As you have read in my previous blogs I am really struggling to balance the complete and abject poverty experienced by the majority here in Cambodia, forced on them and hindered by a small percentage of highly powerful 'Khmer Riche'. This small group run Cambodia, politically and economically, with corruption at such a high rate it is very difficult for the average Cambodian to get anywhere without becoming part of the process.
The selling off of land which belongs to indeginous people, who have been working it for years, in order to log it for the highly sought after (and illegal) tropical hardwood is just one of the many ways in which the rich are profiting from taking advantage of the poorest.It is not just a problem in Mondulkiri either, all over Cambodia huge swathes of land have been sold off in order to extract the natural resources, whether it is wood, gold, gems or oil. In the linked article from The Times it says that Cambodia should be making billions a year in oil revenues alone and yet it still receives more than this in foreign aid.
So why, I hear you ask, should we support a country which is so set on not helping itself? This is a difficult question and one I have asked myself many times, especially when I come across corruption perpetrated by Cambodians which directly damages those most in need.
Firstly, Cambodia needs help. The Khmer Rouge destroyed an entire generation of professionals like teachers and doctors, so advisors are needed to temporarily fill the stop-gap. However, the government regularly fails its key workers when they need support the most. For example, teachers are paid $30 a month on average. $30? Even here that is barely enough to support a family for a week. So they need to generate more income and this is done by corrupt practices such as charging students to come to school, making students pay for exam papers or even insisting that the children buy snacks from the teachers spouse. This in turn causes parents to resent teachers and means the poorest will never succeed at school. I have seen this happen regularly and teacher/parent relations are a huge aspect of my work here. However, how much sustainable success can I really have if the Government continues its low salary policy?
Secondly, if foreign aid pulled out from Cambodia it is the poorest who would suffer. The rich elite rely on NGOs to support the poor and I fear that if they did leave in protest at the system, the rich would not suddenly revert to social responsibility. The poor would suffer a huge drop in services and in the short term there would be a peak in mortality rates, not to mention the long term effects such a radical change would cause. The Department for International Development (DFID-British Government) have recently pulled out of Cambodia; I wonder who will be next?
So, although I regularly feel that Cambodia has been let down by those who are supposed to protect, conserve and love their country I do not think it wise to abandon Cambodia to its fate.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7023700.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1
Monday, 15 March 2010
The Elephant Project 150310
http://www.elie-cambodia.org/
My friend Jack has been in Mondulkiri for 6 years setting up the Elephant Project here, which now consists of several bungalows as accommodation for tourists and volunteers working at the project. You can go for the day, week, month or several months!
The work there consists of working with the mahouts (elephant handlers) to ensure that they do not mistreat the elephants. Jack pays the mahouts a certain amount each month so that their sick/injured/infirm elephants do not have to work, causing them further suffering and long term health issues.
The plot of land out at the project is beautiful and I spent a lovely afternoon wandering through the jungle at elephants pace, stopping for the occasional mud bath!
So check out the website and if you ever fancy spending a week in the remote jungle, in lovely lodgings and spending the day walking around with elephants, this is the place to go!!!
xx
My friend Jack has been in Mondulkiri for 6 years setting up the Elephant Project here, which now consists of several bungalows as accommodation for tourists and volunteers working at the project. You can go for the day, week, month or several months!
The work there consists of working with the mahouts (elephant handlers) to ensure that they do not mistreat the elephants. Jack pays the mahouts a certain amount each month so that their sick/injured/infirm elephants do not have to work, causing them further suffering and long term health issues.
The plot of land out at the project is beautiful and I spent a lovely afternoon wandering through the jungle at elephants pace, stopping for the occasional mud bath!
So check out the website and if you ever fancy spending a week in the remote jungle, in lovely lodgings and spending the day walking around with elephants, this is the place to go!!!
xx
Speaking Gecko (Mum and Brian visit Cambodia) 23/02/10
Sorry-this is really late!
So Mum and Brian left yesterday for a two day stopover in Thailand (and I am informed-a luxury hotel!) before heading home from their trip to SE Asia.
I was a little nervous at first that Mum and Bri wouldn’t like Cambodia but I was wrong to doubt how quickly people fall in love with this Country, even with all its problems.
