Day two Cambodia - Tonle Bati and an elephant with prosthesis!

Brian had arranged for our driver Mr Dila to come at 9:30 for an adventure to Tonlé Bati, which is about 1.5 hours south of Phnom Penh. Famous for the temple ruins Ta Prohm and for a zoo for rescued animals. I was especially keen on learning that they had given an ❤️elephant❤️ a wooden leg!  Brian and Hengh were also recommending a place on the water for lunch.  

Before setting off, Hengh introduced me to the coffee cart which was in front of a seafood market.  In these photos you’ll see our coffees being made and two key players in the seafood market… a man arriving and sorting the good from the bad prawns and the woman in the shadows who works the market. 

Hengh with the woman working the seafood market

Fresh!

In case you’d like to dine in

Great coffee made here and so close to home -  The grey and orange Building in the background is where Brian and Hengh live 

and for a view of which apartment, second floor from the top on the left or back side. Above the apartment with the white washing

The basement is also functional, but I don’t know with what purpose

A great thing is that the lift is airconditioned

Breakfast: mango grown by Hengh and omelette made by Hengh and scrumptious 

And off we went!  Here are a few snaps along the way. 

Examples of architecture

Market time

This picture is a minor version of all the wires and cables  bound loosely together. Huge bundles strung along the building fronts is typical

Recycling?

First stop was to this amazing wildlife rescue zoo!  Most of the rescued animals have large areas in which to roam.  The delightful and cheeky monkeys have no boundaries at all and’s are excellent at peeling banana and catching popcorn. There were a few tiffs between them but no aggression or bad manners shown to us at all.  Brian issued an infringement notice on the ostrich, because it swallowed the bananas whole and followed it immediately with another. The two bananas were visible as lumps in its neck!  I love their plume and shape. Gorgeous animals! 

I feel like I know him from somewhere…

Rescued bear who came right up to the window for us

Will do

And then the star attractions amongst many many star attractions…two elephants rescued from separate brutal and life threatening situations. This one pictured is Chhouk.  Here is his story extracted from the Wildlife Alliance description on net:

Chhouk was found in 2007, at less than a year old, wandering alone in the forest in Northeast Cambodia. He had not only lost his foot to a poacher’s snare, but he was also gravely ill from the infected wound and severely malnourished. To gain his trust, our rescuers cared for him in the forest for two weeks before transporting him to Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center where specialists were able to heal his wounds. Unfortunately, Chhouk’s lower leg had to be amputated but was replaced by a prosthesis from CSPO, which has changed his life completely. 

Back to me again - Chhouk is trained to bow and dance and wave his amazing leg for the people who come to see him. He was beautiful for the tourists. 😍 but is way too cranky to ever be with the rescued female. 

Last snap at the wildlife rescue zoo

And now for our lunch adventure in Tonlé Bati!

Brian and Hengh took me to these incredible bamboo shacks built out over the lake. They chose one, and the woman who owned/managed it brought us rice, vegetables and fried pork to join the roast chicken driver Dila provided.  We were kept company by an adorable dog. 

Am glad Brian snapped this of what he tongue in cheek described as an officially safety approved bridge. Astoundingly, Hengh and the restaurant woman made this trip with hands full!!! 

😍😍😍

This is where I discovered the Cambodian practice of large ice cubes go into your glass of beer!  I approved -  soooo sensible. 

NEXT STOP- TA PROHM - as described on the net: 

A large temple complex built during the reign of King Jayavarman VII in the late 12th or early 13th century. It is smaller than the similar Ta Prohm of Angkor but features a lot of very unique art.  

I say:  That King was a bit of a star.  

Ta Prohm beautiful old tree

Ta Prohm has many such sculptures

Ta Prohm - Buddha with caretaker

Ta Prohm - flowers and trees

Ta Prohm - featuring one of only 3 tourists there Time to head home mainly because it was so awfully hot - here are some snaps from the journey and one in particular I found fascinating - a hearse for the rich and famous! The rich and famous in Australia have to put up with such poxy hearses!

Shopping laden

A common sight

Awfully hot - suffer making for me

Smiles thanks to air conditioning in Dila’s car

Home to freshen up for dinner

The view from my bedroom

We headed to the Riverside part of town and started the evening with a visit to the rooftop Juniper Gin Bar with a view of the 3 rivers: 

This is Tonlé Sap that links Phnom Penh with Siem Reap and the town we are planning to visit tomorrow - Kampong Chhnang

Tonlé Sap continued

Mekong and Bassac rivers

Juniper Gin Bar

The three of us enjoying the view

And then, as we walked to the restaurant along the river we happened upon an amazing exercise dance class in full slow swing!  The music came from a player and the many participating were just doing the steps they all knew so well. No Sparrow-like expert needed! It was calming, matter of fact and a joy to see. 

Dinner at Metro Cafe on Riverside - I had Lok Lak - beef stir fried with a special super delicious black pepper dipping sauce, Brian had something I’ll have next time - Amok (coconut fish curry) and Hengh had a chicken dish, also very tasty. 

Over dinner I learnt some essential Cambodian language expressions that I should’ve learnt before boarding the plane:

- cheers = joi moi! (“jaw moy”) and you seem to do this frequently throughout the evening… I think when one person present pours any liquid into a glass, before you sip you tap all glasses with “joi moi!”

- Thank you = ah khun and to someone younger add -ong and to someone older add -bong; and thank you very much add- chart

- Chung gna - it is beautiful/delicious, I love it!

Hengh also explained the different levels of the hand gestures 🙏 and head bowing depending on age, relationship and position status. 

We had a lot of fun with the wait staff and parted with an enthusiastic “ah khan ong”. I failed at squeezing in the-chart… 

Here is a short video taken on our ride home.  I hope it plays…