Amy and Summers intrepid travels

We Are arriving home Sunday

elusiv — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Just wanted to let you all know we are arriving home Sunday 11.30am. We really do not want to leave and are devastated we do but we have no choice and for health reasons we need to come home. We will fill you all in in the next few days, right now we havnt slept for about 4 days and are emotional wrecks but please keep checking this blog as we have many stories still to share and will complete in the next few days.

Love to you all and see you soon

Amy and Summer

Sihankville

elusiv — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 22:27:00 GMT

On Boxing day we hoped on a bus and headed to the southern coast beach town called Sihankville. Told it was a 2 hour bus trip which actually turned out to be 5 1/2, you quickly work out how the public transport system works here! Seated next to some very loud Cambodian ladies who chated the whole way and seated in Cambodian sized seats in a bus that felt like it had no suspension, made for an uncomfortable ride but a bearable one! Pulling into the bus station on arrival you are met with moto drivers running next to the bus and they hound you as soon as the doors open wanting you to get a ride with them. With a group of man circling around us Summer actually had to yell "just give us a minute and some space to get our bag!" We choose the most polite driver and his friend to take us. We didn't actually have any accommodation for the first night so with the help of our drivers and a couple stops at guesthouses we found a room in a place called GST guesthouse. The guesthouse was clean enough but we cant say the same for most of the other guests! As well as a beach and party destination it is also an area frequented by sex tourists and it was pretty evident that that alot of the other guests where there for the latter reason! We survived for the night but were glad to move on to our beach bungalow the following day. While at the guesthouse i choose to get my first massage while away for $5 for an hour and turned out to be an interesting experience and rather funny! I was looked after by a little Cambodia lady who's only english was "ok Madam". She got me to change into what looked like doctors scrubs but when i stepped out i was met with an asian Ohhhhhhhh as she pulled at the tightness of my outfit. She then handed me a very small looking apron that was rather embarrassing as my boobs basically flowed out from the sides and barely covered the never-regions! I lay down and she began to use her elbows and heels in places Ive never been touched with these body parts and it was actually quite painful especially when her elbows where digging into my inner thighs! When i would cry out Cheww ( Khmer for pain) she would smile and raise her finger to her lips to tell me to be quite! Towards the end a man and lady entered for a massage and i embarrassingly tried to cover myself as best i could! I walked in there aching a bit but definitely left in a lot more pain! It did make for a great story to tell Summer when i returned to the room!

While i was away Summer had got talking to a waiter who asked if we were doctors. He explained he had a very sick daughter who was always crying, had a swollen belly, fevers, constant diarrhea etc We became quite concerned and asked about their living conditions and what they ate etc They were quite a poor family who lived on 50 cents a day for food and the waiter worked 14 hours a day, 7 days a week (probably for about $50 a month). He was extremely tired and run down looking and didn't get much sleep when he was home due to the baby. We didn't know what to do and thought that this baby was on the brink of death so we decided to visit his home to see her the next day. We suspected malnutrition but were relived to find the baby in better condition than we imagined. We decided to buy a supply of baby formula and baby food as well as some new bottles and we also made a trip to the pharmacy where we bought some medicine to stop the diarrhea and also some medicine for fevers etc. We felt this was as best we could do to try help this little girl get a decent start at life and we really hope she is doing ok. The health care system here is basically non existent and even if you do manage to find a decent doctor it costs a lot more money than most people here could ever afford!

Its disgusting to see government officials driving around in Lexus's and living in there big flash houses while probably in the millions, people live with little more than the clothes on there back! But we will save that rant for another post!

Sorry there's been a big delay will try catch up with the missing blogs for the past couple weeks over the next couple days!!

Hope you all had a great break and a happy new year to you all!!

Love from us both

SCAO Christmas Party

elusiv — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:11:00 GMT

Man what a week! Its been very busy leading up to our christmas party we had on Sunday and im absolutely shattered! I just want to go to sleep for a week!! on top of teaching our classes we had been organising the food for the party as well as getting last minute gifts for the kids! On Saturday we headed into town with Srey Lat ( to translate and get us the good prices) and Israel (An amazing guy from Spain who has been here for a couple months or so and calls into the orphange every week). We headed to a market first which not many tourists visit ( We saw one foreign couple in the 4 or so hours we were there!) This place is massive like a covered carpark several stories high. For Christmas we had promised to buy Srey Lat a dress to wear to her god brothers Wedding in January as she had nothing to wear and was so sad she wouldn't be able to go. This took a couple hours to come to a decision! The Fashion here is really not cool! Everything we liked she thought was to plain and everything she liked we thought was tacky haha ( Barbie doll style with lots of shiny things sewn on etc). In the end we gave up suggesting and let her choose her own! After finding some other bits and pieces for the kids and far to many trips through the food section ( It really is disgusting and a smell i can not explain other that you are nearly throwing up and when you add the smell to the sights you are seeing its not an experience you want to encounter again unless you really have to!