We started off in Phnom Penh with a great airport greeting then back to The Pavillion Hotel, which has been converted from the Queen’s (of Cambodia!) former residence into a lovely boutique hotel surrounded by lush tropical gardens and a beautiful pool. However, Mum and Bri’s room actually had their own pool which was ace. On the first night I decided that it was probably best to start with ‘Phnom Penh light’ so I took them to FCC (Foreign Correspondents Club) for dinner and drinks on the roof terrace overlooking the river and Royal Palace complex.
The next day we headed back into Phnom Penh (Brian looking particularly bleary eyed as he had stayed up till 4am watching Liverpool loose!) to check out the Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda and National Museum. Brian had surprised me with a new lens for my camera, so he quickly set about taking some photographs with it.
After an afternoon of chilling by the gorgeous pool we headed to a roof terrace on the river for (small) cocktails and the on to a French restaurant for dinner. I was taking the opportunity of taking Mum and Bri to places which I usually can’t afford!!
The next morning we headed out to The Killing Fields, the scenes of the genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge in the late 70’s. From experiencing the genocide prison complex in Phnom Penh (S21) I knew that this was not going to be a pleasant experience but none the less I am glad we went. A huge stupa has been erected which contains the bones of the victims which were dug up during the initial excavation of the site in the 80s. It was decided, after the scale of the graves was realised, that leaving the bodies where they are is for the best and many mass graves remain untouched at the site. It is strange, but I found it to be a very peaceful place, almost verging on beautiful. There is a natural lake in the centre and other than the odd sign it is difficult to tell that this was a scene of mass murder. I’m not going to go into detail, but suffice it to say that when the Khmer Rouge were perpetrating these killings they were not ones to waste bullets on executions, so the means of death are very grim indeed. If you ever go to Cambodia it needs to be done to help understand the country’s horrific past, but the people here do not dwell. In fact, many do not even want the trials that are currently happening here to continue. Most just want to move on, which I can understand, but these horrific crimes must be accounted for and many of the Khmer Rouge leaders are still alive.
Anyway, onto something much more cheerful! That evening I took Mum and Bri for cocktails at Raffles (the best martini in Phnom Penh) then onto a NGO restaurant which does some of the nicest (and most foreigner friendly) Cambodian food in Phnom Penh.
The next day we headed off to the French Colonial coastal town of Kep and our villa overlooking the beautiful Gulf of Thailand on one side at a jungle covered mountain on the other-stunning! Unfortunately, I had chosen this day to get really sick so the most I saw of the place was my bed and the bathroom (both of which were the nicest I had been in/to in Cambodia!). The next day however we took a walk down to the crab market which was buzzing as it was Chinese New Year and many people were on holiday. So we had great fun just wandering around the market stalls selling freshly caught seafood, which went from said sea to someone’s tummy in about 10 minutes.
The following day Brian decided that we were going to go for a walk, which I was reassured, would not be going through jungle or up hills (I still felt ropey). Naturally, the walk we ended up on was straight up the hill and through the jungle. It was worth it though as after talking (hmmm) to a very enthusiastic nun and a friend of the Queen’s who had set up said nunnery, we ended up at a beautiful lookout point where you could see the entire bay area. Another stunning example of how this country is so full of the unexpected.
The next morning we had arranged a tour with Rith, a rather enterprising young man who has set up his own tour/travel agency in town and he promptly (only 15mins late) arrived to take us around the sites of Kep in his retro Toyota camry. The first part of this tour was of the ‘ghost town’ which is comprised of the burnt out French villas from the ‘30s40s. It is actually pretty creepy going around there and it is strange to see these beautiful old villas in such a decrepit state and it makes you wonder what an amazing place it must’ve been back in the day. It is also quite bizarre that there are beautiful fences and gates surrounding completely empty plots of land. Rith informed us that this is because if there is not a fence around it the government will now sell that plot of land. This is a familiar problem across Cambodia, with the government selling off huge swathes of prime real estate in order to make a quick buck, with no thought that eventually the land is going to run out and Cambodia will be left with nothing. It is happening everywhere, with massive plots having been sold here, in Mondulkiri, which are now being logged, mined and planted with rubber trees with none of the income benefiting Cambodia. The workforce are imported, the materials immediately exported (on roads built by foreign businesses) out of Cambodia and into the foreign markets with absolutely no sustainability or positive outcome for Cambodian people. When there is nothing left, the foreign investors will no doubt try and sell the land back to Cambodia for far more than it is now worth.
Sorry, that turned into a bit of a rant and I’m afraid I may revert to it when I write about Bokor Mountain Hill Station!
