👩🍳 Poppadums, Selfie Trespassers, & Inspecting The Flood Damage 🕵️♂️
Today was filled with a mix of tasty treats, bizarre sightings, and groans and moans as I inspected the erosion caused by an epic flood.
Good Morning Selfie Trespasser 🤳
The first thing I saw this morning, and actually the first thing I see at least once a week, are tourists taking selfies at the edge of the cliff on our property. We obviously don't have a fence, but there are no business signs, and it's also quite obvious that this is property is a private residence, but that doesn't stop cars and sometimes minibuses full of Cambodian tourists from wandering around our land.
On this morning I heard them interacting with my wife washing dishes on the side of the house. As they were coming down the hill, my wife asked nicely, "What are you all doing here?" They replied, "Just wandering around and checking out this place, taking selfies." Pretty bold huh? In Indiana where I was born, wandering around someone's property in the morning and taking pictures is probably the fastest way to be greeted with a shotgun, but I am kind in these situations unless someone begins commenting on my physical appearance as I walk to the shower while wearing only a towel.
Poppadums Please 🔥
The @kidsisters love poppadums, and anytime we go the capital we always snag a few packs. I think they love playing with them more than eating them, but at least roasting poppadums keeps them off the streets and less likely to join a street gang or criminal syndicate.
My Erosion Project Wasn't Stupid 🪨
When we first moved in, I began piling up rocks boulders at the edge of our property where it meets the river and the first hammock hut is. After the flood most of the rocks are still in place, but they sunk considerably because of silt loss. If it wasn't for this project, the corner of the hut would've washed out during the flood, but this one actually went undamaged and without soil loss.
I still need to stack these rocks another 1.5 meters higher, but it's nice to know that what I can lift with my own strength is heavy enough not to be washed away. The more and more rocks I use is the further away I have to walk to get more, and now it basically involves wading across the rapids, so I am considering sandbagging and then covering the sandbags with rocks.
The Completely Unprotected Hut 🛖
The second hut has suffered a lot of bad luck, and will need to be dismantled as soon as possible. I haven't had time to reinforce the upstream edge with rocks and boulders, so it was heavily eroded by the flood. We lost a floor plank too, and I can't believe the dead tree holding this thing up hasn't fallen in the river yet.
The ground is spongey, so I didn't want to get to close to the edge, but we lost a massive chunk of land on the upper left side of this picture, it is hard to see though because of the angle. In the lower righthand corner is where I made a super weak and shoddy erosion barrier with bamboo and wood plank.
Ironically my wood plank held back all the unrooted soil, while the land next to it covered in bamboo and other plants with deep roots collapsed into the river.
Another Bummer 😞
When I went down the second hut to gauge the safety of a dismantling project, I determined it would be possible with dryer soil. It needs to happen fast as the land above it slumped about a meter. Now bamboo is pushing against the roof and a giant chunk of earth collapsed and fell into the corner of the hut, something that must've happened only a few hours before I came down here.
It's Not All Bad 🪵
Look in the lower righthand corner of the above shot and you'll see a very thick cut piece of timber leaning against the boulder. The river is always littered with the proceeds of illegal logging after floods, and we can occasionally fish some of these pieces out before they are carried downstream or snatched by neighbors.
Trash Cleanup 🚮
The in-law construction crew have been tossing their trash and construction material scraps over the edge of the cliff despite my pleading with them not to do so. Cambodians are seemingly addicted to not allowing trash to enter a bin, so I spent a few hours on the hillside tossing up water bottles, tarps, cement sacks, wood scraps, tarps, noodle boxes, and just about anything unsightly.
We're trying to gear up for some Airbnb or pre-Airbnb shots of the cabin and surrounding area, hoping to lure some friends and former restaurant patrons to come stay for a discounted price before we fully finish the project. We could use the extra money, and it could be a chance for those on a tight budget to come and visit while things are still primitive. If the rain will just stop for a day I can plant this new bamboo species we recently purchased.
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That's some serious damage, on the plus side: I am glad this happened now and not when guests where staying / the cabins were in use.
I would love to be one of your future guests, as you know, but I honestly don't see it happen very soon. Also, ticket prices seem to be pretty insane.
P.S. The Portugese ( builders / constructors ), here in the countryside, also like to dump construction material at the side of a road / downhill, unfortunately.
Major lesson learned, and hard to believe, but right now the river is even higher, we had another collapse uphill from our most downstream hammock hut. Future hammock huts might as well be built on aluminum pontoons and chained to the riverbank.
Ticket prices to this part of the world are insane, but the sales pitch I always make to my American friends is that only a few bucks a day are needed after arriving, so even a 10-day vacation in the US is gonna be more expensive than flying here roundtrip, except the cost of staying here for a couple weeks versus a year is only measured in the hundreds of dollars.
On the upside though, Cambodia has no mask mandate, and has recently lifted the 14-day quarantine on arrival for non-vaxxed travelers, so basically anyone can come here if they're willing to PCR before leaving and do a rapid test on arrival.
