Today was an extremely busy day and the first day that we really had free time to explore Siem Reap. After a nice sleep in a group of us headed up stairs at Jasmine to have breakfast and make plans for the day ahead. After changing our minds numerous times we all worked out what we were going to do. Some were going for massages, some were going shopping but Katie and I had decided that today we would like to see the floating villages.
We went and booked at reception and within 5 minutes a tuk tuk was there ready to go, (which I dont think would ever happen in Australia). After quickly scrambling around getting our stuff together we were in the tuk tuk heading towards a part of Siem Reap that we hadn't gotten to see yet.
After the tuk tuk ride we reached the wharf where we headed down to our boat which was a big wooden boat that could seat about fifteen people, however we had this one all to ourselves. As soon as we were in our seats the boat headed out towards the floating village. The floating village was amazing to see it was very different to anything I had ever experienced before and was interesting to learn how people could live and rely on the lake so much. The houses were extremely basic and some lucky people had boats but most of the people just had canoes that they used to get around. Most of the houses had makeshift clothes lines the were strung up along walls and many people were just using the river to bathe in. We passed many children who were playing and fishing in the water and they all seemed extremely happy, which made me think of some children back home who complain about all the things they dont have and dont appreciate how good thier lives actually are. There were floating shops, a floating school and even a floating church.
There were also floating cafes that the tourists could stop at to buy food or drinks during their tour. When we made it through the village we went out into the open lake called Tonle Sap. It was so big that I thought we had actually gone out into the open ocean. According to our boat driver who had grown up in the floating village, Tonle Sap is the biggest lake in South East Asia and is 150km wide. While we were out sitting on the lake a small boat came along side us. This boat contained a small family of a father and a boy and a small girl. Much to my surprise the girl had a python wrapped around her neck and was offering me a photo with it for $1. As fr as Im concerned snakes are interesting to look at but they can stay far away from me. The next part of the tour involved stopping at a restaurant that had a fish and crocodile farm and a large look-out where you could take photos of the village from above. I had never seen a crocodile farm before so when i looked in I was so shocked to see so many crocodiles all being kept in such a confined space.
After the restaurant we headed back towards the wharf through the village, even though it was such a poor village it still had this indescribable beauty about it which was enhanced by how happy the people looked. We arrived back at Jasmine Lodge at 1:40pm after our tour and a group of us had planned to go to a traditional Khmer food cooking class as we had all fallen in love with the cuisine while we had been here. This class however started at 2pm with an arrival time of 1:45pm so back in a tuk tuk I jumped an headed towards Temple Bar in Pub street which was where the class was being held. The group that went to the cooking class included, Anna, Jane, Jess S and Jess H, Kris, Leselle, Maddie D and Maddy C, Amy, Lisa and I. It was $10 and included a free t-shirt, a three course meal that we got to prepare and eat and we got to dress up in aprons and chef hats which to us was pretty much worth the $10 anyways. For entre we made fried or fresh spring rolls, my fried spring rolls still ended up being bigger then everyone elses I still have no idea why.
For main we made with a Khmer Amok or a curry which were both dishes that we had frequently whilst dining in Cambodia and for dessert we made a Banana dish that I didn't particularly enjoy but others thought it was fantastic. After our amazing cooking class we headed back to Jasmine Lodge again where Katie, Anna, Abi and I decided that we would like to try and catch sunset at Angkor Wat temple so back in a tuk tuk we got and headed straight for the temple. Unfortunately by the time we reached the temple we had missed sunset but were still surprised by its amazing beauty under the afternoon sun and still got some amazing photos. That evening I was exhausted but was so glad that I had experienced so much in one day.
