Monday 6th July 2015
This morning I was ridiculously annoyed everyone in my
room got up to watch the sunrise at the temples and made no effort at all to be
quiet. The worst part about it was that they left at about 4.30am making a ton
of noise and then came back around 7am and again made a ton of noise but then
went back to bed and despite them waking me up I felt bad to make a ton of
noise even though I wanted to pack when I woke up.
Instead I got up and headed out to have some breakfast
and chat to a few people that were hanging about. After sorting out how exactly
to get to the farm I’m off to volunteer at I packed up my stuff and checked out.
Getting to the farm took a lot longer than I thought
as I had to wait for the shared taxis to fill up at both stops I waited about
an hour. In Siem Reap it was a challenge to even find the taxi stand but I did
with a bit of asking here and there.
The taxi driver quoted me $10 to have a whole seat to
myself which would be a normal price but he then loaded up with seven passengers
it was just a normal car but we had four in the front (he shared his seat and
two in the passenger seat) and four in the back so I refused to pay more than
$5
We got to the first point at Sisaphon without any
dramas and I soon found the taxi onwards again I had to wait for about an hour
which was a pain but I got a taxi driver that knows the farm and speaks English
which made life a bit easier.
He only had one other passenger but loaded up the boot
and backseat with a ton of restaurant paraphernalia and tied two huge cooler
boxed onto the top of the trunk. The drive onwards was only about 30 minutes
and I arrived late afternoon to find everyone hard at work building the
foundations for a bench that will wrap around the inside of the main building
I got introduced to everyone and had a tour around the
farm and then hung around until everyone finished work and tried not to get in
the way. Once work was done everyone either went to shower or hung about
drinking and playing petanque.
At sunset we had wine and some sort of French sausage
(I say we but I partook in neither) then chilled out while the sun went down
and then had dinner outside by candlelight.
Later in the evening I set up my bed, a mattress on
the floor covered by a mosquito net and washed up and went to bed.
Tuesday 7th July 2015
I had a really bad sleep last night between the
extreme muggy heat and the bugs that were pestering me I was up most of the
night. I was woken up around 6am by the volunteers heading to the market for
food I couldn’t sleep so got up and had a wash and got dressed.
The morning started slowly we had breakfast and washed
up then had a clean-up around the place before the morning g meeting. By the
time we started working it was around 10.30am.
I started off helping making a nursery bed for rice
two others ploughed the small patch of land while I went and fetched compost
and then bucket after bucket of cow shit to work into the soil.
That job didn’t take too long and so we moved to
another bed clearing and turning over soil and adding compost to make the way
for some new plants to be planted in the late afternoon when the sun has gone
down
Next we started turning a compost pile but after an
hour we were only half way through and it was hot so we stopped for a break
which we timed well as it was lunchtime. The food was awesome Papaya salad, fried
potatoes and onions and eggs. It was made by two of the volunteers and I would happily
have eaten and eaten but instead I limited myself to one plate (aiming to drop
this 11kg before I go home)
After lunch we chilled out for a few hours usually the
volunteers just take an hour off after eating but today not long after sitting
down a bunch of Cambodian agriculture students arrived on scooters and so work
was postponed while they had a tour of the farm and once that was done we
joined them for some fresh mango and cold drinks they wanted to practice their English.
I spoke to one girl and she asked me what I studied at
university when I told her I didn’t go she was shocked she then asked how old I
was and I told her she replied in a very patronising voice “oh…but don’t worry
you still look good”
By the time they left it was about 4pm and the
afternoon was almost over we planted some plants in the bed we had prepared
earlier and then spent a long time watering everything. Not long after we
finished it started to pour with rain but it didn’t last long but the dark
clouds remained.
I decided to have a shower before the sun went down
and finding clothes would be hard and felt much more refreshed afterwards. We
had dinner around 8pm and then I went to bed pretty early
Wednesday 8th July 2015
I was having a great sleep when I woke up to Bundi (the
dog) biting my toes I moved my feet and he came and was trying to sit on my
face I tried to push him away but he kept coming and he stank so I ended up
getting up just so I could wash my hands.
We had breakfast around an hour later at 8am and by
the time we cleared up it was around 9am and we had our morning meeting. We all
went around and spoke about how we slept and what we wanted to do for the day.
The meeting finished and we got straight o work I
started off finishing the compost pile I started yesterday after being half
completed yesterday it was dried out from the sun which made it a bit hard to
shift.
Once that heap was done we moved to another one that
gets changed more regularly (every two days) this one was much easier to move
but it still took a long time. When we pulled the cover off there was a dead
mouse inside the heap and then when we went to put the cover back on there was
a huge toad hanging out inside.
We finished that pile off just as the bell rang for
lunch which was perfect timing we washed our hands and then headed in to eat.
We had a beautiful vegetable curry with pumpkin and coconut it was delicious
and I had to have a small serving more as it was so moreish.
After we ate it was super-hot and we hung around for
quite some time I ended up taking a nap in a hammock and woke up when we needed
to start building a mud wall. First of all I helped make the mud. We got a huge
tub and filled it with soil, water and rice husks we then mixed it by stamping
around in the tub in the way I imagine wine being made.
We then used the mud to hold our bricks in place along
the top of a wall that was already built to fill in a gap there were three of
us working together so it wasn’t long before it was all finished. But as it was
still early we decided to make some more mud to build a wall at the front of
the new cupboards.
For this we needed just mud we then got bunches of straw
and rolled it in the mud to make sausages that we then wrapped around a bamboo Frame
and smoothed down to make a nice section of wall. It was quite time consuming
so we only completed two small sections we stopped partly due to the time and partly
because we had run out of mud.
We took some time to tidy up and then I had a shower
to get rid of the mud that was dried all up my arms and all over my feet.
Dinner was at about 8pm by the time it was ready I was
starving but it was another beautiful meal well worth the wait of a kind of
pumpkin soup with rice and a fresh tomato salad.
