Our "accomodation" ;)

The huts in the village do not have proper showers as most of the villagers shower in the open. So when the group who left came back, it was back to business. We used some bamboo sticks and canvas sheets to make a shower area at the "backyard". At this point, some of you might be wondering if they have proper toilets. My answer is, no they don't. Thanks to some site recce done by our leaders, we knew of that fact beforehand. So we did pay some contractors to build a tiny hut with a toilet before we came. Of course they could not install proper sewage system for the flushing etc. Hence we had to pour water after using the toilet (okay, shan’t give you too much details here).

Speaking of water brings me to another point. In order to get water, we had to pump the well.

I am not exaggerating when I say it was hard work. We did buy a few huge pails for us to store water in for showers/cooking. So before showering, we had to do some work- a lot of pumping and arm exercise. ;) We made 2 shower areas, a small one and a big one. We also had a system… to take turns to shower, and to do so in pairs due to lack of space. But in the end the boys, all 10 of 'em, just wait for all 20 girls to finish up with their showers (and by then, the sky is dark and night has fallen), after which they all hit the big shower area and shower together. I believe it was their favourite time of the day. ;)

So it was my first night in the village. Village life starts early and ends very early too. By the time night falls, everyone in the village just settles down and get ready for bed.

Reason being, there is no electricity in the village.. so what can they possibly do, right?

Fortunately, we did foresee ourselves not being about to withstand 2 weeks without electricity. So we made sure to buy some huge batteries and fluorescent lights to be placed in the shower areas, the toilets and in the hut (much to the inconvenience of the owners who stayed in the back room while we were there…. they were very lovely and accommodating people though!). So our day did not end as early as the villagers. At night, we hung around in groups.. some in the hut, some outside the hut.. and did our usual chatting, playing cards, reading etc.

By 10pm we tried to settle down and sleep. After all, it wasn’t nice to disturb the villagers (even though they didn’t seem to mind anything we do… such great people).

As I got ready for bed, I silently complimented myself for stealing the pillow from the plane because had I not done that, my head would be resting on the hard wooden floor or my backpack. I also chose a sleeping spot near the main door because of my low tolerance for heat (somebody please tell me, why am I in Singapore?!).

Unfortunately, me being the usual night owl, had difficulty falling asleep despite the exhaustion from traveling in the day. After half an hour, I found myself tossing and turning. Everyone around me seemed sound asleep, while there I was…wide awake… feeling more alone than ever (because everyone seemed to have drifted to dreamland and I was stuck in a hut somewhere in Cambodia). That was when I noticed the guy beside me Darren, with his eyes open. I whispered his name and he responded… and guess what, he could not sleep too! We ended up chatting in whispers… until we eventually fell asleep.

We met at the Changi airport at approximately 6.30am. We were greeted by bad news -- our freight containing basic necessities (e.g. cleaning and cooking materials) sent to Cambodia weeks ago hadn't arrived in Cambodia yet. As a result, the welfare team had to do some last minute grocery shopping to tide us through the first few days in Cambodia. That was quite a start to our trip!

The flight was okay, saw in between Ben and Wings. Grace, Ben and I managed to "steal" the Silkair pillows. We figured it might come in handy for our nights in, what we've been told, a hut, for 2 weeks.

Touched down in Cambodia at around 9.30am. We hired 3 vans to take us to the village in Prey Veng province. The 3-4 hour journey was rather bumpy.. some of my mates slept throughout, thanks to the motion sickness pills. We got to cross the Mekong River.. it felt kinda surreal.. crossing the river I've heard so much about in history lessons back in high school. hahaha.

okay, the 'culture shock' only truly suck in when we arrived at our final destination, Tnal Chay Village. Needless to say, it was very much intensified by the scorching hot weather. The hut we were staying in was built on stilts (in case of a flood, me thinks) and the interior was very badly ventilated. No fans, no nothing. just us and the "lovely" weather!

When we first arrived, we were divided into 3 groups of 10 people. One of the groups was sent to the town to get other basic necessities which we didn't manage to get in Singapore.  While waiting, we sat in the hut and... perspired. Seriously, you don't have to do anything or even move... and you'll somehow find a bead of perspiration trickling down your face. So we decided to just shake it up a little and play frisbee with the village kids outside the hut (there's a nice open space). The thing about these villages is, the kids don't get to see foreigners often.. so they were definitely intrigued by our presence! They would come over to our hut and "hang out" all the time. One thing they were very fascinated with our digital cameras! you just have to take out a camera and the kids will flock around you. They were so adorable. :)

Up next: More on our accomodation!