A Floating Village + Rats + Horses

Happy Monday from Siem Reap!

Today was another incredible day here. It started with a delicious breakfast, courtesy of our hotel, Central Suite Residence. Sopheap and our driver picked us up at 9am and we drove a short way to the only horseback riding in Siem Reap (the things you do for your children). Happy Ranch Horse Farm was happy to have us at that time in the morning...but there were only three horses available. We made a plan to return in the afternoon for a trail ride. Incredibly, we learned that the owner of Happy Ranch, Mr. Sary Pann, fled Cambodia in 1975 at the start of the civil war. He lived in California for 30 years, then returned to Cambodia, bought one horse, bought a couple more, and then built his ranch. You can read more about Mr. Pann and Happy Ranch here.

So, change in plans. Instead of a morning horseback ride, we drove out to the floating village. The floating village we visited, Kampong Phluk, sits in Tonle Sap Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. The lake experiences significant seasonal fluctuations in water depth, rising and falling due to the Mekong River's seasonal flow. Half the year, the village sits in water. The other half of the year, the village sits on dry land. We drove to the end of the road (literally -- because the water came up), found a boat driver, and hopped in his boat. From there, we motored out to the floating village. And let me tell you, we entered another world. We saw little kids rowing themselves to school, hundreds of homes on stilts, floating restaurants, a brand-new healthcare center (the first one in the community), and lots of other boats ferrying tourists. We traveled the whole length of the village, all the way into the main lake, where a floating market pushed up against our boat. We bought Cokes and a Fanta -- and Tim bought a beer -- from the woman driving the floating market. We also bought some notebooks and pencils for the village's children. 

The start of our boat trip.

Passing through the floating village.

More floating village.

Making a purchase from the floating market.

On the return trip, Sopheap spied several children in a boat. The oldest must have been six or so. We pulled next to them, and Taylor handed over the notebooks and pencils. The kids were beyond excited to receive these treats.

Sopheap shared that the life expectancy in the village is about 55 years. When you drink from and wash in the same water that's used as a toilet, disease runs rampant.

Back at our starting point, we thanked and tipped our boat driver and climbed in the van. We stopped for lunch on the drive and then visited (surprise!) another temple -- the Bakong temple. This temple is the earliest sandstone temple constructed in the Khmer Empire in Angkor (we're talking 9th century). It, too, was mesmerizing. It was also beyond hot (yes, we are wimps).

It's another (ridiculously impressive) temple!

We were off again, this time to downtown-ish Siem Reap. Sopheap took us to the Killing Fields in Siem Reap, where the Khmer Rouge committed numerous atrocities. The site included mass graves and memorials to the victims. It was a lot to take in -- exceedingly heartbreaking -- and we will be seeing and learning more about the Killing Fields when we get to Phnom Penh. Sopheap told us more stories while we visited this memorial, and it was all gutting.

We left the Killing Fields and drove just a few minutes down the road to APOPO Visitor Center, home of the Hero Rats. Yes, rats are heroes in Cambodia -- and other places around the world, too. APOPO was founded by a Belgian man named Bart Weetjens, who figured out that African Giant Pouch rats could sniff mines. The rats are bred and trained in Tanzania and then transported to Cambodia to sniff out mines. The Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC), with whom APOPO works closely, estimates that there may be as many as four to six million mines and other pieces of unexploded ordnance in Cambodia, leftover from years of war. Sadly, these mines take a severe toll on Cambodians; there are 40,000+ amputees in the country -- one of the highest rates in the world. We loved visiting APOPO and learning about the organization's incredibly effective and critical work.

We got to hold a Hero Rat toward the end of our APOPO visit. Here, Wyatt is holding Nina.

Taylor holds Nina!

Then, it was horse riding time. We drove back to Happy Ranch where we signed a waiver (how about that!) and got up on our horses. Wyatt, who has had some unfortunate experiences with horses, gamely participated. One of the Happy Ranch handlers walked next to Wyatt and his horse, which was extremely helpful...the poor kid was still terrified when scooters and cows crossed our path (a frequent occurrence). We crossed a major road on our horses, as one does, and continued on a dirt road through a very poor village. It was a stark reminder of just how poor this country is.

Here's the one photo I managed to take while horseback riding. That's Taylor behind me and that's Wyatt and his handler in the way back. Our guide and Tim are in front of us.

Tim, Wyatt, and I were very happy to get off our horses after an hour. Taylor could have kept going, but the majority ruled. Sopheap took us back to our hotel, where Wyatt once again jumped in the pool and swam off his horse anxiety.

We walked about 100 meters down our street and popped into a pizza shop for dinner. Taylor was craving pizza and it sounded pretty good to the rest of us. Tim wanted to go the Night Market afterwards, but the kids were beat, so I took them back to the hotel and Tim moved along to the Market. Along the way, he was offered girls and drugs (for real), but declined. The Night Market was packed -- with tourists, jewelry sales, food, souvenirs, clothing, and more. He said it was a really cool experience (minus the girls and drugs); we're all hoping to hit the Night Market in Phnom Penh.

Pub Street. I need say no more.

The entrance to the Siem Reap Night Market.

And that was a wrap on day two in Siem Reap. Tomorrow morning, sunrise at Angkor Wat awaits!