🪓 A Small Axe For Big Trees, #Engrish Sightings, & Other Cambodia News 👨🌾
While parked behind a parent in Thmor Da at the public school, I noticed a very bizarre fashion patch on her denim jacket.
The First Sunny Commute In A Month 🌞
Before we jump into the post, let's go back to the thumbnail. I haven't typed or said the words "denim jacket" since the 1990s, but besides denim jackets still being modern fashion in Cambodia, the above jacket sighting reads.....
AFCFASHION
UNdercause
do ing go my
apferreyser
This jacket sighting makes me wonder why I can never find any #Engrish fashion when I go shopping, I guess I'm obviously going to the wrong stores. If I had a denim jacket with random English nonsense on it, I would wear it everywhere, and I'm sure it would compliment my beard and turban well.
On the way back home from dropping the kids off, I stopped at one of many self-designated urination zone for some quick relief, or wait a minute, rewind, I stopped at a scenic overlook to snap a picture of this majestic solo tree standing strong on a near vertical hillside.
It has been raining here for so long that brief periods of sunshine are absolutely blinding but welcome. I would rather squint to see than wonder what chunk of land we're gonna lose each day, and the Super Cub looks pretty nice under the sun. It's been really tough dialing in the carburetor because there are some serious altitude changes on the commute to school.
The Rain Is Back 🌧️
The sun never stays out for long here, even on normal days a light rain seems to come around noon each day, I assume a weather pattern from the Thai oceanfront on the other side of the mountain. I was chopping and sawing on logs in the river when the daily rainstorm came, and I hunkered down in the hammock hut that wasn't destroyed by the flood.
Like clockwork, after 30 minutes the rain tapered off just like it used to before the epic flood came and stayed for a month. During previous floods, I have seen the river get much higher than it is now for a day or two, and after the rain would stop, the river would run clear within 12 hours. Well, it's been a week since the heavy rains stopped, but the river is still not running clear yet.
Chainsaws Not Needed 🪓
When the water was higher, I managed to float several timbers over to the edge of the river near the hammock hut and to higher ground. Now that the river is down, the logs are kind of beached on the rocks, and this allows me to cut and saw on them in my free time, turning them into chunks small enough to carry up the hill and store for a hügelkultur mound I want to build near the cabin.
It's not easy working with a tiny handsaw and axe, but chainsaws are in short supply, and technically illegal in this wildlife sanctuary. This week there is an NGO in the village that has already confiscated a few chainsaws from our neighbors and burned their illegal harvest. Apparently there is a white guy that is part of the team, so I've been trying to avoid meeting him for fear that the soldiers here involved in illegal logging might think we are friends or that I snitched.
Don't get me wrong, I'm against illegal logging, but I am also aware that Cambodia is one of the most deadly countries in the world for environmental activists. Usually I hear chainsaws every night destroying Cambodia's last pristine forest, but lately there has been peace at night, I assume because of this new NGO fighting against the actions and lifestyle of my neighbors.
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Great post. I love your rambling style that moves from one topic to another. The mountains look beautiful with some sun on them, maybe not as much as Super Cub tho.
The Super Cub is pretty sexy, I must admit. All my neighbors recommended I get a more modern bike with a 125cc engine for managing the mountain pass, but I'm old-fashioned. 3 gears and 90cc moves me more than fast enough considering all the dangers on the roads here. Besides, the slower you go, the more scenic views you get to take in.
Living in Asia compared to a western culture is all about slowing down and appreciating life for what you have and what is around you instead of always striving for more. So go the sexy Super Cub and to hell with the neighbours, I say.
Engrish! I haven't heard that term in a long time. It still amuses me.
I'm impressed that you were able to feed that tree enough on your watering stops to have it grow so well! 😂
When I lived in more touristic areas of Cambodia, there were much more Engrish sightings, but now Engrish sightings are like gemstones. I never realized why that tree towers so tall, it might be due to the daily urea supplements 😉.
Which other favors of God do they deny?
That is a question that always stirs in my conscience and soul when I see the behavior of some humans who are hostile to nature and destroy nature in a terrible way.
Actually every country has almost the same problem, many citizens are rude and anarchic with nature, they forget and even deliberately forget themselves and pretend not to know and don't want to know that nature is a creation and a mandate from God that must be protected and preserved.
And as a result of some people's bad behavior towards nature, everyone must accept the risks and consequences of their actions, including us who love nature.
When God is angry, nature doesn't want to be friendly with humans anymore, then everyone will only wait a moment, yes wait a moment to see this earth and its nature will be shattered to pieces.
Then who's at fault.........?
Every country must have its own rules, regulations governing sanctions for people who damage the environment and nature, but what happens, the more stringent the rules are made, the more they destroy nature, many of the illegal loggers and killers of protected animals are arrested, punished and imprisoned and some are even imprisoned for life.
But it's all sometimes just a rule, what hurts even more, some of the policy and law makers are also involved in protecting those who are cruel to nature.
When a big flood comes, a tsunami hits, landslides are everywhere, a volcano erupts, we don't know who to blame, what is clear is because of irresponsible human actions.
Everyone agrees that nature should be protected and conserved, everyone also agrees that illegal logging is a bad and heinous act and everyone also agrees that they deserve punishment not only sanctions from the state, but also sanctions from God.
Then is that enough.........?
Of course not yet, We must do what we can to the best of our ability to save nature, we must educate and impart knowledge to our children, as well as our family and friends on how important it is to protect nature and preserve it, we must support the campaign and movement "Save" Nature before they kill you".
