Tuesday Afternoon

After lunch on the ship, we were taken back to the town dock. This time we were loaded into vans to visit a village that specializes in pottery and palm sugar. As we drove out of the town, we realized how large it is. In the morning we only saw the places very close to the port. There were some beautiful government and cultural buildings along the way.

At the pottery village, a woman demonstrated how they make beautiful perfect pots without a wheel. Basically, the clay is on a stump and she goes around and around, shaping into a pot.

She puts the clay lump on the stump

Walking around the circle, she opens the inside

She uses a paddle with her hand inside to flatten and shape the pot

She closes the bottom of the pot by hand

She beats the bottom flat, using a wooden paddle

Finished round pots

Children playing nearby

There were some wooden structures around the area for a few of us to sit on while watching. As I sat on the edge watching and taking pictures, I began to feel nauseated. I wondered if I should get up and go away from the area. The next thing I knew I was looking up into Sam's face, lying flat on my back on the dirt floor. I had fainted dead away. Dan said I looked pretty graceful as I went down; another friend said he heard a thump. I wasn't hurt at all, but was definitely dazed for a while. Sam poured water on my forehead and eventually several people helped me up. I sat on a bench and the potter woman was very helpful. She used a rag and brushed me off all around (the ground was very dusty). She got everything off! I kept telling her and the others that I was all right now. A bottle of water was a great help. I think I got overheated. And I'm wondering about the doxycycline we are taking for malaria prevention. When we met up with Jonathan and Mary Kay in Chiang Mai, she had mentioned that the doxycycline gave her digestive upset and she had stopped taking it. I was a bit queasy all night and I've decided to stop the medication. In any case, we haven't seen any mosquitos yet and our co-travelers said they've been in Vietnam and never been bothered there. So I think I'll take my chances. In any case, I am fine now so no worries. I did decline to go on the trip to a temple near here this morning (Wednesday). We arrive in Phnom Penh this afternoon.

Potter woman's calloused foot -- sitting after helping me

After the pottery demonstration and my turn at being the center of attention, we walked across the road to see where the pots are fired. They are blanketed in straw or something similar and it is slowly burned.

Next stop, still in the same village, was a man who collects palm juice and makes liquor and sugar from it. He gave out samples of both and demonstrated climbing the tree to collect the liquid.

Climbing the palm tree

The last stop was the area where they make the clay into liners for cooking stoves. These are very similar to the charcoal chills in India.

While the group looked around the area, I sat on a bamboo platform. These girls were snacking and laughing together. They were eating something from a pod (a little bit like lima beans, but I'm sure they weren't).