Anyway, on the tour we also visited the amazing caves at Kampong Trach (where small children showed us around with torches) which were pretty breathtaking, but impossible to get a decent photo of! We also stopped off at a pepper plantation, where Mum took the opportunity to invest in a big bag of black and white Kampot pepper, which is famous around the world for its unique flavour. So whilst on the way back to town, Rith mentioned that the road up Bokor Mountain was open for Chinese New Year and tomorrow was the last day. I knew that this was quite a rare occurrence and that the other option was an 8hour trek each way, so we arranged for him to pick us up the following day and to take us up the mountain and then drop us at our new hotel in Kampot.
The Vietnamese company Sokha, is building a new road up the mountain as it is building a huge hotel complex at the top, which will be 5* all bells and whistles when finished. Currently, at the top there is the remains of the small town, built by the French, mostly consisting of a Hotel/Casino. This must have been beautiful it its day, with some of the best views I have ever seen of the jungle and coast. However, rather than refurbishing this beautiful, albeit run down, building Sokha is creating a hotel which would not be out of place in Dubai or Las Vegas. The word travesty does not even do this justice and it makes me very sad. They are going to flood an entire valley to create an artificial lake where they’ll be water sports. Seriously. I cannot even comprehend the damage this will do to the ‘national park’ and the wildlife which has all but departed. Saying that, we were fortunate enough to see a couple of eagles and great hornbills whilst on the road, which was pretty amazing. I feel very lucky that I have managed to see this beautiful place before it is ruined by ‘development’.
The next day we felt pretty exhausted from doing about 1hr of walking the previous day...so this called for a massage. We had a recommendation from a VSO in town and had appointments booked. Brian had opted for the ‘steam’ option and the result was one of the funniest things I have seen in my life. One has not lived until they have seen their father wearing a sarong and crouching down so that two tiny Khmer ladies can baste him in bright orange paste to then seat him on a commode covered in a plastic bag then lighting a fire under his bum.
Flights/hotels/trips: $2000
Steam/massage: $9
A photograph which will forever be used for blackmailing purposes: priceless
Ahhh anyway. Soon it was time for us to head on back to Phnom Penh, as Mum and Brian were leaving in a couple of days and we still needed to shop!! So this we did and Brian decided that a trip to the S21 torture and genocide museum was a more appealing prospect than going to the market with Mum and I!! So, I am sure all of you who are now the proud owners of silk scarves know that they were indeed bought in a Cambodian market!
There is so much more to tell but this blog is already way too long! So I guess you will all have to come to Cambodia to experience it for yourselves!
xx
So Mum and Brian left yesterday for a two day stopover in Thailand (and I am informed-a luxury hotel!) before heading home from their trip to SE Asia.
I was a little nervous at first that Mum and Bri wouldn’t like Cambodia but I was wrong to doubt how quickly people fall in love with this Country, even with all its problems.
We started off in Phnom Penh with a great airport greeting then back to The Pavillion Hotel, which has been converted from the Queen’s (of Cambodia!) former residence into a lovely boutique hotel surrounded by lush tropical gardens and a beautiful pool. However, Mum and Bri’s room actually had their own pool which was ace. On the first night I decided that it was probably best to start with ‘Phnom Penh light’ so I took them to FCC (Foreign Correspondents Club) for dinner and drinks on the roof terrace overlooking the river and Royal Palace complex.
The next day we headed back into Phnom Penh (Brian looking particularly bleary eyed as he had stayed up till 4am watching Liverpool loose!) to check out the Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda and National Museum. Brian had surprised me with a new lens for my camera, so he quickly set about taking some photographs with it.
After an afternoon of chilling by the gorgeous pool we headed to a roof terrace on the river for (small) cocktails and the on to a French restaurant for dinner. I was taking the opportunity of taking Mum and Bri to places which I usually can’t afford!!
The next morning we headed out to The Killing Fields, the scenes of the genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge in the late 70’s. From experiencing the genocide prison complex in Phnom Penh (S21) I knew that this was not going to be a pleasant experience but none the less I am glad we went. A huge stupa has been erected which contains the bones of the victims which were dug up during the initial excavation of the site in the 80s. It was decided, after the scale of the graves was realised, that leaving the bodies where they are is for the best and many mass graves remain untouched at the site. It is strange, but I found it to be a very peaceful place, almost verging on beautiful. There is a natural lake in the centre and other than the odd sign it is difficult to tell that this was a scene of mass murder. I’m not going to go into detail, but suffice it to say that when the Khmer Rouge were perpetrating these killings they were not ones to waste bullets on executions, so the means of death are very grim indeed. If you ever go to Cambodia it needs to be done to help understand the country’s horrific past, but the people here do not dwell. In fact, many do not even want the trials that are currently happening here to continue. Most just want to move on, which I can understand, but these horrific crimes must be accounted for and many of the Khmer Rouge leaders are still alive.
