Reading the description of Komping Pouy made it sound delightful. Promises of boating excursions, swimming, impressive countryside and food and drink. What more could one ask for? My colleagues had made it sound wonderful too. Talking of celebrations and outings with friends and families. I was looking forward to the trip. So with the destination set for the day we headed out. This time past Phnom Sampov, then off to the right and into the countryside. It was relatively slow going. Mostly because my motor scooter is in need of being driven on the open road, and more notably because of the built in speed limiter that I have when Marady is on the back. She elbows me when the speed approaches 60 km/h. The fact is that few Khmer are used to travelling quickly, so I acquiesce to this peculiar form of speed restriction.
After about 40 minutes of travel at our snails pace we came to Komping Pouy! Expecting the stunning vista of a large lake we were greeted with a rather over sized mud puddle. I was not sure whether to be amused or disappointed. But good humour gained the day and I accepted that I was going to have to make the best of a bad situation.
Initially I thought this can't be it! We must have to travel further and continued the ride. Suddenly 2 people were running alongside the scooter desperately trying to hand us menus from their restaurants and make us turn in and park. Judging by their eagerness and the speed at which they were running gave me a sense that delivery of service would be excellent. Unfortunately is retrospect these hopes were unfounded, but more on that later.
I made a brief excursion around the dam works and took a few pictures before returning to those eager people in the restaurant. It is an interesting place this Komping Pouy. It was once part of a dam to provide downstream irrigation to farming and agriculture. Battambang is a huge food producer in SE Asia and it is little wonder why wars have been fought over this region for thousands of years. Now it is becoming part of a far greater plan. The Monkol Borey Dam development project. This is another of the funded projects in Cambodia, this time by the good people of Korea. Cambodia is small and poor, with a troubled past. I guess the countries in SE Asia really want a stable Cambodia on the doorstep.
This particular project revolves around expanding and reworking the reservoir of Komping Pouy to feed a the new Ta Haen dam. This new dam will have a height of 13.5 meters and a width of 75.5 meters, but more importantly it will provide 190 kW of electricity for a country that currently imports most of it power from Thailand and Vietnam. Power prices being set at a rate to promote economic growth in Cambodia, but at a rate that doesn't promote too much growth and thus not harm these neighbours. But the dam is also set to provide additional irrigation to farming and agriculture concerns downstream. When it is completed it will be back to situation normal. So really, we being greeted with a mud puddle is a timing issue. The project is set for completion in early 2015. I will have to revisit this area when everything is finished and the reservoir is once more fill. But for now, no water but also no shortage of earth moving machinery and trucks.
One truck that I found particularly amusing was one emblazoned with the word KILLYOU above the windscreen!
These projects do come with a social cost though. People and businesses will be relocated away from the effected areas. I hope that the people, that do have a strong tie to the land and are proud of the fact that many generations have lived in an area cope with their move.
Sitting down in the restaurant we ordered food and some drinks. For me I felt like a coke to wash away the dust of the journey and then a beer or two for relaxation. These seemed to take forever to arrive and the beer was not cold. Oh well, Khmer style, put some ice in the glass and sup away. Sitting overlooking the lake I was intrigued by the small boats and fisherman hard at work in the water. Busying themselves casting and retrieving nets, cleaning out any fish that this method of fishing yielded. In fact it was a pleasant to sit idly chatting and drinking while watching the world go slowly by. This was indeed the countryside and the air was fresh and clean and beyond the puddle was mountains. I could image with the lake once more returned to it's former state this would be quite beautiful.
With the relax vibe of the area it wasn't till much later that I realised that our food had not yet come. Maybe they were off catching the chicken or something? Then it dawned on me that the Khmer around us have come here for the day. Food turning up quickly is not what they want. They want a slow supply of food and drinks to pass the time with and that my insistence on the quick arrival of food was not actually what the customer base want. Oh well, you can take the foreigner out of the country ....... One of the many ethnic differences that you learn to live with here. There is much that you would love to change and at the same time stay the same in this unusual country.
Our food eventually arrived. A fine assortment of roasted chicken with BBQ pork kebabs and quail. People not used to Khmer style chicken will probably note that it is tougher than the average bird that you would get elsewhere, but is plenty flavorful. It was a good spread and after eating our fill, bagging up some bones to take back for Benji, our dog, we were ready to pay the bill and head back home. Oddly enough inside the hut area that was our dining area was the cell phone number you dial when you want more food and drink, or in this case, pay the bill. Don't forget to take your cell phone apparently.
The bill I thought was somewhat expensive for the the type of food we received, but Marady seemed happy enough. So paid and back on the road to Battambang. Quite an interesting day out really. Disappointed that the place was not what I was expecting, but had a nice time anyway. Looking forward to a return visit in Mid 2015 to see what this area normally looks like. I am sure it will be spectacular and will take the Quadcopter next time.
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