our market trip ended in a bad way when while we were leaving Summer noticed Israels Front pocket of his bag was undone and of course his wallet was missing! Nearly every person we have met had had this happened to in one form or another and it is quite upsetting. We really felt for him as he left Yesterday for Spain and he had no money or credit cards, Fortunately He didn't have his passport in his bag!

After the market it was time to hit the food markets! Gahhhhhh.I was starving so on the way to an ATM i made a dash for the nearest western food joint and stocked up on food for everyone including our driver who waited all day for us while we shopped! I stayed with the tuktuk to guard the bags of gifts we had ( and munch out on the food!) while the others braved the markets to get the vegies! Im glad i didnt have to go as they came back with there feet covered in black gunk and god knows what else they had to walk through! While waiting for them i had my first offer of someone trying to give me their baby! A lady walked up to me holding the baby out saying " ÿou take, you take" I tried to explain i wouldn't be allowed on the plane and she just replied " no problem". It was really heart breaking and i would have taken that child in a second if i could have! Instead i gave the kid some french fries i had, porbably the first and only time she will try such a food!

After that another market to buy fruit and we made it back home just after dark!I think we were wrapping presents for our 19 kids ( oh we acquired two more a couple weeks ago from the Thai border where there is still fighting and a lot of conflict. 1 is a full orphan with no idea about his family and the other has a father who lost his leg to a mine. They are beautiful boys who came to us with no english and already they are speaking the basics and they try so hard to learn! they fall asleep reading the alphabet with their books lying on their chests!) until about 1am with two of our older kids (Ngorl and Srey Lat who both actually now call us mum! hehe) laughing and joking around.

Sunday was xmas day for us here and in the morning we put all our presents under the tree and then handed them out to the kids! It was such a good feeling to bring some joy to these kids and have a day where they can actually just be kids! Unfortunately Li Mai ( 6 year old) did not like her present so she stole two that were left on the table for some adults and proceeded to scream for about an hour and hid in a corner! I finally got the presents back about 3 hours later! Baby long ( 2 1/2) also decided to hide some marbles which were for everyone and he eventually showed me that he had hidden them in a draw under his clothes!

It was a big day for everyone as we were having a xmas party for all our students( about 140) where they were all fed including treats of bread and fizzy drink and given a toothbursh and toothpaste. Some of the centre kids performed a song and dance ( I will post a video of it!) and also we had taught all our young students we wish you a merry xmas which they all sung as well! It was a great party and everyone danced and enjoyed themselves well into the night! ( some of the older kids a little to much drinking a whole bottle of whiskey!).It was so amazing to be apart of and see the kids all so happy and excited and i think this will be as close as we get to it feeling like xmas!

We never really caught back up on sleep this week and with not getting a day off to rest We have been feeling pretty exhausted! Thankfully we have had some amazing volunteers helping us to take some of the load off and giving us a break if we need it! We even had a great Aussie couple who when they left on Thursday gave us $50US to "continue spoiling the kids". We also welcomed another French man we call Manu who will be here while we take a holiday! He's a great guy who has been traveling for the last year and even spent a few months up North working in Ahipara! such a small world, he was so funny saying "yeah i know pak n save very well!"

Sadly Israel left us this week which we all cried about haha We got a ride with him into town yesterday to renew our visa and the poor guy was really upset he had to leave! We can't imagine what we are going to be like when our time comes to leave!!!

I got offered another baby while getting a drink at a shop and also had a kid nearly pass out in class! Which two of the other volunteers and ourselves have been visiting each afternoon to perform acupuncture and massage on him to hopefully help him come right but unfortunately he will just get sick again as the health care system here is crap and very expensive.

Tomorrow night we are going out to dinner with the other volunteers( nearly all french!) to celebrate xmas and begin our holiday!!! We are so excited to be having a break and are heading off to the southern coast of Cambodia for a week hopefully to get lots of swimming in and lazing on the beach and recharge the batteries ready for another month at the orphanage!