Anyway, onto something much more cheerful! That evening I took Mum and Bri for cocktails at Raffles (the best martini in Phnom Penh) then onto a NGO restaurant which does some of the nicest (and most foreigner friendly) Cambodian food in Phnom Penh.
The next day we headed off to the French Colonial coastal town of Kep and our villa overlooking the beautiful Gulf of Thailand on one side at a jungle covered mountain on the other-stunning! Unfortunately, I had chosen this day to get really sick so the most I saw of the place was my bed and the bathroom (both of which were the nicest I had been in/to in Cambodia!). The next day however we took a walk down to the crab market which was buzzing as it was Chinese New Year and many people were on holiday. So we had great fun just wandering around the market stalls selling freshly caught seafood, which went from said sea to someone’s tummy in about 10 minutes.
The following day Brian decided that we were going to go for a walk, which I was reassured, would not be going through jungle or up hills (I still felt ropey). Naturally, the walk we ended up on was straight up the hill and through the jungle. It was worth it though as after talking (hmmm) to a very enthusiastic nun and a friend of the Queen’s who had set up said nunnery, we ended up at a beautiful lookout point where you could see the entire bay area. Another stunning example of how this country is so full of the unexpected.
The next morning we had arranged a tour with Rith, a rather enterprising young man who has set up his own tour/travel agency in town and he promptly (only 15mins late) arrived to take us around the sites of Kep in his retro Toyota camry. The first part of this tour was of the ‘ghost town’ which is comprised of the burnt out French villas from the ‘30s40s. It is actually pretty creepy going around there and it is strange to see these beautiful old villas in such a decrepit state and it makes you wonder what an amazing place it must’ve been back in the day. It is also quite bizarre that there are beautiful fences and gates surrounding completely empty plots of land. Rith informed us that this is because if there is not a fence around it the government will now sell that plot of land. This is a familiar problem across Cambodia, with the government selling off huge swathes of prime real estate in order to make a quick buck, with no thought that eventually the land is going to run out and Cambodia will be left with nothing. It is happening everywhere, with massive plots having been sold here, in Mondulkiri, which are now being logged, mined and planted with rubber trees with none of the income benefiting Cambodia. The workforce are imported, the materials immediately exported (on roads built by foreign businesses) out of Cambodia and into the foreign markets with absolutely no sustainability or positive outcome for Cambodian people. When there is nothing left, the foreign investors will no doubt try and sell the land back to Cambodia for far more than it is now worth.
Sorry, that turned into a bit of a rant and I’m afraid I may revert to it when I write about Bokor Mountain Hill Station!
Anyway, on the tour we also visited the amazing caves at Kampong Trach (where small children showed us around with torches) which were pretty breathtaking, but impossible to get a decent photo of! We also stopped off at a pepper plantation, where Mum took the opportunity to invest in a big bag of black and white Kampot pepper, which is famous around the world for its unique flavour. So whilst on the way back to town, Rith mentioned that the road up Bokor Mountain was open for Chinese New Year and tomorrow was the last day. I knew that this was quite a rare occurrence and that the other option was an 8hour trek each way, so we arranged for him to pick us up the following day and to take us up the mountain and then drop us at our new hotel in Kampot.
The Vietnamese company Sokha, is building a new road up the mountain as it is building a huge hotel complex at the top, which will be 5* all bells and whistles when finished. Currently, at the top there is the remains of the small town, built by the French, mostly consisting of a Hotel/Casino. This must have been beautiful it its day, with some of the best views I have ever seen of the jungle and coast. However, rather than refurbishing this beautiful, albeit run down, building Sokha is creating a hotel which would not be out of place in Dubai or Las Vegas. The word travesty does not even do this justice and it makes me very sad. They are going to flood an entire valley to create an artificial lake where they’ll be water sports. Seriously. I cannot even comprehend the damage this will do to the ‘national park’ and the wildlife which has all but departed. Saying that, we were fortunate enough to see a couple of eagles and great hornbills whilst on the road, which was pretty amazing. I feel very lucky that I have managed to see this beautiful place before it is ruined by ‘development’.