After dinner we sat around playing a few games and
ended up going to bed quite late by the time I was in bed I was exhausted and
the wind had stopped completely meaning it was hot and sweaty.
Thursday 9th July 2015
Gizmo (the dog) woke me up this morning barking and
barking at a wood pile then Bundi (the other dog) was trying to get in my bed
so I gave up and went and got ready for the day. Apart from the few that had
gone to the market no one was up so I sat and read for a while until they came
back.
Gizmo was still barking at the woodpile so we went to
see what it was in case it was a snake or something, It was a huge rat that
once a few pieces of wood had been moved ran to take cover in the brick pile
soon the dogs had him. It was disgusting to watch as they tore it apart but
didn’t eat it instead they kept trying to bring it into the house like a cat
with a prize. Eventually someone took it off them and threw it into the
compost.
After the grim death had been dealt with we cleaned up
in the house which was all dusty and muddy from the building yesterday and all
sat down to breakfast together. We didn’t have a meeting this morning (as Olivier
(the owner) was still sleeping) but just got back to the work we had been doing
yesterday
Time went past quickly and the work was slow progress
we were surprised when the bell rang at 12p for lunch. It was a beautiful fresh
salad and some red rice with a spicy peanut sauce which we enjoyed before
taking our afternoon rest.
In the afternoon I spent time making more rolls of
straw and mud for the cupboard which we are creating by the end of the day I
had a sore back from hunching over a bowl of mud all day and was glad it was
over as it was a bit repetitive.
By the time we were finished it was getting dark and
had started to rain lightly we had to clean up all of our tools and put them away
by the time that was done the sun had gone down and I had to shower in the
dark. The shower is outside and usually has a beautiful view of some rice
fields but in the dark it was a bit spooky the only light came from my head
torch and it was raining so my things were getting wet while I tried to scrub
all the mud away from me.
The advantage of the late finish was that dinner
wasn’t too far away and then in the evening we all sat around playing card
games and chatting. I was tired so went to bed early but since my bed is in the
main house it was a bit difficult to sleep.
Friday 10th July 2015
I woke up really early this morning needing to pee so
got up and ventured outside with my torch as I walked I could hear footsteps
behind me and thought it was the dog but when I turned around no one was there
and when I went back into the house the dogs were still in there asleep.
I woke up again later on just before 7am and it seemed
as though quite a few people were already up so I got up as well and once I was
washed and dressed cleaned up the bed and then swept out the house before
breakfast.
We all ate and then had the morning meeting at about
9.30aam first task for me was to help finish off the cupboard we made the mud
and some straw and mud balls and then filled in all the gaps that were left
yesterday at the top and in the back. Once that was done we had to fill in a
panel at the front and then continue making straw and mud rolls for the folks
building the oven.
We hadn’t made too many before it was time for lunch
we stopped and had rice and some noodles and veg, there was also soup but it
had fish in it so I skipped that. After we ate we played a few games of cards
and then got back to work a bit earlier than we have done which was nice as we
finished earlier.
Once we got started again I was helping out with the
oven firstly make yet more straw balls and then helping out with a platform as
we were working one of the guys was stung by something could have been an ant
but also might have been a small scorpion either way the bite was very painful
but not harmful.
As we worked Darren made us mud masks with mud and
coconut oil we all sat around together laughing and taking photos during this
break two more people arrived who are friends of the owners we all chatted for
a bit then they went to have a tour of the farm while we went back to work.
It turned out there wasn’t too much more work to do
and then we finished up for the day once everything was clean and we were clean
we had time to watch the sunset before dinner
We ate dinner and then everyone sat outside looking at
the stars I was tired of sitting on the floor so I did my own thing and read for
a while before going to bed.
Saturday 11th July 2015
I woke up this morning and got up and dressed cleared
away the bed and swept out the house before breakfast. We all ate and sat
around waiting for the day to begin but when Olivier came out he proposed a day
off. Everyone was happy with that and so we spent the day doing our own things.
While we were sitting around in the morning one of the
volunteers blew into the didgeridoo and a mouse came flying out it was too
scared to move and the dogs were staring at It but not going for it while it
was still one of the guys came over and I thought he was going to rescue it and
set it free but instead he stood on its head making me a witness to two rodent
murders in just a few days.
I started off by washing all my muddy clothes and then
spent the rest of the morning reading after a beautiful curry for lunch I spent
a few hours reading and napping in a hammock. I woke up in the late afternoon
and went with the girls to the market.
It was really hot so we stopped for a drink along the
way and didn’t keep moving for ages. Once at the market we walked around but
there was not really much to see as most of it is the fresh food that gets sold
in the morning and that market is over by about 9am as no one has fridges.
We walked back and along the way saw the kids with two
of the other volunteers who had gone to visit some family of the children we
all walked back together and watched the sun going down I had a shower before
it got too dark and then it was dinner time.
Once the kids went to bed we played cards for a while
and then it was bed time in my new position in one of the hammocks. The mozzie
net was a bit of a nightmare but I managed to get it in place and was soon in
the land of nod.
Sunday 12th July 2015
This morning I slept later than usual. The rooster
kept waking me up at some obscene hour when it was still dark outside but when
I woke up for good it was almost 8am it made a nice change to waking up around
6am when the guys leave to go to the market.
I got up and dressed and we had a quiet lazy breakfast
and even has some eggs which was a treat. After clearing up and cleaning up the
house a bit I sat around reading until we had our morning meeting at about 10am
We didn’t have too much time before lunch but needed
to empty the three composts, the food bins, turn one of the garden waste piles
and empty the toilet. Thankfully there was no shortage of volunteers to do the
loo so I didn’t have to partake in that activity instead I along with another
girl mixed the two food compost bins added some sawdust to the newer compost
and some water to the older lot and once we were done went to help turn the big
pile of garden compost.
