My Trip

The Final Countdown

caitlinak — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 14:37:00 GMT

I had my last two days all planned out. Saturday I was going to hit S-21 the Genocide Museum, the Russian Markets and the Killing Fields, while on Sunday I would pack the majority of my stuff and go back to the Central Markets before meeting Xanthe for dinner and ice cream by the river.

29/1/2011

After a huge sleep in to 8am (whoop whoop) I got myself ready and headed out on my trusty moto to Tuol Sleng/ S-21 the Genocide Museum. The museum is the ex prison, ex high school used by the Khmer Rouge used to torture and interrogate victims. The majority of the place has been left as it was found by the Vietnamese soldiers that liberated Phnom Penh in 1979. Many of the images are truly horrific and it is completely beyond comprehension how someone (or a group of someones) could commit such heinous crimes. The experience is quite harrowing but very necessary in attempting to understand such a significant part of Cambodia's history. In order to lighten the mood a little I went for lunch and some last minute shopping at the Russian Markets. For only $1.75 I had a huge plate of the most delicious noodles on the planet and a bottle of the tastiest drink, Green tea with pomegranite. The trip also saw me accumulate some more clothes and DVD's as well as earning me a trip back the next day to pick up a hand carved silver necklace I had ordered (the carving is my name in Khmer).

In the afternoon I headed out to the Killing Fields, about 15 minutes out of town. The Killing Fields are so named as they were the site of the killing and burial of the Khmer Rouge victims sent in form the city prisons (such as Tuol Sleng). On the site they have a huge memorial stupa filled with the bones and clothes of some of the victims found in the many mass graves, a small museum and marked areas of interest. It is very disturbing to see all of the skulls of victims and the number of graves that have been excavated. Overall it is quite difficult to believe that the site was once a place of atrocities with its peaceful atmosphere and beautful flowers.

My ended with me updating my journal in front of multiple episodes of Dexter back at the house.

30/1/2011

I spent the morning packing and internet blog updating as best I could before lunch. Over lunch Mummy was quite sad as it was my last day and she spoke of missing me. I also had to alter my plans with Xanthe as Mummy insisted that I have dinner at home. So in the afternoon I went out and picked up my necklace from the Russian Markets before heading to the Central Markets for one last look and to meet Xanthe at a cafe. In the cafe I tried an Italian Soda. While I have no idea what is in an Italian Soda I do know that it is one of the most delicious drinks I have ever had, YUM! Eventually the two of us went back to the house for dinner, Mummy had said I was more than welcome to bring a friend for dinner (at least I think that is what she said). Mummy made an incredible, and very Western pasta dish. The two of us talked with Piseth over dinner and then headed out to the Riverside with him later. He took us to a bar for cocktails and to meet some of his friends. His friends were quite nice but it was difficult to communicate as they knew very little English and the music was very loud. We all had a good time even if we never got our ice cream :-)

31/1/2011

In the morning I was fully packed and ready to go at 7.45. I had some photo's with the family, taken by a most obliging tuk tuk driver before heading off to the airport at 8 as Mummy insisted. It turns out I left far to early and had to wait nearly and hour before my check-in opened. Eventually I got through, $180 poorer due to my far too heavy suitcase!! Followed by more money divulging as I found an awesome bookshop and the best bacon and egg roll ever, before heading off on the first leg of my trip home. Bye bye Cambodia

N.B. During my stop over in Hong Kong I saw someone I knew against all odds. For 15 minutes I spent time with my friend Sarah L from Westlake! What are the chances?!

Siem Reap

caitlinak — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 11:01:00 GMT

22/1/2011

When I got up at 5.30 I was exhausted. I showed up at the bus station for a 7.30 bus at 7.10 and Xanthe said she was there but I could find no sign of her. By 7.25 we ascertained that she had gone to the wrong bus station, so she jumped on a moto and made it to the station with only a couple of minutes to spare. Phew. The ride was pretty uneventful and somehow I managed to fall asleep for an hour or so despite our drivers trigger happy honking (which is louder inside the bus than out). On one of the stops we met an employee of the bus company who told us that as the bus station is just outside the city the company would provide a complimentary shuttle into the center if we did not have a pick up. He stayed to chat and we discovered that his name was Thoul (pronounced 'tool', I had a giggle as Xanthe told her mum this (I am 3 years old)) and he filled us in on some of his life story. When we reached Siem Reap he guided us to the shuttle and came with us. He eventually worked out where our hotel was and said it was 'very far' and so the shuttle could not take us so he would drive us in his tuk tuk. He later became our driver for the entire trip and was wonderful. (Very far also meant 2 minutes from the center of town, nothing compared to where I live in Phnom Penh which does not even feature on the city map). At this time I also recieved several messages from Mum telling me that Dad was in the hospital awaiting finger surgery. So the first thing I did when we got to the hotel was call home, luckily to find out that everything was fine. Phew

The hotel we stayed at was called Avista Hotel and was very nice. For $15 a night we had a lovely air conditioned room with 2 king single beds, a desk, fridge, tv, closet and bathroom. The best part bar none was the shower... warm water! The staff were also really helpful and friendly. Around 5 Xanthe and I headed out to the temples to watch the sunset. Our fabulous driver Thoul also let us in on a little secret. The tickets you buy to enter the Angkor complex are valid for either 1 day, 3 days or 1 week, however if you buy them ater 4pm you can go in that evening for free! YAY for us. Apparently the best place to see sunset is from Phnom Bakheng, a temple at the top of a hill (hence the Phnom), so naturally that is where we went. Just about every other tourist in the country was also there but it was still beautiful. The ruins were amazing but climbing them was tricky. it seems that the ancient Khmer people had very tiny feet and so all the stairs have a ridiculously tiny depth meaning that you have to go up sideways and even then falling is a great possibility. Due to this when we got down afterwards I think one very lucky British tourist now has a photo of me doing a little victory dance at the bottom! So having made it to the top to watch sunset (getting very dusty in the process) Xanthe and I started a mini competition between us of who could get the most artistic photo. This lasted until she left on Monday afternoon but I ultimately won with a photo of a little boy looking for crabs in Kep. As a sideline to this competition we have also been trying to take sneaky photos of monks.

Having seen the most beautiful sunset and stumbled down the hill in the dark we proceeded to head to a very Cambodian restaurant for dinner, The Pizza Company. Neither of us had eaten since breakfast so by 6 we were both starving and craving comfort food. Sadly neither of us could eat much as we were so exhausted so we took most of it back to the hotel to stick in the fridge.

23/1/2011 (Xanthe's 21st birthday!)

