Getting my groove back in Battambang

So, in the words of the great Kenny Rogers, you've gotta know when to fold em, so I have moved to a quiter place to regroup.

That place is Battambang , about 200 Kim's south west of Siem Reap, a town of about 140000 people. Thanks to Lonely Planet I found a nice villa about a km from the town centre, called very aptly, Sanctuary Villa. You get a lot for less than $50 a night in Cambodia!

Moosie was happy to have some luxury

And I could spread out

The food and location were just what I needed, and gorgeous staff make it a very sweet spot.

I have just done walks into town, enjoying the markets, and the river.  One nice arvo was spent at a local Wat, which they are restoring. I asked a lovely monk if I could take photos and he offered that yes I could take one of him.

He then explained that he lived here, in some lean to tin sheds, but they were restoring the monks residence as well as the temples.  This area of Cambodia had a commune chief who did not obey the Khmer Rouge in destroying all the Buddhist temples. It was explained to me that now the Buddhist monks actually provide the leadership and I guess intellectual capacity within the society, given that most educated people were killed.

Th scale and intricacy of these Wats are amazing, and each town has many.  They are also quite entertaining at times.

See, what am I sooking about having a sore head! Morning walks, afternoon swims and lots of reading and resting have greatly restored my spirits. This is the view from my room.

This town was colonised by the French at one stage so there are lots of lovely buildings with cute balconies and shutters. As I've said before the contrast is amazing, you have buildings like this, and massive government buildings, and then a block away are people living in pole shacks.

I'm now using a trekking technique where I pick the next spot to walk to and don't stress about the whole trip. I am staying four nights in any spot so that I can relax, and booking the spot after that before I leave ( sort of like rock climbing where you try and have three points of contact at all times). So next stop is Angkor Wot, then Phnom pehn. 

My head has stopped hurting, I just now have a tender, green/yellow forehead. The skinned knees, wrists and elbows are healing well too. Having to take nuropen made my allergy blisters reoccur on my throat and chest ( remember Fiji?) but they are now settling with antihistamines. So hopefully I'm going to be able to stop pill popping. Lucky Katie helped me pack my medicine kit.

Impressions of siem reap

I'm finding it hard to get it a the swing of this trip, not sure if it was the right time for me to come to a south East Asian country, it seems way to noisy for me. I'm enjoying wandering the markets and trying to figure out all the food:)

Sights and sounds flash by way to quickly for me to photograph, so here are some of my mental snap shots:
Motor bikes with  a family of five on board, mum at the back and descending down to baby at the front, no helmet, all happy
School kids on push bikes, the old Penelope pitstop kind with upright handles, all in pristine white shirts and navy bottoms
Old ladies sorting through trash to get cardboard to sell
Water buffalo next door to closes lines, with chickens, babies and puppies running in between
Amazing loads on motorbikes and trailers, hay piled 2 m high, 3 mattresses folded over to be 6 deep.
Road repair gangs where boys have picks and girls carry baskets of gravel
Juxtaposition of very very grand government buildings, especially the Peoples Party of Cambodia, and people living in pole shacks with no power or clean water
Dust
Water Lillie's on beautiful ponds

All the children are so friendly, they call out hello and blow kisses. I think the grey hair works a treat for getting looked after.

My favourite part is finding a wat or Buddhist temple. They are always places of beauty and calm, and I'm coming it love the chanting of prayers. Also the architecture and statues are always fascinating.

Falling down again

And so this falling down thing is becoming  a regular habit!

As soon as I am in a squat toilet area I seem to have tummy troubles, so have been on the Imodium. Being very vigilant with fluids and electrolyte replacement.

Went downstairs to get some things out of my bike basket, headlamp on.

Not sure if I tripped or what but I face planted into the cement floor. Very very hard. Split my lip inside, sore front teeth, very sore nose, skinned knees and elbows, and almost put the headlamp through my skull.

Sadly this has resulted in the most massive headache, and now a black eye ( the other eye from my previous one), and quiet a bit of sensitivity to light and noise. Consequently I have returned to siem reap and hunkered down, sleeping many hours.  I now think I may have had a mild concussion, but all seems to be coming good.

I have such a swollen forehead and between my eyes that I look like Botox gone wrong. 