With four of us working together the work was done
really quickly. There was some wood that needed to be moved under cover in case
it rained so we did that and then helped mix up some mud for the oven. We
needed to make mud and straw rolls to add to a wall we made a few days ago and
also smooth out the platform with mud and sawdust.
the progressions of the oven!
There were lots of us working together but we didn’t
really know what we were doing so it took longer than it should have. Once we
had done those few bits and pieces it was time for lunch so we all trooped off
to wash our hands and then head back to the house to eat. We had left over
salad from last night and pineapple and tomato cooked with garlic and some egg
which was divine. The others also had fish soup but of course I avoided that
one.
After eating I moved all my clothes and wash things
into the little hammock hut leaving just my laptop and cameras inside my bag in
the house. If it rains heavily I don’t think they would be safe from water out
there.
I relaxed in the swinging chair for a bit reading
about an Englishman who travelled across India on an elephant and found even
more places I wanted to visit in India. When it was time to go back to work we
all headed out to the road and picked up rubbish along the dirt road from the
edge of the farm out to the main road a distance of about 500m
There was plenty of trash out there and in total we
collected around 15 big bags full of rubbish. At one point there was a huge
area where people had dumped bags full of garbage the guy who owned the
property came out and helped clear up that patch with some friends.
It took us several hours in the hot sun before the
road was clean and we headed back to the farm where we had a bit of a clear up
helped with the oven a bit and then showered and settled in for the evening.
I sat in the hammock reading until it got too dark and
then moved inside the power was out so we ate by candlelight and then sat
around for a bit before I went to bed about 10pm feeling pretty tired.
Monday 13th July 2015
After repositioning the mosquito net so that it wasn’t
hanging down in my face I slept much better waking up at about 7.20am ready for
the day. Despite having a somewhat early night I felt pretty tired even after
dunking my head in water I still wasn’t really awake
The main house had already been swept out and cleaned
up so I sat in the hammock reading a book. Already it was pretty hot and it
wasn’t even 8am. We had breakfast as usual but were lucky enough to have some homemade
jam brought all the way from France by one of the volunteers which was
delicious.
We had our morning meeting and then all got to work
together building a bench out of mud bricks outside Olivier and Darren’s house.
With so many of us working together progress was fast and by lunch time we had
almost completed the brick framework.
We stopped to eat boiled eggs and salad with fresh
bread and then all spread out taking naps as it was exceptionally hot. I was sitting in the hanging chair looking
out into the garden floating on the top of one of the water tanks was a bucket
but then as I watched a little hand popped up and then a head from under the
bucket, to keep cool Sylvan (Olivier’s son) was sitting in a water jar and I
felt rather jealous, even more so when Arun got in another with umbrellas for
shade above their heads.
In the afternoon we finished off the first layer on
the bench there were many of us working together and it went pretty quickly as
we were finishing up three new volunteers arrived they got stuck in straight
away helping us clean up and tidy up the house.
We got showered and then all hung out in the house the
newbies brought Poi’s and hula hoops with them so we had a little show/play
session before dinner.
We ate and then hung out a bit longer but I was
feeling tired so didn’t stay up much past 10pm
Tuesday 14th July 2015
This morning I got up early so I could walk to the
market. There was a group of us that all walked there together leaving the farm
at about 6.30am.
We ate a breakfast of noodle soup freshly prepared by
a surly looking Cambodian woman who spoke not a word of English we sat and ate
and then walked around the market looking at all the fresh produce (some
chickens were so fresh they were still alive) surrounded by piles of tat and
chemical filled crap.
I bought some socks with toe gaps that I can wear with
my jandals that and my breakfast cost less than USD$1 we walked back to the
farm in time to get changed and be ready for the morning meeting then we set
about working.
I started off by mixing the food compost there are two
bins one full of older compost that is mostly black and almost done mixing this
is a matter of putting the shovel in and turning it but the new stuff which has
the fresh kitchen scraps stinks so is a bit unpleasant I had to mix it with
sawdust and then dig a hole in the centre for the new scraps to be poured in.
Once the compost was done we set about mixing mud to
make a border wall around Olivier and Darren’s house. First of all we had to
measure out straight lines with a piece of string then hammer stakes in to mark
the line and to build the border in some places they went in smoothly but in
others where the ground was hard it was a bit of a mission.
Once some of the stakes were in we could begin
building we made sausages out of straw and mud and moulded them around the
bamboo stakes to make a small border walls around the house. We wanted to
finish before lunch but we ran out of mud we had just made a fresh bucket full
when the heavens opened and it began to pour with rain.
We ran about clearing everything up and then stopped
for lunch. The rain continued for a few hours during which time we ate I had a
nap and then with the help of one of the volunteers I practiced handstands.
We didn’t get back to work until after 3.30pm but
managed to finish off the mud building we were doing in the morning before it got
dark. There were so many of us wanting showers that it was almost dinner time
before I got in thee it was dark and I had only my headlamp to light the way,
moths kept landing on me while I was wet and subsequently dying it was perhaps
the most distressing shower I have ever had.
I got out and minutes later it was dinner time, we had
chilli and mashed sweet potato which is one of my favourite meals so I ate
rather a lot. After eating the battery for the lights died and so we only had
candles to light the night. After the rain the bullfrogs were out in force as
well as swarms of insects including some little stink beetles. After setting
one off on my face I decided it was time to wash my face and head to bed.
Wednesday 15th July 2015
I woke up this morning wanting to do my laundry but
there was no water also the sky was full of dark clouds (but it didn’t rain
until lunchtime so I could easily have dried my clothes before then) we had a
late start after breakfast with no morning meeting.
We continued with the borders we started yesterday covering
them now in a layer of mud and rice husk to fill in any holes and to make them
stronger. We also covered the bench we made the other day with a layer of
sawdust and mud which smoothed over the rough rice husk.
Around 11am I moved to bamboo cutting we needed to
smooth out the knots and the sharp edges of long thin bamboo planks which will
be cut shorter and used to make rolling blinds for the windows of the house to
stop water coming in when it rains (at the moment several large tarpaulins do
the job.)
