Author: sdaniels

 

This morning was a very emotional time, visiting the Tuol Sleng Prison (S21) and ‘Killing Fields’. We heard of the tragic recent history during the Khmer Rouge time from 1975 to 1979 from our local tour guide, along with the reign of terror that Pol Pot instituted over Cambodia on the way to the prison. We toured the prison which was once a high school prior to 1975 and saw the torture rooms, tiny brick cubicles and read biographies of victims and soldiers. At the end of the tour we met two of remaining survivors from the Tuol Sleng Prison, Chum Mey and Bou Meng. Our local guide helped to translate their stories of courage, loss and survival.

After the tour of the prison our next destination was to one of the dozens of killing fields that exist scattered across the country, Choeung Ek. The fields contained memorials and information on the dreadful crimes that were committed throughout the Khmer Rouge regime. Our tour guide also told his own very tragic story of losing family members and witnessing horrible acts. To reflect on the morning, we sat in small groups with Miss Werba, Mrs Adams and Mr Daniels to discuss our morning. Everyone was a bit shocked by what we had witnessed and the bus ride home was much quieter than usual.

We then headed into town for some lunch and an exploration of the Central Market, which had a combination of tourist clothing, souvenirs and jewellery as well as a section selling Khmer food where many locals were munching on their lunch. After quickly returning to our hotel to freshen up, we set off for a final river cruise along the Tong Le Sap River. Sitting on top of the boat offered amazing views of Cambodia’s capital city on dusk.

After departing the boat we walked through the busy river side streets, were we could watch the locals take part in a group dance/ fitness class. It was funny to see the young guys teaching old ladies how to do hip hop dances! We then enjoyed dinner at a nearby restaurant and dessert at the frozen yogurt stall down stairs. Everyone got to choose their yoghurt flavours and toppings and once again, everyone was quiet, but for a very different reason! We returned to our hotel by tuk tuks – where many of us sang to our hearts content as the tuk tuks blared music from their speakers, amusing the locals as we drove past.

We had a great last night on what has been a great trip!

Edie and Morgan

 

 

 

Today we were excited by the perilous adventure looming ahead; that of the treacherous six-hour bus trip to Phnom Penh. We gorged ourselves on the Royal Empire Hotel’s delicious buffet breakfast, packed our weather-beaten bags and set off, with both dread and anticipation loitering at the forefront of our minds. Our plucky bus endeavoured to traverse the fascinating landscape of Cambodia, and throughout the journey we stopped at Kampuchea House, ate lunch, and even had a nail-biting encounter with a hoard of defanged arachnids.

Stop 1: Kampuchea House

Founded in 2007 by some resourceful Australians, Kampuchea House is an orphanage for children of all ages who are in desperate need of a home. It currently houses about 50 children whose parents are deceased, have disappeared or have deserted them. Upon meeting up with the Pagodas group we visited the orphanage, played with the children and gave them the remainder of our donations, which turned out to be quite a lot. We were all were touched by the sad backgrounds of the kids, the compassion of the founders of the orphanage and the hope for future generations. The visit was definitely a highlight of our trip.

Stop 2: Brief stop for lunch

We had a short, yet necessary stop at a local restaurant in order to keep us going for the rest of the bus ride. Many of us purchased quality snacks such as `cocoro wafer sticks` and` choco pies`, which enabled us to safely travel to our next destination.

Stop 3: Brief stop at a stall selling deep fried spiders

We arrived at a small market, and among the goods, there was an appetising display of both dead and alive spiders… defanged, of course, in order to prevent injury. Many of us fabulous Temples courageously allowed massive spiders to crawl up and down our limbs. All in all it was a……. unique experience to say the least, with some of us daringly brave students devouring gangly deep fried spider legs and placing the whole spiders into our mouths. Mmmmmm… finger-lickin’ good! (Tastes like chicken).

A few hours later, we arrived at Phnom Penh next to the Mekong River, where we had a pleasant evening of fun and laughter, indulging in more quality produce and purchasing…this time of relatively cheap DVDs during a sudden, torrential tropical downpour.