That sure makes things more interesting, although I feel it's (kind of) the same here, especially if you spend time among friends and have a place to stay for the night :<)
Coming to Cambodia is definitely in the back of my mind but, right now, it still feels like a bridge too far ( I'll put it on the backburner though and will let it simmer there ).
P.S. Did you know that I have never been outside of Europe? The closest has been Canary Islands (Spanish, but near Africa) and the most Southern point of Spain.
Why stop there for selfies in particular? Wierd.
The rubbish would make me so angry. It does here... Since the masses moved out of cities to the countryside, there's more rubbish than ever. People who eat MacDonalds and KFC are the worst... They just chuck out the window. So I am incredibly biased against anyone who eats that shit, I just think they are litterers.
Sounds like a good supply of poppodums can keep the kids on straight and narrow
Just a 100 meters away is a short span of bridge that provides a glimpse of the headwaters. I think by the time people can hit their brakes and come to a near stop, they are basically right in front of our property. Because we don't have a fence and no presence at the building near the highway, people just park on our land and help themselves. There isn't much a trash problem back home where I live in the US, but usually when you see it, it is indeed some partially eaten fast food thrown out the window on a country road. Wondering if anyone has done any crime/poppadum usage statistical research 🤔......
It's like the personal research I have done about people who eat Maccas. You don't need the hard data, you just KNOW poppodums are to blame, like I know people who eat Maccas are pigs. Else, how else does it get strewn along country roads? Of course, not all, but proportionately higher... I don't see raw salads littering intersections...
I think you need to charge for selfie time on your property! I hope you can get some business soon.😊
That is actually really good business in Cambodia, and usually places with a scenic stop will have a special selfie area with a lot of plastic flowers and weird hats to borrow.
Yes, it looks like you need to reconsider fencing your private property area, because in the future more and more local tourists will enter the area, maybe even to your own doorstep.
It is indeed difficult to give understanding to people who are accustomed to littering and at will, it takes a lot of patience from us. I hope you are one of those who are patient, my friend. have a nice day justin..
I have recently read about living cassava fences in your country, and I think we'd like to try it on at least one area of our property. Some examples I have seen weave the cassava branches together to make the fence even stronger. Also, I think eventually some educational signs about littering and respect for nature will be needed in various places.
I'm happy to hear that your damage is minimal after the flooded river. It's great your erosion efforts with your rocks has worked a treat. And just think, all that rock hefting is making you stronger so you can carry them from further away.
Can't believe the gall of people wandering around your property just "having a look".
Well, as I write this, the river has gone bonkers and swallowed the roofs of our hammock huts, lost some big chunks of land too. There is s 3-4 meter high wave below the cabin we are working on, absolutely terrifying. My little rock erosion job has helped prevent a wee bit of damage, but the scale and flow of the river really makes my efforts look minimal.
Perhaps next time some VIPs help themselves to our property, I will help myself to some selfies in their Range Rover while they are taking those selfies.
Oh dear, I'm sorry to read of the extra damage to your hammock huts. That must be gut wrenching for you.
I think the "exclusive accommodation " sign post is a great idea. You can then charge nosey tourists a fee to stop in for photos.
It looks like really delicious food,
And I see the place you live in is also very natural.
I also live in the mountains.
Thank you my friend, yes we live in the Cardamom Mountains, one of the largest and least explored forests of SE Asia, luckily or unluckily protected by landmines since the fall of the Khmer Rouge.
First of all, since it is a beautiful place and there is no specific signboard, tourists may come and try to take their selfies. And yes, the condition of the hut seems quite worrying, but it still survives because of the tree. Good luck to you.
Perhaps we need a signboard that makes this place appear like an exclusive private resort, that would discourage exploring on our property. The river is still raging, unfortunately both of the huts may be damaged beyond repair. I will have to assess the damage in the morning, but I'm not very optimistic.
Hi hi @justinparke wow... It looks fun . Papadoms are super delicious... Healthy yet delicious.... Ahhaha.. i guess, a souvenir photo at this beautiful spot for the lady .. must post.
Hahhaa... I wonder how is it possible to just dump things not in the bin. I feel it reading that. Whenever, I see litter that should have been in the bin outside of the bin. But why? Hahaha especially for cases where bins are only a few feet away. Your place is looking pretty good.
Roasting the poppadums is definitely the healthier choice, but they are 10x more delicious when deep-fried, but I guess that's true for just about anything. After all these years here, I still don't understand the disconnect with trash and rubbish. Even in the cities where the trash truck only charges $2 a month, people with plenty of money will spend 40 minutes a day burning plastic, and what doesn't burn just becomes part of the landscape. Even very expensive homes with nice cars often have a homeowner sitting outside surrounded by garbage without a care in the world, I will never understand.
You should put up a sign: "Selfies on our homestead, 8000 KHR" 😂
I think you nailed the price point pretty well, you sure you haven't been here before?
Actually, I am enough of a nerd that I guessitmated a price in USD and did the conversion to KHR 😂
I have a lot to say on this post, let's hope I don't miss any point.