We hope you all have a fantastic Christmas day and wish we were there with you all celebrating! Its a very hard time for us both at the moment as Christmas is not celebrated here really and it is such a time for family. Live it up for us and think of us while you enjoy your feast while we eat our daily ration of rice!!!! hahahahaha

Be safe and love to you all!!! Will be thinking of you all!!

Love Amy and Summer

Long overdue!

elusiv — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:40:00 GMT

Sorry once again we haven't been able to write very often due to the long days at the orphanage!

The other two volunteers who were staying with us left last Thursday leaving us as the only volunteers at the centre. On the Thursday there was no school due to it being human rights day so we took advantage of this and took 5 of the older kids into the city to visit the markets and have lunch! We came across a big shopping mall and decided to have a look and have lunch there and take advantage of the air con! It was about 5 or so stories high and on the top had a cool look out over the city and a rollerskating area and gaming area. Most of our kids had never been inside the mall, and it is quite entertaining just to watch the local people trying to suss out how the escalators work and the scared look on their face as they get on! We ended up having pizza for lunch which was a real treat for the kids and just had a really good day out which they really appreciated being able to join us!

On Friday we started teaching classes on our own! Two classes run at the same time in the morning and the afternoon so Summer takes the level ones, learning ABC etc and my class has just started level four. Its quite hard to teach as both classes are taught under the same roof and its hard to keep the kids attention on what you are teaching and not what the other class is doing!

On Saturday night we once again headed into the city to spend the night. It was not an enjoyable time for us this time and we will probably not do it again!

We are very tired and would have to say this is the hardest work we have ever done! It is also the most rewarding but it is extremely tiring and draining not just physically but mentally and emotionally and all done in the extreme heat!

Summer was very tired this Saturday night and as we sat and ate our Dinner we were constantly approached by beggers, mainly children and limbless men selling books and flowers or just asking for money. We were expecting this and had already seen alot of it but when you are as exhusted as we felt on Saturday night it can become a little to much to handle! The sad thing is that you see a streetkid selling roses but they do not even get to keep the money themselves, there will be a man somewhere near by watching them who they give the money to! these when drive them around the city using the children to make money for themselves and they can still be seen in the early hours of the morning.

As we were eating we witnessed this happen as a couple bought a rose at the table next to us and the little boy took the money to a man lying in a nearby tuktuk. This was a breaking point for Summer who burst into tears and left the table. We ended up leaving the restaurant half way through our meal and returning to the guesthouse. Even though we knew of these scams its a totally different story when you see them with your own eyes! The city of Phnom Penh is so full of poverty, scams and corruption that it is impossible to relax!

Its incredibly sad to see and so emotionally challenging but we remind ourselves of why we are here and the amazing people we are helping. We much prefer the poor village we live in and the great people here!

The next day Summer was feeling better after a good rest and we spent a few hours in the markets looking for xmas presents for the kids! We also bought a small fake xmas tree for the kids to decorate as they usually just draw a tree on some paper! We are having a huge xmas party this Sunday for the whole village and we are all looking forward to it!

We have had some new volunteers arrive, two young girls form Norway who are going to Columbia for 5 months to work in an orphanage. I call them the mutes as they hardly say a word to anyone, not even the kids and you barely see a smile on their face ever!

They arrived on Monday and basically do not help at all in the class rooms, they just sit in the back of class and are basically a waste of space! I would love to see how they are going to survive in Columbia lol

We have an awesome french couple who come every afternoon to help and they really brighten up our day always making us laugh. Over Christmas when we leave to have a break they are going to take over the classes for us!

An Australian couple Have also been coming out everyday and are great too! They help alot in class and play with the kids as well as buying things the centre may need etc

We are looking at going to an island in Thailand after xmas for new years and a well needed break! We dream of just lying on the beach reading a book while getting a massage haha It will definitely be a good chance to recharge the batteries before we attack another month at the centre!

We also had snails this week for dinner which were actually pretty good once you got over the idea of it being a snail! We are yet to find the spiders, cockroaches etc to try in the markets!

Not sure if i mentioned it here but summer had really badly swollen feet which were quite painful and had been like that since the flight! We ended up going to the hospital which was very frustrating as they did not speak english! they sent her for xrays and blood tests and the next day we went back for the results which apparently said she had gout! We find this a little hard to believe and I think it was related to the flight! They prescribed 5 different medications which have brought the swelling down thankfully especially since the visit cost over $100 US dollars!

that is all for now but will write after the weekend about the Xmas party! MAke sure to check the photos out and i will upload more soon!

