The Trip Highlight! And the Lowlight! Then the Real Highlight.

We left the hotel early this morning to go the Russian Market, a place where a person can find just about anything he or she wants -- from food to clothes to car engines to suitcases to clocks to socks to jewelry to furniture -- if you want it, you can buy it at this market. It's called the Russian Market because it was frequented by the Russians who moved to Cambodia in the 1980s. It is a bargain bazaar, with countless deals to be had. Deb and Marsha scooped up some sultan-like pants with little silver bells. Don't ask me where they will wear them once they are back in the states, but they sure are cute here :) (only kidding)! Taddy also made purchases of many fun gypsy-like skirts. And me, I found my buy of the day when I purchased the most adorable owl ever from an NGO for my sister, Mikie. She is gonna love it!

We then headed to Kompong Cham, which is about a 4-hour drive from Phnom Penh. We stopped halfway on the trip at a neighborhood roadside market and restaurant where we got a very tasty lunch of rice and vegetables. There were all sorts of exotic foods to purchase, like durian fruit, larvae, and snails. We purchased many bunches of baby bananas from the children who work the market. We each got one bunch of about a dozen bananas for $1 per bunch. It is easy to eat well here for 2-3 dollars per meal. Alcoholic drinks are very inexpensive, or so we've heard -- ha ha! And without any alcohol whatsoever, Marsha and I each ate 1 fried tarantula leg! We have a photo of it, in case someone does not believe me! And in one bite, there went 35 years of vegetarianism. Next thing you know, I will be eating at McDonald's. Or not!

The sights driving the second half of the trip to Kompong Cham were the most beautiful we've seen. The land was flat and there were several different species of palm trees in the distance, dotting the fields. It really was a serene view. When we arrived in Kompong Cham, there was a beautiful bridge at least 1 mile long that crossed the Mekong River and that bridge reminded me a little of the I-74 bridge in the QCA. Our hotel is on the riverfront and we are treated to a sight of the bridge from our room window.

We then had THE highlight of the trip so far, at least in my opinion. We got bicycles at the hotel and cycled to the Mekong River island of Ko Paen. To get to the island, we first had to travel across a bamboo bridge -- this bridge was absolutely awesome. The bridge was at least a half mile long and it was construct entirely of bamboo. My brother-in-law Steve would have loved to study it, as he is a civil engineer who specializes in designing bridges -- including the marvel known as the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel in the Delmarva area on the east coast. This bamboo bridge had hundreds (thousands?)of bamboo poles sticking straight up out of the river bed that supported bamboo poles laying horizontally. The bridge undulated as people crossed it, and the sound of the thrashed bamboo surface as it was crossed had a primitive sound to it. Riding our bikes across it was a bit harrowing until I remembered that I am a strong swimmer, so should it collapse, I could swim to shore. But then I realized that before I even could hit the water, I'd be impaled on one of the many vertical poles,so the experience became harrowing again. The one thing that was calming was that also on the bridge were horses pulling heavy carts of tobacco and motorcycles (cyclos) carrying 3 and 4 people apiece -- if they could make it across, by golly, so could I! And make it across the 4 of us did!

There are two main crops grown on the island, tobacco and sesame. Cycling around the island was an experience that I cannot explain. There are ~1,000 families living on the island, and as we cycled down "main street," okay, the only street, young children yelled "hello" to this string of Americans as we passed! Eventually we looked up, only to see black clouds overhead. Before we knew it, the wind was whipping and the rain was pounding down on us. The raindrops felt like lil punches to the face as we pedaled our bicycles as fast as we could. But the storm was much faster than us. As we rattled along first the concrete road, then the dirt road, then the sand road, and last the bamboo-covered sand road, we tried to get to bridge before the worst of the monsoon. Not to have been our fate, though. It took a very long time crossing the bridge: the rain was fierce and literally blinded our eyes. We pushed our bikes slowly across, taking probably 4 times longer to cross than the first time, hearing in our heads the words of our guide: be careful not to fall on the bamboo because it is sharp and can slice you. After successfully making it to the mainland side, we then were faced with navigating a very steep mud hill that would lead us to the road high above. It was difficult, it was messy, it was frustrating, it was slow, but we made it to the top. We then had to cycle another 6km to the hotel, but the rain, while continuing to pelt us, at least washed off all of the dirt! Students, barring the monsoon rain, this was an experience that I cannot wait to share with each of you. I loved being on Ko Paen, and I know that you will, as well. I look forward to hearing your own descriptions.

At 7:00, our guide and driver picked us up, dried and changed, at the hotel to take us to dinner at a local family's house. This family consisted of a mother, father, 4 children, and 1 niece. The children were 4 boys, from 1-14 years of age. Their niece was 20 years old. The family welcomed us into their main room, which was a very wide space of a floor of slatted bamboo and walls of hardwood. There were several windows and the front doors were wide; all were open without screens or glass. There was a very large and ornate altar on the back wall, and some photographs lined part of the side walls. In the center of the floor were 2 large, colorful mats holding the place settings. We sat on the mats and were served a traditional meal of rice, curries, vegetables, fish, pork, beef, and chicken, followed by fresh fruit for dessert. While we ate, the 2 youngest boys ran around vying for our attention. The boys would run from sitting in mom's (ma's) lap to jumping on dad's (ba's) back, hugging him around the neck. It was delightful to experience this family, but it made me miss my own husband and son, as well as my other family members and friends.

When we hadn't seen his oldest teenaged son, we asked the dad where he was. The dad replied that he was "in the back room." I almost said, "Oh, playing his Gameboy?," before I caught myself. Here we were, in a beautiful home, but in a home without any living room furniture and devoid of stuff, and as it frequently does when I travel in a developing area, I was struck with thoughts of what it is to be wealthy, to be rich.

And while I don't want my own family to change places with this family, I have to acknowledge that in many ways, they have more than we do.

Such an honor that they shared their family with us. Students, you, too, will experience being hosted by a local family. I wonder if you will be like me, wondering about all of the stuff we believe we simply cannot  live without. Wondering what it means to have our needs met. Wondering what it takes to make us happy.