We had the brilliant idea to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. This involved getting up at 5am which was horrible but well worth it later. So having dragged our butts out of bed we were in the tuk tuk at 5.45. The drive into the Angkor complex is beautiful, a dirt type road surrounded by forrest. You then come up to the moat from the south side and go around to the Angkor Wat entrance on the west. As soon as we stopped we were bombarded by children selling guide books and coffee. One boy begged us to go to his shop for breakfast and told us his name was Harry Potter, easy to remember. We soon discovered that naming yourself after a celebrity is a bit of a theme for the locals and within 15mins we had also met Angelina Jolie and Rambo. Rambo was the weirdest, offering us beer at 6.30 making us wonder just how many westerners accept this offer? It was still very dark as we entered so we couldn't see much of the entrance gate but the main temple was easily spotted. We sat by a pond to watch the sunrise which was beautiful and great for our photo competition as the water provides a mirror image of the temples. I eventually caved and bought a guidebook and we set off to explore the temple. All up I think we spent around 3 1/2 hours looking around Angkor Wat and took at least 500 photos as it was just so incredible. We also perfected the art of non-suspiciously hanging around people that had payed for a guide so we could eavesdrop on the info :-)

Before heading to the next set of temples we stopped for coconut shakes (the best drink ever!) and met a couple of lovely Cambodian kids who talked with us for about 20mins, we even bought them shakes too even though it was their store. Then we headed to Angkor Thom, a large complex (city wall style) with a bunch of temples in the middle. First we visited Bayon a relatively large temple (though small in comparison to Angkor Wat) which features many carved faces (Xanthe and I both really liked this one). Then we went to Bapuon which fortunately for my feet was closed but we still got a good look at the outside before heading over to the Royal Palace. The king that lived here (it was where he would meet his mistress) must have been very fit because it is up the top of a big tower. For the more authentic experience Xanthe and I chose to take the original (aka tiny and steep) stairs in favour of the newly constructed ones. Somehow we made it to the top to find the most stunning view and our appetites. Instead of finishing Angkor Thom we just went back into Siem Reap for lunch.

As it was Xanthe's birthday we found a nice looking restaurant in the Lonely Planet that was set in a butterfly garden. While still very pretty the hundreds of butterflies they promoted was a bit of an exaggeration but the food was good so all was forgiven. After that we hit the markets and spent more money than we should have and then rested at the hotel until our next temple excursion. Around 3 we headed out to Ta Prohm, the second most famous Angkor temple (in the western world at least) due to its appearance in Tomb Raider. It was absolutely incredible and we both had a great time, even managing to wind up on the wrong side of a DO NO ENTER sign. At one point Xanthe asked me "hey is this where they tombed film raider". Yes Xanthe.

After yet another rest at the hotel Xanthe and I went out for dinner at 7. We chose a Cambodian BBQ restaurant called BBQ Suki. Cambodian BBQ is really fun, you have this barbeque thing with a moat around it (looks kind of like a lemon juicer) in the middle of your table. You pour soup into the moat and cook veges and noodles in there once it has boiled, you then rub pork fat over the bbq part and then cook your meat on the side. We even tried crocodile meat! Tastes a lot like chicken. To finish off the night we went to the night markets where we once again spent too much money. We also tried a fish massage which is where you sit on the edge of a giant fish tank with your feet in the water while the fish nibble the dead skin off them. It tickles like hell but your feet come out feeling super smooth.

24/1/2011

Monday morning was the last time Xanthe had to spend in Siem Reap before she had to head back to Kompong Speu to work. We had decided to use the morning to visit Banteay Srei, a small but well known (to the locals anyway) temple about an hour out of town. Before heading out we went for breakfast at the Cafe De La Paix, a western style cafe attached to the very fancy and expensive hotel in the centre of the city. I was very excited to see Eggs Benedict on the menu as I haven't had poached eggs (my favourite) since I left home. The two of us also got very excited when we saw Iced Coffee on the menu, unfortunately it was a more western form and somehow the worst I've ever tasted, Xanthe agreed.

After breakfast we headed out to Banteay Srei. The drive up there was almost as nice as the temple itself as we went through more of the forrest and passed some villages and farms. It smells so much better here than it does in Phnom Penh. Banteay Srei was absolutely gorgeous, it is known as the Women's Temple because of the delicate and intricate carvings. The gift shop at the temple had the most amazing earrings of which I bought three pairs (to be fair two were as gifts) on the way out. The ride in the tuk back to the hotel was the best as despite only being 11.00 am it was boiling hot. When we arrived at the hotel the manager informed us that there had been a mix up with Xanthe's bus pick up and she would need to get to the bus station on her own. So we headed out for lunch on the way to take her to the bus station. We asked Thoul to recommend somewhere to eat and he took us to a Cambodian restaurant called Orchidee. I only had some mango and a lime soda due to the fact that my stomach had reacted badly to breakfast although Xanthe told me that their food was incredible. Having eaten, the two of us went to the bus station were we said our goodbyes which was sad as we didn't think we'd be likely to see each other again. When she had gotten onto her bus I turned around and headed back to the temples to finish off exploring the Angkor Thom complex. I started at the Elephant Terrace and Victory Gate and trotted off past the Terrace of the Leper King to the slightly isolated temple of Preah Palilay. Unlike the majority of tourists I decided to explore the right hand side of the complex, which meant walking down from Preah Pithu past the Suor Prat Towers and the Khleangs until I reached my driver waiting back at Bayon. These temples are hidden in the bush only just off the road through the center of the complex. While I was exploring the Preah Pithu collection of temples a young boy began to follow me around and ask a lot of questions. When he randomly walked off I started to freak out, thinking that he had gone to get someone capable of kidnapping me. I was thoroughly relieved when he came back alone but made sure to say no when he asked me if I was alone. I finished the day by watching TV and not eating dinner.

25/1/2011

Before I headed out at 9am I had already planned out my first solo tourist day, visiting more temples while I still had a day left on my pass. In the morning I visited Thommanon, Chao Say Tevoda and Bantaey Kdei along with Srah Srang, the King's Swimming Pool. I'm not so sure it was actually a pool given that it was nearly a km long, the temples were beautiful though, as usual. Having followed the very vague and wrong instructions of Lonely Planet I ended up at a very average little cafe place before getting the most amazing flavour of sorbet in the world (canberry and green apple). I stayed at the hotel until three in order to avoid the hottest part of the day, rest and phone home. Despite the phone reception on a random island in the Gulf of Thailand being perfectly clear the reception in Siem Reap, most popular tourist destination and second largest city in Cambodia, is terrible.

In the afternoon I visited the two last temples of the trip, East Mebon and Pre Rup. and surprise suprise they were beautiful and amazing yadda yadda yadda. My day ended with a early dinner (very early 4.45, said the nana) before I once again situated myself in front of the crime channel for the night.

26/1/2011

I began Wednesday the same as Tuesday at nine am except that I skipped breakfast as my stomach has decided that more than one meal a day is a terrible, terrible idea. I started the day off by visiting the Landmine Museum and the Butterfly Centre. Both were very small but nice (if one can call a landmine museum nice). I did pick up some cool landmine shaped soap. As I had finished both and ended up back in town by 11 I hit the Angkor National Museum before lunch. The museum was pretty good, a bit anal though as you couldn't take a bag with you, but they did hand out cute little pouches so you could take valuables with you. I also picked up a stuffed Vishnu doll in the gift shop.

