Hello from Cambodia 16
on Chris and Jon in Cambodia (Cambodia), 05/Nov/2008 10:24, 34 days ago
November 1st 2008. We have been living in Phnom Preuk for exactly 1 year now, so maybe in true VSO style we should engage in a little review and evaluation. Overall the Cambodian experience has been a good one. We have been welcomed with kindness and generosity and, after the initial shock wore off, we were readily accepted into the community. Although Jon is still a source of huge interest and amusement to the ladies in the market, the kids no longer run away screaming when they see him. In fact a few of the neighbours' kids have taken to wandering into the house to try out their English: "Hello, how are you? One, two, three, eight" etc. They were especially delighted when they discovered the games consol on the DVD player. In return for a few games of Super Mario (its real 70's stuff) they happily clear away our dirty dishes and lug heavy shopping about; exploitation of the youth of Cambodia– you bet.The flow of visitors seems to have dried up temporarily although we did have a flying visit from ex-pupil Oli Jepsen and his travelling companion Pandy (see pic) who roared up on a 250cc dirt bike on their way from Nepal to Perth(!) The fact that he just popped in, for a pleasant 24 hours, made us feel less isolated.We always intended to take advantage of being in Cambodia for 2 years to explore the region and so, with Jean, we decided to do a two centre city break to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. (Flight to Singapore - $9 on JetStar which is the Asian Ryan Air. However what with taxes and the fact that it costs $25 just to leave Phnom Penh airport meant that it wasn't quite as cheap as it looked)Arrived in Singapore– Wow what a culture shock!!!! It's so clean and shiney.It is also very, very, very expensive. Trying to travel on a VSO allowance is very challenging especially when a glass of beer costs $10, we could see why Nick Leeson had to break Barings Bank in order to live here. Despite the patient ministrations of the ladies at the accommodation desk at the airport all we could afford was the three of us sharing a room in a hotel in the red light district, near Changi! Albeit a little cosy, it was clean and a very efficient transport system whisked us into the city centre.Singapore is almost like a colonial theme park; "Empire Land". The older areas, which have been rescued from the developers, were charming, giving a much sanitized impression of what the port would have been like when it was part of "the empire on which the sun never set" and Noel Coward was still musing on Mad Dogs and Englishmen.Of course we had to visit Raffles Hotel but got pissed off by the snotiness of it (but what did we expect?) and the fact that a Singapore Sling costs $23.So we went next door for tea instead and pretended that we were Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard.China Town was well worth a visit for the retail therapy as was Little India where Jon tried some curry ice cream.But again we felt that it somehow wasn't real; we missed the dirt and smell of Cambodian markets.We visited an impressive Buddhist pagoda which exuded wealth and opulence, compared with Khmer standards,and a fascinating Hindu templeas well as the beautiful, colonial St Andrew's Cathedral. It would seem that this multicultural city is able to thrive with no apparent racial tensions.Everyone we met, from the city brokers to the street cleaners, was charming, polite and helpful although the late night cab driver told us how it really was– "the government is nasty" but that's cab drivers for you all over the world.One thing that struck us about Singapore was that there were old people. We hadn't realized, before then, that you rarely see anyone over the age of 60 in Cambodia.The city was preparing for the first ever night time Grand Prix so many of the roads, around the harbour, were closed while they installed the flood lighting, seating and barriers. The cab driver had much to say about that too! Hasn't the boy done well?We saved the price a night's accommodation by taking a sleeper on the night train to Kuala Lumpur.Singapore station was a little gem, a real step back into the imperialist past. Beautiful art deco tiled panels depicted scenes of the colony's economic history and food sellers provided dishes for every ethnic taste.Kuala Lumpur was like any other big South East Asian city. Excessive traipsing around resulted in us seeking relief for our throbbing feet by having them nibbled by fish in the central market.A highlight was a visit to the Orchid Gardens which was stunning (and free!).A down side was an attempt to travel on the Sky Train in the rush hour, Jean and Chris baulked at the crush to become sardines, the London Underground is roomy by