truffledog wrote: ↑Tue May 16, 2023 12:25 am

Kammekor wrote: ↑Mon May 15, 2023 4:59 pm Been in the same house since Jan. 2014 now. Bought the land in 2012, had our own house constructed, and moved in. Tried to move closer to Phnom Penh in 2015-2016 but found out it's pretty hard to sell property out in the province. So now I'm still there. Not regretting it, it's just that the traveling to / from Phnom Penh can be a bit of a pain. Life here is a lot better than in Phnom Penh. The weather is cooler for sure, a large garden around the house allows for some home grown veggies, fruit and meat, and at night it's so quiet and so dark you can actually see the Milky Way. Dogs love it too. no need to take them out, they let themselves out in the forest behind the house.
Costwise it's a win too. No rent payments and electricity directly to EDC. Water comes from our own well. The initial investment was relatively high (Land: 3.300 USD, house: 28.000 USD, well: 1.700 USD) but now, nine years later, I guess it has already paid for itself. It's just electrics now, this month 128,000 riels.

Own fruit und and veg and hopefully fresh eggs (and chicken) is such a great plus. Having a quiet night is priceless too. I am not sure if I could live in any big city for a long time. I need the green and blue around me.

Yes, avocados (make a great guacamole), dragon-fruits, jack-fruit, pomegranates and occasional bananas. Also cashews but we sell those. The problem is the abundance at a time. One can only consume so many avocados in a month. So most of it goes to family (avocados don't grow in river plains, the occasional flooding kills them) in Kampong Cham for consumption and sales.
Whenever we have too many roosters one ends on the BBQ. Hens provide the eggs, more than we can eat. A plus: the chickens keep 90% of the scorpions and centipedes out by turning them into eggs. You have to manage the herd though. Too many chickens means too many shit and in the rainy season it will become a smelly mess. About 10 is the threshold I found out. So when there are too many it's either BBQ time or we sell some.

Not all perfect though. I live about 10 hours from Phnom Penh, and that's not for all. Hardly any nightlife here, and only one extremely overpriced supermarket offering some western food. Most I have to bring in from Phnom Penh. But I wouldn't trade my place for an apartment in PP.
[Edit]
Tried to post a picture of the view but Imgur is overloaded, at least it says it is.

Kammekor wrote: ↑Tue May 16, 2023 7:06 am

truffledog wrote: ↑Tue May 16, 2023 12:25 am

Kammekor wrote: ↑Mon May 15, 2023 4:59 pm Been in the same house since Jan. 2014 now. Bought the land in 2012, had our own house constructed, and moved in. Tried to move closer to Phnom Penh in 2015-2016 but found out it's pretty hard to sell property out in the province. So now I'm still there. Not regretting it, it's just that the traveling to / from Phnom Penh can be a bit of a pain. Life here is a lot better than in Phnom Penh. The weather is cooler for sure, a large garden around the house allows for some home grown veggies, fruit and meat, and at night it's so quiet and so dark you can actually see the Milky Way. Dogs love it too. no need to take them out, they let themselves out in the forest behind the house.
Costwise it's a win too. No rent payments and electricity directly to EDC. Water comes from our own well. The initial investment was relatively high (Land: 3.300 USD, house: 28.000 USD, well: 1.700 USD) but now, nine years later, I guess it has already paid for itself. It's just electrics now, this month 128,000 riels.

Own fruit und and veg and hopefully fresh eggs (and chicken) is such a great plus. Having a quiet night is priceless too. I am not sure if I could live in any big city for a long time. I need the green and blue around me.

Yes, avocados (make a great guacamole), dragon-fruits, jack-fruit, pomegranates and occasional bananas. Also cashews but we sell those. The problem is the abundance at a time. One can only consume so many avocados in a month. So most of it goes to family (avocados don't grow in river plains, the occasional flooding kills them) in Kampong Cham for consumption and sales.
Whenever we have too many roosters one ends on the BBQ. Hens provide the eggs, more than we can eat. A plus: the chickens keep 90% of the scorpions and centipedes out by turning them into eggs. You have to manage the herd though. Too many chickens means too many shit and in the rainy season it will become a smelly mess. About 10 is the threshold I found out. So when there are too many it's either BBQ time or we sell some.

Not all perfect though. I live about 10 hours from Phnom Penh, and that's not for all. Hardly any nightlife here, and only one extremely overpriced supermarket offering some western food. Most I have to bring in from Phnom Penh. But I wouldn't trade my place for an apartment in PP.
[Edit]
Tried to post a picture of the view but Imgur is overloaded, at least it says it is.

One picture speaks a thousand words. Try, try and try again.

ali baba wrote: ↑Tue May 16, 2023 4:35 pm @Kammekor 10 hours from PP!?! You must live in the remotest village possible! Also, how do you keep your toilet water separate from your well water?

When I arrived in PP I lived in a GH for around 6 months then in a flat with my gf for 6 months. After we broke up I moved to a GH again and then rented a rooftop flat until I got married and bought a block of flats in which I plan to stay for the rest of my life. I was in the previous flat for nearly 6 years and was definitely ready to move out after waiting months for the hard title to be transferred and another 2 weeks for the owner to dawdle into his next abode.

Oh no, there's more remote.

Well water and dirty water from the toilet is indeed a problem, we had it before. Dirty water 'crept' into the ground water and eventually in the well water, especially noticeable at the end of the dry season. It was solved by drilling a well about 80 meters deep. The soil here's about 30 meters thick, then it's bare rock, with another kind of rock (I think it's sandstone) below, which contains loads of water. We pump up water from very deep, from below the layer of rock, even below the ground water table which can not pass the first layer of rock.

truffledog wrote: ↑Tue May 16, 2023 10:02 pm

Kammekor wrote: ↑Tue May 16, 2023 5:33 pm

ali baba wrote: ↑Tue May 16, 2023 4:35 pm @Kammekor 10 hours from PP!?! You must live in the remotest village possible! Also, how do you keep your toilet water separate from your well water?

When I arrived in PP I lived in a GH for around 6 months then in a flat with my gf for 6 months. After we broke up I moved to a GH again and then rented a rooftop flat until I got married and bought a block of flats in which I plan to stay for the rest of my life. I was in the previous flat for nearly 6 years and was definitely ready to move out after waiting months for the hard title to be transferred and another 2 weeks for the owner to dawdle into his next abode.

Oh no, there's more remote.

Well water and dirty water from the toilet is indeed a problem, we had it before. Dirty water 'crept' into the ground water and eventually in the well water, especially noticeable at the end of the dry season. It was solved by drilling a well about 80 meters deep. The soil here's about 30 meters thick, then it's bare rock, with another kind of rock (I think it's sandstone) below, which contains loads of water. We pump up water from very deep, from below the layer of rock, even below the ground water table which can not pass the first layer of rock.

Its so easy to install a septic tank for the dirty toilet water.

Yes, we could, and should have.
But we should have built one for our neighbor too. And all the people living on the other side of the road (slightly higher land).