The Lonely Planet guide (and the big sign on the wall outside) spoke of a nice mall/strip thing attached to the side of the museum, cleverly named museum mall. I figured with the cafes and what not attached that it would make a nice place to go for lunch, hmm. It turned out that the mall was completely empty save for a broken ATM and a Chinese restaurant. So Chinese it was for lunch, which was brilliant until I'd eaten one pork dumpling and a forkful of noodles and I realised that I can no longer eat without feeling ill. So feeling absolutely terrible I headed off to my last stop of the day, the Cambodian Cultural Village. The village was really cool. It started with a cute little wax museum with creepy renditions of various Khmer peoples. Then I wandered through a garden with various miniatures of buildings in Phnom Penh. The rest of the 'village' was a bunch of small recreations of various village types to be found through the country (and time). It was sort of like the closest Cambodia will get to a theme park. To finish off the day I stopped by a luggage store to accomodate the extra stuff I'm bringing home.

27/1/2011

For my last day I had organised to do a day long boat cruise on the Tonle Sap Lake to see the floating villages and the flooded forest, all starting at 7-7.30 with the hotel pick-up. So I had myself down in the lobby and ready to go at 6.50. So I did some work on my blog until 7.15. I then proceeded to spend the next 45 minutes sitting on a couch waiting for the bus and having the non-english speaking secretary rush over every 5 minutes and insist that my ride was in fact coming. This switched to the manager at 8 though and she then ran over to me every few seconds (or so it seemed) until 8.30 when she informed me that she had booked the tour I had assured her 5x I wanted on the 27th (and had to write down 3 times to be sure) for the 28th. So having rearranged that for an alternative sunset cruise I returned to my room to watch TV until 2.30 as I had already done everything I had wanted to in Siem Reap and anything else would take too long.

Eventually I managed to get picked up (the bus ran on Cambodian time, aka late) and headed off for the trip. Nearly all of the 8 others where French except for one Singaporean couple who were lovely and travel to NZ on a regular basis, giving us something to talk about. Before arriving at the dock we stopped to take photos of rice paddies and had a look at the GECKO center, a small (and dull) museum type thing about the ecology of the Tonle Sap Lake. The boat ride was quite nice except somehow I managed to choose the only seat on the entire boat that got wet. A small boy even jumped onto our boat at one point off a passing one to sell drinks. The floating village was pretty incredible, basically a huge group of shacks atop pontoons. They had every kind of building out there including markets, schools and basketball courts. We stopped at one of the markets during our trip. There were children of about 6 or 7 walking around with snakes (big ones) around their necks and there was a pit of crocodiles. They also had some rather disturbing souvenirs such as snakes in a bottle, needless to say I didn't buy any. Finally we stopped at a large boat for dinner and to watch the sunset. The sunset was gorgeous and I took far too many photos. Having driven the tour boat back in the pitch black the tour guide offered to drop us at the Night Markets so I was able to get the last of my Siem Reap shopping done along with a manicure ($5!!).

28//1/2011

My last day (or morning to be precise) in Siem Reap was nice and easy. I relaxed and packed until 11.30 when I headed downstairs to check out and await my ride. The hotel manager gave me a cute little key ring as a departing gift and I befriended a cat in the lobby. It turns out that the cat had followed me in the night before and had since refused to leave, so my petting had probably just encouraged it to stay. Sorry Avista hotel, I just adopted you a cat.

The bus ride was pretty average. I slept for a couple of hours and finished my book. The coolest part however was when we pulled over in the middle of nowhere so that several army trucks could pass followed by 10 tanks, apparantly I missed the declaration of war!

Eventually I made it back to Phnom Penh around 7.

My Last Day :-(

caitlinak — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 23:23:00 GMT

21/1/2011

Going to work this morning gave me the opportunity to play Santa as I took in my lucky dip gifts and huge bag of stuff for the orphanage in general. I was a true local with a million things on one little moto.

Everyone was so grateful for the gifts and there was an almost endless stream of "Thank you teacha" and hugs until lunch. Watching the kids enjoy the things I had bought was wonderful. It was so cute one little boy was doing his sister's hair with the hair clips she picked out of the bag. Phan took my camera and was able to get heaps of photos of the morning. It was decided that Lauren and I would go back in the afternoon between 3.30-5.30 instead of 3-4 so that I could see the afternoon school kids one last time and have a big group photo.

After going back at 3.30 the majority of the kids then had to leave at 4 for some type of dance class so I ended up with 2 group photo's anyway. Eventually the time came for me to leave and Phan gave me a DVD entitled 'Good Luck for you Everyday'. I haven't had a chance to watch it yet but she said it has all the kids on it. On my way out I was swept up into a huge group hug in which I could hardly stand as it shuffled out the gate. My moto came right over and I struggled to get on with all the kids holding me back. A couple of them even sat on the moto so I wouldn't fit. I finally managed to get on the bike and one little girl stood behind me, one legon either side of the wheel, holding onto my waist and ran along behind the bike until she could not keep up. They all continued waving until I was well around the corner.

As I was late getting home Mummy fed me straight away, then I collected my washing and got ready for the VAC Boat Party. My driver dropped me off at the Night Market, which I didn't get much time to look around but it looked pretty good. I found the other volunteers out the front so stayed around to chat which is when Xanthe showed up. It was really exciting to see her again and we talked for almost the entire night.

It was easily the hottest night that any of us had had in Phnom Penh and we were all dying when we eventually set off for the boat. There were at least 60 people at the party so they had had to hire 2 boats, the fun part being that they lashed them together and we had to climb between the two (fun in a dress). OSH would have had a field day. The boat finally came back to port around 11.30 and I was one of the first to leave, not being much of a party person and having to get up early the next morning to catch my bus.

The Last Official Week

caitlinak — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 17:38:00 GMT

It feels weird that I am already half way though my trip and have almost finished at my placement.

17/1/2011

As I was still feeling slightly under the weather and hadn't really eaten since Friday I stayed home from work on Monday in favour of sleep.

18/1/2011

Today I went back to work as by morning I was feeling much better and had managed to keep two meals down. I took Playdough to the orphanage which the kids all loved but was of course destroyed quickly when they decided to mix all the colours. Painful to watch. Lauren also brought in some iPod speakers so that we could play the kids Lady Gaga, the only music they know and we have. They all insisted that we write out the lyrics for them and teach them to sing the English. This was highly awkward at times as some of her lyrics are rather raunchy. During my lunch break I booked a hotel for mine and Xanthe's trip to Siem Reap, exciting! After work I picked up my washing and read my book, whoop whoop. I saw the 3 new volunteers briefly at dinner. I feel very disconnected from them, perhaps because they met earlier and are all heading to the same place we don't share the necessity for social contact. They all went into the lounge to watch a movie, I was not invited (ouch) so stayed upstairs in my room. Guess I didn't make any lifelong friends there.

19/1/2011

The new volunteers had left before I got up so I was once again on my own (possible better in this case). Work was very much of a muchness and Lauren and I left 15minutes early for lunch as we had nothing to do. Instead of going home I headed to the Sorya shopping center and central market after stopping by Capitol Bus to pick up tickets to Siem Reap. I picked up more things for my gift at the stationary store (english and colouring books, skipping ropes) and then headed up to The Pizza Company for lunch. The Pizza Company was on the 5th floor of the mall and I was seated right by the window, and so had a great view of the entire city. It was amazing eating Western food. I felt pretty foolish sitting all alone surrounded by families and groups of people so I read my book and texted home throughout the meal. After eating I perused the stores and ended up with some DVD's including the best box set on the planet, a 39 DVD set of 142 Disney movies! I also picked up some things at the supermarket before heading overto Central where I got a couple of dresses (very touristy) and some fake sunglasses. Afternoon at the orphanage was again very average. Over dinner I showed Mummy my photo's from home which she absolutely loved. She especially liked my house and thought the street looked so quiet (not hard compared to here).