The next day we felt pretty exhausted from doing about 1hr of walking the previous day...so this called for a massage. We had a recommendation from a VSO in town and had appointments booked. Brian had opted for the ‘steam’ option and the result was one of the funniest things I have seen in my life. One has not lived until they have seen their father wearing a sarong and crouching down so that two tiny Khmer ladies can baste him in bright orange paste to then seat him on a commode covered in a plastic bag then lighting a fire under his bum.
Flights/hotels/trips: $2000
Steam/massage: $9
A photograph which will forever be used for blackmailing purposes: priceless
Ahhh anyway. Soon it was time for us to head on back to Phnom Penh, as Mum and Brian were leaving in a couple of days and we still needed to shop!! So this we did and Brian decided that a trip to the S21 torture and genocide museum was a more appealing prospect than going to the market with Mum and I!! So, I am sure all of you who are now the proud owners of silk scarves know that they were indeed bought in a Cambodian market!
There is so much more to tell but this blog is already way too long! So I guess you will all have to come to Cambodia to experience it for yourselves!
xx
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Photo-shoot pictures!
Jeltje with her cool hair (sorry, best pic I promise hun!)
Me. This dress is hideous.
Kirsty actually looked really nice. Bit like a bride though!
Jen, also looking amazing! Not fair!
Sarah looking gorgeous and blinging!
Accidents, Khmer, Photo-shoot and broken toe! 080210
Sorry for not updating for a while, I have been in Phnom Penh for just over 3 weeks and very busy!
I initially went down with Jeltje during her medevac as a result of a nasty motorbike accident. She is currently in Bangkok getting surgery on her hand and it was a very tense 6 hours in the taxi down to Phnom Penh! Jeltje also had a pretty serious concussion (she was wearing a helmet though) and as a result can’t remember anything about the day of the accident from having breakfast in the morning to the hospital in Phnom Penh. For this I am quite grateful as the treatment she received at the hospital here in Mondulkiri was a little on the traumatic side...
I stayed in Phnom Penh as the following week I was starting my second round of language training and it seemed silly to back and forth within a week!
The language training this time around was super intense but I am starting to feel a little more confident with my capacity to speak Khmer and having more success in being understood now that my vocabulary is improving! So we had a couple of weeks as a group in Phnom Penh, which gave us a chance to really explore the city and enjoy having the luxuries of chocolate and cocktails!
Also included in this was Jen’s birthday party, where we all went to a photo-studio and had some brilliant photographs taken of us in proper Khmer fashion. This involves having a thick layer of make-up applied, hair made into a beehive and put into a super tacky evening dress. You then have to pose with an array of props ranging from flowers and leaves to mirrors and chairs in a very cheesey poses! It was really funny and I can’t wait to see the final products when we receive them (super air-brushed of course). In the mean time I have included some of the pictures we took on the day ourselves. There aren’t any of the group shots, obviously, but they were by far the best pictures (once we stopped laughing!).
So I have had a week back in Mondulkiri before my parents arrive on 10th which I can’t wait for! I have moved into my new place, which is a vast improvement on the rat infested house I was living in. I have also made an action plan for the next two months which my line manager has approved which means I can really get going. However, I won’t be going anywhere myself in the next couple of days though, as I broke a toe on my left foot yesterday on a piece of metal sticking out of some concrete on the main road. It hurts. Alot. I have been told there is nothing I can do buy strap it and take painkillers, however, sitting on the bike (even pillion) is agony and I will only be doing short, necessary trips.
I will update again after Mum and Brian leave with some pictures of our trip. We are staying in Phnom Penh for a few days then heading down to the beautiful coastal towns of Kep and Kampot. Can’t wait!
C x
I initially went down with Jeltje during her medevac as a result of a nasty motorbike accident. She is currently in Bangkok getting surgery on her hand and it was a very tense 6 hours in the taxi down to Phnom Penh! Jeltje also had a pretty serious concussion (she was wearing a helmet though) and as a result can’t remember anything about the day of the accident from having breakfast in the morning to the hospital in Phnom Penh. For this I am quite grateful as the treatment she received at the hospital here in Mondulkiri was a little on the traumatic side...