Several times it began to rain but stopped before it
really began but just before lunch at around 13.15 it began to pour down and
the wind picked up heaps we had to race to bring everything inside and to pull
down the tarps even then as we ate we were misted with a fun spray of water
that continued to come in.
By the time we finished eating a delicious bean curry
and cabbage the rain had also stopped although the sky was still thick with
cloud and swarms of insects were about causing havoc by biting everyone.
We had another long afternoon break where we mostly
sat about half asleep like zombies. We came back to life but didn’t get back to
work until about 3.30pm almost as soon as we did it started to rain again but
as we were planting we kept at it. The rain didn’t get too heavy so it was
rather refreshing.
We planted a row full of corn, watermelon, amaranth
and sesame and also added a few cassava plants. Then we planted ten trees but
I’m not sure what they were as no one knew the name in English. We also planted
rice seeds into the rice nursery that we prepared last week and a bunch of
sugarcane as well.
progressions of the rice nursery
We finished up and got all the tools clean before
hurriedly showering and basically bathing in insect repellent to avoid the
numerous bugs. The power went out pretty early and so we had to use candles for
light to eat dinner which was a beautiful dish of noodles with a tomato sauce.
After eating we played a few rounds of cards before I
left to get an early sleep.
Thursday 16th July 2015
This morning getting up early to get my washing done
was a success there was water and although the sky was full of menacing clouds
a line had been erected under the shelter used to store bricks, sacks of
sawdust and compost and a few other things that needed to be kept out of the
rain.
I finished up my washing and headed to the house where
there wasn’t yet any breakfast as we were out of bread and rice flakes and had
to wait for Darren to return from the market with the days produce. Once she
returned we had a quick breakfast cleaned up the dishes and had our meeting for
the day.
Our group was small in numbers as two volunteers left
yesterday for a day off to explore a temple and another left for Siem Reap to
renew her Cambodian visa. A further two volunteers had left the farm to do a
few chores leaving just six volunteers and the family at the farm.
We got to work pretty quickly still plagued by the
many insects brought about due to the life giving rains. I started off working
with two other girls to sift the older of the two food compost bins to get a
reasonably smooth texture the bigger clumps of yet un-composted food was
returned to the newer bin to continue its process.
The bin was full and took quite some time and energy
to sift out the sun was shining through the clouds and the humidity was high so
we all had sweat running down our faces. By the end of it we had nine full bags
of compost ready for the garden.
With the main part done we just had to turn the newer
compost and add some sawdust. This bin now becomes the old compost and we start
fresh with an empty bin. While we had been doing the compost some others were
turning the garden compost and then ploughing the rice field in anticipation
for the planting of rice from the nursery.
We all finished up at around the same time at 11.30am
with all the afternoon tasks being big ones it was decided we would finish for
lunch early. I sat in a hammock reading for about half an hour and then it was
lunch time, egg fried rice and heaps of vegetables.
After eating the humidity was still high the sky was
still dark but other than a few drops of rain here and there the skies hadn’t
yet broken. I tried reading but soon fell asleep on a bench I woke up at about
2pm and everyone around me was asleep apart from Olivier who was trying to mend
the damaged battery from the solar panel and Sylvan who was sanding the planks
of wood we will use to make shelves.
I felt like going back to sleep but instead went and
washed my face to try and jolly myself. When
we got back to work in the afternoon we all sat together cutting the bamboo for
curtains which was a sweaty task as the sun was out and we all got a little
sunburnt.
In the later afternoon we prepared some beds to plant
baby bok choy and amaranth plants which we put into the beds at the end of the
day. We prepared the beds by turning the soil and adding a layer of dried straw
that had been on the bed and then adding a thick layer of fresh straw and then
the little plants.
Once that was done it was getting late and so we all
rushed to the shower. Dinner was a real treat of crepes full of lentils and soy
beans topped with salad, a spicy sauce and some peanuts. After eating we
chatted for a while before I went to bed early all on my lonesome in the
hammock hut.
Friday 17th July 2015
Today was almost a day off. Silvan woke me up just
after 6am asking me if I wanted to go to the market for some reason I felt like
we would be having a nice breakfast here and so I said no and went back to
sleep for another hour. I got up and ready for the day, walked into the house
and saw French toast and rice soup a rather odd combination but both were
delicious and I ate way too much.
By the time we started working it was well after 9am
and we hadn’t had a morning meeting instead we just got to work finishing off
preparing the bamboo for the curtains. Once it was done my hand felt like a
claw from holding the machete. We then started to water the baby plants we
planted yesterday afternoon and the corn and water melon as well.
Once everything was watered we didn’t really know what
to do and so we stopped early for lunch we ate a beautiful salad and bread just
after we ate the rains came in fore but it didn’t last too long and the sky was
pretty clear however the longer we sat about the darker the sky became and it
wasn’t long before a storm was upon us bringing thunder, lightning and rain.
The boys all ran outside to dig a trench to allow some
water into a ditch and to stop it pooling on the ground. The girls made sure
the house was all covered up and moved some things out of the rain before
sweeping out the house. The rain continued steadily for the rest of the
afternoon so we didn’t go back to work instead we played cards.
The rain continued all afternoon and so we didn’t go
back to work instead we read, played cards and hula hooped all afternoon. In
the evening we had a beautiful meal but it was somewhat ruined by the thousands
of flying termites that were swarming the lights landing in our food and
getting stuck in our hair. We all moved away from the table instead eating in
the dark and couldn’t go in for more food as it was full of insects.
The stink bugs were also out and it became a bit of a
zoo. first we watched as two huge geckos
came down from the ceiling to feast on the flying termites, next a tiny frog
went hopping across the floor, followed by the discovery of a snake (non-venomous)
winding its way around a tree next to my hammock hut and finally and huge
centipede that decided it liked the house and met its end under someone’s shoe
(they bite)
We had a nice evening with one of the volunteers
playing the guitar for us and two more did poi and hula hoop for us with lights
Saturday 18th July 2015
I got up this morning and no one was about everyone
seemed to have slept in but it didn’t matter too much as we didn’t get started
until well after 10am as a bunch of volunteers were all leaving and a taxi came
for them at 10am.