Hope everyone is well and love to you all!!

Amy and Summer xxxx

I now eat rice 3 times a day!- first week at the orphange

elusiv — Mon, 7 Dec 2009 16:55:00 GMT

Sorry for the delay in posting! We just have been extremely busy at the Orphanage!

So We arrived here last Monday, bringing with us a 50kg bag of rice to give and found there to be 4 other volunteers already staying at the orphanage( 2 Americans and 2 Dutch girls) and 3 other people who had arrived at the same time as us. We had brought our bags with us hoping to have a bed as we plan to stay for a month and had been told by email we could stay but all the beds were taken with even the owner and his family sleeping on the floor! Fortunately for us 3 of the girls where planing to leave sometime that week and kindly offered to give us their bed( thanks Gerina and Ilse!) which is located in a room built next to the school house, just up the road from the main centre. The Girls stayed in the city and would travel back out to help with the classes each day. Unfortunetly for Gerina her bag was taken while sleeping in a dorm room at a guesthouse, and lost all her money, passport, camera etc It has been a huge hassle for her to organise replacing this in Cambodia and has taken days of paperwork etc They then have to travel to Bangkok to get a new passport and are hoping this will be done before their flight to Bali for new years! Nearly everyone we have meet has had this happen to them in some form of another so we are being very careful when we go into the city and never let our bag etc out of our sight!

So back to the orphanage. Save the poor children in Asia (S.C.A.O) is located in a village about 15 mins outside of Phnom Penh. It is run by Mr Samith and his wife and they provide a home for 17 children ( 2 of their own) who have come from families who can not afford to look after them or send them to school. They range in age from 2 1/2 to 18 years old. They all attend Khmer school (which costs) as well as the free english school SCAO provides. Some of the older children attend university with the help from donations and sponsorships from people around the world to help pay the fees. check out their website savechildreninasia.org they really are doing amazing work for the children here. They provide free english classes to the children from around the village which is about 100 kids that come to classes 6 days a week. We take 4 classes a day, 8am- 10am, 2pm-4pm, 5.30pm-6.30pm and 6.30pm- 7.30pm. the classes are all at different levels from just starting to learn english so ABC's right up to where you can have a conversation and pretty much understand what each other is talking about! it makes for a very long day but is very much worth it! SCAO provide books and pencils etc to all students for free and at Xmas time we will have a big party for all the children to come and eat and Mr Samith would like to give all the kids a present, i think he is wanting to provide toothbrushes for all the children! The children at the centre are very excited that we are staying for Xmas and we are looking forward to it as well. We would like to give a small present to each of the kids, so we will use some of the gifts we brought with us aswell as some things from the markets here.

So we spend our days teaching and in between we try to rest but usually we are playing with the kids. We have already become quite attached to them here and it is definitely mutual for them especially the younger ones. We dread the day we have to say goodbye and have witnessed how it affects the kids, especially one certain boy Seyma (8)who will draw pictures for days after, of him and the volunteer that left. One picture made us want to cry, it was of a baby elephant holding a mother elephants tail with the words above baby- Seyma and mother- Ginger( a volunteer who left when we arrived). She had been here for around 2-3 weeks i think. I think he has some abandonment issues and he will then act up in class for a couple days. So we do not look forward to the day we leave after being here so long!

On a happier note the kids are all so amazing! When we are so tired and we do not want to get out of bed, seeing the big smiles on there face and greeting us with a hug makes it all worth while!

The Dutch girls organised the purchase of a fridge(which they did not have) with the help from donations from their friends and family. The day the fridge arrived was so amazing to see, young Seyma ran and jumped into my arms yelling "ïm so excited"! They are now able to keep there vegies cold and do not have to buy from the market everyday, it also have a little freezer compartment which the kids love to make ice in or freeze there water bottles! The little ones had a great time with the box as well which we turned into a house for them!

We are very well looked after here, Mr Samith has a huge heart and now introduces us as his family hehe and he always says to treat it like our own home. We are all fed very well with three meals a day which consist of rice every meal with egg in the morning and vegies for lunch and dinner. Usually followed by fruit of bananas, dragon fruit or mandarins.

on Saturday night we took to of the older children ( Srey Lat and Hom)out to dinner in Phnom Penh. These 2 work extremely hard, they both study all day then teach the night classes with us and then after dinner it is homework ( srey Lat has 10 subjects for high school) Then on top of this they clean etc. I take my hat of to them, i could not do what they do and do it all with a smiling face! I gave my cellphone to Srey Lat yesterday as hers broke and she did not have the money to buy a new one and was worried she would get in trouble, it wasn't working for me here on the vodafone network so it is better to give to someone who will use it.