comparison.Sorry, couldn't resist this it made us laugh.Of course we had to go up the Petronas Towers which were as all tall building are; tall.Jean was more attracted by the shopping arcade underneath. Having been consumer deprived for over a year, the presence of so many posh shops, full of beautiful things, was overwhelming. Unfortunately we had to eschew Prada, Dior and Gucci in favour of Marks and Spencer in the basement. We had to stock up on those little essentials that are impossible to get in Cambodia eg. bras. Without going into detail, Khmer women appear to be an entirely different shape to European ladies.A culinary delight in Kuala Lumpur was the lamb kebab we had in a Lebanese restaurant. There are no sheep in Cambodia and all barrangs crave lamb chops. Having said that we were recently amazed to see a flock of sheep being driven down the road in front of our house, even the Khmers were out on their doorsteps to watch this unprecedented sight. Where they came from and where they were going nobody knows and we still can't get lamb in the market.More excitement last month when the border dispute flared up again and for two hours Thailand and Cambodia were at war. Although there was no action within 200 miles, in Phnom Preuk there was panic, many people grabbed their possessions and fled. We were in Phnom Penh at the time and VSO warned that we should not return home but go to Battambang and await developments. For three days we were refugees, though being put up in the Royal Hotel is no hardship. It soon became obvious that this was more posturing and saber rattling, both sides climbed down and pretended to negotiate– until the next time.We happily traipsed back to Phnom Preuk keen to get back to work only to discover that there were no staff in the office and very few children in the schools. It was at least another week before everyone who had run away drifted back to the district and everything settled back to "normal". The experiences of the last thirty years have left local people, many of whom spent years in Thai refugee camps, very nervous. They expect the worst and their natural reaction is to flee.In theory the schools began the new year on October 1st and we attended a few opening ceremonies but then the border dispute seriously disrupted things. A big workshop, that we had been planning to facilitate, was cancelled for the third time due to "the situation". Also there have been a couple more national holidays to celebrate the king's hamster's birthday or something which results in everyone taking a week off. On top of this Chris has been laid up with two nasty bouts of "poorly tummy" (Giardia for the informed; Carol) which has kept her off work for a couple of weeks. Now we have the Water Festival coming up which is another five day holiday but, hopefully, after that we actually start to get things moving again.During this quiet time we have been working on a project to develop the libraries in the local schools. The main obstacle to setting up libraries in Cambodia is….. no books, and no money to buy them. So we have been writing and illustrating our own; see Three Little Pigs in Khmer.Although the rainy season officially ends in November the last few weeks have been very wet. Our lovely little fish were washed away down the drain pipe when their bowl on the balcony overflowed. In one very spectacular thunderstorm we received a direct lightening strike which fried the telly, the DVD player and the 2 ceiling fans. We now unplug everything at the slightest darkening of the skies.The roads are beginning to deteriorate again so when we bravely moto'ed to Battambang two weekends ago it took four hours of weaving our way between ruts and potholes and arrived covered in mud from head to toe. (In fact Jon drove and Chris clung on the back squeaking a lot). Sophea and his wife, who got married last November, have just had a daughter called Darany.Mum and baby are doing well despite the bizarre practice of heating up the mother for a week after childbirth by wrapping her up in blankets, gloves and wooly hats and lighting fires under the bed. It is claimed to be a medical necessity though sometimes it results in disaster when the bed catches fire.We have now witnessed the passing of all the seasons and once again they are harvesting the soya bean crop. Watching our neighbours as they thresh and winnow using the same implements that have been employed for centuries and seeing, at sunset, the field workers wending their weary ways home carrying their sickles and wearing their broad-brimmed hats presents a romantic Hardyesque pastoral. Except we have to remember that it's bloody hard, back-breaking work which is dangerous and appallingly paid. Education is their only way out, we hope.So to complete the annual review and evaluation, it's been OK.