Day 18- Sunday
Today was temple day!! I was so excited! Everyone was heading out today to see the temples and some girls had even got up at 4am so go out and see sunrise. Maddy C, Lisa, Katie and I however had booked an English tour guide and a tuk tuk to be picked up at 9am for a full day tour of the three most popular temples, Angkor Wat, Bayon and Ta Prohm. First we headed to Angkor Wat which is the biggest temple and most well known out of the three that we were heading to today. Angkor Wat is an absolutely amazing temple and its main three towers are featured on the Cambodian flag, however as we leant that day it actually has five towers, four around the outside and one in the middle except the back two hide behind the front two which is why you only see three when looking at it straight on. We also learnt that each temple is created by a reining king and is built in dedication to one of the gods so in the case of Angkor Wat it was dedicated to the god Vishnu and took approx 37 years to build.
Not all of the carvings are finished on the walls of Angkor Wat because after a king finishes his reign the new king builds his own temple rather then completing the previous kings temple. There were many carvings on the walls of Angkor Wat telling stories of the wars between gods and demons. There are also carving describing a well known story in the religion of cambodia about the churning of the sea which involved the gods and demons working together for thousands of years to churn a sea to make the water give them immortality. In the very middle of the temple there is a tower that you can get to, up some extremely steep stairs mind you, and you can see over the whole Angkor Wat temple area. It was an amazing view and made me wonder what I would have seen from the top if I was alive when this temple was being used by royalty. Going back down the stairs from the top tower was extremely difficult as the stairs are all very tiny as well as steep. As Lisa is scared of heights she decided to go down the stairs backwards so she didnt have to look down, this was good for her but made it harder for Katie and I as went ended up laughing all the way down the stairs. Our guide was fantastic and told us all the history of Angkor Wat and how it was built and how it functioned in the past.
As Bayon was the last temple of the day the sun was sitting low in the sky which gave us a fantastic opportunity to take some amazing photos of the temple under the light of the afternoon sun. After visiting Bayon our tour guide had to leave for another engagement however he told the tuk tuk driver to take us to Pre Rup (another temple just a bit further away) for the sunset. We thanked our tour guide before leaving as he had done such a great job and the experience would not have been the same without him. When we arrived at Pre Rup, there were already people walking up the extremely steep stone steps to the top. When we reached the top after a few breaks on the way up we positioned ourselves in the best place available to see the sunset. The whole experience today had been amazing and breath taking with beauty that was hard to put in to words. While watching the sunset from the top of a temple over a city that I had fallen in love with I realised that this had been one of the best weekends of my life and that I was so happy to be sharing it with 3 wonderful girls, Maddy, Lisa and Katie.
Day 19 - Monday
Start of the last week of prac, man it has gone so fast. This week Jane, Abi, Amy, Maddy C and I were all at the MHDC school doing education classes for adults, teenagers and children. The way that the day was structured was adult classes (separate classes for men and women) for two hours in the morning, followed by lunch at either Davy's uncles house or the restaurant and then classes with either teenagers or children for the last hour of the day. I knew this was going to be the most difficult week for me as I have never done so many education classes and didnt have any experience to base what I was going to do off of. Today Maddy and I decided that we would take the women's class for the week and that Abi, Jane and Amy would take the men's class for the week.
Our first topics for today were Lifting and Moving with the women's class and Hepatitis B and Rabies for the mens class. When we started we were so nervous because we werent sure what the best way to teach them was and if they would even be interested in the topics, plus everything we said had to be translated to them through our amazing translator Bota. Our lifting and moving topic lasted just under an hour of the class and by the end of the topic the women seemed so bored and uninterested.I felt so defeated and upset because I didnt know how to teach them in a way they would enjoy it and want to learn about it plus it is really hard to tell how they are feeling off their facial expressions which makes it hard to figure out what to do next. As we had covered our whole topic in under half the class time we gave the women a 15 minute break so that we could get together with the mens class group and see how they were going and discuss tactics of what to do next. During this time Maddy and I decided that we would teach them Hepatitis B after the break and hopefully they would be more interested in that topic. Luckily they were a bit more interested in this topic and seemed to have more questions about it at the end which lifted our spirits a little and made us not give up on our teaching skills.
