Wild in the country

I have had to make some changes to my schedule which will now free me up to do something a bit more practical. I'm enjoying my time here despite the challenges that I've had over recent weeks and am glad that God is not only doing a work through me but also in me. I enjoy teaching but have learned that it's OK as long as I'm left to get on with doing just that – teaching. That's what I enjoy about the Vietnamese ministry, the fact that you feel appreciated in what can otherwise feel like a totally alien environment. They seemingly have long-term plans for me there but I can't stick my neck out that far yet. I just want to follow how God is leading me, what he is showing me about my strengths and limitations and then maybe I'll be able to see the great beyond.

Got checked out of my guest house – again. I don't know how they do it, as they know I'm long-term but there you go, another one of those communication misunderstandings. Packed my bags and then unpacked them again.

I was riding along on my mountain bike here in town when a tuk-tuk overtook (see what I did there?) whose two Cambodian female passengers in brightly-coloured hats were smiling, waving and trying to talk to me in Khmer. Trouble is, as I was frantically trying to remember how to reply to them in Khmer, I lost concentration and wobbled off the road, onto the 'pavement' and nearly fell off – much to the delight of the girls in the tuk-tuk, who disappeared, laughing into the distance.

I have , however, got back onto more of an even keel and this week I've been helping one of the local tuk-tuk drivers set up a website and blog to help him with his business. I also ate dinner with the guest house staff, who say that I'm part of their family – but again, I looked on rather squeamishly as the owner tucked into his duck embryo. Oh, and deep-fried snake is being sold again at the stall down the road. Some people reckon the locusts are nice but you have to remove the legs before consumption as they are razor sharp.

Met with another guy called Danny who is a friend from church here in Siemreap. Originally from the USA, he's a very interesting guy who, through his home church, has pioneered sustainable bee-keeping projects here in Cambodia and I joined him on a visit to the countryside to see one of the projects he helped to set up.

It was an early start and we set out on his motorbike (as my dirtbike is still at the mechanics) and headed out towards Angkor Wat. On the way we passed through some beautiful traditional villages and stopped off to sample some pure palm juice and palm sugar which we saw being boiled down from its juice form. It's a good system whereby a pipe runs right down the palm tree and the juice is collected at the bottom. There's various things they can do with it and they sell the palm sugar wrapped in small packets of bamboo.

Sat on the metal rack on the back of the bike was doing my backside no good at all but a welcome break was had when we stopped off again to have a quick look at one of the ruined temples, which was very similar to the main Angkor temple.

We also saw some decaying artillery guns left in the bush from the civil war. It is worth noting that you shouldn't go off the beaten track in Cambodia as it is still one of the most heavily landmined countries in the world. In the week, I bought a book from a guy in town who has to make money to feed his family by selling books on Cambodian history - he lost both his arms in a land-mine explosion and it really brings it home to you when you encounter the victims in person and there are so many of them here in town.

Nevertheless, we got back on the bike and continued on our way along the bumpy, dusty country roads – until we came to an abrupt halt – puncture! We managed to limp to the Cambodian village-version of Kwik Fit and soon the bike had its rear wheel removed and the flip-flop attired mechanic was removing a twisted nail from the tyre and busily burning the inner-tube to make it maleable enough to repair.

It was at this point that my stomach started rumbling; I had been warned that the ingestion of palm juice can cause some to experience diarrhea but as it was so soon after I'd had it, surely it couldn't be that - or could it? Anyway, I didn't have time to ponder where it had come from; all I knew was that I had to find a toilet pronto and people here in these villages don't usually have toilets but anyway, after a bit of negotiation by Danny (who is fluent in Khmer) I soon found myself in a shed at the bottom of someone's garden, making use of their Asian squat-toilet.

Anyway, you really don't want to know any more detail other than to say that about an hour later I resurfaced and gingerly made my way back to Kwik Fit where they'd managed a temporary repair to the bike. Unfortunately though, it was too risky for me to continue the journey on the back of the trailbike - no, not because of my diarrhea, but because the weight of two people would be too much for the tyre to handle.

So, I took a ride on the back of Danny's colleague's bike and we arrived at the guy's house in the heat of the midday sun and it wasn't long before we were all trooping off into the Cambodian bush to search for nesting bees. Following our Khmer expert, we tramped through boggy ground, seeing flora and fauna that I had never seen before and then we'd dart off into the bush to look for sites where bees had made their homes. I even had the opportunity to sample some bush tucker for myself, drinking the sterile fluid from a carnivorous plant.

We saw a couple of places where bees had been previously and saw where the honey had been harvested and then I was urged to remain quiet as we darted off in another direction. We stopped, and there it was in the middle of the bush – a large honeycomb with thousands of bees on it – so amazing to see it within a tree in its natural environment. We were all crouched down, marveling at this sight when suddenly some of the bees started coming for us..

Our Khmer leader quickly lit a fistful of sticks he had in his hand (the smoke keeps the bees away) and we quickly followed him, legging it through the bush trying to find our way back to the path. We made it, but so did the pursuing bees and we were all soon frantically trying to swat them away from us. One of them flew up my t-shirt and the guide had them on his shirt, all over his hat and everywhere. By this time though, the smoke was doing the trick and the bees were soon far behind us. Thankfully, no-one got stung. They were scary looking things too.

We eventually made it back into town where we stopped off for a bag of sugarcane juice. It was a really good day and you'll be relieved to hear that my stomach has settled down nicely.

Again, thank you for reading my blog and for being a part of my journey.

With every blessing until next time,
Dan