It did not take much persuasion for me to agree to go to Sun Chantuon’s village over an h
our and half out of Phnom Penh on a motorbike. Though I have been to Cambodia 18 times, it is seldom that I get an opportunity to go to the villages, so the second country visit in a week was a bonus (first to Sithy’s village near Kampong Cham)
Jonno, the new incarnation of Mr Evel Knievel, did not agree to the idea of me spitting on the back of his neck if he rode the motorbike wildly as his ill reputation (real, and self promoted!) would have it, so I had to ride with Meng Him instead. Since Jonno knew the big brothers Him and I were watching, he humbled himself in driving carefully and carried Meng Channa and Boren as passengers all cosy on the back of a 100cc bike. An occasional stare and narrowed eyes from Him and I were enough to nip any wild enthusiasm Jonno may have felt about the open road.
The village was on the way to Sihanoukville, so the road was good. Chantoun met us wearing "changing lives" t-shirt near the side road to this village, and took us to this family home over a narrow unpaved reddish brown pathway off the highway. The place can easily get flooded in the rainy season.
The main purpose of our visit was to persuade Chantoun to continue his studies in Information Technology (he is completing year 2 of the four year course) as it woul
d offer him a better career 
and thus able to help the rest of his family. He is rather quiet and feels less confident of speaking in English though his level of comprehension is good. He has even tried his hand at translation at one of Jonno’s classes at the Bethezer Dorms.
As usual in any Cambodian village, we were treated with great hospitality, care and affection by Chantoun’s family and the villagers. It is dry season so did not see any rice growing, and paddy fields were dry. The family has prepared lunch for us though it was only mid morning. My idea of ideal lunch time is close to 1pm, but I was told since the Khmers are early risers, they have l
unch around 11am.
Since we had plenty of time, Meng Him persuaded the family to get a ‘country chicken’ to remind him of his nostalgic village food. Him assured us as the village chicken is organic, though it is more stringy and chewy it is also more tasty. Humm, Him.
So, off they went chasing after the chickens, several kids and Mr Sun all sweaty and panting. One chicken had the sense to fly up and sit on a high branch of a tree, th. Eventually they caught two, thus escaping the hunters. Him Channa killed one with a knife that was not designed for efficient and quick dispatching of the said chicken. Picture: Chicken Killers at work
It is true I harangued Jonno being a delicate Aussie country chicken, prompting Jonno to kill the next chicken to prove his emerging manliness. His choice of yet another blunt knife which looked to me as though he was sawing the way through the rubbery neck of the chicken than doing a smart flick of guillotine work. Anyway Jonno now feel he has admirably demonstrated his farm boy skills, having been born and brought up on a Queensland farm house killing among others many neighbourhood chickens who’s owners are still wondering where some of them have gone. Someone talked about some bow and arrow...
After lunch we went for a walk around the village, and later watched Meng Him fool around hanging around mango trees, pretending him to be a monkey savouring the scent of green mangos. Yawn. Yawn..Siesta time. Some kids picked me for sour-sweet berries, and I shared my coconut flesh with some of them.
We also had discussion with Mr Sun and his wife about Chantoun's further studies, and the importance of their son continuing to study as the possibility of him returning to the village with limited opportunity is not the best. Education is the key to success for him and his family.
Picture: Meng Him the Mango Monkey
our and half out of Phnom Penh on a motorbike. Though I have been to Cambodia 18 times, it is seldom that I get an opportunity to go to the villages, so the second country visit in a week was a bonus (first to Sithy’s village near Kampong Cham)Jonno, the new incarnation of Mr Evel Knievel, did not agree to the idea of me spitting on the back of his neck if he rode the motorbike wildly as his ill reputation (real, and self promoted!) would have it, so I had to ride with Meng Him instead. Since Jonno knew the big brothers Him and I were watching, he humbled himself in driving carefully and carried Meng Channa and Boren as passengers all cosy on the back of a 100cc bike. An occasional stare and narrowed eyes from Him and I were enough to nip any wild enthusiasm Jonno may have felt about the open road.
The village was on the way to Sihanoukville, so the road was good. Chantoun met us wearing "changing lives" t-shirt near the side road to this village, and took us to this family home over a narrow unpaved reddish brown pathway off the highway. The place can easily get flooded in the rainy season.
The main purpose of our visit was to persuade Chantoun to continue his studies in Information Technology (he is completing year 2 of the four year course) as it woul
d offer him a better career 
and thus able to help the rest of his family. He is rather quiet and feels less confident of speaking in English though his level of comprehension is good. He has even tried his hand at translation at one of Jonno’s classes at the Bethezer Dorms.
As usual in any Cambodian village, we were treated with great hospitality, care and affection by Chantoun’s family and the villagers. It is dry season so did not see any rice growing, and paddy fields were dry. The family has prepared lunch for us though it was only mid morning. My idea of ideal lunch time is close to 1pm, but I was told since the Khmers are early risers, they have l
unch around 11am.Since we had plenty of time, Meng Him persuaded the family to get a ‘country chicken’ to remind him of his nostalgic village food. Him assured us as the village chicken is organic, though it is more stringy and chewy it is also more tasty. Humm, Him.
So, off they went chasing after the chickens, several kids and Mr Sun all sweaty and panting. One chicken had the sense to fly up and sit on a high branch of a tree, th. Eventually they caught two, thus escaping the hunters. Him Channa killed one with a knife that was not designed for efficient and quick dispatching of the said chicken. Picture: Chicken Killers at work
It is true I harangued Jonno being a delicate Aussie country chicken, prompting Jonno to kill the next chicken to prove his emerging manliness. His choice of yet another blunt knife which looked to me as though he was sawing the way through the rubbery neck of the chicken than doing a smart flick of guillotine work. Anyway Jonno now feel he has admirably demonstrated his farm boy skills, having been born and brought up on a Queensland farm house killing among others many neighbourhood chickens who’s owners are still wondering where some of them have gone. Someone talked about some bow and arrow...
After lunch we went for a walk around the village, and later watched Meng Him fool around hanging around mango trees, pretending him to be a monkey savouring the scent of green mangos. Yawn. Yawn..Siesta time. Some kids picked me for sour-sweet berries, and I shared my coconut flesh with some of them.We also had discussion with Mr Sun and his wife about Chantoun's further studies, and the importance of their son continuing to study as the possibility of him returning to the village with limited opportunity is not the best. Education is the key to success for him and his family.
Picture: Meng Him the Mango Monkey
Jonno now says wants to be a tuktuk driver and park on the street on Bethezer Boulevard, singing songs from My Fair Lady. One can imagine a red haired slim Aussie Tuktuk driver, calling all passer by 'tuk tuk, sir". He may not make much money, but he will be an exotic and colorful addition to Phnom Penh tuktuk brigade.
PS: Actually, Jonno's driving is okay now, we simply keep telling him he is bad so that he does not get wild ideas. :-)
Big Brother with final and official utterance - RD
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