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Monday 18 May 2020

Running Around With Her Hair on Fire

On the Mekong River -12/23/11

The boat cabin came with an adapter that seemed to work OK with the laptop, which needs 12.5 volts of direct current. I plugged in Carol's hair curler and she mentioned that it got hot really fast. Then her hair started to smoke.


So I plugged in the transformer we carry that steps down 250 volts alternating current to 110 volts.


One thing is still the same as it was in the 1960s. It's the depressing poverty that you see everywhere. One difference is that the thatched huts and sheet metal dwellings usually have a TV antenna or even a satellite dish.


This morning we trudged up a hill to visit a temple/monastery. I forgot my camera sim card. Some kids took me to the school where the monks were learning math. There was a sign that said, "THE TIME IS MONEY". I thought that was very zen.


The Mekong means "the mother of all rivers" so when you say Mekong River, you are saying "Mother River River".


We visit more  Cambodian hilltop temples in the morning and afternoon.



Finally, we visit the Amica village. they are harvesting rice and carrying it to store on carts, in baskets on poles, and carrying baskets of rice on their heads.



Before going to the village we stop to buy toys, pencils, and notebooks for the village children.


TV antenna on the upper right.

We transfer to a bus today for a four-hour drive to Siem Reap. Angkor Wat is nearby, which should be a high point of the tour.


This is the first place we go with no children asking politely for money. Here they know that the tourists will give small gifts as they leave. They sing for us and we sing for them (If you're happy clap your hands).


It takes a million bamboo poles to build this bridge. They put it up every year and take it down before the rainy season. It can handle a car.

2 comments:

  1. Bamboo Bridge. Must make the Engineers of the US very frustrated?

    ReplyDelete
  2. can not wait to hear/read/see about Angkor Wat....love the bridge idea.
    sil

    ReplyDelete