I stayed in Phnom Penh as the following week I was starting my second round of language training and it seemed silly to back and forth within a week!
The language training this time around was super intense but I am starting to feel a little more confident with my capacity to speak Khmer and having more success in being understood now that my vocabulary is improving! So we had a couple of weeks as a group in Phnom Penh, which gave us a chance to really explore the city and enjoy having the luxuries of chocolate and cocktails!
Also included in this was Jen’s birthday party, where we all went to a photo-studio and had some brilliant photographs taken of us in proper Khmer fashion. This involves having a thick layer of make-up applied, hair made into a beehive and put into a super tacky evening dress. You then have to pose with an array of props ranging from flowers and leaves to mirrors and chairs in a very cheesey poses! It was really funny and I can’t wait to see the final products when we receive them (super air-brushed of course). In the mean time I have included some of the pictures we took on the day ourselves. There aren’t any of the group shots, obviously, but they were by far the best pictures (once we stopped laughing!).
So I have had a week back in Mondulkiri before my parents arrive on 10th which I can’t wait for! I have moved into my new place, which is a vast improvement on the rat infested house I was living in. I have also made an action plan for the next two months which my line manager has approved which means I can really get going. However, I won’t be going anywhere myself in the next couple of days though, as I broke a toe on my left foot yesterday on a piece of metal sticking out of some concrete on the main road. It hurts. Alot. I have been told there is nothing I can do buy strap it and take painkillers, however, sitting on the bike (even pillion) is agony and I will only be doing short, necessary trips.
I will update again after Mum and Brian leave with some pictures of our trip. We are staying in Phnom Penh for a few days then heading down to the beautiful coastal towns of Kep and Kampot. Can’t wait!
C x
Saturday, 9 January 2010
Photos from Christmas and NY
On the beach in Sihanoukville!
Getting ready for NY Eve in our awful room eww
Ahh Rabbit Island
Christmas Lunch
Me and my stocking. Happy.
Christmas and New Year 2009! 080110
So this was my first Christmas a) away from my family b) in a foreign country and c) WARM! Now I know everyone at home was suffering with snow and freezing temperatures but on Christmas Day I awoke to a balmy 25c, climbing to about 30c, sorry!
Also, thanks to my amazing family and friends I had a lovely pile of presents to open, including a stocking, which were full of fabulous gifts. Everything was very much appreciated and it was great to have presents to open on Christmas morning, as well as receiving many very useful things (wooly bed socks for one!).
I had Christmas lunch with Gabby, Ros, Josh, Jeltje, Jan and Keith and we had a veritable feast in comparison to what we are used to! I seriously don’t think I’ve seen or eaten so much yummy food in over 4 months! The turkey was great and I am glad I haven’t had to go a year without it yet. So after a fab lunch we all wandered home to skype with family, nap and in Jeltje and I’s case to watch ‘Love Actually’ and have a Christmas cry! I haven’t seen that film in several years and had forgotten how sweetly cheesy it is!
So on Boxing Day Jeltje and I tried to head off to the coast but we couldn’t get in a taxi so had to wait until 27th to begin our epic holiday. By 28th Jeltje and I were on a bus to Kep, an old French town on the coast which is very beautiful and picturesque, with jungle covered hills sweeping down to golden beaches. Sadly, the beaches are mostly used by Khmer people who picnic there a lot and don’t clear away their rubbish. In fact, one section of the beach is actually a rubbish dump, which is such a shame as it could be as amazing as Sihanoukville.Still, the little place we stayed at was lovely as we had our own little bungalow, complete with hammock and thatched bamboo roof! After we arrived and settled in a bit we took a tuk-tuk to nearby Kampot to meet up with fellow VSO’s there and have a look at the town. So we had a great afternoon catching up with Kirsty and Sarah (who arrived in Cambodia with us) then headed to the river front to dailaing (a bit like promenading or something really) which naturally ended up with cocktails! We had a lovely meal at a place called Rusty Key Hole (owned by an English/Khmer couple with a very cute baby!) whilst watching the sun go down and mulling over life in Cambodia with lots of VSOs.
The following day we headed out to Rabbit Island, about 30mins boat ride from Kep, which is a beautiful tropical paradise! We spent the day swimming, sunbathing, walking and eating great food right on the beach! I also started chatting to one of the owners of a beach shack there who was really nice and very supportive of VSO!So after our hectic (ahem) day we headed back to the mainland and had dinner and an early night in preparation for our 6am leave to Sihanoukville.