Ruby and Sabre

 

Today was amazing. A long bus trip took us to a village just outside of Siem Reap, that last year was the production site of the community house build for the Laos Cambodia trip. It was astounding to see the impact the gift of a house had made on this family’s life.  Hindered no longer by the constant saving for a family home, they were able to purchase buffalos and rice to further increase their wealth and independence. We can only hope that the house we built in Northern Thailand will have the same impact.

 With warm hearts we boarded the bus and were on our way to investigate a dark segment of Cambodia’s history in the land mine museum. The museum gave a detailed recount of the terrors of a land mine stricken Cambodia as well as some stories of the wonderful work being done by the anti land mine activist Aki Ra and his gang. A large array of disarmed mines and other explosive weaponry were on display their presence sent shivers down our spines.

 We then began our ascent of Mount Kulen. Upon the mountain we visited many attractions including the reclining Buddha and the river bed carvings which were impressive. However, their unique charm was made meagre by the magnificence of the waterfalls. The water cascaded off the sheer cliff face and sprayed into the eerie black pools below. Many students found it an irresistible temptation to climb underneath the plunging water which provided a great thrill. But soon it was time to go and it was reluctantly that we trudged up the steep, rickety steps and soon, we were back in the bus.

Our trip then took us down into the valley below to the village we had previously visited, to a school run by our local guide, Yousa. There we met the wonderful kids who were eager to improve their English. We held simple conversations with them and were enchanted by their remarkable speaking ability and smiling faces. They found our singing and story books to have the same effect. It was an incredible interaction and it left us truly enlightened and uplifted. After many hugs and goodbyes we left the house and treated our tour guide Hung to a spectacular rendition of `Land Down Under` on the ride home. The magical day was then wrapped up with a delicious feast and a spot of shopping at the night markets.

Sarah and Ben

 

 

 

It was our first full day in Siem Reap and we were off to Angkor Wat. We went on the bus for the 6km journey and on arrival, found ourselves in some very hot and sticky weather. We made a quick stop to get our photos taken for our day pass where many funny faces were pulled. Yousa, our local guide, shared his comical brand of wisdom about Angkor Wat and all its history. He talked about how every stone in the temple was handmade and how the mote around the temple was built by hand. It was amazing to hear that it took forty one years to complete. We found ourselves climbing up some MASSIVE stairs that lead up to the tower/ look out with a fantastic view at the top. After sweating in the oppressive humidity and heat we all climbed onto the air conditioned bus. Most people were sweaty but we pressed on to the Angkor Thom temple. We all managed to squish into a small bus but according to Hung, in Vietnam the bus was only half full. As we headed to the next temple on the tiny bus, we could see the land go from urban land to the more open landscape. It was a short visit but there were a lot of structures to see and photos to take, being the enthusiastic tourists we are.

Around 1pm we headed to our long awaited lunch. Unfortunately 2 of the group ordered hamburgers with fries (that proved to be a very rare order indeed) and they had to wait for 1 hour to eat it (lesson learnt not to expect westernised food from a local Cambodian restaurant!). After lunch, we  went back on to the big bus only to find that Sabre had lost his day pass, so he had to get escorted onto a police motor bike to get a new pass (highlight of the day for some). We headed off to the Ta Prohm, where we met Sabre with his new day pass. While we were there, Yousa gave an amazing Angelina Jolie impersonation from her movie Tomb Raider (see photo below). The temple was an amazing sight to see, it was also wonderful to see the trees that have grown on top of some of the stones that make up the temple.

We then headed back to the hotel for a long awaited swim to cool off. Soon after we headed off to dinner where we got an hour to choose any restaurant we wanted. After dinner the night market was calling for us to buy all it had to offer. Some of us had our feet eaten by fishes (like Karla) but most of us went to find new clothes and gifts. Finally after a long day, we returned to the hotel to get some sleep.