We had a great night out with the other volunteers where we ate western food haha no rice! and drunk way to much, with the barman giving us lots of free shots and stumbled home to the guesthouse at 4am. It was so great to have a shower! ( we use a bucket to scoop water over us) and i dont think we have ever been so excited to see a flushing toilet! ( we have a sqwat toilet or one with a throne but you can not put paper down it and you have to use a bucket of water to push the contents down the pipe! It really does make you appreciate the simple things we have at home and take for granted! Walking into our $8 room on Saturday night was liking walking into a 5 star hotel for us!

I think we will spend every Saturday night in the city as it is a very full on week and by the end of it you need some time out and to eat something other than rice and drink something other than water( for me anyway!). We are still able to get a bit of a caffine fix in the village with little stalls on the road selling small glass bottles of coke for 25 cents. The first time, i had a hot coke as they were sitting on a table, i then managed to get them to understand to place one in their chilly bin for the next day for me. They soon clicked on and now they are all kept in there! Its the best damn coke i've ever had in my life i tell you! We also have discovered this amazing ice coffee which they give to us in a plastic bag. It is filled with ice and they mix coffee with condensed milk! It is perfect on a hot day (which is everyday!) and a good hit to wake us up for class! This also costs around 25 cents! These are our treats for the week and definetly help me get through the week!

It feels like we have been here alot longer than a week but we really do love it here and the kids. We have already some ideas of things we would like to put in place before we leave (one being buying a barrel to burn rubish in, they currently just throw it on the side of the road and burn it every now and then!

Its dinner time now so will update again very soon!

Love to you all!

Amy and Summer

Happy Guesthouse

elusiv — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:03:00 GMT

This Guesthouse is situated on the lake side with a large deck built over the lake with little huts to sit under. We have stayed here 3 nights and absolutely loved it! The staff and great and so friendly, most of them are related. We are usually greeted with a "hello NZ", "sup bro" or "hey mate"! The orphanage we are going to stay at is actually near the village most of the workers come from and many have shaken our hand to say thank you for helping. The manager has asked us if we could spent a few days teaching english at the local school and they will provide us with a place to stay, they also want us to attend a wedding of their sister next weekend where they have a big party. If we feel safe we may attend and is would be an amazing experience to see a traditional wedding!

The Food at the guesthouse is great, Summer has had some amazing curries and they make the best fruit shakes that are to die for, esp the coconut shake! All food and drink cost $1-$2 so you really can live cheaply here! We will miss the people here and grateful for them giving us a great introduction to Cambodia!

Day 3- im going to kick your big arse!

elusiv — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:00:00 GMT

Awoke this morning at 5am and got ready for a happier day out! We wanted to leave early to avoid the hottest part of the day, even though at 8 am it is stinking hot and we are already sweating!

Today we started of with a visit to the royal palace and silver pagoda.

It is actually the official residence of the King so parts are closed of to the public but what you do see is absolutely stunning! Beautiful Asian styled buildings and lush gardens. The silver pagoda is covered with over 5000 silver tiles weighing 1kg each, hence the name. Marble, gold and diamond decorated buddha can be seen and walls decorated with Khmer art. Luckily the Khmer rouge preserved most of the pagoda, although half of its contents where destroyed but what is left is spectacular.

When we were dropped of at the palace gates we were meet by a young boy and girl who were selling books and water. They try their hardest to sell their goods but we are already becoming accustomed to the beggers here. These two were a good sort though and when we told them we were from NZ the young boy said "kiaora bro" which was pretty awesome! I then think he confused us with aussies and said "put another shrimp on the barbie". They followed us for a while repeating these phrases and we could only laugh and smile!

Up next was whats known to foreigners as the Russian markets. A huge market place with tiny walkways filled with clothing, shoes, silk and scarves, gifts, dvds etc. We didn't spend to much time in there as we dont want to buy much until we leave but i will be definitely be going back esp to stock up on the Nikes!

