The Asia Hotel in Kompong Channg is a 'chic new hotel' according to Lonely Planet. Hmmm. The corridor has an intense musty smell and the carpets are unfixed on concrete. On the drive here I noticed the minibus driver pay off a police officer on the side of the road. Sython said his brother had told him that they did it in order to avoid endless hassle from them, continually stopped to have their documents checked. They pay about 2000r per day. Kompong Channg is a provincial centre. It even has a provincial 'hall' and an eye clinic.
Very hot today. Lunch at local restaurant on arrival was fried noodles with egg and veges and was pretty good. I'm sharing with Mary tonight and we have air con for an extra $6 per night. Sython drove the tuk-tuk himself but it ran out of gas and then stalled right in the middle of the road. So far so amusing. We are off to the clay pottery making village at 2pm. Ther we shall meet Miss Luong who has travelled to the US previously to teach Cambodian clay techniques before.
It rained all afternoon and cooled down a bit. Turned the house into a floodland. The villages around here are very pretty with classic palm tree rice paddies scenes. Very "Apocalypse Now". They use clay from two spots on the nearby 'mountain' and mix them to produce the right consistency for earthenware and stoneware.
They make it all themselves from scratch, sieving the clay powder, mixing it with water, kneading to remove the air bubbles and then the making itself. They used to mill the clay powder in great mortars too but there is no longer any need. The traditional Khmer method did not use the wheel, that was only introduced in 2000 by a Japanese NGO, to increase their revenue. They still use open fired kilns and brick kilns. They also make their own glazes. The yellow clay is the same colour as the clay of the rice paddies in Kompong Thom.
Miss Luong was extremely nice and it was fascinating to meet her and her neighbours and extended family. She has recently had her first and only child and is extremely proud of him, at one point we saw the neighbour or possibly sister, breast feeding him.
The lady who was breast feeding lit the small cooking fire in the rain, feet in the water, I filmed her getting coals out of a large bag that had its base in the water. I was quite relieved as I had thought initially that the bag was full of rice.
During the downpour the cows were brought into the downstairs area where we were wheeling. One was a recently weaned calf and she just mooed her head off. It brought home to me where we were though, imagine living and working with the cattle and livestock living below? Well, they still do it here.
We were able to have a go at all the initial processes today, using their fine yellow clay. Finally we got to the wheel and with her guidance made some small pots. I did not get a chance to make my preferred style unfortunately however I made a cup or two. Tomorrow we get to decorate etc. I hope we also have a chance to try the traditional non-wheel method, which we watched the neighbour doing before we left.
I thoroughly enjoyed this though am disappointed so far not to have been able to try a prettier design of pot. The designs we did seemed to be at her whim, fair enough as she was guiding our hands.
Dinner was at the local Soskon Restaurant, same place as lunch and slightly fly blown. I had fried noodles with egg and veges and tried Vanessa's chicken soup 'Siem Reab', which was ok. We may leave tomorrow evening now, which interestingly was fine by all.
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