Sunday 20 September 2009











For Crying Out Loud! 21/09/09

Khmer word of the Day: NGO Ong Kaa Krao rot taa pii baal
Weather: Hot and Wet. Again.
Day 2 of the Patchum Ben Festival here so another day off.
I have never spent so much time in my life imagining how I would silence a baby. Don’t think my cruel and of course I would never do it, but the baby next door NEVER STOPS CRYING! It goes all day (when trying to study) and all night (when trying to sleep). This morning it was so bad at about 5:30am that I had to go to the drastic measure of closing all the windows and just relying on the fan to stop me sweltering. It has become a common phrase in the house now ‘what time did the baby wake you up?’ ‘Do you think that baby is sick?’ Anyway rant over...!

We had the most enormous monsoon yesterday. I was chilling in my room, when the others went to market to get some lunch bits, when this almighty noise began. All the roofs around here are made of corrugated iron (although I can’t think why, it is boiling in the sun and makes so much noise when it monsoons!) so the noise is immense. I had to leg it (well, hobble and hop) my way upstairs to the roof terrace to bring in the laundry, language work and furniture to stop it from getting soaked. So by the time I got back downstairs I realised that all the windows in our rooms were open and rain was pouring through. I came off worst here as my windows were directly facing the direction of the rain. Put it this way, my unearthed electrical extension was sat in a relative pond on the floor and my fan (which was on) was soaked. Scary moment. Can’t believe I actually touched it now but managed to mop everything up then go around closing everyone else’s windows without too much water damage.
Spent the rest of the afternoon going through all my language stuff and getting really quite frustrated with it as is getting progressively a lot harder! I would feel better if when I tried to converse with Khmer people I could get a response. They mostly just stare at you blankly as they expect you to be speaking English and have probably never heard Khmer spoken with a foreign accent (or so our teacher says!).
I then went down to Smiles, the lovely little wireless cafe place and had a chat with my parents on video skype. If anyone wants to do this e-mail me! We hung out there forever and eventually headed off for some dinner with the promise of returning later as it was Fabio’s birthday (a German NGO worker who helps run the project with street kids at Smile who we have all become quite friendly with). We had noodles at our usual street cafe in the market which were ok but I thought they tasted a bit different. The only issue with eating there is you get a lot of beggars approaching you and it is really hard to know what to do. The general advice from our Khmer teacher and VSO colleagues is not to feel you have to give and if you do only give to the elderly and disabled. Never to the children as the money does not go to them and perpetuates the problem of street children as they will be sent begging rather than to school if we give them money. However, I didn’t finish my food so I gave them that and they finished it all hungrily. Sarah and I then headed back off the Smiles and had a really nice time with the German NGO workers and then some teachers (English and Russian) visiting from PP. However, when we were sat there my tummy started to feel awful and I was sweating like mad so I had to rush home. Really surprised I made it to be honest, thought I would have to pull over to puke on the way back. So that was a fun night all around. I Managed to get some sleep though (until the baby started at some ridiculous hour!) and feel a lot better this morning.

So I need to practice my Khmer numbers before I head to the laundry and Smiles for lunch and to upload this blog!

Love xx

Saturday 19 September 2009
















Snap Happy 19/09/09

Weather update: HOT. Followed by lightning storm and monsoon.
Khmer word of the day: deik (to sleep)
So a bit of an update!
It has been boiling hot for the past few days, easily near 40 degrees every day and no rain. So we were all kind of hoping and praying that it would monsoon so it would cool down a bit! Last night we got our wish...sat on the roof terrace eating dinner we watched the most amazing lightning I have ever seen. Huge forks which went across the sky lighting it up all different colours. I tried to take some photos and videos but typically it was never at the perfect time! The storm seemed to be happening all around us but completely missing KC so we were worried that it wouldn’t happen. We all headed to bed about 10 (early morning for temple visit, will explain later) and I sat up reading and watching family guy until about 12, when the rain and thunder started...MY GOD it was loud! It was completely mental. The wind was so strong and the noise so bad that I had to shut the windows for the first time and just rely on my fan. It went on for ages and when I fell asleep it was still going strong.

As we have a day off today (Patchum Ben, biggest public holiday of the year in Cambodia) we decided to get up early and cycle to a pretty famous temple about 7km away. When we awoke this morning it was to find that thanks to the storm it was pretty cool and we headed out of town towards the temple in a barang convoy which caused much laughter amongst the Khmer people here. Riding a push bike here is seen as pretty low status and no one rides for enjoyment (too hot!) so they think it is pretty amusing when they see us cycling along. It is quite rare to see barangs out of Lexus 4x4’s, unless of course, they are volunteers and not on an obscene NGO salary!!

