Andrea Schewe Design
  • Home
  • Costumes
    • Reader's Gallery
    • Fantasy Costumes
    • Theatrical
    • Historic >
      • Easier to make
    • International
    • Costumes for Kid's and Babies
  • Crafts
    • Home Decor >
      • Pillows
    • Fashion Accessories
    • Doll Clothes
    • For Kids and Babies
  • Blog
    • Past Blogs by subject >
      • My patterns by number
      • Sewing basics
      • Personal sewing Projects
      • Fashion History
      • Fun and funny stuff
      • Guest Bloggers
      • Crafts and Home Dec
  • Links
  • Contact

Cambodia - off topic

10/4/2013

2 Comments

 
Picture
I still have some good stories to tell about my trip to Southeast Asia.  If you missed my other travel stories, you can find them by clicking this link to the list of my past blogs. Then scroll to the bottom of the page for the Travel section.

We wanted to go to Cambodia to see the historic and beautiful temples, the most famous being Angkhor Wat, pictured above at sunrise.

Just being in Cambodia was pretty unbelievable for someone my age, who remembers the war images on TV as a kid.  But, Cambodia had so much more to offer than I imagined
Picture
Picture
The temples were astonishing. I will probably write a blog just about them at some point.  Some were neglected for hundreds of years and trees grew up around and through them.
Picture
And, of course, there were signs that brought a smile to my face.
But, I want to tell you about one special place we visited. Look at the map below and find the city called Siem Reap. That's the town nearest all the temples and the silk farm I blogged about a couple weeks ago. You can see there is a really large lake just south of the town.  Our guide took us there one day.
Picture
After driving for almost an hour on roads that got smaller and rougher as we went, we then boarded a very loud motor boat to go out to the lake.
Picture
Picture
Driving down the river towards the lake we saw several groups of kids jumping out of trees into the water to swim.  And, who can blame them, everyday was 90 degrees or more with very high humidity.




But, then an entire village on stilts came into view. They had everything, a school, a town hall, a couple restaurants and even one hostel.  But, mostly there were many families living there.

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Our guide said he would take us out to the lake first and then we could get a better look at this village.
Picture
The lake was beautiful and the sky was filled with white puffy clouds.
Picture
On the way back to the village we passed a mangrove forrest.
Picture
Our guide told us we could take a ride on a flat boat around the village and through this forrest and we did!
Picture
We were first taken along a "side street" full of homes.
Picture
Where the family car is one of those flat boats.
Picture
And kids have tin tub to get around instead of a bike.
Picture
No surprise that fishing was the main industry here and mostly fish farming. There were cages of many different styles everywhere in the water.
But the most beautiful and interesting part of the boat ride was being taken through the mangrove trees.

The people who rowed the boats were mostly women.  And when we got into our boat, we heard a baby crying nearby and soon found out it was our driver's baby.  She paddled over to a group of waiting boats, picked up her baby and placed him in between her folded legs.  I can barely sit with my legs folded, much less paddle a boat that way.
Picture
She was amazingly strong!! As she pulled us through the water, she juggled her baby from one knee to the other, nursing him when he got fussy.
Picture
It was so peaceful and quiet. A nice break from the very, very loud motor boat we took to get here.
Picture
What's funny, too, is at first I couldn't believe our bad luck to get the one boat with a crying baby.  But, my husband and I had so much fun making faces to distract the baby and exchanging smiles and laughs with this woman we, otherwise, couldn't communicate with.  I will always remember that boat ride and especially that baby.


Next week, as soon as the Edwardian Dress is released, I'm preparing some blogs to show how I made my pattern, how I sewed the dresses and how to do your own custom variations.


Bye!
2 Comments
Jehanni
10/3/2013 09:55:37 pm

Wonderful pics and anecdotes. I remember reading about Angkor Wat and seeing pictures in Art History, and thinking it was a place I could never go... and no you've proved I can. Th village on stilts is fascinating, too. I wonder why that height--out of reach of storm surge, or above mosquito level, or tall enough to slide a boat under--what combination of things drives the architecture?

Reply
Andrea
10/3/2013 10:40:18 pm

The houses are that high, because we were there when the water level was on the low side. It rises. Not sure how much exactly, but the height of the house gives an idea.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    From Andrea 

    I am a commercial pattern maker who is now "sewing over 50"!
    I love to sew and hope to encourage others to come back to sewing.
    The water is fine!!

    Archives

    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013

    Archives by Subject

    To search for blog posts in specific categories, use the drop down menu above by hovering over the word "Blog"

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    RSS Feed

    Andrea Schewe participates in Amazon's associates program.