Ducks and Rice Paddies, wandering the countryside

A few weeks ago we were invited on a little jaunt out in the countryside to with some friends.  We headed about 80kms south of Phnom Penh to Takao to have lunch with some more friends.  Just at the end of their lane are rice paddies as far as the eye can see.  It's beautiful.

Despite living here for almost three years, I had actually never seen rice on the plants before.

Not until we got right up close did we notice an unfamiliar sound emanating from the rice fields.  We got up close and found the source...

Ducklings!  And not just a few of them... our friends started calling them (for those of you who don't know how to call a duckling, you call out "keke keke keke").  And out they came...

Hundreds and hundreds of them, in fact there were about 500 of them.  They had a bit of a feed and a bit of a rest before their owner came to take them home.  I didn't realise you can herd ducks.  But apparently, this is how it's done:

It's not as easy as it looks.  Against the advice of an old woman looking on, the ducks' master decided to take them home a different way.  "They don't know the way, it'll take too long, they don't know which way to go" the woman warned.  However, the duck herder continued on his way.  The old woman got up,  uttering her final words of warning: "Fine, well I'll see you in nine days then", and started down the lane.  A few moments later the ducks had disappeared into all directions into the rice paddies, leaving their master looking wistfully at his dispersed flock, as the old woman headed home. 

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Do: Swim at L'Elephant Blanc

After hearing about the swimming pool at L'Elephant Blanc for ages, I finally made it there this weekend to check it out.

I was pretty impressed with the pool, it's  large salt water pool and there's also a small kids pool.  Apparently it gets pretty busy on the weekends, but as you can see we had the area to ourselves at 11 am on Saturday.

Non-guests can access the pool for $4 (for adults, $2 for children) on weekends and public holidays, and for half that during the week.  Of course, the other option is to stay here (check out their website).

There's also a cafe, the prices are average (around $5 for a meal), I'd recommend choosing from the Asian dishes, as the sandwich I had was not great (sweet bread, plastic cheese...).  But we did enjoy the cool drinks.

L'Elephant Blanc is about 10kms (about 30 mins drive, depending on traffic) from the centre of Phnom Penh.  To get there cross the Monivong Bridge and continue along National Road 1 for about 6 kms.  You'll see the resort on your left.

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Go: Phnom Tamao Wildlife Sanctuary

It's taken me a long time to get around to visiting Phnom Tamao.  For a long time I wasn't sure whether I even wanted to go as I've had some bad experiences visiting zoos in Asia (visiting Phuket Zoo was one of the most depressing experiences I've had).  But I have also heard many good things about the wildlife centre, so, finally last weekend The Boy and I went out to take a look.

Phnom Tamao is 44 km south of Phnom Penh following National Road 2, we got slightly lost and so travelled a bit further (albeit through a very picturesque bit of Cambodian countryside near 'the other' Siem Reap).

A word of warning, I may have gotten slightly carried away with the photos here...sorry!

Phnom Tamao is an interesting zoo.  We began our visit in a walk-through exhibit where deer and monkeys roam free among some smaller enclosures.  There are children selling food to feed the animals, and, as a result, most of the animals are very friendly to visitors.  Although there was one angry bird (a word of caution, take your photo from a distance!)

Phnom Tamao is different from any other zoo or wildlife parks I've ever visited, in that it's a  'drive-through' zoo.   Basically you drive your car or moto from exhibit to exhibit.

The zoo not very well sign-posted, with directions to only the 'big name' exhibits.  Many enclosures have no lables or information at all.  This may annoy some, but for me it adds to the charm.  We enjoyed wandering down lanes and peering into enclosures never sure what we might spy.

I have to be honest the main reason I came to Phnom Tamao was these guys.  (In fact it was this video that really got me motivated to visit Phnom Tamao)

(I love the fact that the bears have hammocks!)

Our last stop was the elephants.  If you're visiting these guys make sure you stand back, we saw the elephants spray a few people!

Overall I was quite impressed with Phnom Tamao.  It's not as well marked and sign-posted as many other zoos and some of the exhibits are basic.  However, most of the animals appeared contented and reasonably well cared for.  

Entry to the zoo will cost you $5 per person.  We spent about 3 hours there but could have spent longer.  Alternatively there are a couple of tours you can do to Phnom Tamao that include extra tours and activities (check out www.betelnuttours.com or www.freethebears.org.au).

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