So after the 7km cycle we were all pretty pooped and had a water break at the top of the hill (which we pushed the bikes up...I am yet to see a bike here with gears!). It was really busy owing to the festival but had a really vibrant spirit with all the Khmer people dressed in their best and carrying offerings to the temples. At the festival Buddhists believe that their dead ancestors who have been unable to reincarnate, owing to being naughty, come back to earth. If you’re a bad spirit your curse is your mouth being too small to eat rice (which is seen as an awful thing here as they eat nice all day every day). This one day a year they are able to eat rice so they go to the temple to pray and throw rice at them. I did not see much actual rice throwing but there was plenty lying around on the offering shrines.
Lots of photo taking ensued, followed by some drinking of sugar cane juice (which isn’t as sweet as you’d think and mixed with lime and lots of ice) and some random monkeys. We then decided to proceed onto the temple under the hill but part of the same complex. So hopped onto our bikes and headed down the hill where there was an actual bike parking area and lots and lots of people. It was at this point, whilst walking down a really uneven path that I fell over. My right ankle just completely gave way and I was unable to get up as it was really painful. The girls ran to the guys selling cold drinks and managed to get some ice which has probably prevented it swelling more. Was a nightmare as completely unable to even stand un-aided so we had to call Gideon (the tuk-tuk driver from the boat trip) who came and picked up me and my bike. He was really nice and put my bike away and practically carried me into the house. I gave him a massive tip, then crawled to the stairs and spent about 30mins going up on my arse! Then crawled to my room and managed to pull myself up onto the bed. Jean has made some kind of strapping for it but it has started to go lots of wonderful colours and swelling like mad. Yes Mum, I have taken ibuprofen and also some arnica from Jean. So just great really as am now pretty much bed ridden. Jean thinks I have torn a tendon or ligament on the top of my foot/ankle as she has had something pretty similar but I will need to see a dr for confirmation. I highly doubt the presence of an x-ray machine here though and really hoping I won’t need to do 3hrs on a bus to PP for it. Will definitely need crutches though as I cannot put any weight on it at all. Total pain in the arse basically but the other volunteers have been very supportive, bringing me food, drinks and company.

Anyway, I’m going to spend my time productively studying. Hmmmm. Very hot again.

Love xx

Sunday 13 September 2009

Pictures from the boat trip (see blog below!)
















