Taking a break from volunteering in Phnom Penh, we were able to spend a few days in Ratanakiri Province in the extreme north of Cambodia, not far from the Laos border. This gave us a chance not only to see the large school that has evolved from the original tiny campus of Krou Yeung School, but also to enjoy the culture and nature of the surrounding area.

Teacher’s Quarters

We were staying in teacher quarters behind the house where the school founder, Mr. Sopheap, and his family lived. He had a delightful family, consisting of his wife, a teenage son, a teenage daughter, and younger twin daughters. They had us over for most of the meals during our stay (we always prefer to have breakfast on our own), and we had some nice chats with them.

Our apartment was one of about two dozen designated for teachers to stay in. One of them was occupied by the school’s assistant who drove up with us, Mr. Kompheak, and his own family — he spends a lot of time away from them, working in Phnom Penh.

Krou Yeung School – Ratanakiri Campus

Our first order of business the day after our evening arrival was to take a tour of the school, though with it being Saturday, the activity on campus was minimal. Though the teachers were still hard at work, scrubbing mats, cleaning and prepping classrooms for the upcoming week. We were escorted on the grand tour by Mr. Sopheap’s congenial twin daughters.

Around Town

Then we ferreted out some places to buy grub and supplies. There was of course a marketplace where we could get produce; and there was also a pretty decent supermarket.

Trip to Mr. Kompeak’s Village

In the afternoon, Mr. Kompheak, with his wife and daughter, took us on a drive to a little village where he had his roots. Before becoming an official at the school, he was a farmer who also (like a number of other people in the community) prospected for gemstones.

He introduced us to some of his former neighbors, and showed us the simple hut where he once lived — and where his daughter was born. He later got a job driving a bus for the school, and then worked his way up to his current position and transferred to Phnom Penh. He is truly a success story, pulling himself up by the bootstraps; and it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person.

He also showed us a little field where some of his old friends were still engaged in digging for gemstones. They were a number of little pits, as deep as six feet or so, where apparently quite a few specimens had been extracted.

We still don’t know exactly what kind of gems they were. Sapphires? Rubies? We just know that there are no emeralds found in Cambodia. And we know that these folks had found quite a few rough samples of whatever they were looking for, as well as at least one more refined example that they had enclosed in a little bottle and were offering for sale.

Beside Kompheak’s old homestead was a tall, sturdy tree that he identified as a milkfruit tree. He climbed up into it with ease, and threw down some of the fruit, which we did our best to catch, with limited success. We had heard of milkfruit, but were not terribly familiar with it, and can’t say that we’d ever tried eating it. But on this day we did. And our verdict? Well.. it’s not bad if you’re hungry.

Seven Steps Waterfall

To cap off the day, we went to a waterfall and did some wading in the water. Nearby were the obligatory concession stands, where at our hosts’ insistence, we had an ice cream cone — coconut flavored — that was not bad.

There was also something else that piqued our interest: some examples of the traditional Khmer “maiden hut”. In the good old days, parents would build one of these beside the home for their coming-of-age daughter to sleep in alone. Except… well, not always exactly alone. The young men might come a-courting, and if one of them caught her fancy, she might invite him to spend the night too. And then if all went well, they might get hitched.

But this is a custom of the past. And perhaps the more conservative parents these days wonder what the world is coming to when their daughters just get married without the trial period first.

Learning about things like this is one of the best reasons to travel. Thanks to our hosts for a fun, enlightening day.

12/31/2022