From 4000 Islands we caught a minivan to the Cambodian border. The road was unsealed with enormous potholes. A local told us later that the 7 or so kilometres between Laos and Cambodia is in dispute - both countries claim different parts of it and cannot agree who owns what. The Chinese Government offered to pay to seal the road while the countries decided who owned what but neither country wanted that, so it remains unsealed. It is possible now to get a visa at this border and there was a new immigration office under construction. Our guide book says that an airline company pays the local government not to improve the road so people will use the airline between the two countries!
At the border crossing we met a backpacker from Nepal- the first Nepalese backpacker we have ever met! He studied in Bombay and had been travelling for 5 years and had visited 54 countries. His parents had property in Pokhara, Nepal that they had left to him and he wanted to be penniless by the end of the year!
We spent a night at a cheap ($2us) and basic guesthouse in Stung Treng. It is on the banks of the river and a bridge built by the Chinese is a few kilometres outside the town and due to be opened at the end of the year. We had to cross on a diesel-fume filled crowded ferry enveloped in blue tarpaulin to keep the rain out!
Cambodia is noticeably poorer than Laos but the people seem so happy especially compared with the Thais!
We met a young man (Tear) who teaches in the north of Cambodia and if we have time and the wet season doesn't stop us we would like to visit him later. His English was very good and he stopped tourists whenever he saw them so he could chat and improve his language skills. He said his salary from the government was not enough and he had to get some money from his parents at times. He wanted to do more study so he could do some kind of management work and earn more but was having difficulties getting enough money to do that!
Tear at his sister's stall with the porters who are drinking medicine after a hard day's work- rice whisky and bark!We met his sister who had a stall on the side of the street and she served food and drinks to the porters who carried goods from the boats. He said it was a good business for her and her husband worked across the street repairing boat engines. They both worked from 6am to 10pm 7 days a week. Her mother looked after their child during the day.
Weighing a pig on the street to sell at the market! You can imagine the noise!