The Boat Trip 14/09/2009

So yesterday we had arranged with a local guy called ‘Gideon’ to go on a boat trip up the Mekong stopping at a couple of places along the way. So we all arrived promptly at 10am expecting something quite different to what we got. Firstly, whilst we were waiting and chatting with Gideon it became clear that what Jeltje had thought was ‘seals’ were in fact ‘silks’! So we weren’t going to be seeing any animals then...! When the boat pulled up I think we were all a little shocked. I had imagined a small dragon boat type thing. What we got as a REALLY old flat bottomed fishing boat with a mat in the middle to sit on! As Bob pointed out afterwards, if VSO had seen what we had got on they would’ve actually had kittens. So anyway, after negotiating our way across all the rubbish covering the river banks, (in sandals. I tried not to think about it.) and the boat rocking dangerously, threatening to throw us off we all managed to find a place to sit and were underway!
I was right at the front which means I got the very wet seat as it was really quite choppy and I got quite wet. However, this was the least of my problems! We had been promised that the boat had a cover. Therefore, when I was getting dressed in the morning and all my long sleeved tops were still drying I thought, that’s ok, I’ll be under shelter. Needless to say the boat did not have a cover. It was 38 degrees yesterday with the tropical sun beating down on us, my factor 50 didn’t stand a chance. However, I was so absorbed at looking at all the sights around us and holding on to the boat that I didn’t notice any of this until our first stop and it was pointed out to me!
So our first stop was at a Muslim village on one of the Islands of the Mekong. The ladies there make the most beautiful silks all from hand. It was tempting...until I heard the prices $80 for 4m. Apparently this is the actual price and not just a tourist one, in fact in PP the Cambodian ladies who buy the silk are charged around $200 for 4m by the companies that buy it off these ladies. So, no silk on a VSO budget but it was gorgeous.
We also had quite a gathering of little children and it felt really weird as I felt like a tourist going around looking at these people’s lives as a ‘them and us’. Bob and Jean have been on quite a few of these trips before (unintentionally, like this) and refer to them as the ‘human zoo’. However, it was quite useful to see what the traditional houses and villages look like and to meet some of the lovely children. Saying that, Jeljte found a hand in her bag not long after we arrived and although the people here do not usually steal it is different when Westerners are involved. They believe that every single white person is rich and will therefore not miss the contents of their bags. This is a belief held by many people here, not just village kids. On the boat Gideon, who has very good English, was asking if we have any poor people in the West. We then had to try and explain that in our country we are not considered to be rich at all and there are many poor people. He found this very surprising even though he had been to Ireland for a month! He also failed to understand the concept of someone Indian or any other race, being British. In Cambodia you are what your ethnicity denotes, even if you’re born there.
Anyway, I digress, back to the village! They’re building a massive new mosque there which really dominates the whole place. Sadly we weren’t allowed to take pictures of it so you will just have to take my word! So, with this gaggle of children following us we carried on walking around and we asked if we were expected to give them money or something. Gideon did not want us to give them money as he said it breeds corruption and makes the children believe in begging and perpetuates the idea of Western wealth. So he suggested we buy them some sweets, however, I still kindda disagreed with this but we did it anyway as it was clearly what the kids expected and wanted.
So back on the boat...by this point it is 11:45 and the hottest part of the day. So the ideal time to be on an uncovered boat in the middle of a river without covering clothes or a hat! I reapplied tons of sun cream and got my waterproof out of my backpack and put it over my back. Jen kindly lent me a bandana to cover my head but it was seriously hot! Anyway, I think these actions prevented my sun burn from getting any worse and it has in fact just become very annoying tan lines!!
We went on for just over an hour, looking at all the submerged riverbanks and houses then turned off the main river onto a little tributary leading up to ‘The Wooden Temple’. When we got there our first stop was the sugar cane juice stall to sit in some shade and rehydrate. Now, sugar cane juice still isn’t quite to my taste (kind of sugary, greeny and limey tasting) and I’m avoiding ice, but it was nice just to be in the shade for a minute.
When we went in to the temple it was really quiet and we sat on a ledge under a nice shady tree while Gideon explained the purpose of the temple. Basically, from what I understand, it is an evil temple and there is an evil spirit which dwells there. Gideon described it as a kind of ‘satan’ (this is because he is Christian I think) and said that he is seen as a giant black man with a little beard who can step over the entire temple. He also claims that he has seen him twice and that if we stayed just one night there we would see him also. I was pessimistic! So this temple is one of only 2 wooden temples left in Cambodia and a very powerful one. Many people come to pray here and I’m guessing the idea of evil spirits isn’t the same as in Christianity but my knowledge of Buddhism is seriously limited!
Gideon also told us that when the Americans were bombing the area during the Vietnam War a bomb was dropped on the temple but the power of the temple caused it to disperse the bombs so they fell elsewhere. Pol Pot also failed in destroying the temple. His soldiers were unable to stay there and when one tried to saw a pillar he was plagued by the spirits (or something like that!).
When we were inside the Temple and Gideon was explaining about Pol Pot he also opened up about his life during that time. His grandparents were both killed as they were doctors and he and his family were in a work camp when a friend of his grandparents (a soldier) came to them and told them to run as they were to be arrested and killed. Pol Pot killed entire families as he believed that if one person was bad then the whole family, even those without genetic contact, were bad too. They then left and ran the entire way to the Vietnamese border, where they lived until just after Pol Pot was overthrown. He looked very emotional whilst telling us this story, the most I have seen a Cambodian get in fact (tears in public are very frowned upon here). It is great that so many people are so open in sharing their stories with us and it really helps to hear the individual accounts.
So this temple has stood for over 200 years and it was pretty fascinating. The gardens surrounding it were full of statues of all the different gods and other stone sculptures. They were also full of fire ants which really sting when they bite! So not too long spent in there...! We then walked on to another village where they make cotton. All these ladies sit at these massive looms under their houses producing this vividly coloured cotton to sell to others and also to trade. We quickly had another gaggle of small children, who’re all really sweet and shout ‘Hello’ at you every 5 seconds. They also got really in to hi 5’s which they kept wanting to do with us! It felt a bit better here as we were here to buy the cotton so didn’t feel the need to give them money for nothing. We went upstairs into one of the houses on stilts (the floor is just bamboo reeds placed across and looked very weak. I was concerned as I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to take Western weight!). I chose a pink (of course) and blue one in a stripey pattern. It cost $2, which is less than what they usually charge tourists ($4) as Gideon explained that we’re volunteers. The lady also said that the money was going towards building her a new house which was nice. So armed with our scarf material (no hems yet) we headed back to the boat. This time, after the tranquillity of the temple and village I really noticed the extremely noisy engine which was really starting to grate. It is a shame as it would’ve been amazing if it hadn’t been for the noise. I should also probably say at this point that there was a boy on the boat whose sole purpose was to continuously bail out all the water we were taking on. This was not totally reassuring! It also began to rain on the way back and although I was grateful that this meant no sun it also meant getting wet. Luckily a tarp was produced and we put all our bags under this (which is good as I really don’t think my ‘Northern Rock’ bag from the market is waterproof...!). So with our poncho’s and waterproofs on we settled in to getting wet for the 2 hour ride back. It wasn’t until we got onto the main river that we realised how much of a problem the rain was going to be. Basically, the wind and rain has whipped the river up so it was really quite choppy. This would be fine on anything other than the low lying, flat bottomed, rickety wooden thing we were on! We decided not to share this trip with VSO as we feel we may get into trouble!
Anyway, after a fairly hairy trip back we managed to get back to dry land and decided to go for drink in at the Lazy Mekong cafe, where they informed us that quite a lot of the restaurants and cafe’s would be closed this week for the Pachum Bum (wrong spelling, sorry) Festival, which is the biggest one of the year. Great.
Anyway, we then went back to the same stall as last night and had some noodles. We had a bit of trouble as Bob and Jean are vegetarian, which is a concept fairly alien to Cambodians, especially outside PP. On the way back I stopped to get some water and we noticed a shop full of boys and sewing machines and Jean and I paid them 1000rl (about 25c) to hem our scarfs. So feeling pretty exhausted we headed back to the house to scrub off all the filth of the day. However, I had literally just got out of the shower when the power went off. We have been having loads of problems with the electricity and it was quickly obvious that is was just our house affected in the whole street again. I hate to think what sate the electrics are in and in fact am trying not to think about it. We spoke to our land lady who spoke to a Cambodian at the VSO who said that they were not sure who had the key to the electrics box so we would have to wait until morning. So that put the scuppers on my planned evening of sorting photos and blog writing. It also meant no fans which caused a very restless and hot night. Definitely one of those ‘always look on the Brightside of life’ moments.
So this morning we have had the electricians here and I can smell electrical burning which I’m not sure is a good or bad thing...! My fan has just buzzed into life which is an amazing feeling and it means I can charge up my phone which died and continue to write this blog.
On a more personal note, I am seriously starting to miss things from home, so anyone who wants to send me stuff please, please do! E-mail me for the address J
Love xx

