Playing in the Mud - Cambodia

Today was definitely a highlight for my short stay in Cambodia.  I took a day trip to the province known for pottery, just two hours via bus from Phnom Penh.  I would have just continued on to Siem Reap afterward, but there are two main arteries out of Phnom Penh - Hwy 5 going to Battambang and hwy 6 going to Siem Reap.  Kampong Chhnang (the province I was visiting) was on Hwy 5.  So, early in the morning, I said goodbye to the other couchsurfer staying at the movie house and snagged a tuk tuk to the Sorya bus station near the Central Market in Phnom Penh.  I bought a ticket for $4.00 and again, assuming the worst, boarded the bus going toward Battambang.  My fears were put to rest with decent seating – no, I didn’t want to touch anything, but this would definitely do.  There was a young western fellow sitting across the aisle from me and whaddya know, he was also going to Kampong Chhnang and hailed from Palatine, IL - so close to my home town!  Sometimes I wonder how these things happen. 

One thing that I really loved about getting out into the countryside were all the palms that filled the vast, flat stretches of land.  Through these, the baby blue sky reflecting in the rice paddy fields.  A Cambodian pastor sitting near us informed that this province was also an area known for sugar, which is extracted and boiled from the palms.  After a slightly longer than quoted bus ride, the other American and I got out in the middle of a very small town, with one central monument.  I swear every single child –and some adults – said “hello!” as we passed, looking for a tuk tuk to our respective destinations.

Coincidentally, my Czech friend in Phnom Penh knew another Czech girl living and working in Kampong Chhnang and this girl agreed to meet with me at her work and show me around a bit.  After a few tries, I found a tuk tuk driver who knew where I needed to go, and after meeting the very nice crew of people at People in Need (a Czech NGO working to inform about disaster relief, hygiene/sanitation, and maternal support), we went for lunch and then she let me borrow a bicycle to cycle around the pottery villages. 

Enter dirt roads, Cambodian-style fixie, and throbbing legs that have only been used to switch gears on a motorbike for the past year.

I was cheerfully on my own, free to meander around lush palm and rice fields.  As I was cycling, every so often I would see a family, usually with a few naked children running around, slapping clay and moving pots.  Ahhh yes.  I've found what I was looking for. 

Kampong Chhnang is like ground zero for Cambodian pottery.  They’ve been throwing – but mostly handbuilding – pots and vases for generations upon generations.  The first house I visited was definitely production-line style vessels and I wasn’t entirely sure what they were used for, most likely cookers.  After a few more of these residences, I took a chance turning onto a road that lead into a different village.  As I passed a house on the left, a few girls started waving so I turned into their drive and parked my bicycle next to their white cows.  Two young girls were handbuilding some bowls and vases and one of them was hellbent on me creating one of their beautiful pieces.  I tried to mimic her patient Khmer-led demonstration but, comically and predictably, couldn’t replicate her instruction.  We laughed at my attempts, and she surrendered to me spectating while she started over and busted out a pot within minutes.   It was a real treat to watch them, and I gave their father two dollars on my exit.  He held my hands holding the money, and sincerely bowed his head thanking me.  Cambodian citizens mostly live in rural impoverished areas in homes on stilts.  Every dollar helps sustain their livelihood, which also benefits keeping this pottery village intact.  

Passing by a few large vases in another compound, I almost stopped.  And then I did stop when I saw a relaxed mid-age western fellow sitting on a platform and a huge wood fire kiln behind him.  Pulling a quick U, I greeted him and complimented his huge kilns and vases.  You have to understand, running into this western guy out in these parts was pretty random.  As it turns out, he was Bruce Fairman, a well-known production potter in America.  His work has been sold in Nordstrom and JCPenny, among many other companies boasting his (mostly) luster work.  Half of the year, he spends his time in Kampong Chhnang, working with the Khmer Artisan Project, the other half he spends in California.  He gave me a tour of his kilns and work space, and then I hopped on his moto and he showed me an incredible brick-making compound where I saw the biggest kiln of my life.  It takes TWO WEEKS to fire this kiln and it was cookin’ during our visit.  The kilns that I’ve used in the past typically take 24 hours to complete one firing.  I thanked Bruce for his tour and conversation but the monsoon clouds were rolling in and it was time to hightail on my bicycle back to People in Need to catch a bus back to Phnom Penh (currently writing this as the dark, rainy countryside is passing through the window).  What a day!  Excited to see how Thai Ceramics differ from what I’ve seen in Vietnam and Cambodia.

Stay muddy!