20/1/2011

Today was the first and only day that I had to 'teach' on my own at the orphanage as Lauren had contracted a 24 hour stomach bug that had been working its way around the guest house. I think I managed to keep their attention reasonably well as they stayed interested (ish) until about the same time as usual, a miracle. I reminded Phan (the 2IC) that Friday was my last day which lead to all the children writing me farewell letters (with my help). All the letters are very sweet and say something along these lines:

Dear Caitlin

Thank you for teaching English. I wish you goodluck everyday. Love...

Many of the boys took turns at highjacking my camera which resulted in 20 000 of the garden which I had to delete although I did find one really impressive/artistic shot of some Marigolds in front of a shrine. Its not fair that I can't take a good photo to save myself while an 8year old can do so by accident. I was too tired to go out over lunch so I just stayed home and relaxed (hence the no updating for a very long time). The afternoon session was good as usual but very sad. The other kids wrote me some farewell letters and one of the boys also gave me his Hello Kitty soft toy. I was so touched I almost cried but managed to hold it in until I was homeand on the phone to Mum.

After dinner I went to Sorya shopping center to buy small individual gifts for each of the kids. I ended up with 2 lucky dip bags, one for girls and one for boys. For the boys I got toy cars, watches, spinners and Rubick's cubes while for the girls I got headbands, hair ribbons, hair clips and bracelets. I then stayed up for several hours wrapping all the gifts.

Flew South for the Winter

caitlinak — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 17:40:00 GMT

Title technically true as we went south and it is winter.

In the morning after we arrived we ate breakfast at the guest house which was pretty bad but it was cheap and filling, before we headed down to the pier to get a boat over to Rabbit Island, the main attraction of Kep. The boat ride was a little rocky and a giant flying beetle thing followed us the whole way. The island was beautiful and the beach heavenly. After a few ordering mishaps at the restaurant I ended up with chocolate and banana pancakes (pretty good) and a coffee with milk (bad idea, more later). After relaxing on the beach for a few hours and calling home we headed back to the restaurant for lunch. The majority of the group had seafood which was weird and entertaining for me, never having seen people eat seafood. I on the other hand just ordered fried noodle and egg. I managed two bites before I felt too nauseous to continue. My nausea carried on throughout the afternoon though subsided while I had a beautiful massage on the beach. The boat ride back was nicer than the first although my nausea began to grow. By the time we reached the dock I was feeling pretty terrible.

As the second boat with our group on it had become stranded (we were too big for one boat) 4 of us went ahead to Kimly's (the best seafood place in town). When we reached the restaurant I went straight to the bathroom (occupied of course) and proceeded to throw up all over the floor. Clare was really good and came to my aid and the staff were very polite about having to clean up the mess. Needless to say I only had water for dinner. The restaurant however was incredible. Our table looked right out over the water and we watched a beautiful sunset.

Upon getting back to the guest house (I had been sick twice more by this point) I was really 10x worse and most definantly had food poisoning. So unfortunately I never got to the concert :-( I spent until about 4 in the morning switching between hanging over the toilet and tossing in bed along with two distraught calls home. At 4.30 I gave up on the idea of sleep and went outside wrapped in my mossie net and played with 3 of the cutest puppies instead.

I was finally able to sleep around 5 so I managed a little under two hours before everyone got up to make the early bus back to Phnom Penh. I however opted to get the later bus (1.00) with Chris, Robin and Nick so that I didn't need to rush around. Around 9 the 4 of us headed over to Astrid and Maddy's fancy hotel for brunch and a rest by the pool. I had only lemon juice with sugar as that is supposed to help stomach upsets, which it did until it came back up an hour later. I was horrible sitting around the table watching everyone else eat all of this delicious looking Western food so I found a pool chair in the shade where I tried to update my journal but I fell asleep first. So after a quick trip to the hotel bathroom (fun fun) we went to catch our bus.

The bus ran on Cambodian time and so was 28minutes late. The bus was nicer and more comfortable than I expected and the journey didn't take too long after the driver stopped stopping (once he got out to buy Coke). Overall it was possibly between 3-4 hours. Robin and I had a great time making fun of the crazy Chinese movie and the weird Khmer music videos that were playing. When I got home I called Mum to let her know I was still alive and went straight to bed, I hardly even managed to great the 3 new volunteers.

Photos: Orientation

caitlinak — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 18:49:00 GMT

Week1, Jan 2011

Adjusted and Living

caitlinak — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 21:07:00 GMT

10/1/2011

So this is my first full week of working. Monday was pretty rough and frustrating. Lauren and I only managed to keep the kids entertained until 9.30 as they have the attention span of goldfish and either don't understand or simply won't do half of what we tell/ask them (mostly the later). My connect the dots were a big hit but lasted all of 10mins. Essentially the two of us spent 2 hours sitting around doing nothing as all the children had run off, some of them preparing for a performance on Tuesday.

During my lunch break I called home and ranted about frustrations about the teaching, the orphanage and my moto driver. My driver is always late picking me up for lunch, regardless of what time I tell him he is 10-15mins late! And the orphanage didn't seem to be expecting us when we arrived and has nothing for us to do, although I hear this is the case for many of the other volunteers too. The afternoon session was far better though. There are fewer kids, who are more amiable and we only have them for one hour.

After work my wildly exciting life led me to the post office, whoop whoop (those select few may expect postcards in a week or so) and then back home to make more connect the dots while watching 'Sex in the City 2'.

11/1/2011

Hehe cool date. Anywho today has been far better than yesterday. We managed to keep the kids entertained until 10 today before we completely lost them all. We also managed to help with the food preparation for lunch but feel that this may be the only time as they do not like us 'working' for some reason, I think they see us as guests perhaps? The main event of the morning however was Lauren getting locked in the toilet. Having finally caved into using the facilities (we prefer to wait until we get home) she went upstairs to use the bathroom off the girls bedroom. Not having seen her for about 20 minutes I went to look for her. The handle of the door had been ripped out leaving only a hole where it used to be so I could see her face. She proceeded to tell me that she was stuck and couldn't get out. While the handle was missing the lock was still in place and had shut. We both tried to fiddle with what was there to no avail. I had to go and get her cellphone so that she could call Svenja as no one currently at the orphanage could speak English. Eventually the matron came back from work and one of the little boys ended up slicing at the lock with a meat cleaver until the door opened. Oh the drama!

During my lunch break I went and explored the mall instead of going home. I had lunch at a very western type McDonalds joint and bought a tonne of junk food at the supermarket as I am craving something unhealthy. The checkout operater thought I was very odd for buying $15 of crappy food ($15 will get you a ridiculous amount here) and a toothbrush. Note: I did not buy the toothbrush because I intend to rot my teeth with my oodles of junk, I just happened to remember I needed a new one. I also bought 5 books centered around the Khmer Rouge regime (all small and only $3.50 each so no need to worry Mum!) along with a couple more scarves, a pair of pants and some more stationary stuff for school.