Last stop for the day was Wat Phnom. Set on the only hill in the town. Many people come here to pray for good luck and success. Set in park like grounds you make a short climb up the stairs to the temple. On the way up you are meet with many beggars, many who are missing limbs and make sure you see this while placing their hat out saying "please $1 miss". Summer was busting for the loo and a young boy showed us the bathroom then demanded $1 when she came out! By then a crowd of kids had gathered begging for money and i gave my first beggar dollar to a boy of maybe 5 years. he had deformed arms and i couldn't resist this time. They also have birds in cages that they try sell to you to set free and say its good luck, the birds are actually trained to come back, just another scam in Cambodia! A girl of about 4 followed us for a long time trying to sell us birds in a cage while another girl pleaded with us to please buy her water. You really cant ignore it here and we are learning to just not even reply and carry on or you get stuck with them following you!

Apparently this is where you see lots of monkeys but we didn't see any, we did see a tree full of bats though that our driver pointed out as birds!

Back at the guesthouse we had pancakes for lunch which are amazing and cost a dollar. The manager sat with us and tried our glasses on, looked through our photos on the camera and generally making us laugh. He said "you eat pancake i come back and make you funny!"

After Summer went to rest in the aircond room while i used the computer. A 12 year old who lives here with his family who work here sat next to me and asked me if i wanted a game of pool. He's a cocky little thing and as we are playing he says "im going to kick you arse", this then turns to ïm going to kick your bottom, you got big bottom, how much you weigh? 100kg? you fat, you eat to much? im going to kick your big arse!" I couldn't help but laugh. We were waiting for the fat comments but did not expect it from a kid! you can always rely on the kids to keep it honest! Later that night he commented to Summer and i that we so big the plane will go down! His family were a bit shocked and laughing but im sure it is what they are all thinking haha

We again watched a brilliant sunset and spent the rest of the evening chatting to guests and staff.

Tomorrow we hope to go to the orphanage and start our work there!

Killing Fields of Choeung Ek

elusiv — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:46:00 GMT

We visited the killing fields after the prison. This made for quite a depressing start to the day!

17000 men, women, children and infants who were detained at s21 prison were transported to the extermination camp of Choeung Ek, now know as the killing fields.

They were often bludgeoned to death to avoid wasting bullets. They remains of 8985 people, many who were bound and blindfolded, were exhumed in 1980 from mass graves. 43 of the 129 mass graves here have been left untouched. Fragments of human bones and bits of cloth are scattered around the pits, which we saw plenty of! There is a tree that was used to kill the children against, alledgedly by swinging them by there legs, smashing their skull into the tree.

More than 8000 skulls, arranged by sex and age are visible behind clear glass of the memorial Stupa which was erected in 1988. We bought a flower and ensence each to place in front to pay our respects. It is actually quite a peaceful place considering what it was 30 odd years ago but is still so hard to comes to grips of the terrible inhuman acts the Cambodian people have been through!

Tuol Sleng museum- S21 prison

elusiv — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:28:00 GMT

On Saturday we visited this old prison.

In 1975 the khmer rouge turned this high school into a prison. It was the largest centre of detention and torture. between 1975 and 1978 more than 17,000 people held at the prison where taken to the killing fields. Each prisoner was photographed, sometimes before and after torture and all were made to write a biography.

When the Vietnamese arrived there was only seven prisoners alive who used their skills as painters or photographers to stay alive. 14 others were tortured to death. Photographs of their horrific deaths are on display in the rooms where their decomposing bodies were found. Their graves are in the courtyard.

Visiting the prison is a very depressing and gruesome experience. There are signs up saying no laughing or smiling but it is not a place you have any need to smile about visiting! In rooms you see rusted beds with shackles and instruments of torture. in another block the rooms are filled with the photographs of prisoners and another contains the tiny cells they were kept in.

Alot of the workers at the prison became prisoners themselves for acts such as being lazy or accused of being a traitor as the Khmer rouge became very paranoid.

Khmer Rouge

elusiv — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 16:08:00 GMT

I thought i would write a a bit about a small time frame of Cambodian history that was so horrific that it still affects the people today. I knew nothing about this before planning to come to Cambodia and i am sure most other people around the world don't either. These were acts that were far more inhuman than what Hitler carried out, yet it is not taught in schools etc

"Khmer Rouge" was the name the king gave to his communist opponents in the 1960's. Their official name was the Communist Party of Kampuchea(CPK), which took control of Cambodia on April 17, 1975.

The CPK ruled the country until January 1979. No one outside of the party knew who its leaders were and the leaders called themselves Angkar Padevat.

A few days after they took power the Khmer rouge forced 2 million people in Phnom Penh and other cities into the countryside to start agricultural work. Thousands of people died during the evacuations, but that is only the beginning.