Saturday 12 September 2009

Photo-ma-graphs!

Breakfast!!

Shopping in the Monsoon!


Guitars...I am yet to hear them play though!

Night time tuk-tuk




Welcome party- Kirsty (l) Jen (r)



It was requested that I put some photo's up on here of my adventure...so here goes. This is just going to be a highlight, if you would like to see them all add me on facebook search 'Charlotte Harman' and I am in my profile picture so you should recognise me!!











Hot and Uncomfortable 12/09/09

Khmer word of the day: Hael teuk ( to swim...yes please!)
Weather update: Really very hot! The clouds have cleared and it hasn’t rained for a couple of days so it is boiling. I have forgotten what cold feels like again! It reminds me a lot of Greece but the heat here is a lot more humid at the moment.
So another day in Kampong Cham learning the Khmer language...
It is great here and I love learning the language, however, there has to be a but here...! As I keep being reminded ‘nothing worth doing is easy’ well no, but sat in my office in the UK doing the VSO applications I never imagined it would be this hard either!
The home sickness and culture shock are all encompassing and fairly crushing to deal with. Although I know it is going to get easier every day, it is still really very upsetting right now!
Anyway, enough of my moping! Our language teacher, Dara, is a really nice guy and has been teaching VSO volunteers for nearly 20 years. He really doesn’t like it hot when he is teaching and it is about 30 degrees at the moment and I’m sure it is worse in the classroom. Dara says that every year he has worked for VSO they have provided air conditioning, except this year. From what I understand, this is a result of the recession and the weakness of the pound against the dollar, VSO are getting a lot less spending power from their DFID (Department for International Development) funding. So no air conditioning for the classroom! However, if it continues being this hot the we are thinking of putting some money in every week so we could get it for him. This affects us especially as we are in the afternoon class, when the heat is really starting to sap energy.
During one of the breaks yesterday Jen and I cycled and bought a green coconut with a straw in to drink. We had seen a little shack place selling them and decided it might be quite refreshing, so to get out a bit, we cycled down there and a nice lady cut us a couple with a massive machete. These then when in our baskets (much to the locals amusement) and we cycled back with them to the school.
When we returned we all sat at our desks just chatting and I don’t know how it began but Dara started telling us about his experience of life under the Khmer Rouge. That is one thing you have to remember here, everyone over 30 has some kind of memory of that time and their lives. Dara was working in the fields for exactly 3 years 8 months and 20 days, he remembers the dates exactly. He fought in the civil war before that for 5 years and was 17 when he went to the fields. Dara explained how he and his fellow prisoners (he referred to it as a prison without walls) were set to work at 6am when they would watch the sun all day until 12. They would then get a 1 hour break to eat a spoonful of rice and work again until the sun set about 6 when they would get another spoonful of rice. Everyday he would watch the sun move across the sky and couldn’t wait for another day to be over. His entire family was killed apart from 3 of his brothers, who still live today, all together in Siem Riep.
After the war Dara was moved to a refugee camp in Thailand (he called it ‘the cage’) where he lived for 10 years in the rough conditions of the camp. He remembers when it was cold, putting hay over his body to keep warm. It was also here where a group of Americans taught him English and he was given a certificate showing he could teach English. This was his way out and shortly after this he began work with VSO.
It was a very moving story and I don’t think I moved a muscle the entire time he was speaking; I was so riveted by what he was saying.
When you hear stories like that from just normal people it really helps to put into perspective what we’re doing here and helps me to deal with my low feelings. We are helping a country which is desperate to recover after a gruesome, crippling and very recent conflict.
Last night, after dinner, Jen and I went and chilled out with Sarah and Kirsty in their hotel room and watched a bit of BBC world news. All it had on was the live footage of the Memorial Day in the US for the victims of 9/11. It was strange to think that just as the USA was waking up we were getting ready for bed!
It is 7:30am here (it is impossible to sleep late unless it is drug induced owing to the lady chopping things outside my window at 6:30am and the general massive amount of noise early in the morning!) and I have just looked outside the window. It is another cloudless day, which also means a very hot one! The electricity has also gone off and I am really hoping it comes back on soon as I am using my laptop battery to write this and the fan has gone off! Jean has just informed me that this might be due to some guys arriving in the street with loads of new cables. No nice informative letters here...!
I’m also hoping that a couple of volunteers might be up for staying up late tonight and having a few drinks as we don’t have class tomorrow!!
I think I might even try and do some laundry today, not sure how I’ll hang it but will give it a go!!
Love :o) xx