The afternoon session ran smoothly, Lauren and I entertaining the kids with photos from our trip so far. Upon getting home I set off on a 15min walk to the ATM as I may head down to the beach this weekend with the other volunteers for a free concert. 15min in 35 degree heat, STUPID! Will now head home and... make more connect the dots. Boy am I exciting.

12/1/2011

Before I start on todays happenings let me tell you all about my incredible clumsy moment. Around 8.50 last night I went downstairs to grab a bottle of water from the fridge to help my throat (more on that later) because I couldn't sleep. When I got down there Mummy and Piseth were in the kitchen in the middle of something so I tried to be quick. On my way back up the stairs (which can be seen from the kitchen) I lost my footing, banged my elbow on the bannister and splashed water all over my face and the stairs. Not my proudest moment despite excellent multitasking.

Ok so nothing much actually happened today, just went in to work and played with the kids. We took in a map of the world and a Cambodian map which they loved along with a bag of balloons which entertained them for hours. So my main news is... I have a throat infection YAY!!! I'm pretty sure its due to the high dust levels here in the city, but that doesn't make it any less annoying. I am currently taking some sort of throat guard and antibiotic to try and fix it as quickly as possible. It isn't too bad, the worst part is that I have almost completely lost my voice, and I thought it was hard communicating before!

13/1/2011

With a new day my throat infection is nearly gone, hooray! Work at the orphanage was much of the same although I couldn't join in with the games outside as I have pulled a muscle in my foot and can barely walk, pretty sure sleep walking is the culprit as I don't remember hurting my foot and found the stuff in my room in weird places this morning. Lauren did join in though and was tackled to the ground earning her a gorgeous bruise on the knee. In the afternoon I helped a couple of kids read a book, coloured in pictures and learned a new way to play "Rock, Paper, Scissors". One of the older boys whom I helped read a book left early with a couple of adults and kissed Lauren and I on the cheek before he left, so sweet. When I got home from work I picked up my clothes from the laundry and they were beautiful. They felt clean and smelled soapy fresh. They were also ironed and all for less than 3USD, WOW.

After dinner I went to the Colonial Bar and Restaurant for VAC Trivia Night. I was part of Team Radical with Maddy, Robin, Astrid and Nick and together we came third (of four) as our collective Cambodian knowledge was not very extensive. All up I did not have a very good time as I was ultimately the outsider (as I don't live at the guest house) and was ignored for most of the night.

14/1/2011

A text from Mum saw me start the day with a tearful call home as I was upset from the night before and stuck in a weekend trip with the same people. Once calmed down I headed off for a normal day of work. One of the adults at the orphanage put on some Khmer music video DVDs which sounded awful but the kids loved. Othr than that the morning was mostly colouring and such. At lunch I called home again to have another talk, without the tears this time, before I headed out of the city for the weekend.

The afternoon session at the orphanage was both happy and sad. After finishing some colouring the kids told us that they were going to the Night Market that night and would get to see their parents. So we helped them write letters for their parents in English that went something like this:

Dear Mum and Dad. How are you? Thank you for the money which was used to buy food. I study English everyday with my teacher Raksmey and the volunteers Caitlin and Lauren. I love you everyday and miss you lots. Love...

It was so humbling, seeing how these kids are so strong away from their homes while I miss my parents terribly. So sad that they have to away from their families while happy that they can get an education and still see their parents sometimes.

After work I packed my bags and headed over to the guest house ready to catch a bus to Kep for the weekend. Kep is a coastal town near Vietnam (about 3-4 hours from PP depending on mode of transport) where a free music festival is being held on Saturday night. We had booked a minibus for 12 people so an 11 seater (including driver) shows up. We managed to get everyone in comfortably and then when the driver got in his frind also jumped in the back. To make matters worse 10 minutes later the driver got out and jumped in the back while someone new started off again. In the end we had 15 people squished into this van. We were all laughing at the irony of the situation (having rented a bus so we would have it to ourselves) thinking that we were in the worst possible place until we saw multiple trucks carrying people on the back, standing room only. They looked like people traffickers! After that we felt we were in 5-star transport mode.

10 people of our group stayed stayed at the Lida Khmer House (much nicer in person if you look it up) in four rooms, 8 girls in two and one guy in each of the others. I roomed with Rachel, Bethany and Robin. The room were nice and clean, and though simple all we needed for the weekend. We had to bring our own loo paper but for $3 a night each that was just fine until later (significance coming). The majority of the group went to the bar when we arrived at 9pm while 3 of us chose sleep.

Victory Weekend

caitlinak — Sat, 8 Jan 2011 19:06:00 GMT

7-9/1/2011

7/1/2011

This weekend is a long weekend with Friday being Victory Day. This is the day that the Khmer Rouge were overthrown. There were no special celebrations to my knowledge, just a day off although everything but the banks were open. Having been overcome the night before by loneliness and calling home Mum convinced me not to let fear stop me from seeing all that I could and so I planned to go to the National Museum and the Royal Palace. I called home again that morning and ran down my phone balance meaning that I had to run to the corner store for a top up before lunch. After eating I called my moto driver who came and took me to the National Museum. It is a beautiful Khmer building that houses Hindu and Buddhist statues from the ages of the Khmer Empire. While the statues were beautiful seeing endless amounts of Shiva's and Buddha's became a bit tedious, although the air-con was divine. A definite downside was that I could not take photos inside. From there I walked next door to the Royal Palace where I queued at the ticket booth for an eternity as every tourist on the planet was also there. The buildings were gorgeous as were their interiors and whatever lived inside but unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take photos indoors here either. I did make up for it with the number I took outside though, and even tried to do the whole camera turning thing in an effort to get myself in some of the shots. Not ideal but as I don't really trust the locals or other unknown travellers at least I can prove I was here. Having finished seeing all of the compound open to the public I walked 2km to the Sorya Shopping Centre. While 2km may seem small to us it fell very long when you spend the entire trip shaking your head and saying "taa ah kun" (no thank you) to what feels like every moto and tuk tuk driver in creation. I also managed to thwart a scam which made me very proud. The trick is that tuk tuk drivers will offer to show tourists orphanages, then they will either demand money for the orphanage before taking you back or will just scam you entirely. When I reached where this man was standing I was greeted with the usual "Hey, pretty girl" (great confidence boost) and then asked where I was from and how long I had been here. He finally asked if he could show me an orphanage, see the real Cambodia, to which I told him "No, I work in an orphanage". At this he was highly annoyed and disappointed and immediately ignored me and walked away. Ha ha! When I reached the mall I treated myself to an ice cream sundae and ice chocolate at Swenson's the nicest ice cream palour ever as the day had been so hot. I also went to the supermarket before heading nextdoor into the Central Market. I bought a shoulder bag (which are very popular amoung the tourist here) and a stuffed silk elephant that I have had my eye on since Sunday. While waiting for my moto driver to pick me up I saw an American tourist eating a tarantula. Apparently they are crispy and salty, not that I will be trying one! Upon getting home I asked Dad for some help on getting to the Zoo and so I will now visit on Saturday.

