Sorng Rokavorn: Part 2

I have already told you all a little bit about our time in Sorng Rokavorn but here is the rest of the story... :) Sorng Rokavorn was the first forest we visited and we spent a few days working out our methodology. We stayed in two separate locations within the Community Forest.

At the first place, we stayed with 'Mum' at her house.  It was convenient to have a house and access to the village well water but it also meant we were further from the actual forest. That meant a lot of early mornings (waking up as early as 3:30am) so that we could be inside the forest before sunrise, which is when the birds are most active. After returning from birding it was usually lunch time (steamed rice is always the main part of each meal) and afterwards we would take a nap or just relax for a bit. Occasionally some of the local people would play Sey with us when we had free time. It is a game a bit like hacky sack. This video shows exactly what it looked like watching the people play it on the streets of Phnom Penh…but we were not nearly as skilled as they are… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo5dd5haIsY

In the afternoon we were often led around the forest by the monk Bun Saluth in search of good locations for camera traps or for afternoon birding.  He was a fast walker and after just a few hours we would be worn out. Usually we returned to the village before sunset and enjoyed another meal of steamed rice and for dessert our cook always brought us watermelon because she could tell how much we loved having fruit.

Mum is cooking our food! This is the entire kitchen.

Deb is taking stellar shots of birds as usual.

One of the MANY sunrises we got to see. 

This is the inside of Mum's house. She is a community forest member that was helping us conduct our research.

This is the outside of the first house we stayed in. Of all our forest accommodations, it was the only place we stayed that had a door.

A typical hike through dense grassy areas lead by a very speedy monk.

At our second location in Sorng Rokavorn, Bun Saluth had organized the building of an outhouse, a small house and a gazebo-like structure in preparation for some sort of eco-tourism to support the forest in the future. We felt like we were being pampered, even with the giant spiders always lurking in the bathroom. It was great living inside of the community forest as it allowed us to really get a feeling for the forest… and also because we didn’t have to wake up quite so early and hike to it. :P We set up more camera traps and spent many hours conversing with Bun Saluth about the forest and the animals that resided there. 

Here are a few pictures of where we stayed at our second location. It was my favorite because it was so open and there were enough spaces for us all to hang our hammocks.

More photos of our daily hikes through the forests...

While hiking, we always came across interesting spirally plants, crazy looking bugs and very spiky plants. On the right is a resin tree. Locals build fires in the trunk of the tree to collect the sap which they use for many things including repairing boats.

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Srong Rokavorn: Part 1

We toured a man-made lake near the Srong Rokavorn Community Forest in hopes of seeing more birds. The lake had an eerie feel because of the dead trees and imminent storm.

This is a giant spider with an egg sack that was sitting just to the right of my hammock in the house we were staying in. It was as large as a hand.

Here is one of the many sunsets we have witnessed here in Cambodia. Every day we get up by 4:30am in order to hike into the forests and be ready for birding by sunrise.

Bon Saluth, the monk on the right, is explaining the uses of the root which we were unable to find in our books. Pok and Visatha (center)are translating for us.

Angkor Wat

Siem Riep is a city in Cambodia with the most tourists per year in large part because this is where Angkor Wat, a massive temple complex, is located. Enjoy the photos!

Kampong Thom

In Kampong Thom, Deb worked with the Teacher’s Across Boarders program by instructing Cambodian teachers on how to teach Biology. Here the teachers are looking through microscopes to examine cell structure, for some of them, it is their first time doing so.

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If you look all the way in the back row you can see a few barang (foreigners) mixed in with the Cambodian teachers during the opening ceremonies.

We also rented a boat for a tour of the Stung Sen River in Kamong Thom.  

While in Siem Riep, took one afternoon to visit a nearby temple called Phnom Sen Tuk. This temple was situated on top of a mountain the locals informed us that it was a thousand steps up to the top. :) There were many Buddha carvings etched into the rock that we found as we explored the grounds.

Still More From Phnom Penh :)

Here are a few more photos from our time in Phnom Penh. :)

Here, Joe and I are releasing birds to gain good karma in hopes it will help us with our research.

Inside the National Museum, we fed the fish in the ponds of the courtyard.

More animals we saw at the Wildlife Refuge.

Here is a glimpse at the crazy traffic on one of the national highways of Cambodia.  I was told that all the people in the truck are going home from work

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