My theory is that the universe is trying to get me to understand something, and I just can't get it through my thick skull! 

It has shaken me quiet a bit, and made me realise how vulnerable you are when you travel. 

Loft living , Cambodia style

The accomodation is in a rented house in the village, a short bike ride from the school ( note to self, always, always take your headlamp!). This house was the original school, before the centre was built. It's fairly typical of structures in the village.

It has tin walls, no windows, but you can raise flaps if tin to let air in. The house is on stilts, with a cool open area underneath. In most homes this houses animals as well.

The floor is wooden, with gaps between boards. The bottom level has a cement floor ( more on this latter).

I share the house with Brian, a Brit who has lived in Greece and now in Aus. He is doing amazing work in the village, he first came and put in water filters to many homes. This year he is putting in a water harvesting system by replacing part of the thatched roof with tin, and then putting in cement water tanks. He it teaching locals how to put up the tin and make the tanks. An amazing man, and his wife has also come over and taught recently.

My room is made of particle board with a door, and has an amazingly comfortable bed.  The decor in I think what is titled ' Cambodian princess' or the honeymoon suite. 

I'm not sure if this decoration is for me, or what. The purple mosquito net is essential, as is insect repellant. However it is quiet cool at the moment, lucky for icebreaker.

 I have a light, and Brian has a gas cooker to heat water for morning coffee. All meals are taken at the school. We have bottled water.

Downstairs is the squat toilet. There is running cold water in a tub for a splash shower.

We are very very close to the neighbours, so the dogs, chickens and cows are all around. Feels just like greghamstown haha. Oh and I have a lovely kitty friend.

At 4 am the prayers begin in the local temple, and I must say it is eerily beautiful to hear.  In the the early morning everyone is out lighting fires of straw to heat themselves up, as 15 degrees is an article blast here.

This is the village chiefs house.

Local lady

And as happens all over the world, mums catch up after the big kids go to school. This starts really early, at 730, and the kids go in split shifts due to the shortage of teachers.

The kids

The school has about 30 children, aged from supposedly 9 to 14, but a couple are only 6 I think, and the oldest more like 16.

It's hard to tell how old they are because many are small due to malnutrition in early life. Apparently a lot of babies die before reaching 5 years due to the contaminated water. The river water is very polluted, from both animal and human waste, and the further down the river you are the worse it is. 

Also they tend to parrot off their age and it's hard to know if it's real. Any the level of schooling varies so that some of the little kids are ahead of older ones.

They are absolutely gorgeous, all wanting to interact. The little ones want to cuddle you all the time, I think this is a bit of a sad reflection of them not living with their families. However all the parents are very keen to give their children the opportunity to attend this school, and hopefully have a change at getting a job.

The big kids are very polite, coming and acknowledging you when they leave for the public school and return. They also want to practice their English all the time.

In class they are very obedient and keen. However having no Khmer makes it hard. Having lots of fun with table tennis, soccer, dominos, and checkers.

And I'm constantly reading aloud. But where is the green sheep is a favourite, though I'm not sure if they know what a sheep is !

School, Oka Tmay

We arrived and all the children we're waiting, very very excited and all wanting to hug Carolyn and Nick. In the Khmer language Oka Tmay means 'new opportunity' and this is the idea for the school.

Children who's families are on the ' very poor' list are eligible to come here. They live here full time and have everything paid for, Carolyn is an amazing woman!

The school building is by far the most stable and generous structure in the village, and clearly the kids love being here. Apparently they do not go home on weekends, even though that was the plan, even though their families are 10 minutes away.  At school they have clean water, lots of food, electricity and health care.

Oh and of course the lessons, they go to school for half a day, little kids in the morning and big kids in the afternoon.  They then have lessons at Oka Tmay.

R

There a boys and a girls dorm, outside wash room, and open air dining. 

Jun, the most dignified Cambodian woman, cooks and stays with the children and rules the roost.

Sadly the school English teacher, a lovely Cambodian man, is barely able to hold a conversation in English. Lessons follow a curriculum and the kids can write very well, but it's all rote learning. I soon figured out that comprehension is very very low.

Apparently most NGOs ( of which there are hundreds) operate on an unspoken rule of 20 min drive from siem reap. So the poor rural areas get little help.