8/1/2011

I got up at 5.15 in order to call Mum and have a decent chat before getting ready and catching my tuk tuk to Phnom Tamao Wildlife Reserve at 7.30. It took around 1 and a 1/2 hours to get to the zoo which was totally unlike any western zoo. It appeared that any money the organisation had went to the animals (which is good) as it was mainly just enclosures placed randomly in a bush type area. Two young Cambodian men were nice enough to show me around and tell me about the animals, the majority of which have been taken from traffickers and poachers and are being housed here until they can return to the wild. They also helped me get some amazing photos from behind the fences and photos of me feeding the wild pigs and holding a gibbons hand. Without their help I wouldn't have had a very good or successful time and I think they knew this as they demanded $20 each for the hour they showed me around. Being rather taken aback and unsure of what to do in the situation I just gave them $25 total (which is still about 5x what the situation called for) and refused to give them any more. They continued to push for awhile but when I continued to refuse they gave in and merely wished me luck and gave me a cheerful farewell. While annoyed that I had been scammed (especially after my previous success) the ride back was quite horrible, not to mention bumpy as hell (I think I have bruises on my butt!). To make things even worse my ticket (which I wanted to keep and put in a scrapbook) blew out of my bag and flew away :-( After lunch at home I went to the stationary store nearby and a small computer store. At the computer store I bought a USB stick which I hope to be able to put at least some of my photos on (I currently have 498). The stationary store was heaven. There was air-con and the prices were incredible, for $14 I was able to get: 1 500 pack of paper, 1 highlighter, 2 whiteboard markers, 1 whiteboard eraser, 1 pair of scissors, 2 packets of felt pens (one with 36, the other with 12), 1 pencil case and 40 balloons. SCORE! After dinner tonight Piseth is going to show me where the laundry is near our house and then take me to meditation!

9/1/2011 Ok, first off meditation was postponed until this morning as Piseth thought it would give me more time to prepare. This was good as I had to read a 60page instruction booklet! Needless to say I skim read it, although it was quite interesting in its ideology. If anyone is interested it is called Vispassana (I think) meditation. So around 8 after breakfast and a call home Piseth moto'd us to his work which is around the corner from the Wat. The temple was incredible (I did not take any photos though so as not to disturb anyone) with bright murals on the walls and ceiling and a giant buddha at the front of the room. Piseth meditated for about a half hour (I tried but am reasonably sure I failed) and then we walked back to the moto via the Independence Monument. From there we went to Piseth's favourite cafe for ice coffee and to meet a couple of his friends. Both the friends were really nice but it was rather awkward just sitting there while the three of them spoke in Khmer. Finally Piseth dropped me off at the Russian Markets to do some shopping. I bought a few things (not too many! must save money for the rest of the trip) but by far the best was a traditional Khmer puppet. I'm pretty sure I was overcharged for everything but what the hell, I'm on holiday! Having finished shopping I moto'd home and even managed to direct my driver the last couple of streets (which no-one knows!) in only Khmer. Go my awesome language skills! After lunch I decided that I would go back to Wat Phnom and see the whole thing followed by a trip to the photocopy store and e-cafe. The first thing I did at Wat Phnom after getting off the moto was ride the elephant! It was an amazing experience although not the most comfortable mode of transport. The elephants name was Sambo and he is 51 years old. I hope he is treated well, at least I saw a street vendor sneak him a piece of sugarcane on the way past. I then walked up to the Wat and took a million photos as it was beautiful. I also took another million or so photos of the monkeys... Anywho the time I spent up there and on the elephant was great but I couldn't help thinking 'I wish I had someone here to share this with'. Alas I don't so I will have to show you all the millions of photo's when I get back. At the photocopy store my connect the dot attempts came out well, although I'm sure the staff think I'm crazy for photocopying pictures of dots judging by the looks they gave me. So now the remainder of my weekend (all 5 or so hours) will be spent preparing for school tomorrow and perhaps watching a movie. Overall a pretty awesome three days.

Working Girl

caitlinak — Sat, 8 Jan 2011 18:17:00 GMT

5/1/2011

Expecting to be picked up at 8 by Svenja to start my first day at the orphanage I got up at about 6 (as usual while I've been here) and prepared for the day as usual. Just before 8 Xanthe and I went downstairs to wait for my ride so that she could say goodbye as she was meant to leave for Kompong Speu at 9. However by 8.30 I was still at home and so called Svenja. Having been mixed up about my living situation she would come at 10. Shortly after that Sebastian texted to let us know that he would come for Xanthe at 10.30. So with some spare time on our hands Xanthe and I went back upstairs and chatted for awhile. We have decided that on the weekend I start my 'travelling' part of my trip and head up to Siem Reap she will also come up for the weekend, very exciting.

Sebastian arrived around 9.45 with a Canadian volunteer also headed to Kompong Speu. The two stayed for coffee and we all had a nice chat about nearly everything under the sun. Mummy fawned over Sebastian too which was quite hilarious as he got very embarrassed when she began harrassing him about getting a girlfriend. Eventually the three set off around 10.20 and I waited for Svenja. Five minutes later when she arrived I found that she was a little confused as to the whereabouts of the orphanage as it had recently relocated.

Eventually we made our way there and the car was mobbed by children (I now know what rockstars feel like!) who grabbed our hands and dragged us inside. Unfortunately none of the adults at the orphanage speak English but with the help of our driver as translator we managed to get mine and the other volunteer's schedule sorted. So we go to work from 8-11.30/12.00 and then have a lunch break until 3, working up til 4. Our job is to entertain whichever half of the children are not at school and help them with their English (which is actually quite good). After Svenja left the other volunteer (her name is Lauren) and I discovered that there were absolutely no materials for us to work with and lunch was about to start. So I suggested that we head to the Central Market to get some stationary supplies. When we reached the market and I found us the stationary section we bought plain and coloured paper, felt pens and crayons. That gave as something to get us through to the end of the day if nothing else. Both being to scared to sample the local street cuisine I navigated us to the Sorya Shopping Center for lunch. Over lunch I got to know Lauren, a New Zealand born Australian who has been working as a nurse for about a year. There we also found a proper stationary store where I bought a few colouring and excercise books. The colouring books had simple pictures of animals playing games so I came up with an idea to entertain and teach the kids. Because we could not spread 3 books around 10-15 kids I traced each of the pictures onto a sheet of paper and wrote a basic English sentence to accompany each ie. "Dog playing with ball." The idea was the children could retrace the picture and copy the sentence, we would then teach them to say the sentence and write their names on the picture and they could colour it in. The idea went down a treat, the kids LOVED it! They were so exicited by the pens, crayons and pictures that it hardly seems possible that it was only worth $5, definitely a Mastercard priceless moment.

After work I went home to find a note from Xanthe on my bedside table. It was a beautiful letter admiring my bravery and decency in coming to Cambodia and not leaving the host family for the guest house. It made me cry! I also called Mum at a slightly more respectable hour and hit the internet cafe before dinner. After dinner I prepared more pictures for the next day and bought a bouncy ball from across the street.