It was a sad farewell and after they left there was
just five volunteers remaining (when I arrived there was about 12) not long after
the guys left the kids headed off to their grandparents for the night leaving
the house even quieter.
We started off by turning the compost a job that we
have gotten pretty efficient at doing it every two days. Once that was done we
helped get the bamboo ready for the curtains we had to sort them out to find
the straightest ones. Once we had those we cut them at one end to form a neat
edge before marking them so that we could cut them all the same length.
We were in the process of marking them again where the
holes for the string will go when Darin called us from the other end of the
farm where she was doing some planting with another volunteer they had
uncovered a Russell’s viper which are extremely venomous.
We all an over to have a look she was just small
probably only about 30cm long and was very docile Olivier picked her up with a
stick and put her in a box to move away from the farm all the while she barely
let out a hiss.
He took her a short while from the farm and dropped
her in a neighboring rice field (the surrounding fields are planted then left alone
until the harvest so its unlikely someone will walk through there) once he came
back we were just getting back into the bamboos when it started to rain heavily
we covered everything up and then stopped for lunch.
We had a long break while it poured with rain and we
sat around playing cards before we knew it it was 5pm and the weather had
cleared a bit so we got back to work. We put another layer of mud and sawdust
on the oven and then began staking out some more borders at the front of Olivier’s
house.
We made the mud and straw we needed and were about to
start building but the lines weren’t straight and so we left it until tomorrow
as it was getting dark anyway. By the time we cleaned everything up the sun had
set.
We got showered and sat down to eat finishing up late around
9pm. Thankfully the flying termite things that plagued us yesterday were a lot
lower in numbers and so dinner wasn’t stressful we washed up and then sat about
playing cards for the rest of the evening unfortunately there were still a ton
of stink bugs about which wasn’t overly pleasant.
Sunday 19th July 2015
This morning I was woken up by voices near my hammock
I could see everyone up and about and for a moment I thought I had slept late
but it turned out that everyone was up early. Some had gone to the market others
were just up and about for once.
I got up and got ready for the day pausing to clean a
mosquito bite on my foot which has become infected. I headed to the house for
breakfast by around 8.30am we were ready to begin our day. Around the farm are
several filtration systems to turn the soapy dish or shower water into clean
water for the plants they work by having a series of pools each one filters the
water before it flows into the next pool, one of these pools had flooded in the
recent rains and so we set about trying to fix it.
At first we tried to dig a channel into the
neighbouring rice field but that didn’t really work out and trying to reshape
the pool while it was still full was going to be a nightmare. We pretty soon
realised that trying to train it by hand bucket after bucket would take days
and so Olivier went in search of a pump to borrow to get the water out.
While he was gone we started to re-stake the lines for
the border wall we were working on yesterday. When he came back we headed over
to have a look at the process but it was just water draining out of a pond so
we went back to our border wall. Once it was staked in straight lines we set
about adding straw and mud sausages to create the wall.
We matched it up to the wall that was incomplete and
cut away a section that wasn’t straight as well as repairing a bit that got washed
away in the rain. Once that was done it was pretty much time to wash up for
lunch which was perfect timing as the wind picked up and it began to rain but
it didn’t last long at all.
We had vegetable soup and bread and omelettes for
lunch which as always was delicious. After eating we cleaned up the dishes and
relaxed for a while. I finished my book and then sat about talking. A couple of volunteers arrived bringing with
them the heaviest rain we have seen yet.
We got everything inside while a few hard sorts went
to dig channels in the pond that filled up faster than the time it took to
empty. Most of us holed up until it stopped temporarily we had a look around
and saw that the farm was pretty water logged.
It wasn’t long before it began again and didn’t really
stop all evening. Around 6.30pm I braved the rain and went to shower before it
got dark, as the shower is open air I had to be quick so my things didn’t get
too wet.
Before dinner I read a book with the kids which was in
French so really it was just looking at the pictures. The frogs started their
nightly chorus and I went with Arun to go and see them, we found a snake in the
garden but it was a harmless one so we left it alone. Arun caught a frog and
took it inside and put it on the table much to everyone’s disgust. It was soon
recaptured and returned to the pond.
We ate dinner and around 10pm I headed to bed to avoid
the millions of stink bugs that were floating about.
Monday 20th July 2015
It rained continuously almost all night but thankfully
there was no wind so I stayed dry inside my hammock it was a bit cold though
even inside my cotton sleeping bag liner. In the middle of the night I woke up
when a mouse ran across my face, I was sleeping with my face pressed against
the hammock and he rain across and then disappeared I turned on my headlamp to
see where he went but he had disappeared.
For the rest of the night I could hear creatures
rustling around in the thatch roof trying to hide from the rain. I also needed
to pee quite badly but didn’t want to get up so my sleep was pretty disturbed
until about 5am when I couldn’t wait any longer I got up and then went back to
bed. Before I knew it Silvan was poking me in the butt to wake me up to go to
the market.
It was still raining when we set off with one umbrella
between the three of us it took about 30 minutes to get there and it didn’t
stop raining the whole time. To get into the market we had to walk across a
muddy field to get to get in and set about looking for some tiger balm we
couldn’t find any but we did find “white monkey holding peach balm” it appears
to have the same ingredients and be the same thing.
We had noodle soup for breakfast and then walked back
to the farm. Thankfully the rain had stopped so we stayed dry I gave Silvan a
piggy back ride down the dirt road back to the farm which was good exercise for
the morning.
We got back and had a second breakfast of apricot jam
and fresh bread that one of the volunteers brought from Siem Reap. After which
we had a morning meeting and then got to work cleaning up the farm. After a few
days of heavy rain we had left it in a bit of a mess.
