Pnong People

An interesting anecdote ... Sky was brought up in the countryside and told us it was common to eat rat. When Kirsty asked him whether it tasted like chicken. He said "no, it's more like dog!
The Bunong (alternatively Bunong and other spelling) are an aboriginal Cambodian minority ethnic group, found primarily in Mondulkiri province of Cambodia, and speaking a Mon–Khmer language. The Bunong minority are normally not members of any organized religion, but instead are animists who revere nature ". 

The Pnong are an aboriginal Cambodian minority ethnic group, found primarily in Mondulkiri province of Cambodia, and speaking a Mon–Khmer language.
The Pnong minority are normally not members of any organized religion, but instead are animists who revere nature.

Because the elephants were not in the village we were staying in, we were picked up by motor bike to be taken to the village of the Pnong people. The ride was over hills and dirt roads about 5 miles away. The Pnong people live in a village of about 600 people who speak their own language, have their own religion and customs.
Their homes were huts made of bamboo. The children ran around barefoot and a few of them wore clothing. The farm animals also ran freely in the huts and around them. We were taken inside one of the huts.

In one hut, a family of 10 people may live. The hut was a circular shape with two openings on opposite sides. There were no windows. In the middle of the hut on the dirt floor was their fire where they were cooking soup. They never put out the fire so there is always smoke filling the hut. There was a huge container of rice on a platform above the fire. It was kept in the smoke to keep bugs from getting in the rice. On the sides of the hut were platforms a few feet off the ground where the people slept. The farm animals slept under the platform.

As we were in the hut, the grandmother, mother, father and some children went about their business and stopped to check us out for a while. There were several children. The two youngest were an 18 month old and a 2 and a half month old. The infant was passed around from child to child. The 5 year old kids handled the baby like a doll. They carried the baby around on their back in the cloth that wraps around your body and ties. The adults paid no attention to the kids and where they were taking the infant as they walked out of the hut. I saw the baby passed around to about 5 other kids in 15 minutes all under the age of ten while waiting to get on my elephant. They would sit on the ground where the animals had been and sit the baby down on the grass as well.

These people had elephants that they had trained which is why we came here. They were rounding up the second elephant when we arrived. The huge animals were wandering around with the guy sitting on the head and guiding it. It was time for us to get on...

Author: Meclayt