Wednesday 9 September 2009

On the Move 09/09/09

So today we moved to Kampong Cham, where we will be living for six weeks whilst we do our intensive Khmer language training.

Anyway, I had a pretty interesting day today so I shall try and describe it for you...
Our first session of the day was entitled ‘Health and Safety’ and I was a little worried as we already had a talk in the UK regarding all the horrid diseases we would be susceptible to! The biggest issue for most volunteers here is malaria and whether to take the prophylactics or not. The advice given by the doctor here is NOT to take them as dealing with the side effects for the entire length of your placement could be hard. Also, if a mosquito bites you whilst you’re taking the drugs it can build up a resistance to the few drugs which are used to treat the disease. You can also still get malaria whilst taking the drugs. However, I DO NOT want to get malaria, it is a deadly and very dangerous disease which is a major problem in the area I am going to be living in. The decision is left up to me as to take them or not and there is an equal number of volunteers who do and don’t. So I shall be mulling that over for the next few weeks (whilst living in a malaria free zone!). I won’t even start on dengue fever as I do not want to scare you lovely readers, but put it this way, my chances of NOT getting it are not good!

So after that uplifting session Kirsty and I headed out to find a pharmacy as she wanted someone to look at her very swollen mosquito bite on her ankle and I needed sleeping tablets (still on UK time grr!).

I also merged this trip with one to a ‘reputable’ dvd shop to stock up for the long evenings in the provinces! I managed to get the entire 3rd season on The Tudors and loads of great films for about $1 each. I don’t usually agree with piracy, but, when in rome!

So we were then going to head back to the programme office but still had over an hour to kill and didn’t fancy just sitting around so we ended up going to the Cambodian National Museum. I mean, we’re not talking the British Museum here, it is pretty small but the building is lovely with a beautiful garden section in the middle. We half of the time sat by the pretty carp ponds on a bench as it was mega hot! It was generally very relaxing and enjoyable and the objects on display were fascinating. So well worth the $3!

For lunch we were joined by the visiting UK MP Sharon Hodgson, who is here to do some advocacy work with a NGO called ‘Disability Action’ and has several high profile meetings with Cambodian ministers. Sharon is also giving a speech on Friday in Siem Reap to all the female MP’s in Cambodia on the role of female MP’s in the UK. Anyway, it all sounds really fascinating and Sharon is a lovely person to speak to.

So we then all headed off to the bus office in a convoy of tuk-tuks to board our bus to the countryside. The bus was alot nicer than I expected and air-conditioned (actually, it was bloody freezing but I dare not complain because I could hardly remember what being cold feels like!). Once we made it out of PP, which took a good 45mins, we headed out into the wild Cambodian countryside. It was at this point that the monsoon started and it was unbelievable! The roads were massively flooded and the driver didn’t seem to want to slow down whilst swerving wildly around massive puddles and pot holes! Crazy times!

On the way we stopped at a little pit stop place where they were selling the token deep fried spiders. They were pretty massive actually and black, which is what concerned me more than the fact that people we eating them! So, goaded on by the (very wimpy) group Simon decided to go for it and we all watched, took photos and decided that if one of the group had done it, it kindda meant we all had! Looked pretty gross actually and he managed quite a bit of leg before he decided enough was enough!

So back on the bus (after a coffee with condensed milk!) and on our way again. We arrived in Kampong Cham about 3hrs after leaving, which isn’t bad considering the state of the roads and the weather.