The Khmer rouge wanted to change Cambodia into a rural, classless society where there were no rich people, no poor people and no exploitation. to achieve this they abolished money, free markets, normal schooling, private property, foreign clothing styles, religious practices, and traditional Khmer culture. public schools, churches , universities, shops etc were shut or turned into prisons. reeducation camps etc. Leisure activities were severely restricted and people throughout the country, including the CPK leaders had to wear black costumes, which were their traditional revolutionary clothes.

Under this ruling everyone was deprived of their basic rights. You were not even allowed to gather and have a conversation with others. if three people gathered and talked, they could be accused of being enemies and arrested or executed.

Family relationships were also not allowed. They were forbidden to show even the slightest affection, humor or pity. The Khmer rouge asked all Cambodians to believe, obey and respect only Angkar Padevat, which was to be everyone's "mother and father".

They claimed that only pure people were qualified to build the revolution. They arrested and killed thousands of soldiers and civil servants who they did not regard as pure and over the next three years, they executed hundreds of thousands of intellectuals, city residents, minority groups such as chinese and veitnamese and many of there own soldiers and party members who were accused of being traitors.

Under the terms of the CPK's four yeat plan, Cambodians were expected to produce 3 tons of rice per hectare throughout the country. This ment they had to produce rice 12 months of the year and many were forced to work more than 12 hours a day without rest or enough food.

By the end of 1977, clashes broke out with Vietnam. Tens of thousands were sent to fight and thousands of them were killed.

In December 1978, Vietnamese troops fought there way into Cambodia and captured Phnom Penh on January 7, 1979.

The leaders fled to Thai territory to reestablish their forces and were aided by Thailand and China.

the Khmer Rouge continued to exist until 1999 when all of its leaders had given in to the royal government, died or been arrested.

Nearly 2 million Cambodians lives were claimed and tens of thousands left widowed or orphaned. Millions of mines were laid which has lead to thousands of deaths and disabilities since the 1980's. A large proportion of Cambodian people now have mental illnesses because their family members were lost and their spirits damaged.

It is no wonder that Cambodia is so poverty stricken given what they have been through. Nearly every single person knows someone if not themselves who went through this ordeal. The Khmer rouge placed no value on education, none of its leaders had any experience in running a country. They basically turned the whole country into a rice field and the entire population into peasants and prisoners.

The amazing thing is that after so much horror the people of Cambodia have been through they are trying to move on and make a better life for themselves, a smile is never far away from there faces and i believe they deserve all the help they can get.

T His is just a brief outline of this part of history but im sure if you search the net you will find out a lot more.

Day 2

elusiv — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 23:23:00 GMT

Well I (Amy) awoke this morning at 4am saw a massive centipede and couldn't couldn't get back to sleep ( not because of the massive insect!). Got up at 6am( hard to believe huh Mum!)and chilled on the deck till Summer woke at a more reasonable hour of 8am. We ended up sitting with a Spanish guy, a canadian, a sweedish and 2 aussie girls while eating breakfast. ( dont worry i got a dig in on the aussies when the swed asked if the canadian if he was american which i replied was like calling a kiwi an aussie much to the girls disgust.)When we were ready our driver took us to see the s21 prison and the killing fields. it was a horrific sight which i will explain in later posts and many people we meet were not keen or planning to visit. I felt and explained, i thought it was important for us to see this if we planned on staying in Cambodia any long length of time to see a glimpse of what the people here have gone through and try understand why there is so much strugle and poverty here. It was another crazy driving experience of about 45 mins each way and on the way back we had our first accident (very minor). A young girl pulled out in front of us on her scooter to turn into a side road and we braked and skided into her! We were travelling very slowly so no damage was done but it did knock the girl and bike to the ground and our driver struggled to free his leg to get of the motorbike to prevent him falling. It was quite unbelievable really but i am sure this is a daily accurance, hopefully not to often for us!

It was extremely hot today and we rested in our room for the rest of the avo. We now sit on the deck having a drink while listening to Bob Marley, relaxing in the slight breeze before trying to get a full nights sleep tonight!

Peace

Amy and Summer

Gallery: Cambodia

elusiv — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:01:00 GMT

Cambodia!

elusiv — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:30:00 GMT

Kia ora Everyone!

We arrived in Cambodia yesterday afternoon (Friday) and were greeted at the airport by a staff member from our guest house. Walked out to the roadside and while our driver brought the tuktuk over to us ( I will take a photo of a tuktuk for those who dont know what one looks like) a man approached me and asked for a smoke, I gave him one and he looked at my tattoos and pointed to my Koi fish and said very good! Glad i got his approval on that one! In many asian countries tattoos are associated with gangs but i believe in Cambodia The Khmer people believe tattoos are magic and can protect you from bullets and knifes and many locals get tattoos for this reason. I am unsure is this is only specific to traditional Khmer tattoos, I will have to look into it to see if we are covered for protection!