I swept out the house and did some dishes then helped
a bit with cooking lunch but ducked out when the meat was being cooked. I then
went out and helped turn the compost heap out of which ran a mouse that
narrowly missed being chopped by my hoe as it popped up as I was swinging! It
went running into the garden and thankfully the dogs didn’t notice and it got
to freedom. By the time that was done it was time for lunch.
We sat down to eat all together and then cleaned up. I
found a book to read and for once didn’t fall asleep in the hammock while
reading. We didn’t get any rain this afternoon and so when we went back to work
we were very productive.
In front of Olivier and Darin’s house is a small not
yet planted rice fields its divided into two sections by a bridge that leads
from their house to the driveway in the last few days we built borders to go
across the bridge but after the rain yesterday the mud fell away taking a few
sections of the border with it.
We spent most of the afternoon trying to repair the
damage by digging new waterways to let the water out of the rice field and then
using the mud we had dug to build up the sides of the bridge. In some places we
needed to use bamboo stakes to hold the sides that looked like they might
collapse.
It took quite some time and was almost 6pm by the time
we finished but before we stopped for the day we moved a big pile of wood that
had begun to sink in a giant puddle while we were doing so we uncovered several
creatures a few mice (one of which was unlucky and ended up in Gizmos jaws)
about three lizards of varying size and a huge frog which Arun caught to go
back in the pond but dropped before he got there and it disappeared in some
long grass.
We mucked about a bit after that in the twilight and
then got showered and clean. Dinner was really late, not till almost 9pm by
which time I was feeling pretty tired after all the physical work and the early
morning. I headed to bed around 10pm and was out like a light.
Tuesday 21st July 2015
I slept much better last night but I did have really
weird dreams, in one there was a zombie apocalypse and as if that wasn’t bad
enough a strange man was trying to make me wear tiny pink shorts it was very
strange.
I got up at about 7am so that I could do some washing
before breakfast. Almost all my clothes were covered in mud so it took some
time to scrub them out. By the time that was done it was breakfast time and we
had a feast of eggs and fresh bread.
We had our morning meeting and then got to work
spending the whole morning working with mud on various projects in the house.
We started off by mixing some mud and rice husk to add another layer to the
breakfast bar which had a dip in the middle that we had to level out.
We had a bit of mud left over and used that to put
another layer on the outside of the cupboard that we began building my first
week. We then took off the kitchen counter and had to smooth it out as best we
could with chisels so that we could add another mud layer and put the stone
bench tops back (they needed adjusting as they were too far back and so when
cleaning food and dirt got stuck in the mud edge of the bench)
We spread out a mud and sawdust mix and once that was
on the guys put the stone tops back and ‘surfed’ them into place. As well as
these jobs other people made another layer for the oven with straw mud and
broken bits of brick and the front of the cupboard was reshaped to create a
more aesthetic look.
While we were doing the kitchen bench lunch arrived
due to all the work in the kitchen Darren ordered us noodle soup from the
market so we didn’t have to fight for space in the mud covered kitchen. We all
cleaned up and sat down to a delightful meal. As we were clearing up the rain
arrived so I ran to collect my washing and we battened down the hatches only
for the rain to finish mere minutes later.
In the afternoon we did more work with mud I was
inside the cupboard to put a layer of mud and rice husk over the straw and mud
we already did. Inside the cupboard it was hard to work as its very cramped and
also quite high making getting in and out difficult. It was also full of
mosquitos and I came out covered in bites. To make it even more interesting I
was continuously attacked by a huge wasp which I couldn’t run away from and
there were dozens of spiders living there, no doubt eating all of the mozzies.
Once the inside was done we had to put a layer on the
outside by the time that was done it was the end of the day. I was covered in
mud and ended up even more so when I was cleaning the tools and Silvan
bombarded me with water and handfuls of mud. I finished up the day looking like
a mud man but thankfully didn’t have to wait for the shower, by the time I had
swept up our mess it was free and I was clean!
We had another late dinner and then sat about playing
cards until quite late. Silvan put his hammock in the hammock hut and I was
woken in the night to him talking in his sleep and then the slaughter of the
pigs began but even so I slept quite well.
Wednesday 22nd July 2015
During the night I changed the time on my watch so
when I woke up and saw that it was 9.15am I rushed to get up and ready for the
day thinking everyone would be at work while I slept but when I got in the
house no one was there. I started to clean up a little by sweeping out the
house when Darren and another volunteer arrived back form the market, slowly
people emerged and I realised I had added two hours to my watch and actually
had gotten up at 7.15am
We had breakfast and then the morning meeting then got
stuck in. two more volunteers left today meaning there are only four of us
left. We started the day by visiting the birds in their house the boys were
going to add some more dirt around their pond and to clean it out and refill
it. I went in to look at the sole remaining baby chicken after the other five
have slowly disappeared. On my way out of the chicken house one of the geese
attacked me I almost kicked it but restrained myself and luckily it paused just
in front of me and hissed rather than biting me for which I was pleased.
I left the chicken house and got to work doing some
gardening, some corn that we had previously planted needed to be moved as it
was too close together so I spent an hour or so in the hot sun digging up young
corn plants and then replanting then in different places
Once that planting was done we watered a few of the
baby plants mostly because we needed to empty the water tank to clean it. Once
it was mostly empty I scrubbed it out with a brush and it was growing algae up
the side the sun was pretty hot and I couldn’t tell if I was wet from the tank
or with sweat.
By the time that was done it was midday we spread out
the compost pile as we needed to turn it but due to the humidity and the rain
it was really wet so we spread it out to dry in the sun. We then came inside
the house to avoid the hot sunshine and had some lunch we had food from the
market again. Darin asked the woman to prepare the food in banana leaves
instead of plastic bags to avoid the rubbish but when the food came it was in banana
leaves and then the bundles were inside plastic bags and each individual bundle
had a small bag of sauce as well. It was a lot of waste, but Darin will take
all the bags back to the lady tomorrow.