6 of us, including me, are staying in a house and the other 6 in the Mekong Hotel on the waterfront. This turns out to have been quite jammy on my part (totally unintentional might I add!) as I have my own room with a double bed and wet room. So I’m pretty happy. Apart from the fact that I’ve just realised that my bed is lacking a top sheet for some reason so I will have to sleep under my towel!

The family that have rented us the house live next door and we share a little courtyard area which is nice. We will also be cycling to our language classes, so it is another chance for us to test our biking skills (by skill I mean staying on the 40 year old bike, which I doubt has ever had a service or new brakes in its entire life and veers to the left when you push off!).

Anyway, this evening we had a lovely meal at a place called ‘Smiles’. It has been set up by an NGO and is completely run by ex street children from the local area and gives them training and a job. The food was amazing (I had pasta....YES!! I have never loved the taste so much!) and the staff are great. It was pretty cheap too with breakfast costing $2 and my big dinner and a drink came to $5 with tip! It also has wireless internet so I’m sure it will become a second home for all of us for the next 6 weeks!

I’m about to chill (literally, thanks to lack of sheet and enthusiastic fan) and watch The Tudors.

Lots of love xx

Tuesday 8 September 2009

The Calm Before the Storm

Right so time to update you on what I've been up to for the last couple of days...

We have been having intensive training sessions at the Programme Office on everything from cultural do's and don'ts (watch the soles of your feet!) to corruption (everywhere).

It was really very interesting and I have learnt alot, however, sitting in a warm office whilst still suffering from horrid jet lag is some what of a challenge!

No photo's to update on facebook either I'm afraid as I actually haven't been anywhere really. Well, apart from the crazy bike ride around PP earlier today with Jeltje! However, I was focusing too hard on trying not to hit anything and avoiding some crazy road behaviour. A Khmer dude on a moped actually laughed at me...he was coming towards me on the wrong side of the road!!!!! Was definately a worth while experience though!

I have a free morning from 9am tomorrow so I was planning on walking down the river side to get my last few purchases before we head up to Kompong Cham (on Mekong river north of PP). It looks like a really nice place and I'm staying in a house with a roof terrace with views over the town. However, it is a little more rural than PP so stocking up on some luxuries now!
We are all staying there for 3 weeks doing launguage lessons for 4 hours a day 6 days a week. Then heading up to Placement for a visit and it is a chance to meet my co-workers and the volunteers who are living there. It is also the time when Jeltje and I go househunting...We have decided to live together as it means we have more money for a bigger and nicer place for when all you lovely people visit :)

Kompong Cham is quite small but I hear you can do boat trips up river to Kratie and see the really rare freshwater dolphins, which makes me quite excited. It will also be nice to see some of the countryside which Cambodia is famous for!

So next time you hear from me that is where I will be and don't worry I will take many many pictures on the 2hr bus journey!!

Love xx

Monday 7 September 2009

Shopping in the Monsoon!! 06/09/09

Khmer words of the day: Barang (foreigner)
T’lei pon man? (How much is it?)

Weather update: Bloody boiling this morning as the sun was out making everything ALOT hotter! I’m guessing it was about 30c today. However, this quickly turned into mega heavy rain and it has been spitting ever since (i’m writing this at 22:50!) This does mean that it is alot cooler now though so much better for sleep!

So this afternoon, after spending over 2 hours in the lovely air conditioned internet cafe we decided to venture to the market. So Simon, Kirsty, Sarah and I headed off to the Central Market armed with shopping lists and very limited Khmer! However, pretty much the minute we jumped into the tuk-tuk a major rain storm set in and when it rains here it usually seriously rains! So we were pretty wet when we arrived and had to jump over about 4 ft of puddle to get to the entrance and enter the maze of tunnels of tiny little stalls. The ‘roof’ is made out strips of plastic sheeting which I have no idea quite how it manages to withstand the rain. Put it this way, there are many holes so it is like being in a slightly lighter rain storm! I’m sorry I haven’t got any photo’s of inside the market, it is not a great idea to flaunt wealth as being a foreigner makes you conspicuous enough without looking like a crass tourist too :p
So here we are, making our way through a fairly smelly and very wet rabbit warren on a mission to find the things on our lists...

The first thing on the list for Kirsty and I was definitely HAIR STRAIGHTENERS! We are both seriously suffering from some serious frizz action, probably not helped by the sweat and humidity but still a problem! Anyway, there are absolutely loads of different kinds of straighteners available and we eventually bartered $11 for 2 sets of fairly good (I hope) sets.
I then decided that a pillow and towel were next on the list, so feeling confident I marched (well, sort of did a random leaping dance over yucky puddles) towards a stall I had seen selling bed stuff and towels. After getting some advice from one of the VSO staff, who told me to avoid Cambodian pillows (they smell awful apparently!) I settled on an American pillow which was very plumphy (technical word!) and was also antibacterial and hypoallergenic. I managed to get this god of pillows and a big pink towel for $10 which I was very happy with! The trick with bartering here is to take about $2-4 off and try and try until they put it away in which case you’ve reached the lowest point. Luckily, pretty much the only barangs (see word of the day!) who are in PP this time of the year live here/are volunteers so the market sellers don’t take the mickey too much with prices.

