This pretty much sums up my past weekend. Rather than getting some much needed work done Kratie’s WWF Landscape Manager, Saber Masoomi, and I decided to visit a couple pagodas outside of town. First we stopped at Phnom Sambok. This small collection of pagodas and homes for Buddhist monks is perched on the only perceivable hill for miles. We climbed a long set of stairs and found several beautifully painted pagodas and multiple statues of Buddhas. Afterward we traveled north to Sam Bor District to visit Vihear Sarsar Mouy Rouy “Temple with 100 columns”. This pagoda dates back to the 16th century and was built by King Chann Reachea in memory of his daughter who legend has it was eaten by a magic crocodile (may or may not have heard this correctly). When I entered the pagoda I noticed everyone was paying the monks to light incense. I awkwardly tried to copy everyone else, but essentially gave up trying to look like I knew what I was doing when they started a sequence of praying/bowing.
Vihear Sarsar Mouy Rouy
Cantor's soft-shell hatchling
I also was pleasantly surprised to find the Mekong Turtle Conservation Center on the same grounds as the pagoda. The MTCC is run by Conservation International and aims to conserve Cambodia’s endangered population of Cantor’s giant softshell turtle. This species used to range throughout Southeast Asia, but populations have all but disappeared throughout Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand due to overharvesting and habitat destruction. The population inhabiting the section of the Mekong River in Cambodia was only discovered in 2007. The MTCC is working to increase the population by “headstarting” turtle hatchlings or releasing them after a 10-month period. The MTCC guide enthusiastically pulled multiple turtles out of their tanks for me to see. At one point she placed one precariously on the ledge of a tank and let me feed it a tomato.
In total our little trip to the pagodas ended up being roughly 50 miles by moto. I like riding on the motos because it allows me to view more of the countryside, but at certain points of the ride I simply had to close my eyes. There are no traffic rules on these roads and trucks will often barrel by not allowing the moto any room at all. Saber seemed to have no problem with this, however, and was happy to honk and veer past anyone who was in our way. I mentioned I wanted to learn to drive a moto so Saber let me try. For those who have not ridden a moto (I’m clearly the minority here in Cambodia) the throttle is on the handle. I can’t for the life of me figure out how people stay at one constant speed. Needless to say I drove the moto about 500m and then promptly revved the engine and almost crashed.
On Sunday I met two young women who worked at the WWF office in the U.S. Courtney works on WWF’s Freshwater Program and coordinating their field programs while Annika works on forestry management, often in conjunction with the Forest Stewardship Council. They were on vacation traveling throughout Southeast Asia and had called the week before inquiring about how to book a dolphin tour. We got to talking and they decided to stay at my apartment and we went on the dolphin tour together. It was fun to show someone where I was working and I was happy to be out on the water without feeling like I needed to be “researching”. Overall I was thrilled to have English-speaking guests and also learn about various projects at the WWF U.S. office. All in all a pretty good weekend.
Irrawaddy dolphin calf