Today I drove in the van with the kids from the drama and the American boys, Nathan and Max. Max brought his guitar to Cambodia so they were singing a playing the whole way. It was loud but great!
Kratie Province is along the Mekong River so we got to see the boats and a lot of the small towns along it.
As we drove through a town I saw a young monk, must have been 8 or 9 years old going to a shop for his food. The lady at the shop was honoring him, making a wai (pressing palms together) and bowing after she put food in his kettle. It was strange to see this.
We stayed at the Ou Dom Sambath hotel which was a nice place right across the street from the river.
After we got to Kratie, since it was a travel day there were no rice distributions. My roommate Sarah and I decided to explore the local market (psar). The drama team went with us and helped with the translating. I was able to get a couple of the sarong type skirts and a traditional childs outfit for my grandaughter and a red checked scarf (krama)that everyone here wears to keep their head cool.
I learned from my travel book that the red scarf is Cambodian but the blue one came from Vietnam. It came over the border when some Cambodians went to Vietnam during the Khamar Rouge fighting but were deported. They were given blue krama's. This actually saved thier lives...because the Vietnamese thought they were one of their own.
That afternoon we went to a village on the river that has boats to go see fresh water dolphins. The dolphins are endangered. Unfortunately we couldn't go out as we planned because it was very windy. We did sit on the waters edge and watch for them. They finally showed up and poked their heads out of the water.
We headed back for dinner at the hotel and the end of our day. Early wake up tomorrow for the next rice distribution.
No comments:
Post a Comment