I agree, and every religion I've ever studied teaches respect and admiration for nature, so people who refuse to respect this beautiful creation will face a judgement one day. Cambodia is notoriously corrupt when it comes to protecting illegal loggers, often the police and military themselves are serving as security for these operations in the forest. A famous activist/journalist named Chut Wutty was killed while documenting this several years ago.
My biggest fear is that by the time the people in this village realize they are destroying the place where they live for all future generations, it will be too late to turn back the hands of time.
yes you are right, regrets always come late,And we can only hope and pray that one day the ignorant hands that destroy nature will gain awareness and change for the better.
Yes, thankfully there are NGOs that care about environmental damage there, and take preventive actions to protect and preserve the forest from further damage by irresponsible military elements. Hopefully the Cambodian government can take firm action against these soldiers.
I hope you and your family there are fine, it's a bit dangerous if we live in an area filled with soldiers. If we do something wrong, we can be suspected of all kinds. 😩
I don't think any positive change will come from the government here, as they are often the ones doing the wood smuggling into Vietnam. You're right, especially because we live in a military outpost village, it's important to not to be activists because we will be quick targets, especially me as a foreigner with few rights in this country.
That is a fantastic shirt. I would love to find one of those. I think that they are probably discovered at random markets because while I do sometimes find minor Engrish stuff in stores, for the most part I can never discover this wonderfully bad.
I would rock an Engrish denim jacket everywhere if I could find one. I really should visit these "fashion shops" in the middle of nowhere in the countryside, they often have some bizarre one-off items.
Love that photo at the scenic overlook! The lush greenery on the other side of the river is stunning! In fact, you have three marvelous photos in this post! All three of them would look great on a website, in a pamphlet, or at least on Google Maps when you begin advertising your B&B! 😃
• photo at the scenic overlook
• photo in the hammock hut
• photo of the river during the rain shower
My phone screen is so small that I often don't realize I took a good picture until I get home and get it on the pc. Good point though, I should also start gathering photos of places nearby to provide an idea of the scenery of this area, not just our property.
Fortunately, there are NGOs who care about the environment in the area, otherwise there may be signs that it will dry out faster and we won't see the photos again. It's dense and the impact of flooding will be bigger and hit the areas around the river and that's something that not everyone does. want it but the illegal loggers do not think about the impact caused by the bald debt that is very beneficial to human life.
Mountain areas like where you live have high rainfall even though in the lowlands it doesn't rain but I think that I know the highlands, the rainfall is very high and this is one of the things that is often found in tropical forest areas because I see in the highlands in My hometown also often experiences this when it rains from noon to evening.
Your motorcycle cup 70 is very unique and it feels like going back in time when you ride it especially you walk a lot in rural areas and by riding a super cup 70 you will remember the past.
I saw the photo and in Cambodia there are still many natural forests and not much exploitation so it's just a matter of how the Cambodian people keep their forests natural and there is no illegal logging that is getting worse because with the deforestation of the forest the impact that is felt by the community is very large. Cambodia does not have many oil palm plantations planted in the forest and this greatly affects the natural conditions because with the increasing number of oil palm plantations in Indonesia, nature is not a good thing for the original environment, especially for the animals that live in the forest and oil palm trees are not a threat. one of the many forest trees that have a good impact on the environment.
Many of the NGOs here are doing good work, but the ones involved in environmental activism walk a very thin line. This new NGO in our commune is causing a lot of controversy, but protecting Cambodia's last forest is an important task.
I love the Super Cub, never owned one before, but I used to have a Honda Wave many years ago. I prefer the old styling and simpler mechanical systems of these older bikes because they are easier to repair. All of Cambodia's major forests are gone except for the Cardamom Mountains where we live. This place is the last home to many species, but it's disappearing at an alarming rate.
There are not many palm oil plantations here like in your country, and I know they are a huge environmental problem there because those palm oil forests are not good homes for local wildlife. Here most of the forests are lost to eventually become rice fields.
hahaha.. first of all the denim is fine. Really fine. I wonder what your friends in the US would do if you wore that. Wow.. those NGOs are quite relentless. Haha.. It's the same here in Miri. It has been raining a lot too. Some of the shores are the same level as the Sea at the moment. A huge contrast with Suriname.. =)
Denim is only for the legs nowadays in the US, but who really knows, I've been living outside my country for almost 15 years, so I'm also very out of touch with fashion. It sounds like you've taken our monsoon away, still raining here every day, but no longer in a violent way. Funny you remember Suriname's "not beaches," 20km of mud flats then the ocean, not exactly friendly for tourism.
hahahaha.. yea.. I have vivid memories of Suriname.. because most of the post you posted was alot about dryness there when you were still there. Hahaha.. O.. I did not know that denim is not for the body in the US.. here in Malaysia, it's quite a style too... Hahaha..
The scariest time to be at the beach.. during these times.. = ) Have a great day.. @justinparke
AFC stands for Asia Football Confederation. So it totally make sense.
You mean you can't even own a chainsaw? Wouldn't it be like not allowed to keep a knife at home, and if anyone being stabbed at the neighborhood, they found a knife in my kitchen and I'm screwed?
If that is the case, AFC is the only part of that shirt that makes sense. Chainsaws are a sensitive issue here, I assume because Cambodian has nearly turned the whole country into one big rice field minus the last big forest that we live in.