6/1/2011

Along with being my first full day at the orphanage it was also my first ride on a moto. I was pretty terrified to begin with although my host father giving me a helmet was a huge relief. I may be the only passenger in Phnom Penh that wears a helmet but it makes both me a Mum very happy. My host father has also organised me a moto driver who will take me to and from work twice a day and has also offered to take me around on the weekends. This is helpful as now that I am by myself it is far cheaper to go by moto than tuk tuk. After having been on the moto once I found that in fact was quite fun and not soooo scary even if it is hard on the bum.

At the orphanage I meet the morning kids who were all eager to learn. They set up the makeshift classroom (some small plastic tables and two chairs for us) and got out their books. To start with we had them write "Today is..." to try and teach them the date and develop their writing but this lost their attention quickly. I moved on to teaching (or reteaching as they knew most of them) the parts of the body. I drew a reasonably complex stick figure (aka it had the joints as well as limbs) on the board and had them take turns coming up and writing the name next to the part, which worked well. Very funny was the fact that while they can remember all sorts of body parts (neck, elbow, eyebrow) they cannot distinguish a foot from a leg! Then Lauren and I taught them "Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" which they enjoyed. Following that we moved on to ball games such as passing it around a circle while reciting the alphabet (whomever has the ball on 'z' is out) and piggy in the middle. At one point I had two girls 'out' on either side of me and they began fighting over who could sit on my lap. I offered one side to each but this lead to a full out fight. Sadly violence is quite common here but no big injuries are sustained, the fight stops when the bigger child asserts a tiny bit too much force and the other backs off. We saw this behaviour again while playing piggy in the middle (or monkey as it is called here). A group of three bigger boys tend to pick on this one who is a little smaller. He does not, or cannot, speak any English (although I've never heard him make any noise) and seems very distant to the others. It is my aim to try and get him more involved/ happy/ confident while I am here (he did come out a bit when we were drawing later).

Having worn the kids out we set them up with paper and pens and they had fun drawing their own pictures. By the end of half an hour Lauren and I both had many picture gifts, many saying 'I love you', so sweet! We also gave them the tracing pictures and continued with that exercise. During this time I met the 2 orphanage dogs, Dao and Bupsi. While both are gorgeous I prefer Bupsi who is still really a puppy. I think she has taken a shine to me too as she know sleeps behind me. I think this may be for protection as the kids can get a bit rough with the dogs and I think the adults cane them, whereas I just stroke her softly. When lunch time came around the kids did not want us to leave and there was much "Sista, you eat rie (rice) wit me!" (most of the girls call us sister while most of the boys call us teacher).

I was so exhausted after lunch that a slept before going back to the orphanage. For the afternoon session we continued with the tracing but also taught them the months, seasons and the 'Barney' song. I believe that those working at the orphanage may now hate us both as the kids would not stop singing this song "I love you, you love me...". When 4 came around the children didn't want us to leave (especially as it is a long weekend) and followed us all the way out and waved us off on our motos. My plan so far is to adapt the tracing game into a connect the dots to help them with their counting but that is all I've got.

The Massive Update

caitlinak — Wed, 5 Jan 2011 21:30:00 GMT

Hi everyone,

I'm sorry I didn't update sooner but I have been quite busy between getting settled, orientation and nervous breakdowns. However now that my mental health is fairly intact I can fill you in on my goings on.

Last time I couldn't tell you the names of my host family so now I will do my best. Mr Savuth is called Dad by everyone yet I have never really called him anything during our conversations (opps). The mother likes me to call her mummy so that is how I will refer to in my writings. The son's name is Piseth and between him and our orientation program Xanthe and I have learnt a lot about corruption and land grabbing here in Cambodia. Finally the cousins name is Kort, but of course there is not much to say about her as she doesn't speak any English and thus I don't know her very well.

So after my last update Xanthe and I explored the one road we dared to cross as far as was reasonable. We found little other than petrol and car parts in this area of town yet we a western style bakery that sold New Zealand Natural Ice Cream (score). Basically we just went home and slept until dinner. Mummy is the most amazing cook but she overfeeds us terribly.

The house I am staying in is 5 storeys and my room is on the fourth. I get most of my exercise walking up and down the extremely step stairs. The are also very uneven so it is a miracle that I haven't tripped yet (hopefully never). The ground floor (or 1st) has a garage/living room, one bedroom (made with screens), a toilet/shower and the kitchen. Up one floor are two bedrooms and a toilet/shower. Then a landing, toilet/shower, bedroom and a lounge to be used by us guests. As a show of it's international popularity 'Twilight' has even found its way into the DVD collection. The the 4th floor has two bedrooms and a toilet/shower. My room is the largest guestroom with a wardrobe, standing coat rail, coffee table, set of shelves, double bed and (my favourite part) a fan, it also overlooks the guest lounge. Xanthe's room is down the hall while she is living here.

2/1/2011

Getting up on Sunday morning saw me discover that my house has no hot water. Thankfully the weather is warm enough that this is a bonus. A new volunteer arrived that morning by the name of Maddy. She is also Australian, from the Sunshine Coast, is 24 and a youth worker and has promised to look out for me. Together the three of us have had some great times and talks.

Our breakfast comprised of fresh mango and pear with some cake and jasmine tea (as it does every morning) which is delicious. Xanthe and I decided to head into the city and explore so after lunch the three of us (Maddy came too) took our first tuk tuk ride to Wat Phnom. Tuk tuks are a great way to travel around the city, they are a bit safer than moto's, more comfortable and beings open they allow the breeze to cool you down. Wat Phnom is the highest point in Phnom Penh, Wat meaning temple or pagoda. The city is named for this particular Wat which was built around the shrine of 3 wooden buddha's placed atop the hill by Lady Penh after a flood. We haven't been up into the Wat yet, we just looked around the bottom. Maddy got whistled at for standing on the grass, so funny. Around the base of the Wat is an elephant which you can ride and monkeys which live in the foliage. There were many gorgeous monkeys but I liked the little baby and the fat one's the best. The fat one reminded me of Atlanta. Having found our bearings on the map we walked (which is highly unusual here) to the Central Market, about 10 minutes away. The markets are huge and have everything from silk to electronics and jewellery to fruits and veges. While I saw many beautiful things I restrained and only bought postcards that I can send home to you lovely people. From there we went to the supermarket to stock up on necessities, I bought shampoo, conditioner and body wash while Maddy bought Coca Cola and Pringles. All being too tired to continue we returned home and called it a day.

