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
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