Back at work... a really good day as we were able to string together a lot of the energy problems in the building. Not sure how to solve them yet... but for sure - the visitors in the guest apartments of the building won't be allowed to shower (with the electrical water heaters) all at the same time any more. We also had to take some pictures of our work day with the customers for possible media publication... so I may as well stick one in here.
What I have not yet mentioned is that Marion is not only the CEO of this company, but also the christian priest of this little work community. Want to guess how many of the employees have chosen to take up Christianity? 100%. So a day at work here also always starts with the morning bible class and the daily prayers. (They were so kind to prey for me a few times already... not sure if it is to improve my performance or any other reasons...)
The way home from work today included a little obstacle... a big party tent in the middle of the road... As it turns out, it is Cambodian customs that weddings are celebrated in a big tent in the middle of the road... and last for several days. As our obstacle was still under construction, we were able to pass... well... right through the tent... it is a road after all.
Speaking about driving however... that is the most amazing proof that some problems have an infinite number of solutions. The right of way belongs to the person who first sees an unoccupied square centimeter of pavement in an intersection, but only if his vehicle can claim it with a loud horn. It does not matter from which direction he comes or in which direction he travels. And the weirdest thing is... that system (or lack thereof) actually works! I think the only way to compare this to something we know would be to imagine 2 ant-colonies crossing paths. Check out the movie... (don't need to watch all... you get the concept after a little while...)
One follow-up from last week... remember I said I was glad that we did not live exactly like a lot of the locals? Here is the same scene morning and night (quite different angles - but you can recognize the blue "Tiger" umbrella/tent) - under each of these mosquito nets sleeps either a person or a family...:
Saturday, Sunday 7/16-17
Our group decided to rent a little van (Mercedes van - which is considered a lower class than Toyota here) to travel to Kep - a beach town roughly 3 hours south west of Phnom Penh. In the 1960's, this small city was a gem and was developing into a luxury resort area. In the 1970's, the Khmer Rouge destroyed the nice buildings as they did not fit with their concept of an agrarian state. There are also many buildings where development and construction re-started more recently, and then stopped again - I would guestimate about 5 years ago... must have been people who wanted a nice beach house and ran out of money. Today there are still the nice beaches and the beautiful ocean and close-by islands... but there is little left of the glory. Development seems to be starting again and I would think it to be highly likely that this is the next Thailand-type vacation destination.
The road trip down there already provided a lot of interesting images... In particular the "public taxi" - which made us appreciate our private van - even if it was just a Mercedes.
Transportation of goods in general is no problem in Cambodia... while there aren't many trucks to be seen... they have an incredible capability to load up their mopeds...
Arriving in Kep - it is really not much more than one street... along a 1km long sandy beach, with plenty of restaurants and fresh seafood right on the water.
While our little bungalows weren't om the beach... we really couldn't complain about the amenities for 20$/night, including breakfast.... (still not quite living like most of the Cambodians I guess...)
On Sunday we took boats from Kep to Rabbit Island - about 4km off shore. A beautiful spot with sandy beaches, and beach bars just like Itaunas used to be (for those who know). Not too many tourists make it over there, and for sure no locals... so you have plenty of peace and quiet (and also the beach bars). I also dared to have my first massage ever - just seemed like the right place - on the beach and the little Cambodian girls didn't look like they would hurt you too much. After 2 minutes of small elbow bones painfully trying to crush my back, I was about to get up and walk away... but did stay to endure the whole hour of massaging... which actually was a lot better than the first 2 minutes made me think. I haven't quite decided yet if I liked it or not...
We entertained ourselves during the day by playing Bacci-ball with coconuts and fruits that fell off trees, and a cement-pipe race...
Getting closer to the end of the day - we did have to face the reality that we would not be able to continue our projects from Rabbit Island, but did have to say Good-Bye to this beautiful spot.
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