Another Flat Tire

I was riding my bicycle to KAPE for a meeting. On the way I noticed the bicycle was quite hard to peddle. Another flat.

I stopped at a motorcycle repair shop, and the man put air in the tire. He sent me on my way. I knew it would not hold air but I could not explain that, so I went on. A few meters further along, the tire was flat again, just as I had anticipated. I walked the bicycle for some distance. As I passed a small shop, and a woman motioned me in. She turned out to be an expert.

She took the tube out of the tire without removing the wheel from the bicycle. She put air in the tube and submerged the tire in a pan of water. When she found a hole, she inserted a small stick to mark its place and continued to look for other holes.

When she had checked the complete tube she started to patch the holes she'd found. First, she dried the tube with an old dirty rag, then roughed the tube surface with a hacksaw blade. After she was satisfied it was ready she took spread glue on the surface. Then she lit it and let it burn for a moment and blew out the flame. She applied the patch and beat it onto the inner tube with a heavy metal rod.

When she was satisfied the patch was secure she put the inner tube back in the tire and put the tire on the rim. Then some air and the bicycle was ready to ride.

My bicycle expert charged me 1,000 real ($0.25). I gave her 1,200 and I overheard her telling someone that I had given her more than she asked.

I hopped on my bike and rode off to KAPE.

My house in Kampong Cham

My home in Kampong Cham is a free-standing house with three- bedroom two-baths. It's very typical for Cambodia. It is made so you can drive your car in to the living room for its security (note the ramps). The front door is a metal gate that opens up the entire front wall. By the way, I don't have a car.

When I moved in, there was a small shrine in the living room. I added a Japanese cat that continually paws at the air. I now have incense to burn, so my shine is completely functional.

The interior of the house is light, spacious and clean. There is one bedroom on the ground floor behind the living room and another above that (behind the blue windows).

The kitchen is simple and utilitarian. The water in the tap looks and seems fine but everyone tells me not to drink or cook with it. That is why there is a 20 liter jug of bottled water on the counter. It looks like I have a bank vault in my kitchen. It is just the back door. I don't think there is any way that someone could break in through that door. It has three large dead-bolt locks

 

My office is a table on rollers and can be put under the stairs to save space. I pull the table out to work and then I can sit directly under the fan.

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The best part is the landlord and his family. They're great! For ancestor's day, I received a try of food. From time to time I find fresh mangos or other fruit in the refrigerator. The landlord teaches sign language and has helped me with my Khmer language lessons.

Up the Mekong

The Kizuna Bridge in Lampong Cham, Cambodia

On our second day in Kampong Cham, one of the volunteers organized a boat trip up the Mekong, which would give help us get to know the area better. The rickety craft held about 20 people, all of us sitting on the wooden floor of the boat. We left from the shore just north of the bridge across the Mekong at Kampong Cham.

After about 1½ hours we reached Wat Han Chey, a Buddhist temple beautifully situated on a hill overlooking the Mekong. Its brick structures date from the 8th century. We toured the temple and its grounds for about an hour, before heading back downriver. We stopped to visit a village on a large island in the middle of the Mekong before continuing on back to Kampong Cham.

Flickr photo streams from our afternoon on the Mekong:

Along the Mekong

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39965767@N05/sets/72157623773617102/

Volunteers wield their cameras http://www.flickr.com/photos/39965767@N05/sets/72157623558449551/

Wat Henchey

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39965767@N05/sets/72157623773564572/

Children from the village http://www.flickr.com/photos/39965767@N05/sets/72157623558402817/

Waffle quest

I was on a quest for my breakfast waffle. Simon had told me that there was a little old lady making waffles near the school. I had seen her on the first day we went to school in Kampong Cham. That morning we had gone to the wrong school and she was just outside. She is one of the first attractions in the market street.

The market consists of small stalls just off the street. In the morning the street is filled with people shopping. Along with the crowds there are motorbikes, hundreds of bicycle and the occasional car trying to get through. The cars really cause a mess.

The waffle lady was sitting on the ground dressed in a hat and the typical scarf. She had on black cotton gloves with the fingers worn through. She had four small clay fire pots with a waffle griddle on each one. The grills were fired with charcoal and one tiny flame and the griddles were coal black from soot. She had three waffles in a plastic dish drainer sitting on a low box. I pointed at one of the waffles and held up one finger. She questioned that and I then held up two fingers. When I tasted my waffles later, I was very happy I had purchased two.

She opened the griddles already on the fire and checked their contents. They were done; she pulled the waffles from the griddle and put them in the dish drainer. Reaching into a box, she pulled out a small plastic bag and carefully put two waffles in the bag without touching them, and handed it to me.

Ok, I now have my waffles, how much do they cost? I do not know how to ask this. I pointed to the pile of bills she had on the ground and made a questioning motion. She held up 600 Real, which is $0.15. What a bargain. As I walked away, I tore off a small piece and ate it. WOW they are great Waffles, with coconut. I remembered that it is not considered polite to eat and walk in Cambodia. I wanted to eat the rest of the waffles but I held off until I reached school.

