Day 5 of Technical Exchange (Kampong Thom - Jane's Site)

So, as I said before, I got up today at 6:00a to meet for breakfast then head out at 6:30a, as Jane's site in Kampong Thom (the next province over) is about 85km away and takes about an hour and a half to travel there. On the way there, I got some work done on my laptop, read a little, and listening to my iPod. I was really looking forward to visiting Jane at her site, as I had mentioned visiting a long time ago, and it just never worked out. I talked the talk, but I wanted to walk the walk (as I attempted to explain to Bunsak...he used this idiom pretty often since he inquired about its meaning). Anyhow, when I arrived in Baray, Jane was busy Skyping with family in America (which always takes priority over anything else). This was fine as it gave us some time to explore around and get a few shots in, and we actually managed to get in 5! Jane met us at a nice restaurant (which hosts volunteers [usually from Malaysia and Singapore] who pay a pretty penny for it) 3k away. The waitress asked what I wanted. I ordered an "omelet", which was $3 for a small plate, so I declined and asked for this fish/vegetable soup which was $2. Well, I guess things got lost in translation, and I ended up getting both. $5 for lunch in a village is ridiculous, by the way. However, it was crazy delicious and well worth it. After lunch, we threw Jane's bike (like Lindsay's) in the back of the truck and headed back to her town...and then turned back, because we forgot the list of shots (whoops!).

When we got back to her town, we tried to find some women working in the field. At least, that's what Jane and I thought. We were training behind some truck going about 3 mph. This went on for 15 minutes until Jane asked Do'lah (the driver) why he was going so slow. They thought we were going to tell them were to stop to get to Jane's house. Whoops, again! We stopped at this house where several women were relaxing. We went over and did our spiel, and they seemed to be willing to go out to the fields with us. However, they thought it might take awhile to meet us there, so we all just hopped into the truck, Jane, Bunsak, and I in the back (which was difficult with the bike bike in the bed). After fearing for our lives for 15 min and ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the scenery around us, we arrived at this magical patch of green/golden-brown rice paddies, where we were able to get some fantastic images. This was definitely one of the most successful days, and it was an "adventure"!

After the photo shoot and some jackfuit and coconut juice at the house where we found the women, we dropped Jane off at her house, and I got to see where she lived. It's really fun knowing exactly where people sit/lie down when they're chatting with you on the phone/online. It was a cozy nook with plenty of pictures and inspirational quotes; I was impressed. After we said our goodbyes, Do'lah, Bunsak, and I headed back to Kampong Cham. Again, going in and out of sleep was prevalent. We stopped at a PSI staff member's house and sit-played for a good 15-20 min before arriving back in Kampong Cham Town, where Kellie and Katie (whose site I visited on Day 3) met me to get dinner at a small mee cha (fried noodles) stand and had tuckalucks (fruit shakes with condensed milk). Another volunteer who lived in the provincial town, Stu, met us there. You know, overall, I've gotten to meet up and hang out with a lot of volunteers since the beginning of this technical exchange, and it's been one of my favorite aspects of it. Alright, that's all for today's story.

Talk to you soon,

Garrett