... So last time I left you where I left David and Martin, in Siem Reap... the next phase of travel was about to commence, me and Khadija exploring the nether reaches of the Cambodian frontier... going where few tourists have gone before... well that's not totally true but I was starting the next phase of this journey... ... but first, in the words of Maud Flaunders, let's think of the children...
... In Cambodia you can't avoid seeing and noticing the children... you'll hover between wanting to cry and thinking they are the cutest little fellows this side of a Panda nursery... around the big temple place the kiddies are there selling you bracelets, postcards, flutes and statues... trying to get you into their parents restaurant or t-shirt shop... they learn some awesome patter which occasionally made me succumb and give them a few bob... a girl selling postcards got me as she followed me for about 200 yards... "10 postcards one dollar", "How much for one?" "One dollar"... she then proceeded to count out the ten postcards over and over... I had to succumb... When I went round the temples with David and Martin the kids could sense I was new blood, the weak antelope, they went for the kill and I occasionally had 3 kids around me selling stuff... and in Cambodia they seem to sell souvenirs wholesale... 10 postcards one dollar, 3-5 Buddha statues one dollar, 10 bracelets one dollar... "flute one dollar", "No thank you", "three flutes for two dollar" (obviously I look like the type who needs three flutes)... They ask where you are from and then reel of their list of facts... "England, Capital city London, Priminister David Cameron, before that Gordon Brown, Tony Blair..." etc etc ad infinium.. these little rascals know more about England then me... when they tried to sell David stuff they even started talking to him in Gaelic... it's ashame they have to work but I guess working for the family is better then working for Primark so we can get cheap shit we'll only wear once...
... So David and Martin moved on to Bangkok to go their separate ways... our Vietnam travelling group was finally breaking up like a biscuit dropped and abandoned in a cup of tea... me and Khadija decided to go to Battenbang, a bit north from Siem Reap... it was an interesting place to go and we went for 5ish days before I headed back to Bangkok to fly to Sydney (tomorrow (27th)) and she travels to Phnom Penn to fly on to Indonesia... it is Cambodia's second most populous city (apparently) and it was really interesting to see a Cambodian city which was not so touristy as Siem Reap... ... ... I remember two years ago when I was in Thailand I met a couple (a Belgian man and a Luxembourgian woman (the first and only Luxembourgian I've ever met)) ... they were working in Cambodia on some charity thing and were just on holiday in Thailand... I was fascinated that they were in Cambodia as it sounds like one of those truly exotic places and really off the beaten track... they told me that Cambodia was nice and the people were nice but there is really nothing to do... no theater, no cinema, just bars... and you know what.. they weren't lying! ... In Battenbang (we stayed in the optimistically named 'royal hotel':) we did some touristy stuff like visit temples and ride the bamboo train (basically a bamboo pallet on some wheels on a single train line... if someone is coming the opposite direction you literally dismantle the train and take it off the tracks to allow them past) ... but then there was little else to do aside from drink (50 cent beer... as in the price, not a brand endorsed by the rapper), eat and be merry... there are almost literally 3 places to eat in Battenbang... I'd recommend Smoking Pot with it's delicious Chicken Lok lak (some kind of traditional dish you'd be forgiven for identifying as a generic Asian dish with an egg on top) and passable wine (oh yes, I'm becoming a cultured little bugger;)... there was also Gecko bar which did an incredible chicken quasidillas... I became addicted... I still yearn for the delicious taste, the stretchy mozzarella, the bean and salsa dips... holy moley it was nice:)) ... Me and Khadija had a great time in Battenbang despite the activity vacuum... it was nice to visit a relatively normal Cambodian city... and Cambodia is a lovely place people, don't be scared... it is just a bit quiet and has some scars from it's harsh past (which I really need to read about)... the only even slightly dangerous things I saw was a homeless man in the middle of the day doing a dance as he sniffed glue and a car crash followed by the driver at fault jumping out of the window and doing a runner (probably knicking the car)... but in truth, despite all the scams and stuff I read on the net... I felt safe in Cambodia... I think Khadija did too although she's really afraid of dogs and they have so many strays there...