At the end of the lesson we also asked them what they wanted to learn about for the rest of the week. Surprisingly they said things like setting goals for the future and healthy eating which was great to hear. That night I was exhausted and felt defeated from a hard day of teaching so I stayed back at Jasmine whilst everyone else went out to dinner and did some research for the next day's topic determined that it was going to be a better day.
Day 20- Tuesday
Second day of teaching was better then the first which was great and it turned out to be a much better day. Today the women's class learnt about the digestive system and the lungs as well as diseases and infections such as tuberculosis and appendicitis. The men's class were learning about Hep A, Hep C and HIV. Today's class was so much more interactive and enjoyable and the women had a lot of relevant questions and seemed genuinely interested in what we were teaching them. We gave them a break during the middle of the class and when they came back they were just as enthusiastic to learn which was a great improvement on the day before. That day we had lunch without the group from the MHDC clinic as they were out buying all of the things that we had decided to buy with the fundraising money. It was at lunch that we learnt that we had to teach the childrens and the teenagers class something to perform at the presentation that we wee going to attend on friday. We immediately freaked out a bit about this as we werent quite sure what to teach them but we eventually decided to teach both classes a song.
As most of the teenagers could read pretty good english and speak pretty good english Maddy and I decided to teach them a bit of a harder song which end up being the I can sing a rainbow song. When we got to the teenage class our first part of the class we had prepared information about setting goals for the future. First we went around the class and asked them what they wanted to do in the future after they finished school. Most of them wanted to be teachers, but two wanted to be nurses, two wanted to be doctors and one wanted to be a tour guide and the last one wanted to be a singer. We then discussed the difference between long term goals and short term goals and how to reward yourself after reaching your goals. After the lesson on setting goals we had a first practice at the song we were going to perform on friday. The first go wasn't too good but that was to be expected but all of the students copied down the sing and said that they would practice at home. But we practiced again for good measure just before they left.
Day 21- Wednesday
Today was a pretty dismal day. It was my turn to be sick so I spent the day sleeping and feeling nauseated which was pretty crappy. When the girls got home they said they had a great day, they spent the day painting the library at the school and teaching the women's class about pregnancy and breastfeeding and the mens class about lifting and moving. They also practiced the song with the teenagers. After everyone got home I was feeling a little better and learnt that Peta our lecturer and some of the girls were going out to get some traditional Khmer photos done. I decided to tag along incase I didnt get another opportunity. Peta, Abi, Katie and I all went together to a photo shop that offered the Khmer photos for $15 which included hair, make up and costume plus four photos... so cheap! After we had arrived another group of girls - Jess S, Amy, Jane, Maddie D and Leselle arrived at the same place, this overwhelmed the make up and hair people I think as there were so many people in the room. So how this works is first you get your make up completed to make you look like a china doll then you get your hair done which is usually big hair and they use a lot of fake hair pieces as well. You then pick out the colour of your traditional Khmer costume and they pick all the jewellery to go with your costume. Everyone looked amazing when we got them done and we were so excited to see ourselves all dressed up.
Day 22 - Thursday (Australia Day)
Today was our last day of prac for the whole placement it was a pretty sad because we had such a great time. Our final lessons for the women was contraception, STD's and menopause and for the men it was a lesson about Australia. The women really enjoyed our class on contraception and STDs and asked heaps of questions about the pill and the depo injection and especcially menopause. Not many women in cambodia know about menopause so sometimes when they start going through menopause and thier period stops they believe that they are pregnant and when they find out they aren't pregnant they don't understand what is wrong. After the class the women were all excited and thanked us for teaching them. They then started asking us questions about our lives n Australia which they found extremely interesting. One lady even wanted to marry Maddy and I off to her 12 year old son haha! That afternoon in our teenage class we spent the whole class practicing the song we had taught them and practicing lining up so that they were well presented for the following day.