After eating we rested a while and then it was time to
say goodbye to two volunteers who were heading on their merry way. They left a
bungalow free so it was time once again to upgrade to a new bed. Once I had
moved in and washed my muddy clothes from yesterday’s mud wars it was time to
get back to work.
We started off by reassembling the compost heap that
we had left out to dry and once that was done started with some planting we
planted five coconut trees and a bunch of sugarcane. A random man stopped by to
help us and insisted that we plant all of the coconut trees facing east as
that’s the way the Khmers do it. (We didn’t get a reason why though)
After the planting was finished and the tools cleaned
we did some mud work to smooth down a wall both inside and out on the house. It
was a bit of a squeeze as there was four of us and a woodpile getting in each
other’s way but we got there in the end and also put a layer of mud and sawdust
along one of the benches before calling it quits for the day.
We cleaned up and then it was time for dinner after
which we went outside to look at the stars, the sky was clear for the first
time in over a week and we could see for miles as well as a new moon that was
burning intensely. After the star gazing we were all falling asleep so played
cards for a while to wake us up and then it was time for bed my first night in
my new home in the bungalow it was bliss.
Thursday 23rd July 2015
Today was a day off but we were all up early as the
kids wanted to take us to the market and then show us the local village. We got
up at 6am and got ready to go and headed to the market first but it took ages
to get there as Arun only has little legs (he’s seven) and also he got
distracted by almost everything we saw along the way.
Walking with him was rather amusing though and I heard
tales of 20m long vipers that could flip cars as well as something about a fire
that was as big as a mango tree. We got to there and had breakfast although
mine wasn’t well received after asking for vegetarian noodle soup and getting a
ton of chicken bones and something that very much resembled a beak…
We then walked further along the road to the fruit
shake stall but it appeared he was also having a day off as no one was there so
we walked back towards the village passing the hospital where we learnt an
American woman works, her house was also on our tour.
We went down the back roads along the river passing
cute little houses and countryside until we got to the kids uncles house where
we stopped a while and the kids played with their cousins and we rested from
the already scorching at 8am heat.
Back on the tour we had acquired all of the cousins
making our little band rather large next stop was the grandparents’ house and
then back to the main road through winding back roads where we visited an old
man with a beautiful garden full of banana trees. We had a look around and the
kids all made hats from the giant leaves of the lotus flowers in his little
pond.
From there we walked back to the farm arriving just
before 10am. I immediately took a nap in a hammock and once I woke up spent
some time reading about places to visit in Vietnam before an early lunch at
12pm with us and all of the cousins.
The food as always was spectacular the best bit being
whole grilled eggplants which were delightful. After lunch was all cleared away
I spent a bit of time writing down the places I had read about for Vietnam as
well as for Laos but both lists are unfortunately too long for the amount of
time I’ll spend in either place.
I then wrote postcards and watched a short documentary
Olivier found about Pun Pun farm in northern Thailand which is where he and
Darin learnt a lot of their farming practices.
Slowly everyone
disappeared the kids went over to the house to play the boys both went to take
a nap and I took a walk around the farm only to come back to an empty house. I
sat in the hammock a while reading and people slowly reappeared.
Late afternoon I went to have a
shower and came back to the house where there was a box with two tiny baby
kittens only about three or four weeks old. The kids were staying at their grandparent’s
house so we had the whole evening to play with them.
At first they were really scared
but as the evening went on they became more and more bold hissing and spitting
at the curious dogs who were told off every time their advances became too threatening.
Bundi who is the stupider of the
two dogs learnt early on to leave them well alone but gizmo continued to
investigate all evening.
We had dinner with the kittens
running about under the table and the dogs sniffing about then played cards for
a while before heading to bed early.
Friday 24th July 2015
I woke up much earlier than
needed and got up to get ready for the day annoyingly as I dried my face I
pulled my nose stud out and lost it in the stones on the shower floor. I'm
hoping it will turn up.
We had breakfast while playing
with the kittens who were running all over the place followed closely by the
dogs
We had our morning meeting and
the first job of the day was mud. I cleaned out a big bucket that had mud and
bricks in it left over from a layer on the oven and by the time that was done
the others had mixed up some mud and sawdust for us to use.
we put another layer on the
shelves we did yesterday as well as a starting a first layer on the cupboard I
decided someone else could have a go on the inside and stayed outside happily
avoiding the mosquito's.
We worked until lunchtime when we
stopped for lunch thankfully the kids were back and had already eaten so they
could watch the kittens and we could focus our full attention on the amazing
mushroom curry in front of us.
After eating I sat in the singing
chair with a kitten on my knee and read a national geographic magazine
dedicated to water it was outdated by about five years but all of the issues
still have relevance today.
In the afternoon we continued
with the mud stuff we were doing this morning getting more of the benches
covered as well as a layer and inside the cupboard.
By the time we were finished and
had cleaned up all the buckets and other tools we had used the evening was
pushing on. While the others went to feed the ducks and water a few plants I
helped Darren in the kitchen making sesame paste and black bean dip.
We had dinner earlier than usual
sitting outside under the bright half-moon it was a bit cloudy so we couldn't
see so many stars but even so after we ate we lay stargazing for a few hours
before bed
Saturday 25th July 2015
I realised this morning that it's
only six weeks until I head back to the UK and only a few days until I say
goodbye to this paradise and continue my travels.
When I was ready for the day I
headed into the house which I gave a quick sweep before we moved the table back
inside.
The kittens have only been here a
day but already they are strutting away confident as ever hissing and spitting
at Bundi and Gizmo if they get too close but otherwise acting as if they own
the place.
Last night Silvan was telling me
that he can cook the best fried eggs and that he never breaks the yolk so I
challenged him to make me one for breakfast sure enough it was pretty
eggs-cellent and the bonus was he also made one for himself which he decided he
didn't want so I got two.