... I spoke to an American guy and he said that Cambodia has the most NGOs (Non-government organisations... basically charity places) in the world (maybe he said south east Asia, I can't remember)... but there are so many opportunities to volunteer in Cambodia, even me and Khadija helped teach English to some 9-13 year old kids (which was more of an achievement for her because English isn't her first language)... we were on our way home from the bamboo train and the tuk-tuk driver asked if we wanted to teach English at an NGOKhadija in to chat with the class as I started to struggle for words... when I said that I like to play football and then asked the class what they liked to do in their free time a suspicious number of the girls said, "I like to play with my doll"... it was hard to tell which of them were good at English and which were copying those who went before them... but they were all trying and most of them understood far more then you'd think a 12 year old would be able to... lots of the kids were from local families but there were also 22 or 23 orphans among the students... it felt good to give them a couple of hours of our time... ... but it was also quite exhausting... :)
... So now I'm in Bangkok and today is my last day in this beautiful and incredible continent which has been my home for the last 3 months... I will miss it and the people I've met here so much... I'm so sad to leave and when I arrived in Bangkok yesterday I felt really low and alone (hence the feeling sorry for my self status some of you saw on facebook)... I miss awesome people I've met along the way like Khadija, David, Martin ... (actually I'm not going to start that game, the list would be too long... I hope you will all accept being included in an 'ect'... you were all lovely people, but this blog is long enough as it is without exhaustive credits at the end;)... I'm extremely sad to be leaving and I hope I will meet some of my cool new friends again one day (if you're ever in Bristol, give me a shout:)... but as one door closes another door opens, I'm off to Australia tomorrow... 2 weeks in Oz and 3 in New Zealand... extremely fleeting but I need to save money for South America... I'm booking a hostel for the first night it Sydney and I've bought the lonely planet book I will inevitably not read... ... ... ... The Khadijan Era was a fantastic one and a great one to end my South East Asia adventures with... and in fact this Continent ended in a beautifully rounded way... Kate and Anna, the girls I took the transiberian train with at the very start of this trip are in Bangkok now:) ... I met them for food and drinks last night and they saved me from slipping into a bit of a lonely depression as we eat and caught up and watched Japan beat South Korea on pens in the Asian cup semi-final... I'll meet them again tonight for one last meal... ... ... So you see, I've gone full circle in these 4 months (tomorrow will be exactly 4 months since I landed in St.Petersburg from London)... I made good friends at the start and they are here now... we'll have a drink, a chat and some incredible cheap and delicious food... and then I move on to the next stage... ... ... What will it bring? ... ... ... I'll let you know when I know:)
Love you all beautiful people:)))))
... In Cambodia you can't avoid seeing and noticing the children... you'll hover between wanting to cry and thinking they are the cutest little fellows this side of a Panda nursery... around the big temple place the kiddies are there selling you bracelets, postcards, flutes and statues... trying to get you into their parents restaurant or t-shirt shop... they learn some awesome patter which occasionally made me succumb and give them a few bob... a girl selling postcards got me as she followed me for about 200 yards... "10 postcards one dollar", "How much for one?" "One dollar"... she then proceeded to count out the ten postcards over and over... I had to succumb... When I went round the temples with David and Martin the kids could sense I was new blood, the weak antelope, they went for the kill and I occasionally had 3 kids around me selling stuff... and in Cambodia they seem to sell souvenirs wholesale... 10 postcards one dollar, 3-5 Buddha statues one dollar, 10 bracelets one dollar... "flute one dollar", "No thank you", "three flutes for two dollar" (obviously I look like the type who needs three flutes)... They ask where you are from and then reel of their list of facts... "England, Capital city London, Priminister David Cameron, before that Gordon Brown, Tony Blair..." etc etc ad infinium.. these little rascals know more about England then me... when they tried to sell David stuff they even started talking to him in Gaelic... it's ashame they have to work but I guess working for the family is better then working for Primark so we can get cheap shit we'll only wear once...
