Not many words for today.
We started at a reasonably late 10am, and headed towards the outskirts of Battambang city for a ride on a 'bamboo train'. These are basically a couple of pairs of old train wheels, with a bamboo platform on top and a small petrol engine attached to one of the axels. They don't go very fast when you've got 20 people on them. Mind you, my 90+ kilos was probably equal to the weight of the other 19 individuals on my train. Little Cambodian kids do not weigh much.
After hopping off the tracks at a small stall, we bought some drinks and partook in some local fare - lychee-type fruit ice creams and banana-rice cakes. these are cooked inside a banana leaf, and are made of some kind of gooey stuff with rice and banana in the middle. CHINGAN!
Yet again, Trish made the journey into the private home of somebody to use their bathroom. We imagined asking someone in a shop in Australia if we could use the toilet in their attached residence. Fat chance! But trish has managed it three times over here... her toilet bLOG will be interesting!
After returning (they just lift the small platform up and turn it around so it goes the other way), with a quick stop for the boys driving the trains to jump off a small bridge into a rather brown creeky thing along the way (whilst still dressed in their fancy tight floral shirts and spunky jeans), we visited the local Buddhist centre for learning.
The Buddhist centre is not a temple, rather a place for people to visit to learn about Buddhism and to study prayer and meditation. It was an interesting place, but not really worth describing.
After lunch (and a nap for me!) we went back to CCT for a party. Great food and great dancing (well, great dancing from some, especially Heang, who copies everything you say - and who provided awesome entertainment by singing along with a couple of songs I played on the guitar; he had no idea what the words were, but he copied me almost perfectly and even in tune! Our little dancing parrot...).
There were also cockroaches and fried frogs for those of us brave enough to eat them. Florry tried both without too much fuss. I'm sure some people will find that hard to believe, but she definitely chewed and swallowed a fried frog and a fried cockroach. I prefer the roaches myself, but Florry thought the frog tasted better.
Also, rather than dobbing in people for being too chicken, let's just say that an adult whose name starts with 'F' and ends in 'iona' refused to eat any on humanitarian grounds. Not that she cared for the welfare of the little beasties, but because she didn't want to force us to watch her vomit it back up again. How thoughtful! But even Sophia and Felicity ate the leg of a frog. A bit like chewing on a small piece of stick, but a better effort than that of one of their mothers.
Everyone is now preparing to face the emotional farewall of tomorrow morning. It is going to be sad, but most of all wet. I don't know if it's forecast to rain, but I'm sure everyone's kramas will come out to mop up damp faces at some stage.
After CCT tomorrow morning, we head to Phnom Penh by way of Kampong Chnang to visit a floating Vietnamese village.
But for now, I need to get ready for the onslaught of leaving this wonderful place and its even more wonderful people behind.
Good night.
PS: Not many words? Did you actually believe that? Hah!
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