The home stay..

As you can see from the photos it was quite rudimentary accommodation... But fantastic..

Chambok, is in the middle of Kirium national park and is an eco-tourist venture in conjunction with NGO's (Non-Government Organisations).

The history of the village is, that during the war the Khmer used the jungles of the park would hunt the villagers not joining in and laying landmines, so they needed to leave. Even after peace was declared, there were many Khmer still active waging personal battles within the park and having been subject to extensive landmines their livelihood, like so many Cambodians at the time was destroyed and their chances of survival was precarious.
In order to survive, they would go into the jungles cut down the trees to make charcoal, (which would be sold to other villages) hunt the tigers, bears and other animals again, to sell or eat..

Consequently their natural resources were rapidly diminishing... The Princess Diana's foundation highlighted the need to clear the landmines from Cambodia, and this attention bought NGO's to their area. One of the members of the NGO could see that the clearance of the jungle was going to eventually destroy their long term future so started to teach some of the villagers about sustainable living, and eco-tourism opportunities..

Long story short... The villagers formed a "commune" and decided that they would stop cutting down their trees, hunting the animals, and find alternative sources of income.. They looked at their natural resources, eg: they have a 45 meter waterfall that you can hike up to see through the jungle, many flora that is no longer in existance in the wider Cambodian area, and their isolation from the cities has made their village a popular attraction for both local and international tourists.
The entrance fee to the waterfall is $2 per person... So they will guide you up the trek, show you the jungle and take you to the waterfall..
A homestay overnight includes dinner and breakfast cooked by the "womens association" at the "womens restaurant". There are over 300 members in the womens association (had a quiet laugh to self as accents can be childishly funny... So, ok, I knew he was saying association, but I was hearing Arse-y - ocean, ok I will grow up one day just not yet)... so the women villagers rotate the cooking as it is one opportunity for them to earn money because their primary role is to raise the children.
Homestays are also rotated among the villagers who will open their homes to tourists. Initially there was only 1 homestay available in the village. Most of the villagers didn't believe that anyone would be willing to pay to live as they do, but over time more have opened their homes and hearts... there are now in excess of 28 homes that you can stay in.

One of the fantastic things they do, is that all the money earned from the tourists dollars are pooled, with funds going to the primary provider of whatever service is given, eg: cooking, guiding etc and a percentage of the fund is saved to help the poor families during the wet season who have insufficient money to last through to the dry season.. last year the money from the tourists helped support 150 families.. this year they are expecting to support the same numbers.

Oh yeah, no electricity means that lighting (if available) is battery generated, so each morning at 7.00am a truck hurtles down the village road tooting his horn repeatedly... (so if the roosters don't wake you, - 4.30ish, or the women preparing their cooking for the family 5.30ish then the bleeding truck will get you everytime) if you need your battery charged, it's left on the side of the road, and returned to you that same day... (so why then if he's looking for batteries on the side of the road is it necessary to blast your damn horn all the way through the village???? Is this a man thing?????)

So last night we had dinner in the community hall (outside under thatched roof) they cook on open fires after which Jack (our tour leader) had purchased karaoke discs.. So the locals and our group had a karaoke evening, which meant that Jack sang and we oohh'd and aahhh'd to his music. Have I mentioned that he considers himself a romantic and has Ronan Keating's version of "If tomorrow never comes" and is a huge fan of Richard Marx... Oh Oh Oh and Celine Dion.. all of whom he proceeded to sing last night.... Using lots of mime, like fingers down the throat, fingers in ears, and other subtle mannerisms (which was the Canadian) our bus driver changed the disc to put on some faster songs of Karaoke. So there we were doing the Cha Cha Cha, learned how to dance the Madison, the fishing dance, the monkey and did a really poor version of the Apsara, but just fun... Geckos running up the side of the walls, bugs flying at you, no idea of the songs, Jack occasionally going out of tune, and all of us frequently going out of time...
Laughed all night, then we retired to our homestay for a ritual rice wine drink... Bloody hell, as Emily said, "I drank Goon in Australia, Kava in Fiji, but rice wine in Cambodia is the worst tasting drink yet.." Still as she said, it did the job and for $1 a litre she wasn't going to complain.

Ever tried to go to the bathroom at night which is outside, without lighting, and it's an asian style which means there is no rim to "feel" your way around? I mean, if your feeling any rim, your arse is sitting on the ground.. So about 4.15 there began a queue for the loo.. Being the smart one, and also the one closest to the door, I led the pack... Was going fine, until I got to the loo. Furtive rustles, odd noises... Please remember that there are bears, and tigers in the National park where we were staying.... Not having a torch I started to jump which seemed to start a new fad with the ladies behind me... and before I knew it, we were all squealing and squawking worse than the chickens, pigs and cows that we were sharing the homestay with. Michele the clever one, turned on her torch and lined up like sentries across the toilet door entrance were some killer ducks... each of which was at least 4ft tall, with sharp beaks, deep quacks and ok, now it's getting ridiculous, but in the pitch dark, they were frightening until we laughed... Then we got yelled at by others wanting sleep, now that was truly scary...

Had breakfast at the homestay and said our goodbyes, or phonetically awe-coon (Thank you) or awe-coon tom tom (big thank you) and lee-high (goodbye).. Hugs from the ladies, which is unusual as the showing of any affection among the cambodians is frowned upon... it is private..

Landed in Sihanouk ville named after the king and is a major port so is a bustling, cosmopolitan city... Yucky place after the peace of Chambok... We are staying at the Chhne Chulsa (CCS) hotel which is a 7 minute walk to the beaches.... cost $20 per night which includes breakfast... Although it has modern facilities, I think I'm hooked on the homestay, so it's ok Alissa but I'd return to the bush in a heartbeat... Went for a wander around today, and on the beaches (public) you are accosted by street vendors wanting you to buy buy buy, so of course it was bye bye bye.... One of our group stayed on the beach a bit longer and came back with a completed pedicure and manicure, both of which cost her $8.00. She was so proud of it and then she pointed out that her toes and hands were green, and different shades so go figure.. It can't be the end result only the experience.. but that's what Cambodia has been like so far, so as they say here.... "Same Same but different".

Tomorrow we're off to the National park here which includes a boat trip through a mangrove swamp, hiking up some hill, lunch drink and will have us out and about all day for $20US.. and if the weather gets better we will be taking a boat cruise out to some islands in the bay, for snorkelling, fishing and lunch... that's also about 15 - 20..

Meals here average 3 - 4 dollars, with some things obviously costing more such as the dessert I had tonight.. Went to Cinderella's cafe, for apple strudel, filling divine but pastry blah... but then most of you know, that I don't do pastry anyway.. but that was $4.00 and the bbq pork steak I had for dinner which came with baked potatoe and salad was 3.50 so go figure...

Oh oh oh oh, Jack said to tell you that if you do stay in hotels etc, that the water is ok for teeth brushing but don't drink... So Alissa remember to spit don't swallow...

Must away we're here for 3 nights before heading off to Phnom Penh for 2 nights, then we move to Vietnam... Btw it's 10.30pm and 30 degrees and their television has more channels and better movies that SKY back home... Nah nah nah nah nah!!

:o) xoxoxo