... So David and Martin moved on to Bangkok to go their separate ways... our Vietnam travelling group was finally breaking up like a biscuit dropped and abandoned in a cup of tea... me and Khadija decided to go to Battenbang, a bit north from Siem Reap... it was an interesting place to go and we went for 5ish days before I headed back to Bangkok to fly to Sydney (tomorrow (27th)) and she travels to Phnom Penn to fly on to Indonesia... it is Cambodia's second most populous city (apparently) and it was really interesting to see a Cambodian city which was not so touristy as Siem Reap... ... ... I remember two years ago when I was in Thailand I met a couple (a Belgian man and a Luxembourgian woman (the first and only Luxembourgian I've ever met)) ... they were working in Cambodia on some charity thing and were just on holiday in Thailand... I was fascinated that they were in Cambodia as it sounds like one of those truly exotic places and really off the beaten track... they told me that Cambodia was nice and the people were nice but there is really nothing to do... no theater, no cinema, just bars... and you know what.. they weren't lying! ... In Battenbang (we stayed in the optimistically named 'royal hotel':) we did some touristy stuff like visit temples and ride the bamboo train (basically a bamboo pallet on some wheels on a single train line... if someone is coming the opposite direction you literally dismantle the train and take it off the tracks to allow them past) ... but then there was little else to do aside from drink (50 cent beer... as in the price, not a brand endorsed by the rapper), eat and be merry... there are almost literally 3 places to eat in Battenbang... I'd recommend Smoking Pot with it's delicious Chicken Lok lak (some kind of traditional dish you'd be forgiven for identifying as a generic Asian dish with an egg on top) and passable wine (oh yes, I'm becoming a cultured little bugger;)... there was also Gecko bar which did an incredible chicken quasidillas... I became addicted... I still yearn for the delicious taste, the stretchy mozzarella, the bean and salsa dips... holy moley it was nice:)) ... Me and Khadija had a great time in Battenbang despite the activity vacuum... it was nice to visit a relatively normal Cambodian city... and Cambodia is a lovely place people, don't be scared... it is just a bit quiet and has some scars from it's harsh past (which I really need to read about)... the only even slightly dangerous things I saw was a homeless man in the middle of the day doing a dance as he sniffed glue and a car crash followed by the driver at fault jumping out of the window and doing a runner (probably knicking the car)... but in truth, despite all the scams and stuff I read on the net... I felt safe in Cambodia... I think Khadija did too although she's really afraid of dogs and they have so many strays there...
... I spoke to an American guy and he said that Cambodia has the most NGOs (Non-government organisations... basically charity places) in the world (maybe he said south east Asia, I can't remember)... but there are so many opportunities to volunteer in Cambodia, even me and Khadija helped teach English to some 9-13 year old kids (which was more of an achievement for her because English isn't her first language)... we were on our way home from the bamboo train and the tuk-tuk driver asked if we wanted to teach English at an NGOKhadija in to chat with the class as I started to struggle for words... when I said that I like to play football and then asked the class what they liked to do in their free time a suspicious number of the girls said, "I like to play with my doll"... it was hard to tell which of them were good at English and which were copying those who went before them... but they were all trying and most of them understood far more then you'd think a 12 year old would be able to... lots of the kids were from local families but there were also 22 or 23 orphans among the students... it felt good to give them a couple of hours of our time... ... but it was also quite exhausting... :)
... So now I'm in Bangkok and today is my last day in this beautiful and incredible continent which has been my home for the last 3 months... I will miss it and the people I've met here so much... I'm so sad to leave and when I arrived in Bangkok yesterday I felt really low and alone (hence the feeling sorry for my self status some of you saw on facebook)... I miss awesome people I've met along the way like Khadija, David, Martin ... (actually I'm not going to start that game, the list would be too long... I hope you will all accept being included in an 'ect'... you were all lovely people, but this blog is long enough as it is without exhaustive credits at the end;)... I'm extremely sad to be leaving and I hope I will meet some of my cool new friends again one day (if you're ever in Bristol, give me a shout:)... but as one door closes another door opens, I'm off to Australia tomorrow... 2 weeks in Oz and 3 in New Zealand... extremely fleeting but I need to save money for South America... I'm booking a hostel for the first night it Sydney and I've bought the lonely planet book I will inevitably not read... ... ... ... The Khadijan Era was a fantastic one and a great one to end my South East Asia adventures with... and in fact this Continent ended in a beautifully rounded way... Kate and Anna, the girls I took the transiberian train with at the very start of this trip are in Bangkok now:) ... I met them for food and drinks last night and they saved me from slipping into a bit of a lonely depression as we eat and caught up and watched Japan beat South Korea on pens in the Asian cup semi-final... I'll meet them again tonight for one last meal... ... ... So you see, I've gone full circle in these 4 months (tomorrow will be exactly 4 months since I landed in St.Petersburg from London)... I made good friends at the start and they are here now... we'll have a drink, a chat and some incredible cheap and delicious food... and then I move on to the next stage... ... ... What will it bring? ... ... ... I'll let you know when I know:)
Love you all beautiful people:)))))
No comments:
Post a Comment