Lisa's Travels: Another day in Angkor region and surrounding villages

I had a different tuk tuk driver today, this one was also able to speak good English and we set off 7.45am for the furthermost Angkor site 36km from here.
The drive out was really scenic, through villages and forest, the site was lovely and the usual order of the day is to continue on and see the rest in the area.
However after telling the driver how much I loved to see the village life and the real Cambodian way of life he offered to take me to a couple nearby.
Many of the houses don't have a well let alone running water in their homes, and those that do have had a sign outside with the name of the donator.
When I asked how much a well would cost and to be fitted he replied $100. I was stunned that I was seeing such poverty, yet every where we went we were greeted with smiles, waves and 'hellos' from all.
The Mothers and children were all waving as we drove past, and the little ones would run up to the tuk tuk (we were driving slowly). They loved it when I took their photo and then showed them. Many homes only had parafin lights or battery powered ligh bulbs. He told me the usual pattern is 8.30 to sleep and up at around 4am, to go to the rice fields.
The women join them later and grandparents watch the small children, 'as they are good for nothing else' he said. the cooking method is by clay mound built on dusty ground with a hole in the top and with a hole in the side for wood. A fire is made and a huge pan places on the top and the days rice is cooked (they eat it at least 3 times a day)
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We stopped to watch a lady in the rice field cutting the rice and through his interpreting I was able to ask about it. She was 52 and it's the only work she had ever done.

Then we talked to a lady who was in her front yard bashing bunches of the rice grass on a wooden plank to extract the rice, the straw that is left goes for feed for the cattle. I have made a short video.

The ride through the 2 villages was lovely, neither had a tarmac road only dirt track, the children skipped around bare footed and the younger ones barely dressed, the older ones wore tatty clothes but all with a happy face.