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