Well we can say safely say our drive from the airport would have to rate right up there with our scariest driving experience! There are basically no road rules or none that they actually strick to so you have people driving on the wrong side of the road, pulling out from side streets in front of you and just general mayhem! I am going to try take a video today for you all to see for yourself! It wasn't until this moment that it sunk in we were away from home!

On arrival to Happy Guesthouse we are welcomed by the owner and when a staff member learns we are from NZ he replies "sup bro" haha which we thought was really cool!

The owner showed us to our room and on the way we noticed a sign saying if you take drugs you will lose your life, to our surprise as soon as we reached our room the owner sat down and asked if we smoke weed and would we like some! We laughed and said no thanks we don't want to go to jail and he laughed and said jail ok, its good! I guess the friendly staff are not the only reason the place is called happy guesthouse!

We spent the rest of the late afternoon sitting under a little hut over the water( the guesthouse is on the lake) drinking a cold cambodian beer (costs $1) and watching a beautiful sunset while locals fish in there tiny wooden Canoes. It was a very surreal feeling and we are very excited to see what lies ahead!

Bangkok

elusiv — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:16:00 GMT

Arrived in Bangkok at 9.30pm Thursday night, was still very hot and we went straight to hotel and basically went to sleep as we hardly slept on our 12 hour flight. Had breakfast at hotel and managed to convince a staff member to give us a free coffee as we had no Thai money. He came back later and said " I give you free coffee you give me cigarette" We were only to happy to make this deal and he watched in amazement as Summer "rolled" him a smoke and had a chuckle when she licked the paper.

Can't say to much about the place as we only saw the airport and the hotel but all the people were very friendly and helpful and we look forward to traveling Thailand in June when all the Whanau arrive to party!

Flew out to Cambodia the next day and had to pay excess bagage fee as we were both 2kg heavier than when we left Auckland even though we hadn't added a single thing to our bags! (rigged weighing machines maybe?!). Now its time for the real adventure to begin!

The beginning

elusiv — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:52:00 GMT

Kia Ora!

Just thought id give everyone a bit of an intro to our trip before we leave for those who don't know! We fly out on the 26th November, arrive in Bangkok and will spend the night there before flying out to Phnom Penh( Capital of Cambodia) the next day. Thats as far as we have planned so far and will probably stay that way, preferring just to go with where the wind (or in this case the tuk tuk) takes us. I love the idea of not having a time restriction on our travels (just wallet restrictions lol) allowing us to adventure at our free will and staying or going somewhere when ever we like! So we booked one way tickets about a month ago and you may wonder why Cambodia?
Well travel was not in our near future plans. We have both travelled the world with our own families and had decided to put our efforts into saving for a home and settling down followed by having a family. I was browsing the internet ( as Summer would tell you i do a lot! ) and came across the website of an organisation called Tiny Toones. Check out the site, but in brief Tiny Toones was started by a well known breakdancer in the States called KK . After getting in to some trouble he was deported to Cambodia. He begun teaching breakdancing to kids in his home and as word spread the organisation was born. Since then thousands of kids have passed through Tiny Toones, many are street kids and orphanes. This is a place they can feel safe and be surrounded by positive role models. As well as teaching break dancing they have english, Computer typing and literacy and health classes as well as a little recording studio where they can teach rapping and dejaying etc.
I was blown away by this site and was pulled towards the need to visit and offer my skills to help where i can. It is an organisation that is close to my heart as i am wanting to set up a youth centre that can have a positive influence teaching through music and hip hop.

Now you must know that volunteering or even visiting Asia has never been on my to do list. Its not that i dont care for these things but i have always beleived in helping in your own backyard before another country. But as the hours ticked by reading and researching Cambodia i realised without the help of people from around the world Cambodia will fall deeper into the rut and poverty it is in. I wont get into the history and facts of Cambodia in this post but it is a 3rd world country with an average income of $300 a year.
I dont think any amount of reading or learning can really prepare us for where we are heading and i dont think it will really sink in till we are hit with the sights,sounds and smells! But we have never been more excited to start this journey and if we can touch or improve the life of at least one person i think we will return home satisfied.

Peace Amy and Summer

"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin" - Mother Teresa