The drive along the coast was beautiful and after a couple of hours we arrived at our (first) guesthouse in Sihanoukville. It was right on the beach which was where we spent the majority of our days!The coast is stunning and the beaches are all like something out of paradise! There is also a really good night life and some nice restaurants so all in all we had a brilliant time. Still think I am recovering from all the food, wine, dancing and lack of sleep though!
However, seeing in 2010 on a tropical beach with about 5,000 people while watching the entire sky being lit up with fireworks is something I will never forget.
After our amazing trip Jeltje and I have headed back to reality (work!) for 2 weeks before going back to Phnom Penh for a further 2 weeks of language training. I really can’t wait as I think that it will be a great chance to further my language. Then it is only 1 week until my parents arrive for a 10 days visit!
Anyway, back to my school visits. I am having varying rates of success, with sometimes having twenty community members turning up and sometimes zero! Still, I am really hoping that between now and March we can run our first Community Open Day, get the well project going and start setting up more effective school support committees.
So, happy 2010 everyone and here is to a highly productive year!
C x
Also, thanks to my amazing family and friends I had a lovely pile of presents to open, including a stocking, which were full of fabulous gifts. Everything was very much appreciated and it was great to have presents to open on Christmas morning, as well as receiving many very useful things (wooly bed socks for one!).
I had Christmas lunch with Gabby, Ros, Josh, Jeltje, Jan and Keith and we had a veritable feast in comparison to what we are used to! I seriously don’t think I’ve seen or eaten so much yummy food in over 4 months! The turkey was great and I am glad I haven’t had to go a year without it yet. So after a fab lunch we all wandered home to skype with family, nap and in Jeltje and I’s case to watch ‘Love Actually’ and have a Christmas cry! I haven’t seen that film in several years and had forgotten how sweetly cheesy it is!
So on Boxing Day Jeltje and I tried to head off to the coast but we couldn’t get in a taxi so had to wait until 27th to begin our epic holiday. By 28th Jeltje and I were on a bus to Kep, an old French town on the coast which is very beautiful and picturesque, with jungle covered hills sweeping down to golden beaches. Sadly, the beaches are mostly used by Khmer people who picnic there a lot and don’t clear away their rubbish. In fact, one section of the beach is actually a rubbish dump, which is such a shame as it could be as amazing as Sihanoukville.Still, the little place we stayed at was lovely as we had our own little bungalow, complete with hammock and thatched bamboo roof! After we arrived and settled in a bit we took a tuk-tuk to nearby Kampot to meet up with fellow VSO’s there and have a look at the town. So we had a great afternoon catching up with Kirsty and Sarah (who arrived in Cambodia with us) then headed to the river front to dailaing (a bit like promenading or something really) which naturally ended up with cocktails! We had a lovely meal at a place called Rusty Key Hole (owned by an English/Khmer couple with a very cute baby!) whilst watching the sun go down and mulling over life in Cambodia with lots of VSOs.
The following day we headed out to Rabbit Island, about 30mins boat ride from Kep, which is a beautiful tropical paradise! We spent the day swimming, sunbathing, walking and eating great food right on the beach! I also started chatting to one of the owners of a beach shack there who was really nice and very supportive of VSO!So after our hectic (ahem) day we headed back to the mainland and had dinner and an early night in preparation for our 6am leave to Sihanoukville.
The drive along the coast was beautiful and after a couple of hours we arrived at our (first) guesthouse in Sihanoukville. It was right on the beach which was where we spent the majority of our days!The coast is stunning and the beaches are all like something out of paradise! There is also a really good night life and some nice restaurants so all in all we had a brilliant time. Still think I am recovering from all the food, wine, dancing and lack of sleep though!
However, seeing in 2010 on a tropical beach with about 5,000 people while watching the entire sky being lit up with fireworks is something I will never forget.
After our amazing trip Jeltje and I have headed back to reality (work!) for 2 weeks before going back to Phnom Penh for a further 2 weeks of language training. I really can’t wait as I think that it will be a great chance to further my language. Then it is only 1 week until my parents arrive for a 10 days visit!
Anyway, back to my school visits. I am having varying rates of success, with sometimes having twenty community members turning up and sometimes zero! Still, I am really hoping that between now and March we can run our first Community Open Day, get the well project going and start setting up more effective school support committees.
So, happy 2010 everyone and here is to a highly productive year!
C x
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