By now they were really good at the song and only struggled with a few words. That afternoon when we left the school we were all in high spirits as it was Australia Day and Jasmine Lodge was holding a BBQ to celebrate, so when we got home we had a shower and got ready and then went back out to the front of jasmine for the BBQ. They had steak and chicken wings, potato salad, lettuce and tomato and even BBQ sauce and mustard which we hadn't had for the whole trip! Mr Kun the lodge owner also flled up a big esky with softdrink and some beer and told all the guests at the BBQ that the drinks were free which was great because we got to have a beer on Australia day with our BBQ. That night we all went to bed thinking of home and preparing for the presentation the next day.
Day 23- Friday
Today was a very emotional day as it was the last day that we would be heading to the site that we had been working so hard at over the last three weeks. Today we were attending a presentation with the military and his excellence who is basically equal to the minister of defence for Australia but Cambodia's version. When we arrived all of the school kids were lined up outside the hall awaiting our arrival and the arrival of his excellency. We immediately went in and got seated in the front rows, which were opposite a large group of military people and in front of a group of people from the community. Just after we sat down his excellency arrived, there were cameras everywhere and everyone clapped and stood up when he walked in the room. It was at this point I think we realised how important he really was. When the ceremony started a few people from the military first gave their speeches and then Peta and Liz and then it was mine, Leselle and Anna's turn to make a speech. I was first and was so so nervous as it was the first speech I had done to someone so important and also because I was representing our group at an important ceremony and didn't want to mess up. After me, Anna and Leselle got up and did their speeches fantastically.
Following the speeches it was time for the children to perform the songs that we had taught them. The younger children went first and then the older children that Maddy and I had been working with went second. They sang the song so amazingly I was so so proud of them and also felt proud of ourselves for being able to teach them something new in only a number of days. After the performances his excellency gave a speech and then presented Tom and Dayvy some medals to reward them for their great service to Cambodia through the help they had done in the villages. Following their presentation we then were pulled up in groups of 5 to get presented some framed certificates and scarves by his excellency and members from the military. This was one of the proudest moments of my life, it was this point that I actually realised how important it was that we were actually here and how much of a true impact that we had made, I couldnt help but smile and knew that I would never forget this moment, not ever. When all of the presentations were finished we walked with his excellency down to the new kitchen that we had helped fund to be built and watched the red ribbon be cut to officially open it. We then went to the school were all of the little kids were lined up clapping as we went on a tour to the library. The kids were all so cute and this is the part where a few us turned on the water works and became quite emotional.
We had all loved our experience so much and knew that it was going to be so hard to leave the country and the children. Following our tour we headed back up to the hall to see our buckets of donations being handed out to all of the houses. These buckets contained a mosquito net, a mat (which they use to sleep on), soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, 2kg washing powder and a blanket and the bucket could be used to store fresh water. It was great to see the smiles on people's faces after receiving thier bucket. After this we headed to lunch with the military and his excellency at the restaurant that we ate at during our lunch breaks. I was so surreal going to lunch with such important people. His excellency was such a down to earth person as well and knew a limited amount of english but tried to say as much as he could to interact in conversations with us which was really great.
That afternoon when lunch was over we headed back to Jasmine to have some free time before our dinner with the military and his excellency that night. During the break Maddy and Lisa wanted to go and get some traditional Khmer photos done and as we had become quite good friends I went with them and got them done again. Just after we got back from getting the photos done we had to leave for dinner which gave us about 15 minutes to be ready. We went to dinner at a place where you get given raw ingredients and a pot with boiling water and you put all the ingredients in together to make your own soup. It was really amazing and tasted so good, I wasnt quite sure what everything in the soup was but it tasted good regardless. Dinner was so fun and very relaxed and his excellency came around and talked to all of us at our tables numerous times which was really good to see as it isn't often that you see someone in a high standing position be so down to earth. I'm sure that the girls will all agree that the phrase we will take away from this dinner is "Dont forget Cambodia"
Day 24 - Saturday
My Second last day in Cambodia turned out to be another amazing day in more ways then one. Bota (one of the translators) and I had organised a trip up to Phnom Kulen with Sandi (another translator) and Jess H, Katie, Abi, Anna and Kris. It was an hour and a half away so we left fairly early in the morning so we could spend as much time as possible in this amazing place. So let me tell you a little about Phnom Kulen it is one of the most sacred mountains in all of Cambodia, it features a Buddhist temple at the top and then after a short walk there is a breathtaking three layered waterfall. After our bumpy 1 and a half hour trip we arrived at a little village that surrounded the Buddhist temple.