So i’m now armed with a fairly sizeable bag in tunnels designed for people half my size and jumping like a loon over puddles (flip flops ewww)...lord only knows what I must have looked like to the Khmer stall holders!

In the central area of the market it is all amazing jewellery and i’m sure it is very reasonable but on a VSO budget definitely not on my shopping list!

So we proceeded on to try and find bags. Sadly i’m not talking about the lovely silk embroidered ones they sell here but rather the boring, practical kind! When we move to Kampong Cham on Wednesday I do not want to be carrying things such as a potato masher up there and I’m sure I can leave some clothes behind so as to minimise weight. However, this means a new bag! So went up to a lovely lady selling all kinds of bags and after getting out really quite a few I settled on a little north face (yeah right) and Salamon (hmmm) holdall. These will come in useful on my bike and also on my travels to Phnom Penh and hopefully to Thailand and to visit other volunteers in Ho Chi Minh City.

Anyway, so those set me back $20 for the 2 which isn’t too bad really although I probably could’ve knocked it down further if I had better Khmer and could actually understand the numbers. It is a bit embarrassing when you are being all confident and saying ‘hello, how are you’ and ‘how much’ in Khmer to then just stare blankley back at the stall holder when they answer in Khmer and you don’t understand a sodding word!! However, I am muchly reassured by the other volunteers who have been a few months being really quite fluent!
So now I have 2 huge carrier bags to haul around we decide to head out and go guitar shopping for Kirsty and Sarah who have both decided that they are going to use their long lonely evenings in the provinces learning this fairly cool skill! When we emerged back into the street it was to be met by a wall of water which meant we quickly turned back towards the market and the handily placed umbrella shop! This saw Kirsty and I acquire 2 shiny new brightly coloured umbrellas (Sarah had a poncho and Simon was very prepared and already had a brolly!). So we set off again out into the monsoon to be greeted by completely flooded streets, it seems the Cambodian’s haven’t got road drainage or do have it and it is completely overwhelmed. Anyway, after a few more leaps over giant smelly puddles and a few enquires we found a guitar shop!
I must say I was a little dubious and thought we wouldn’t find one but find one we did and it was actually pretty amazing! Had a huge range of guitars and the girls managed to find a couple they loved and they were both made in Phnom Penh which is great. So we then all leged it to a tuk tuk which now contains 4 people, 2 guitars, pillow & towel bag, 2 new bags and sets of hair straighteners!

We were all pretty exhausted when we got back to the VSO PO (Programme Office) and just decided to go around the corner for dinner at a Khmer place Simon had visited the night before. It was really authentic with accompanying Khmer Karaoke! The food here just comes whenever it is ready and beer is cheaper than sodas! So was a pretty cheap night costing us $4 each including loadsa food and beers! So that was good. Bit of a shame that I couldn’t really enjoy it though as I have completely lost my appetite (I think this is the best diet ever as I haven’t felt hungry all day!). Anyway, I’m sure it’ll come back when I get used to the heat. I must admit that I went next door to the nice supermarket and bought actual Coco-pops for breakfast for tomorrow! I know it is stupid as they cost $4 but they will make me feel less home sick and means I will probably eat breakfast. Saying that ‘You’ll never walk alone just came on my ipod and now feeling very home sick! In fact listening to my ipod in general is a bad idea as every song on it reminds me of something from home!

Just a quick thing, the MP for Newcastle-upon-Tyne is staying in the room opposite mine as she is doing a couple of weeks volunteering as a government adviser. Feel some serious networking coming on...although she’ll probably be eating with the ambassador at the Cambodiana (best hotel in PP, there is supposed to be an amazing hotel in Shianoukville too, if anyone is interested!) every night, not at the local Khmer place for $4!! Oh well!!
Please keep me up to date with what you’re all doing! I want to know the football scores and if anyone can find a way of recording strictly for me I would love you more than I probably do now! Of course, you’re all welcome to come visit if anyone is in SE Asia and we can live it up in PP!!

Ok, this is a complete essay (It is in fact a lot longer than most of my essays and took me 20mins to write...!). So I’m signing off for today, Mega busy training sessions coming up in the morning.

Love you all xx

Saturday 5 September 2009

Cyclo tour of PP!

On our first Saturday in PP VSO hired us a cyclo (a chair pushed by a guy on a bike) to take us on a tour of Phnom Penh!

