Phnom Penh to "The Project"

Saturday morning, 7 o'clock sharp, found us all gathering downstairs at the 3 Rivers awaiting our taxis to Sen Menorom. I met my fellow adventurers for the upcoming week, Jill and Asher, a mother-daughter duo from Australia and Klara, also an Australian, travelling all on her own throughout the country and having just completed 1 and 1/2 houses for Habitat for Humanity in Phnom Penh. All very friendly and excited to get to the elephants.
We loaded into a couple of Toyotas and were off, stopping somewhere in town to pick up a backpacker, Jo from the U.S., who also planned to stay at the Project for a few days. We drove by a tourist attraction where apparently the only elephant living in Phnom Penh, Sambo (who is, incidentally, female) was on display, and Jack pointed out that she was clearly in considerable pain. He could tell her feet hurt her, being improperly cared-for, and she appeared under-nourished. It began to sink in just how much elephants need to stay well and how few of them get what they need.
The drive to Sen Menorom was harrowing to say the least. Why? Because of the HUGE quantity of motorbikes on the road, combined with the considerable speed we were driving, and the spectacularly brazen passing techniques of Cambodian drivers. Those techniques consist primarily of horn-blowing. Our driver blew his horn, I'll bet, more every mile of the trip than I do in a year. I would have taken photos of the traffic, but my fists were too tightly clenched, and besides, we were going SO FAST. I don't know how fast; the speedometer on the Toyota wasn't functioning.
Most of the five hour journey was through land so flat it made central Illinois look mountainous. Lots of rice paddies and very little else (where on earth were those motorbikes GOING?) But then, the farther northeast we got, we started getting into some seriously beautiful country, hilly and heavily wooded. There were plantations of rubber trees and what looked like--no, could they be???--red PINE trees. Jack said they'd been planted mainly by the Chinese for paper-making. The Chinese, apparently, are investing heavily in Cambodia, so they must have some assets left after investing so heavily in the USA.
Somehow, we did make it to Sen Menorom, the nearest town to the project. Here's the main street, and here also is a nice statue that was about the only decoration the town had to offer.

And for those of you who are energy conservation-minded (yes, Rich, I'm talking to you), here's proof positive that the Cambodians are right on top of things.
We then all clambered into Jack's disreputable old truck and headed through a sudden downpour. We trundled down an incredibly steep and rough road, arrived at some buildings, and before I could gather my senses, I was deposited in my little house and looking through the little Zen view that was my window. For two weeks, HOME!