We went for a walk up to the Buddhist temple to have a look around and right at the top of the temple there is a reclining Buddha that would weigh a huge amount and is painted gold it was really cool. There was also a man inside this room that could read things about you and tell you things about your future. Jess H, Kris and I had a reading done by him and were so surprised by how accurate some of the things he said were. After we finished having a look around the temple we went on a short walk through the jungle of the mountain and came out on the side of a stream which was bordered with some shaded huts, two restaurants and had a rickety looking bridge adjoining each side. By this point we were all getting hungry so we sat in one of the huts by the stream where we ordered our lunch and listened to the sound of the flowing water as we waited for our food to be delivered from the restaurant to our hut.
It was so peaceful listening to the stream and was so beautiful watching the water flow over th rocks. After lunch we headed down towards the end of the stream where it seemed to go over the edge, this I learnt was where the first ledge of the waterfall went down the the second ledge of the waterfall. So after a few short steps I was watching white water flow over the edge of the rock and down along the other rocks and over the edge to the third edge of the waterfall, it was absolutely amazing I had never seen anything like it. The water was so beautifully clear and very fresh and cold as it was travelling down the stream from the very top of the mountain. We each dared each other to stand under the flow of the water and when we did it was like having a cold shower in the middle of winter it was so cold but somehow it was really easy to adapt to and when you stepped out you felt cleaner then you had in your entire life.
After frolicking around on the second layer for awhile we headed down the long steps to the third layer of the water fall, you have to climb over alot of rock and along some makeshift paths to get there but when I saw the main waterfall for the first time it took my breath away and I was speechless it was gorgeous and unlike anything I had ever seen. I could describe it in here but I don't think there is actual words to describe its magnificance, it was the perfect thing to do that day and just made me feel so happy inside it summed up my trip in such an incrediable way. After swimming in the waters of the waterfall for awhile we headed for Jasmine. On the way back we stopped at Bantaey Srey which is a temple famously known for its spectacular carvings and pink sandstone structure. We could only stay for 20 minutes as Anna was leaving on a flight tonight and had yet to finish packing.
When we reached Jasmine we were extremely tired but so happy and content we just couldnt stop smiling. Tonight was our goodbye dinner and we all had to be ready by 6.30pm to head to the restaurant and all of the translators were attending to celebrate an excellent trip. Unfortunately before we had left two of the girls that had been sick for a few days had to be taken into hospital and were admitted to stay overnight. The goodbye dinner just wasn't the same without them but we knew that it was best for them to be better before the flight home. At the dinner we made a presentation to all the translators and gave them certificates of appreciation for their hard work whilst on the trip. Without them we wouldnt have been able to accomplish anything and we really owed them a lot of gratititude, they helped make the trip memorable especially Dayvy who worked so amazingly hard to make everything function smoothly and does an extremely good job at it!
Day 25- Sunday
This was our last day in Siem Reap, which meant our day to pack, our last day for last minute shopping (which i did plenty of) and our last day to spend in a city that had captured our hearts more then we thought possible. Some of us didn't actually realise how much stuff we had accumulated over our month in Cambodia and a few of us had to buy a second bag to bring it home in! Packing was the hardest thing as it ment the trip of a lifetime was over, many of us were sad to be leaving but at the same time were excited to see out loved ones again. At about lunch time we got the girls back out of hospital and helped them pack up all their stuff and get them ready to go and at 4.30, the translators came to Jasmine lodge to say goodbye to us for the last time. Many tears were shed as friendships had been made in the small time we were there but we were all so happy that we could make a difference in a country less fortunate then our own.
That is really a good blog for knowledge.
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