Karla and Harry

 

Today the Temples group had an exhausting day as we had to wake up early to catch a flight to Siam Reap, Cambodia. When we got to the airport, the security was very laid back and we got into Cambodia with ease. After catching a wonderful air conditioned bus we arrived at the Royal Empire Hotel, which has proper showers that don’t take up the entire room (which is a nice change). The hotel also has a pool to escape from the sweltering 30 degree heat.

We unpacked and went to Pub Street, but don’t worry, it’s just the restaurant district, to get lunch for the day. Straight after lunch we took a wooden boat with an exceedingly loud motor through a floating fishing village. The village people have an unusual way of life. They stay in the village for their entire life breeding and eating fish and crocodiles. We saw an enclosure of intimidating fresh water crocodiles on the back of someone’s house and floating markets filled with fresh produce and dried fruit and fish. The children get married at around 16 years and the people only live to an average age of 60. The small children of the village seemed very happy to see us as they waved at us every time we passed by. We saw one little boy using a big metal bucket as a boat which looked very fun. As we were leaving the village, we turned back and saw an amazing purple, orange and pink sunset over the water, which left us feeling serene and peaceful.

After an hour of free time in the hotel we left to go back to Pub Street and ate a traditional Cambodian meal. One of the dishes was Chicken Amok, which consists of chicken, coriander, coconut milk and spices. It was gone in a flash. To end the day we enjoyed a scoop each of mouth watering ice cream in every flavour whilst waiting for the bus to take us back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.

Finn and Cameron

 

Today was quite different to most of our days as we were given the opportunity of sleeping in. This was an exhilarating experience on its own, more for some than others as a small number of us were extremely fatigued from the day before. At 9:30 we embarked on a visit to the Royal Palace, which in modern times, is simply known as the National Museum of Luang Prabang. It was the residence of the last king of Laos “Sisavang Vong” before his death in 1959. First we had our photo taken in front of the temple in the museum complex by not only Hung and Mr. Daniels but a random stranger as well.

In the museum, most if not all, of the original possessions were still inside. The walls were painted depicting a range of scenes and festivals the Laotian people participated in and there were many cabinets that contained swords that the boys stared at in awe. Everyone was complaining about there being many cushioned seats but they had “do not touch” signs on them and the most humorous part of the museum was how the king and queen had separate sleeping quarters due to the king having a snoring issue. You may think the king was likely to have been a traditional guy but in fact, he had a nice assortment of Ford cars and a Toyota Jeep. Also, whenever representatives of other countries visited they brought many gifts for the royal family. Interestingly, Australia gave them a boomerang which was quite a comparison to the moon rock the Americans gave them.

Next we drove to a Buddhist Temple which is widely acclaimed as the most beautiful temple in Luang Prabang. Jack our tour guide explained the story of the Buddha’s bodyguard snake “Naga” who could turn into anything he so desired. We then explored each of the buildings in the complex, having to take our shoes on and off several times, just as was the case with every other temple. So, by the end of the experience we were able to take our shoes on and off in 5 seconds flat. The Temple complex consisted of a large stupa for the last king of Laos, several smaller stupas which looked very much out of place, some monk quarters and the main temple. Inside the temple there was a large golden Buddha (no surprises there). The temple itself was absolutely gorgeous and made mostly of gold and copper.

We were then given the grand independence of being able to choose our own venue for lunch and most of us went into cafe’s owned by Laotian people, but we ate western food like pizza, burgers or fries. Then we were led by Jack through many streets whilst members of the group sang songs which at first sounded nice and were fun to listen to but by the 5^th song became a bit annoying. We finally arrived at the Lamache cafe where we all started the `Great Race` in a staggered procession. The tasks included riding tuk tuks, gathering fruit, climbing mountains, sending postcards which will arrive home later than we will, and eating sticky rice with sausage. The winners of the race were Claudia, Edie, Chris, Saskia, Murray and Matt. Congratulations you win a yellow tourist t-shirt handpicked by Miss Werba.

The rest of the day included free time after the `Great Race`, a very compelling traditional Laos Baci ceremony and a lovely meal. Overall, it was an enjoyable day filled with glee.

Arthur and Isabella