3/1/2011

Monday was the first of our two day orientation. We (Maddy, Xanthe and I) were picked up at 7.30 by Brem (a STAR KAMPUCHEA worker)and taken to the office. In order to get to the meeting room we climbed 6 flights of stairs, so I get plenty of exercise here. Being the last group to arrive we started pretty much immediately. We played a couple of games including a cultural do's and don'ts inactment (apparently I make a good mime?!) followed by a presentation about the country. We took a short break for water and Cambodian fruit (very tasty) before getting into the possible challenges to be faced with volunteering. Around lunch time or leaders Svenja and Sebastian took us to the cellphone shop to organise SIM cards. It turns out you require a passport to get a SIM card in Cambodia, and as no one told this to Xanthe and I we were unable to get them (sob). The rest of the unfortunates or already SIM card owners had to wait outside so we got chatting. I got to know Careen (an Australian/Malaysian just out of uni) and Chris (a 36 Australian in the midst of his self termed mid-life crisis). So after spending what seemed like an eternity outside we all headed into the Russian Markets for lunch. Svenja showed us all the ropes and helped us order the most delicious sweet fried noodles and egg one could ever eat. Svenja is from Germany and is in Cambodia for one year ending August. Over lunch I got to know Robin (an American from Oregon here to teach English for three months) and Katherine (a British girl on her gap year). Katherine is the only other volunteer here under 20! After lunch I wandered around the markets with Nick (a student from NYC) and bought three scarves (I just couldn't help myself!) until we had to head back to the office. The rest of the afternoon went much along the same lines as the morning except for Maddy anouncing that she intends to move to the guest house, thus leaving me alone with the Savuth's. When orientation had finished I went with Xanthe, Maddy, Careen and Chris to a nearby internet cafe, bad idea. Having already been feeling homesick and terrified at the prospect of living alone in a home where very little English is spoken reading the messages from home saw me having an epic meltdown. Thankfully Chris and Xanthe helped me calm down and stop crying. Most of us much in need of comfort food headed to KFC for dinner (so Cambodian I know). Unlike at home the chicken had flavour and a meal was cheap so overall a very good choice. To finish off our day Xanthe, Maddy and I went home and watched Twilight as a farewell party of sorts for Maddy. After going to bed that night I had a massive breakdown. I'm talking hysterical crying at the prospect of being stuck here alone with only my own company. Eventually though I was able to sleep.

4/1/2011

Us three girls had to make our own way to the office this morning and so called a tuk tuk. Unfornately our driver lied when he said he knew the way and we got rather lost. Eventually I used my limited map reading skills and Khmer to give directions to the driver and get us to the desired location. Again the morning session of the orientation was much the same as the day before until we headed to Coffee Korner to wait for our tour bus. Sebastian took those of us without SIM cards back to the cellphone store. Whilst there I discovered that he has been here for 2 years (will be here for one more), is from Hannover Germany and has been to Disneyworld! Having my phone working took a huge weight off my chest and I was better able to enjoy the rest of the day. We drove past the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and looked around Olympic Stadium before lunch at the guest house. The food at the guest house was pretty average making me very glad for Mummy's amazing meals. During lunch Xanthe and I got to know Astrid (from Zurich, here to find her path) and Jake (Michigan born political science student from Wisconsin) and learned all about the American tax, welfare and school systems.

After lunch we walked around the base of Wat Phnom, saw the monument to Lady Penh, the National Museum, the Royal Palace and walked along the Riverside. The riverside is really nice and is lined with flags from all over the world. Apparently one can also get many illegal substances here in the form of 'happy pizza' and 'mushroom shakes'. Following that we drove past Nagaworld a huge hotel and casino. While this may not seem special it is significant as gambling is illegal in Cambodia! We also circled the Independce Monument before going back to the office. Having time to kill before our next activity Svenja showed us the best place to get ice coffee in the Russian Markets. Oh my god was she right! The ice coffee was amazing, ten times better than that at home. The mix sweetened condensed milk with an espresso shot and then pour over ice, delicious. The barista was the nicest lady, she spoke excellent English and told Xanthe and I that we were very beautiful because of our white skin and long noses, and that we should have 300 boyfriends. She gave us free refills too, score! Our final orientation activity before the Welcome Dinner was a guest speaker from Friends International, an organisation that works to get kids off the streets and end child abuse.

For the Welcome Dinner we were taken to a beer garden, a very Cambodian place to eat. Although we had the option of free beer I drank only water for fear of getting drunk for the first time and having a hangover on my first day of work. We tried many different Khmer dishes including fried corn and fish amok, all were amazing. It seemed that we left late that night because of the dark sky yet it was only 7 o'clock! As a farewell party for Xanthe her last night at the Savuth's before she goes to Kompong Speu we watched Twilight: Eclipse and ate oreo's. Despite the massive time difference I called home when I went to bed (aka 4am) to talk to Mum and Dad. Having finally heard their voices I was able to sleep far better with less anxiety about the following day.

The Eagle Has Landed

caitlinak — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 18:44:00 GMT

Hi everyone,

So I am finally in Cambodia, it is quarter to three and I have been here around three or four hours.

The flight to Hong Kong was long and tedious and I got very little sleep followed by four and a half freezing hours at Hong Kong airport. When I finally reached Phnom Penh and got through customs Mr Raksmey recognized me by my loner status and giant backpack. He was really friendly and we talked for a while before he went to wait for volunteer #2. Xanthe arrived about a half hour after me and she is now my housemate til after orientation on Monday. She has just finished her first degree (so is about 21ish) and is from Australia.

I am staying with the Savuth's, a lovely family comprising of father, mother, 2 sons and a niece. Only one of the sons is at home at the moment and while I cannot remember or pronounce his name he speaks English well and is a lawyer working with the UN. Mrs. Savuth made Xanthe and I the most delicious lunch although we were still completely stuffed from our airplane meals. I am currently sitting in an internet cafe not far from the home stay writing this which is fortunate as getting here was a mission. After finally locating our homestay on the map Xanthe and I set out following the vague instructions to find this cafe (near here by the NOKIA sign). The streets were crazy but we made it across in one piece and denied about 12 motos during a two minute walk.

Will update more later.

Part Way There

caitlinak — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 19:54:00 GMT

Greetings all, I have just hopped off my AKL to SYD flight and arrived at my next gate. Getting here was interesting as there were few signposts to the transfer area and of course all were vague but I got there after walking down the most boring and neverending corridor ever. Transfer was the fun part though as I must seem highly dangerous! Me and my bag were swiped for an explosive 'something' test and then I was patted down, I was read my rights and everything, no cute dog though :-( The flight was quite boring though. I had a pasta dish for dinner and a Tip Top ice cream for dessert while watching 'Eat Pray Love'. The best part was when the passenger next to my neighbour asked he could borrow a pen, after rifling through her purse for awhile she said she couldn't find a plain pen only purple or glitter. He was so excited at the idea of writing on his customs form with a glitter pen, truly hilarious. I am currently sitting between gates 31-32 in possibly the most secluded part of Sydney Airport at a free internet kiosk (can't turn down free stuff!). I have not seen another person down here for at least ten minutes, possibly because my flight isn't for another 2 hours. Nothing else to report, so I will go write all this down again in my 'real' journal.

Ready for takeoff

caitlinak — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 11:29:00 GMT

My huge bag is packed and I can just carry around all 16kilos of it. So despite a 7o'clock rush to the supermarket for sunscreen last night I am ready to go. Will be leaving home in about an hour so Cambodia look out!

Joom-reap leah everybody!

Getting Ready To Go

caitlinak — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:33:00 GMT

I have just created this blog/ story site so that I keep all those at home filled in on my goings on. I have 2 days before I leave and am almost ready.

I have just dipped my clothes in Permethrin (anti-mosquito stuff), copied all important documents and left instructions on how to use the DVD player for my mum :-)

The nerves are kicking in and excitement is high. I have also discovered where I will be working during my three weeks in Phnom Penh, the National Action Cultural Association or NACA. The link follows http://www.holmepage.co.uk/naca/. I'm looking foward to meeting Clare, a fellow volunteer and first time lone traveller.