It's all a bit surreal, and overwhelming. God we are so lucky!

To the village

Headed off in a lovely car driven by Sok Phen who is the centre manager, with Nick providing a guided tour for me.

After about 10 minutes we were outside the city. It's an interesting drive, heading south on the main road to Phnom Penh. The road is being widened so lots of road works, and also people create a third lane and just drive in it which is wild. Cars, trucks, motor bikes, tuktuks and push bikes all share. It's chaos but all seems to work.

Out the window I got to see dry rice fields, women making and selling sticky rice on bamboo shoots in the road side, and just nice open views. Cambodia is very flat, and this is they dry season, so everything is hayed off.

The weather is surprisingly cool, everyone is in jumpers, for me it's nice T shirt weather of say 26.

We turned off the main road after about an hour,and drove 15 minutes in through several villages which merge with each other. There are about 14 villages in this commune, each with its own chief. Then their is  a commune chief who then deals with the government. 

The standard of village drops the further down the river you go.

Houses are on stilts, with the area underneath providing a cooler space in the heat. It also provides shelter for animals.

Settling in and meeting carolyn

Woke from a near death sleep, I was so exhausted, to a throbbing headache ( dehydration I guess from the plane trips). So water water water and now I'm renewed! I am slightly paranoid about enough water given my recent low blood pressure fainting episode.

Breakfast in the hotel was great, tasted a fruit which was I know not what, looked like chia seeds in icecream is with a pink skin.

Then ventured out, hoping to get my bearings and not get lost. Everyone offers you a ride, I guess making money as a tuktuk driver is hard work.  When I arrived last night the desk clerk asked what group I was with and I said I was alone. He looked shocked, and proceeded to tell me that his English teacher was also very very old:)

Spent the morning exploring and getting my bearings, then massage of course and a nap. Got called grandma a couple of times, so trying not to attach a negative to that haha. It's really nice weather , 26 degrees , many people are wearing jumpers and parkas.

Afternoon being anxious about dinner with carolyn, the lady who set up the centre.

Dinner was fabulous, carolyn ( and nick her board director) were lovely and answered my 100 questions.

The school is south of siem reap, I don't have the location down pat yet, but tomorrow off we go. It has cold running water, and I will have a bed so it's al good.

I'm trying to go with the flow in my mind about how it will be. Nick said last night with I will be the first European ( and first white haired) woman to stay at the village, so should be an adventure. Oh and they have very little English at all:) 30 children, with a cook and two carers.

Arriving- take a deep breath

Arrived safely at the lovely Banyan leaf hotel in Siem Reap after a long 16 hr day.

Loved Singapore airlines ( hot towels, peppermint tea and toiletries).

Flew Sydney, Singapore, Da Nang( Vietnam) and then Siem Reap. The last leg was amazing, flying over clouds which looked just like a frozen landscape. I was delusional by then and thinking it's just like life, all looks solid and real and then you lean on it and fall through, landing with a crash. And when you look back up you wonder what were you thinking!

Got through the airport ok, this is one of my most vulnerable moments, when you arrive and are exhausted and have to get to your accommodation. I thought I had a driver but no one was there so I braved a tuktuk.

I was overcharged of course, and they couldn't understand my accent, but finally I was off and it was a beautiful ride to town. Just on ducks, cars, push bikes, motorbikes, and me feeling close to it all without having to peddle.

Accomodation great thanks to Katie's recommendation! and it literally crashed into bed. Felling a bit like omg, but I know a sleep will set me right.

Last night

So a lovely pre trip day of squashing incebreaker into a small bag, because cambodia says less is more. Then quick visit to Helen and Noel before checking into the Amora Jamison in Sydney ( wotif mystery hotels are great). Tom has shown me a good time of beer, snitzel, icecream, beer and siliness.

We now both relaxing with ipads. Early start, in a cab by 530 am.

Feeling excited and very underprepared . But perhaps that is what 2014 is all about, more spontaneity and less control. Big question is, will my ego let me write unemployed on the departure card, or will I do as per the NZtrip where I lied and wrote manager? Hmmm.....

This is where I'm going http://www.opportunitycambodia.org.au

Moosie is awake

Moosie is out, sitting next to the back pack. That can only mean one thing, we are going on an adventure! Cambodia here we come!