After eating we didn't really
have a meeting more of just a quick discussion of what the morning would
entail. We needed to do a clean-up in the garden as grass, mimosa and other
small plants were choking the plants and blocking the walkways.
We cleared up a bunch of plants
and trimmed the grass as well as building a big a-frame bamboo support for the pumpkins
to grow up. This also involved untangling the many yards of pumpkin tentacles
that were snaking about the place. The work was pretty easy but the sun was out
in force and we were soon sweating and sneaking off to the shade for a moment
here and there to keep cool.
We stopped working around 12pm as
we needed to build another a-frame but the design had to be thought through as
it went over a path. We chilled out a bit before lunch and I taught Arun
how to use my camera he actually took quite a few pretty decent shots and has
an eye for picking out colours and angles which are interesting.
Lunch was a big pasta salad with
left over spaghetti from last night followed by a local desert of melon with
coconut milk.
We cleaned up the dishes and then
I sat and chilled out with the kittens asleep on my knee
In the afternoon we were back in
the garden first to continue our clean up now mostly getting the long grass and
weeds they were encroaching on the beds and secondly to build another a-frame
this one was huge much taller than me for all the pumpkins and beans to grow up
it was also four metres long!
We finished up around 6pm after
spending quite some time untangling all the pumpkin tentacles. We tidied up and
made sure all the garden rubbish was in the new pile we had built before
finishing up for the day.
Feeling all hot and sweaty I
raced for the shower after which I still felt hot and sweaty. The kids were
staying at their grandparents so it was rather quiet as we ate and then sat
about talking about the decline of society.
Sunday 26th July 2015
This morning I slept the latest I
have since I got here getting up just before 8am I came out of the mosquito net
and was immediately bombarded by mozzies who persisted all day.
Breakfast was late as we had to
wait for Darin to come back from the market with the bread but we were rewarded
for the wait with fresh pumpkin jam as well as tamarind jam which was amazing.
We have a morning meeting and
then got gardening the day was humid again and although the sky was overcast we
were all sweating in abundance. We cleared up all of the beds next to the
chicken house which included uprooting several stubborn trees in the battle the
roots won and so we left them to grow another day.
Mid-morning we started a new
project which was to make a shelter in the open air shower so that towels and
toiletries would stay dry when it rains rather than someone having to run and
collect everything every time it rains.
We completed the frame before
lunch which we were pretty proud of but pad Thai was calling so the grass roof
waited. We ate lunch and after cleaning up I got some laundry done so I can
leave on Tuesday with clean clothes.
Once that was done I spent a lazy
few hours in a hammock with kittens sleeping on my knee. Just as we were
thinking of getting back to work a visitor arrived he was in Cambodia to teach
for a few days at a permaculture course and stopped by to check out the
project.
When we were ready to get back to
building the huge black cloud above us let loose and a huge downpour followed
complete with howling winds. We ended up sitting around some more while we
waited for the weather to clear.
Once it started to clear we went
out to get back to it but all the straw that we needed to use for the roof was
soaking wet so that put an end to that. Instead we played 'baseball' with the
kids using bamboos as a bat and a fruit that's kind of like a lemon but green
and so full of seeds that it's really hard like a cricket ball.
Several times the ball exploded
when it came into contact with the bat and more than once rouge balls went flying
towards heads.
The permaculture man had brought
a bunch of trees with him so we spent some time planting them and pulling up
some tree like weeds that were hanging about.
We finished as it was getting
dark and after clearing up all of our tools and what not we showered and spent
the evening avoiding the flying termites who were back and frying to dissuade
the dogs from annoying the kittens.
Monday 27th
July 2015
I had a great start to
my last day when Silvan cooked us fried rice for breakfast as there was no
bread then We spent my last full day on the farm in the garden starting out by
finishing the shelter for the bathroom it looks a bit like a drunk person built
it as we had a straight pole at the top but a curve at the bottom but it works
and our things stayed dry when It rained.
As a team we all looked
for my still missing nose ring but it was gone like the wind and all we found
was snippets of wire from our building. After we finished we took a break for
lunch which was a beautiful dish of cooked tomatoes with eggs and a huge salad.
In the afternoon we
were back in the garden clearing out more weeds and grass from around all the
corn and more in the nursery as well as planting some mango trees and then
clearing out the nursery. There were a bunch of plants that either hadn’t grown
or had been eaten so we recycled the earth and put all the banana leaves that
were wrapped around each baby plant in the compost.
It was another hot
sweaty humid day so showering was a relief even if it was a bit strange with a
half roof! After dinner we sat about playing cards and chatting till late I didn’t
want the evening to end as I didn’t want to leave but eventually the bungalows
called and we all headed to bed.
Tuesday 28th
July 2015
I woke up this morning
feeling sad that it was my last morning on the farm I got up and packed all my
things making sure to look about the house for any belongings dropped here and
there. We had breakfast together and then once that was done it was a matter of
chilling out playing with the dogs and kittens and helping Darin collect butterfly
pea flowers as well as packing up some seeds that I will take home with me
Around 11am it was time
to say a very sad goodbye to everyone as one of the volunteers and I left to
head to Sisaphon where we would get the bus to Phnom Penh. Olivier came with us
as he had some errands to run there and so the three of us walked to the main
road and hailed a share taxi which we crammed into.
Time was a bit tight
and we bought our ticket as the bus was pulling up, luckily Olivier had called
ahead for us and so they were expecting us. After one last goodbye we got onto
the bus and found our seats. It was a cool eight hours to Phnom Penh and it
rained pretty steadily the entire way. It was only 360km but the bus went slow
as anything even though the road wasn’t too bad.
We had a few stops
along the way complete with the requisite horrible dirty toilets and no veggie
food so by the time we arrived we were super hungry, I had looked up a hostel
online on the bus and so we headed there and were lucky enough to get the last
two beds! We dumped our stuff and then headed out for food after doing a
circuit and not fining anything vegetarian we headed back to the hostel and ate
there, after which it was an early mosquito filled night.
ice arriving at the central market