Fix a flat

This morning when I went outside I saw that it had a flat tire. I checked the valve, was it in correctly and it was. I tried the pump and could not get any air out of it. Ah, it's the pump not me. This should be easy to fix, there are motorbike repair places every 10 meters here because the main mode of transportation is motorbikes. That's when you are not looking for one. The guys at the repair shop right out the hotel's driveway for the hotel wouldn't help me, though. I walked around a bit and found two fellows working on a motorbike beside the road. One was spray painting the front fender with a small spray gun attached to an air compressor. That means he has air.

I asked for help, and after a five-minute search, they located an air valve, attached it to the hose. They pumped the tire up and I was off.

Now that that is done, I can hunt for a laundry.

I picked up my clothes, less underwear, I was told the laundries do not do that here, and headed off for one of the laundries labeled on the volunteer map. When I arrived there was a man standing in front of the shop holding a young baby. He took the clothes out of my bag and told me that my laundry would be done tomorrow between 16:00 and 17:00.

After dropping things at the laundry I decided to ride around town. Up and down some of the streets, I passed the hospital, several municipal buildings and homes varying from very poor to opulent. I ended up near the bank where I now have an account. That was great I knew where I was so I turned toward town.

Because the road has one to two centimeters of dust and sand on the side I was riding on the pavement. A large truck passed me and I moved to the side, in the dust and dirt but it was unstable. A dump truck passed me and I managed to keep to the pavement. A few hundred meters further on, I noticed it was slowing and the driver actually put on a right turn signal, something you don't expect here. I slowed down and stayed behind the truck as two motorbikes passed me. The truck turned right onto a dirt road, I heard what sounded like a gun shot. What was that? At that moment, I was engulfed in a thick choking cloud of dust and sprayed with sand. The truck had just blown a tire. When you have to, you can think quite quickly.

I thought the truck is out of the way. Will the motorbikes stop in the dust or carry on. They are probably already thought the dust. I should just keep my eyes close and carry on. Squinting as I came out on the other side of the dust cloud, I passed a small crowd of people looking up the road to see what had caused the noise.

Wedding tent

At about 07:15 I went out to add some air to my bicycle tire. I took the cap off the valve stem and found out it was not a cap, the valve stem popped out into my hand as I heard the whoosh of the air from the tire. It should be simple, just put the stem back in and pump it up. I don't know why but that did not work. Ok, today I walked.

I did not have much time to waste, I had to be to school in 25 minutes and it is a bit of a walk plus I wanted to purchase something for breakfast. I put the pump away and started to walk to school.

About 200 meters from the hotel, I passed a wedding tent that was taking up half of the street. As I walked past the speakers the music was deafening.

The kitchen for the wedding was just a few meters further along the road was. There must have been 20 people preparing food. About 50 meters down the road an antique generator powered a bandstand. The fuel can for the generator was a plastic jug; the motor a single cylinder diesel. I assume it was set away from the band so as not to drowned out the music. I don't that would have been possible.

The wedding tent must have been 100 meters long. It was full of tables and chairs and could hold many guests. Beyond the tent was another antique generator. I guessed that it would power the lights in the wedding tent.

Fan makes more noise than breeze

I did not sleep much last night, it was too hot. The fan was on high (setting of 1 in a range from 1 to 5). The fan is noisy and there is no cross ventilation.

Language class started at 08:00. The instructor is experienced amiable, friendly and experienced Cambodian language teacher. By 10:00, though, I was extremely depressed. Languages and I have never hit it off well, and today is no exception. When I left class at 12:00 I walked slowly home hoping to be run over by a large truck.

After lunch I went to the ANZ bank to open account. Simon, the volunteer I am replacing had recommended this bank; it is close to the bars on the river. It took some time but I finally found out that they could not open an account for me, because my visa is for three months only, and you must have a six-month visa there. I went to the other bank that the volunteer organization recommended, and after an hour and a half I have a bank account with some money in it.

Near the end of the paperwork, the lady helping me asked for my signature or something. I was not sure what she had said and asked her to repeat. "Signature or thumb prints, please." Now I understood, as I had noticed documents on the wall with thumb prints on them.

Most of the employees in the bank are young women. They looked to be between 18 and 30 years old. They are very similar in appearance, all with long straight hair, about 4' 6" tall and thin as pencils.

Went to dinner even though I was not hungry, I thought if I did not eat something I would be starved later. I ordered a dark beer. I am glad it was a Guiness-type, I drank it warm. There was ice on the table to pour the beer over (a standard custom here), it was chunks cut off of a large block (a meter long and 25 cm square. I could see a black piece of dirt in the ice, which really told me I should drink the beer warm.

I had fish with vegetables. The spices were sharp but not hot, I enjoyed the food.

About 19:30 I could hear fireworks being set off nearby. I thought I should go out and take a look, but not have the energy. Now what to do? I am tired, but it is only 20:15. I could go out and see if the streets have been rolled up yet. Cambodia gets up early and goes to bed early.