbearable living here later towards monsoon season.  

Our new tour guide was very knowledgable with a university education.  He told us about a horror story his parents are experiencing, as they live in a hut in a village on an island in the Mekong River.  During the dry season, the village stops using their boats to get to shore due to a lower water level and instead a bamboo bridge gets built and is used extensively. The villagers really like the convenience and efficiency of the bridge.  The river can always be counted on to remain low until the rains start up again.  Then the villagers know that the bridge will need to be dismantled and stored for next season before the water level gets too high.  

Last night the water level of the Mekong increased by 4 meters and with the increased flow, this took out the bamboo bridge.  When the villagers got up the next morning, the bridge was gone.  They were shocked and horrified as the water level never goes up in dry season! The increase in the water level was the result of the Laos Dam development.  So what do they do now? Do they build another bridge so that it gets taken out again? Bridges come at a cost and they cannot afford to rebuild.  

Another issue mentioned is that there is only about 10% as much fish left in the Mekong compared to 40 years ago.  

The guide said that despite being a tour guide for the past 14 years, he is not in as good a shape financially as he was 5 years ago.  

Before and after the Khmer Rouge certain complete statues were confiscated and sold on the black market. Some statues made it as far as America and apparently the purchase price could have been as high as 2.5 to 3.5 million for one complete statue.  Some of these statues were returned to Cambodia just recently and they were placed in museums, not back to the original temple site location.  

The tour guide lost one of his sisters during the Khmer Rouge due to starvation, then sickness.  The tour guide came close himself to dying as he was nothing but skin and bones with a swollen tummy due to malnutrition.  The family had been taken off the island and placed in a camp as the army saw the island as a convenient location to launch gunner boats to attack the enemy.

At one point the guide's father was arrested under suspicion of working against the government. He had a choice of fleeing before they came to get him, but running for his life meant his whole family would be killed, and so not an option.  Therefore he chose to wait and go when they came for him and to face his ultimate fate.  The chances of getting freed again once facing trial was 1 in 100 and so his family thought they would never see him again.  There were two others facing trial that day and after witnessing the brief trials of the other two, ruled to be guilty, both were killed via gunshot.  

When it was his turn to face trial, there was no evidence against him, only suspicion.  He defended his case knowing that there was little hope since the Khmer Rouge would rather kill if at all suspicious in order to prevent any issues later.   It just so happened that it was getting towards the end of the day and two army commandos were hungry.  They asked him if he could cook chicken.  His response was " oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, no problem.  He was shown two chickens in a cage and he must have also been shown some veggie, rice or soup too.   Now if it was me facing trial and had to make supper, I have trouble even boiling water and so would be thoroughly screwed.  He knew he had to do a good job.  

So he started with beheading the chickens, boiling them to remove the feathers, etc., and he put together a good tasty nourishing supper for them.  They were pleased with his efforts and he satisfied their hunger.  They asked him afterwards if he knew how to get back home.  He said "oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, no problem", even though he had absolutely no idea where he was. They told him to leave.  He started walking off in one direction then when far enough away, he ran for his life, found his bearings, and ran all the way home.  His family were overcome with emotion upon his arrival and were initially concerned if it was temporary and that the army might come back for all of them, but he eventually gained assurance that he and his family had been spared.

When the family were able to go back to the island after the war ended, our guide as a young lad was able to find pails of unexploded shells and bullets which caused no end of opportunity for mischievous fun and learning experience.  He described how he would take the bullets apart, extract the gunpowder, stuff chunks of bamboo shaft with the powder, cap the shaft with a string attached, light the string.  He even would throw the self made dynamite in the water for the explosion, then gather the fish that died for his family to eat later.  Apparently the fish did not taste quite the same when captured this way.

My best guess for the temples we saw today, as it is so hard to remember these strange names :

1. Gate to Angkor Thom

2. Ta Projm

3. Preah Khan

4. Banteay Srei

The Preah Khan temple was infested with land mines still by 2005.  It must be safe now, but I would still not want to venture too far off the beaten path, such as if you need to relieve yourself, if you know what I mean.  

The Banteay Srei was built first, around 900 AD and they used the best quality sandstone and laterite. The detail in the stonework is still very good after over 1100 years. 

Day 12

The six hour bus trip to Phnom Penh was uneventful, nothing new to see along the way, although I got a good look at the Mekong at one point.  I ended up talking to a Frenchman for half the distance with his broken English.   I could not understand him once and so I said just that in French, then he could not understand my French!  Once we had that straightened out, we kept going.  He knew all about current events in Canada, the US, and China.  He likes Trudeau, not surprising.  We agreed with just about everything we talked about.

In Phnom Penh we are staying at the really classy and unique Pavilion Hotel.  They really cater to the traveler and you can get much better quality coffee and breakfast to start your day, more of a western flavor.  Beds are almost too soft, very quiet setting even though in the heart of this city.  Price per night is twice that in Siem Reap.  