It was a little scary getting in these things as the roads here are MENTAL. I mean MENTAL. I saw a massive 4x4 driving the wrong way up the dual carriageway yesterday and this is totally normal. The only law is that there is no law, especially if you're wealthy.

So we got in our cylco and headed off to our first stop which was the temple on which PP was built. It has been totally restored and is set in beautiful parkland. There are many Khmer people there praying to all the different buddah's and shrines and the whole place hums with incense. One of the first things you notice with PP is the smell, one min it's drains, next jasmine, then rubbish, then insence! Very odd!

After that we headed up to the main market called 'New Market', which was amazing! It is a rabbit warren where there is anything and everything you could ever want or imagine!

We travelled on to the Foriegn Corrsepondents Club down by the river front which is really famous as it is where all the journalists were during the war. It has an amazing terrace with great view accross all of the riverside. It also has wifi but is quite expensive at about $8 a meal, so one to save for when someone else is paying :p

We then headed up towards our lunch spot passing a hotel called 'The Pavillion' where you can spend all day by the pool for spending $5 on food and drink, which was a great find!

Lunch was at an amazing little restaurant where you eat whilst reclining (a little difficult if you're not a teeny asian!). Was very tasty!

The cyclo tour then continued on to Tuol Sleng (s-21) which was the school that the Khmer Rouge turned into its infamous torture prison during the civil war here. It was a harrowing expeience and really very graphic. We hired a guide to take us around, which was definately worth the $2 as he told us some amazing stories from his life during the Khmer Rouge reign. I didn't take alot of photos there as it didn't really feel right and it was really quite graphic. I could probably write a huge long blog just about the place but it really does need a visit in person as nothing I could say would really describe it.

So after that harrowing experience we cycloed back to VSO office and chilled for a bit before going out for a curry with some other volunteers who have been here for a year already!

Sorry for rushing this but just noticed that I am massively late for a shopping trip to the market and I have alot to buy!

Hopefully will get on later and can describe my shopping experience!

Love xx

Nothing that is worth doing is easy!

Hello!

Right, so I have arrived in Phnom Penh...!

So I'll start with the very begining and work my way through what has happened since then!

So on 2nd September 2009 at 6:30am Mum drove me to the Heathrow terminal 3 and the adventure truely began. I was a little nervous about checking in as my bag wieghed about 28kg and the max was 25kg (but it did have my helmet in!). Luckily the lady at the desk must've been in a good mood as we weren't charged a thing for excess baggage thank goodness!

As we proceeded towards security I knew that horrid goodbye was coming and was bloody awful. Possibly one of the hardest things I have ever done and if it wasn't for the support of the other girls...I'm actually quite suprised I didn't just run back but I guess it is mind over matter. I have alot of people relying on me and of course all of you have donated money to the cause so I couldn't just run away!

Anyway. So we got on the plane and we were sat on a 4 seater in the middle with just the three of us but it became fairly apparent that the plane was pretty much empty so everyone got to spead out a bit. I managed to curl up on 2 seats and slept the most I have ever slept on a plane! Managed to get about 4-5 hours which was pretty good. I also did quite a bit of reading :) unfortunately we were on a really old plane which was a bit disappointing as it only had one tv quite a way away so you couldn't really see. Caught the end of Angels and Demons though which is a pretty good film. To be honest, we chatted most of the way! We were all getting to know each other as we are going to be spending alot of time together in the coming months!

The transfer at Bangkok went really smoothly and it was an amazing flight over to PP. The first thing I noticed was that EVERYTHING is flooded. From the air it looks like those arial images you see when you are looking at a flood disaster on the news, however this is totally normal for this time of year!

We were met at the airport by the lovely admin team from VSO Cambodia who helped to guide us through the visa process (n.b. when you come to Cambodia you need to have a passport picture for your visa. Luckily I knew this!).

Then we went to the office and met some more of the team and Kirsty and I went to the guest house as there weren't enough rooms for all of us at the Programme Office. I really hated it and luckily I have managed to swap with one of the girls so that I am now staying at the office.

I will be in PP until next Weds when we move to Kampong Cham which is about 3 hours NW of PP and meant to be lovely. This is where we will be doing our language training which I am really looking forward to as so far I am still struggling with hello and thank you!

Phnom Penh itself is crazy! I have never been in a city like it. There is quite an apparent wealth divide, with the rich and poor living side by side in quite a stark contrast. On the second night we went out for drinks so quite a swanky place and I had an amazing cocktail for $3 which is really not much at all but for a cyclo driver in half a days wages. Since I found this out I always tip at least another dollar. I don't know how long this will last on my limited funds but we shall see!

Ok, I'm going to end this blog now and go on to a new one describing my Cyclo Tour I did yesterday...!

Thinking of you all :o) xx