Greetings from Cambodia folks, a place of severe poverty, harrowing history, filth, deprivation and a smiling face on every corner. I feel the need to be a little serious in this update as we really have seen some horrific sights, but a ever, where I can, I shall attempt to lighten the mood - just a moment, got some snotty nosed dirty brat tugging on my trouser leg begging for a dollar!
Right, where was I.... We left Bangkok for the 3rd time at lunchtime on Tuesday. The road from Bangkok to the cambodian border was nicely tarmacked and at 5pm we were dumped just outside the Thailand/Cambodian border. The border crossing was relatively hassle free, we walked across the bridge over the river that seperates the 2 countries before realising we have just walked into the arsehole of the world. We turn around to take one look at Thailand which now resembles something closer to Mayfair, before making our way to immigration past the piles of excrement filled plastic bags whilst fighting off dozens of grubby, practically naked children who are trying to open our bags whilst dragging themselves along the floor by the botton of my trousers.
Are visa's are issued, and whilst waiting for them to be prosessed I purchase several bunches of bananas and hand them around the homeless, the first of my charitable deeds for the week. Obviously a banana isnt going to buy them a 3 bed semi but they seem grateful.
We were aware than the 5 hour drive to Siem Reap is one of the world's most horrendous journeys - the Lonely Planet calling it the boulivard of broken backsides. We missed the last bus to Siem Reap but are adament that staying the night in this hell hole would be a serious health risk and therefore we recruit 2 Canadian travellers and after much bartering together we agree to part with 50 dollars between us for the luxury of a cab.
The journey is something we certainly won't be forgetting in a hurry! It seems that Cambodians drive on the right side of the road, right being whichever side they thing is right at the time. Totally unsealed, 15 two foot craters per mile, no lights whatsoever and a visability of around 10cm means it's getting there is probably more luck than judgement. That coupled with the fact that we were literally in the middle of a very dark nowhere for several hours with 2 canadian strangers and a very odd looking taxi driver means we are very lucky to still be alive.
We arrive in Siem Reap and I remove several grams of sand from my bra and knickers before scoring us a 6 quid room in a "leaves a lot to be desired" guesthouse. What the hell, we are dead on our feel and at this moment would sleep in a dog kennel. Honest.
Next morning sees us up and ready for a day discovering the world's largest but probably least known religious masterpiece - Ankgor Watt. Seven square miles of amazing temples - some are being slowly restored, others have been left to decay, but each totally unique in their own magical way. Obviously the camera was out at every opportunity and Iain was left to follow with rucksack, water supplies, tripod and everything else a proffesional photographer needs their assistant to lug around. Iain's lunch was also the explanation to a very big question we asked ourselves in the taxi on the way to Siem Reap... why are their hundreds of strip lights covered in nets in all the fields? Seems this is the way to catch beetles, locusts etc, which people eat over here like we eat pringles - by the bowl full! Me? Not on your nelly!
Thursday morning we had a stinking hangover - because of the French influence over here, to make the Frenchies feel at home, wine is pretty good quality and cheap as chips! And after nearly a month without it, we take advantage! It's another interesting bus ride from Siem Reap To Phonm Peng, Cambodia's capital. On the way I buy more bananas and hand them out to deprived children - not quite on par with Angelina yet, but every little helps. We eventually arrive in Siem Reap and fight our way through the 6 dozen taxi drivers as we try to disembark the bus. I choose one I feel particulary deserves to have the honour of escorting us to our guesthouse in his putt putt.
I decide, just for once, to allow Mr T to do the priliminary room inspection before we agree to take a room in our choosen guesthouse. Quite simply... NEVER AGAIN. Our room at the Floating Island Guesthouse, which was literally floating on the lake, made our previous room in Siem Reap look like something you would find in the Sanderson. Iain tried to reassure me that the views of the lake from the bar's balcony made up for the lack of cleanliness and missing toilet seat, absent bathroom door, one inch foam matress and stained bedding in the room. I told him he had 24hrs to sort it!
We spent the afternoon in the park watching the monkeys entertain everyone with their antics in the blistering heat - by God this country is hot, and what with all the crap everywhere and far too much traffic, you spend the day coted in a layer of dust and dirt, desperatly trying to remove the god-knows-what from under your fingernails. We watched oodles of tourists overfeed the monkeys copious amounts of perfectly good fruit whilst dirty starving homeless children begged for food feet away. My "Suggers save the Children" side slowly starts to kick in. That evening we decided to participate in the local pub quiz (all proceeds going to the children of course). We came 9th..... out of 9 teams. We returned to our room and attempted to sleep without touching the bed covers.
Yesterday we moved to our new room. The bathroom is bigger than last night's entire guesthouse, and for an extra 2 quid a night we get cable TV, air con, and the luxury of a toilet seat. Although I am starting to feel a bit guilty about not accepting anything less than aircon and a hot shower in a country where most seem to wash in a puddle at the side of the road. I make a mental note to buy more bananas for the children tomorrow.
Ysterday was a particulary harrowing day. After moving our stuff, we took the 16km trip to The Killing Fields of Choeung, the burial sight of thousands of Cambodians who were brutally murdered by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. In the centre of the site is a huge glass memorial holding over 8,000 bludgened skulls. Bits of bone and clothing poke through the soil of the several huge graves... Many of those killed were intellectuals or trained professionals - people considered counter-revolutionaries by the Khmer Rouge leadership bent on turning Cambodia into a peasant's paradise.
Next we visited Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Used to be a school until the Khmer Rouge took it over as a prison and interrogation centre. We walked in cells with blood stained floors and tools on show that were used to torture prisoners before they executed them. Thousands also died here, each person's photo taken by their tortures is on show in one of the rooms and the place really is filled with horror. We really can't believe how recently this genocide took place and how a country that has witnessed such death and destruction seems to constantly smile. I really feel I need to do my bit. We agree to visit an orphanage tomorrow and spend the rest of the afternoon searching for colouring books, crayons, footballs, fruit and sweets at a local market.
Today we got visa's for Vietnam, wandered round the city, then went to a nearby orphanage for 26 local kids. We were greeted with smiles and more smiles, each one eager to jump all over Iain and Me hell bent on showing us the English they had managed to learn through tatty old drawings. The Orphanage is big enough to house a family of 6 to 8, there are 40 people living in it. Because they are so small and have no funds (we only found out about them by chance) they have very little, but were eager to make us sit and watch an hour of Khmer dance they had learned as a thank you for the pressi's we brought them. These kids sleep on mats on the floor, have a set of clothes each and wash is dirty water in a tin bath in the corner of the room, but all are so eager to learn.
I chatted to one of the Cambodian volunteers and leaned that they have no funding other than people turning up out of the blue like us (not many people!). By chance, whilst we were there, I man from Germany who is an amateur photograther also turned up and between us we decided we wanted to help. I've agreed to set up a website using the German's photography and hopefully my friends with web design experience. Hopefully we can then attempt to gain some funding for these 26 amazing kids. Im not sure how it will work yet but Iain and I are happy to visit Cambodia once a year with the funds we can collect through the website and buy provisions for them if the amount of funding is substancial enough (rather than just sending them the money). This is our plan anyway, and the volunteers at the orphange were over the moon with it! I will keep you all up to date with the devolopment of our idea, and hope some how in the future you will all be able to help these fab kids.
We are now totally knackered, 26 kids hanging off your neck for 4 hours takes it out of you, and we have a very early start in the morning.
Night night...
Lyndz & Iain
xxx
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