This city is the business capital of Cambodia and so much more business like than Siem Reap from what I have seen, complete with high rises.  No building in Siem Reap is allowed to be taller than the Angkor Wat.  

Four people got the stomach flu with a bit of a fever just before heading off by bus.  This was only a 24 hour version, not food poisoning and so all are on the mend.  It seems to be my turn now and so chose to come back  to the hotel for the afternoon and bypass lunch to give my tummy a rest.

This morning activity was so rewarding as we toured the Royal Palace, then toured the Wat Phnom temple a few miles away.  My buddies were off to tour the genocide museum and killing fields this PM.  I did not really want to see that anyway and if not 100 percent, I decided to forget it.  Still recovering this evening.

Norodom Sihamoni is the King of Cambodia.  His power is very similar to Queen Elizabeth and therefore just a formal figurehead with no political power to whom people are to give love and respect to, and they do.  We had to pay $10 to visit the palace but it was well worth it.  The King turns the money around to beautify the buildings and grounds but he is noted to be a kind hearted and generous soul by the locals.  He did not want the job to begin with, but now has graciously accepted his position and responsibilities.

Miscellaneous notes:

• The Buddha religion originated in India, not Japan.  It only took 68 years for me to learn that.

• I continue to gain respect for this religion and the positive influence it has on the locals.

• A lot of Chinese tourists here, the classy young ladies in their beautiful colored flowery summer dresses with their wide brimmed hats, shiny high heels, and quite light skin, just like barbie dolls.  

• China investment in Cambodia is way up.  They invest in construction of buildings, infrastructure, restaurants.  This is good and bad for the economy.  Tourists have a tendency to stay in Chinese owned hotels, eat at Chinese restaurants, and take Chinese owned transportation and so China gains more from this than Cambodia.

• China is avoiding the US because of Trump, and they now are avoiding Canada as you know, and so they are here instead.  I will stay away from talking about China - Cambodia relations, but it is interesting to note that the USA are getting more friendly with Vietnam since their relations here have soured badly, and maybe this is why they want to be friends now with North Korea as they need some allies here.

• Lots of French people at the hotel which is understandable since this area was a colony of France at one time.

• In a book that I bought on Angkor, it says that people think the Europeans discovered Angkor.  This is complete nonsense and represents an Eurocentric point of view.  The Khmer never forgot the existence of the temples.  The world does not always evolve around Europe or America. 

• We drove through some of downtown and the National Bank of Cambodia building was pointed out.  It was destroyed by the Rouge in 1975 since they did not want Cambodia to have a currency,  The building looks like new now.  During the Rouge regime, they had to come up with a bartering system with no currency, but the Vietnamese brought back currency later.

• Cambodia has found a unique way to deal with the remaining artillery shells from the war.  They make brass jewelry from it and it looks really nice.

Day 13

Still working my way through this stomach flu and so it was a real struggle to walk a few blocks just now as it remains steamy hot and I was quite lethargic.  

The streets are quite the mess as there is no place to walk, with overgrown trees, sidewalk and road repairs needed, garbage laying around.  Vehicles, scooters, and tuk tuks park on the rough dusty brick sidewalks.  Everyone wants to give you a ride and rightfully so.  

Walking along these streets is not helping my health.  I am not getting the best impression of Phnom Penh.  The main streets are in good shape but once you venture into some side streets, poverty sets in.  

We made it as far as the Mekong and found there was a layer of garbage along its banks.  The poor people were fishing in the garbage.

I cannot help but comment that the average young Cambodian women is small in stature, but so beautiful, fine features and a very pretty face, perfect smooth skin.  They make the caucasian face look so incredibly rugged. 

 If a local was in trouble, such as being financially strapped, needed to go to the hospital, had domestic issues at home, or addicted to drugs, and was desperate with no one to turn to...he would go see a monk (duh) and they would help!  That is what they are here for, to serve the people.  Others will respect you more for having taken the step.  Sometimes the obvious is overlooked.

Sometimes hotel patrons are not as courteous as they are in Siem Reap as they give up when dealing with westerners and so do not bow in front of you.  Too bad.  

The hotel offers free sunset cruises down the Mekong and so why not.  Off we went by tuk tuk to the port, we hopped on an old wooden motor boat and we were given a cruise along the Mekong for over an hour.  Looking at the skyline of Phnon Penh, we noticed that 80 percent of the high rises had a crane on it still and so brand new.  Just a phenomenal amount of development happening currently.  

Our previous tour guide is not married as he only is given contract work based on demand with his touring company.  First requirement when seeking the hand of another is the ability to take care of them and therefore full time employment and so he does not qualify yet.  

Thank you for being with me on this journey and allowing me to share my experiences.  This build and experience was everything I hoped for.  We made an awesome home for our family!