Re: A Trip Report
Jean-Baptiste CHHUOR
Thanks Donn for an elaborate trip report. The tech presentation at ITC was a success; I was there. The students stayed hooked until the end, and then surrounded Donn to ask intelligent questions. I am very proud of them.
Speaking about our own trip to Siemreap and Phnom Penh, we were less than fortunate: had to visit the hospitals in Siemreap and in Phnom Penh, until the last day. In between those days at the hospitals, we had chance to see Angkor Wat (3h reading the bas relief in the inner corridor), the obligatory Bayon, claimed Baphoun, and then went on ‘sthe disaster trip to Phnom Koulen. My wife asthma worsened from there.
In Phnom Penh I had a chance to see ITC, the town, and Koh Pich pseudo island. I had a chance to see Kein Svay where I foolishly ate the stuffed frogs. I paid very dearly for their revenge: 24 h in emergency room.
Anyway, I have no regret for taking this trip, will definitely be wiser of what to eat in the next trips.
Regards to all.
PS: do we want to have the 3rd phone/skype meeting for this 1st quarter of 2012.
Dave.
From: Donn Kong [mailto:donn...@hotmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2012 3:17 PM
To: Malysovann Chey; Chean Diep; Phalla Sambath Heng; Huy Hong; Peng Sreng Ing; Jean-Baptist Chhuor; so...@hanumantourism.com; Dave Khuon; Kim Py Khvat; Kimcheng Ly; Sovanna Men; Sar Ngauv; Bunthath Pek; Ponnareay Pen; ph...@telfort.nl; Chamroeun Phlong; Buntheut So; Saing Im Sok; John Ung; Seng Hong Suy; Mill Tan; Mongkol Um; Leo Bunhuor Ung; Sam Ok You
Subject: A Trip Report
Dear All,
Have a prosperous New Year!
Davouth and his wife and I had dinner together at the Koulen II buffet in Siemreap on December 12. It was a good place to watch folk dances as we used to see in the 60's, and they were good. Um Mongkol was on a trip to Burma so we did not meet.
My presentation at ITC was ok I guess. I realized that my paper was too long so I had to skip a lot even if it took a little over three hours. But at least the audience learned of basic ideas in the design of electrical systems for buildings and industrial plants, and the code applied to the design. I provided those young engineers two important files that I used in my career: a procedure for electrical design and a self taught type of training book on protective relaying.
I'd like to thank Davouth for your presence at the presentation. I hope late this year you will share your experience in your field of work at ITC.
I traveled to Bokor, Kep, and Kampot with a group of NGO employees. I was invited to join the trip by my nephew, the president of this group. This is a group funded by the Swedish governent to promote some kind of civic works. The road to Bokor was well designed and built. It looked like any country road in the US. A large casino compplex was buing built, and a five star hotel just had the foundation done. I met an ITC grad who said she worked on the design of the last piece of road to the casino. But, as you know, Bokor Mountain has been leased for 99 years to, you know, Sok Kong, the powerful Sokimex owner. As soon as the casino is opened, I believe they will charge access fees.
At Kep one of the NGO employees brought out his keyboard and many employees started to sing and a little dance too. Soon a captain in tha army and a police leutenant and a sergent arrived to check on our group. My nephew explained to them on who we were. I told them that I was only a traveler. I learned later that all this NGO employees were college graduates, including one from Sambath's home town, the University of Svay Rieng. One of the three van drivers who took us there told me that his full time job was a teacher in Khmer literature at Lycee Yukonthor. He graduated from the faculte des lettres at Royal University of Phnom Penh in 1995, my nephew's classmate. Driving a van for tourists was his part time job, he said, to make up for the low paying job as a high school teacher.
In Kampot, while the NGO members were having their meetings, the three van drivers and I went to Tuk Chhoo to visit the hydropower dam. There are actually three dams, one is in operation and the two others upstream are being completed. The lower one, in operation since December, generates 43 MegaWatts. The two other ones will bein operation soon,with a total power of 185 to 191 MW. There are two grid lines going out of there,a 230KV line and a 22KV line for provincial consumption.
Looking at the power dam one thought came to my mind. If Cambodia did not have that war in 1970 perhpas our ITSAKS graduates in Hydro, Construction, and Electro could have designed and built such an infrastructure by ourselves. We might have had to order turbines from somwhere but we could have designed not just the hydro plant but the transmission lines and substations by ourselves.
I need to close this message for now. I will write on my trip to the North East later, with my observations on the rubber plantations at "the concessions", and the great potential for several hundred Megawatts of wind power in Mundulkiri.
Donn