Tuesday, 31 July 2012
Another Part 2!
Should have mentioned some of the other highlights of the project, such as amazing sunsets, a beautiful beach, other great snorkels, partying on a boat with gay fishermen and drunken playground challenge (getting from one side of our playground to the other, without touching the sand or following the route of the person before you, while very inebriated and only getting more so!)
I also have a tan. :)
End of an Era - I've Finished the Project!
Hi again!
Finally back on the mainland again, now having finished the project. Where I had an amazing time and met plenty of awesome people, however much Frontier got wrong about it! Anyone inclined to do something like this, I would definitely reccommend it (although go straight through Marine Conservation Cambodia, not Frontier/Outreach etc.) But I'll start from where I left off in my last post. The 3-island tour was great fun and, although I didn't see many fish etc., I did see some stuff and got to see about the best beach I've ever been to in my life. The sand was golden-white, the waves were a perfect size (just enough to body-surf, but not big enough to drown me!) and the little beach huts had hammocks outside which were pretty much fair game. On the Monday, we didn't bother hiring out cycles or anything, we just had a chill day around the hostel/beach, which was very welcome after a very active weekend!
I then went back to the island as planned on the Tuesday for my last two-and-a-half weeks on the project. Since coming back, I did more snorkelling than the first week; going out almost every day, when weather and energy levels allowed! The best snorkel I had was definitely when we went to another nearby island and swam around there - when about the first thing I saw was a pair of barracuda and the last thing I saw before getting back in the boat was a ray! Which was definitely one of the highlights of my trip so far! I decided against getting my PADI Open Water qualification in the end, as I thought, because it would have been stretching my funds too far really. But I'm thinking, if I earn some money when I'm in Australia, I'll go see the rest of the country and maybe even get my PADI course diving on the Great Barrier Reef, which would be amazing! We also, of course, did plenty more of the other work on the project - the playground building, rubbish collecting/burning and teaching. And, obviously, plenty more getting drunk on $2 whiskey bottles and 50 cent beers! A lot of the rubbish collection - apart from obviously being mucky work in itself - was rather annoying, as most of the villagers just sat in their houses, drinking beer and watching us carry all their rubbish around in the pissing rain! Which definitely did make you wonder sometimes why you were bothering to help them at all... but I must say that the majority of the islanders were all really nice and good fun.
But I'm still basically no less annoyed at Frontier for completely mis-describing the project and forcing us all to buy a lot of stuff we didn't actually need (malaria tablets, mosquito nets, first aid kits, long-sleeved tops, etc.) I'm obviously now back on mainland, in Sihanoukville, in the same internet café as before, next door to the same hostel I stayed at last time, where I've just had my first full English in God-knows-how-long!! Everyone else still on the project came back with me today and are all staying there (except Javier, the soundest, most down-to-Earth 18 year old Mexican billionaire you'll ever meet!) The rest of them are staying for a couple of days to see Sihanoukville, then either carrying on their travelling or going back to the project.
But I'm, like I said last time, getting the night bus over to Siem Reap tonight at 8pm, so I should get there at 3-4am and will hopefully have time to get to the Ankor Wat temples, via my hostel, in time to watch the sun rise! I'm then staying in a hostel in Siem Reap for one night (which I should probably book...), before seeing some of the city and maybe going back to the temples if I feel I've missed much out tomorrow. Then, on Sunday afternoon, I'll get the bus back to Phnom Penh, stay one night in the same hostel as last time (the Velkommen Backpackers) before flying out to Sydney! I'm really looking forward to seeing the temples, seeing Sydney, doing my farm course and seeing what job I get and the end of it (and where in Australia it is!) But first to delete 95% of the 150 new emails I've had since I was last here!
Bye until my next installment! Love, Andy xx
Finally back on the mainland again, now having finished the project. Where I had an amazing time and met plenty of awesome people, however much Frontier got wrong about it! Anyone inclined to do something like this, I would definitely reccommend it (although go straight through Marine Conservation Cambodia, not Frontier/Outreach etc.) But I'll start from where I left off in my last post. The 3-island tour was great fun and, although I didn't see many fish etc., I did see some stuff and got to see about the best beach I've ever been to in my life. The sand was golden-white, the waves were a perfect size (just enough to body-surf, but not big enough to drown me!) and the little beach huts had hammocks outside which were pretty much fair game. On the Monday, we didn't bother hiring out cycles or anything, we just had a chill day around the hostel/beach, which was very welcome after a very active weekend!
I then went back to the island as planned on the Tuesday for my last two-and-a-half weeks on the project. Since coming back, I did more snorkelling than the first week; going out almost every day, when weather and energy levels allowed! The best snorkel I had was definitely when we went to another nearby island and swam around there - when about the first thing I saw was a pair of barracuda and the last thing I saw before getting back in the boat was a ray! Which was definitely one of the highlights of my trip so far! I decided against getting my PADI Open Water qualification in the end, as I thought, because it would have been stretching my funds too far really. But I'm thinking, if I earn some money when I'm in Australia, I'll go see the rest of the country and maybe even get my PADI course diving on the Great Barrier Reef, which would be amazing! We also, of course, did plenty more of the other work on the project - the playground building, rubbish collecting/burning and teaching. And, obviously, plenty more getting drunk on $2 whiskey bottles and 50 cent beers! A lot of the rubbish collection - apart from obviously being mucky work in itself - was rather annoying, as most of the villagers just sat in their houses, drinking beer and watching us carry all their rubbish around in the pissing rain! Which definitely did make you wonder sometimes why you were bothering to help them at all... but I must say that the majority of the islanders were all really nice and good fun.
But I'm still basically no less annoyed at Frontier for completely mis-describing the project and forcing us all to buy a lot of stuff we didn't actually need (malaria tablets, mosquito nets, first aid kits, long-sleeved tops, etc.) I'm obviously now back on mainland, in Sihanoukville, in the same internet café as before, next door to the same hostel I stayed at last time, where I've just had my first full English in God-knows-how-long!! Everyone else still on the project came back with me today and are all staying there (except Javier, the soundest, most down-to-Earth 18 year old Mexican billionaire you'll ever meet!) The rest of them are staying for a couple of days to see Sihanoukville, then either carrying on their travelling or going back to the project.
But I'm, like I said last time, getting the night bus over to Siem Reap tonight at 8pm, so I should get there at 3-4am and will hopefully have time to get to the Ankor Wat temples, via my hostel, in time to watch the sun rise! I'm then staying in a hostel in Siem Reap for one night (which I should probably book...), before seeing some of the city and maybe going back to the temples if I feel I've missed much out tomorrow. Then, on Sunday afternoon, I'll get the bus back to Phnom Penh, stay one night in the same hostel as last time (the Velkommen Backpackers) before flying out to Sydney! I'm really looking forward to seeing the temples, seeing Sydney, doing my farm course and seeing what job I get and the end of it (and where in Australia it is!) But first to delete 95% of the 150 new emails I've had since I was last here!
Bye until my next installment! Love, Andy xx
End of the First Week (Part 2)
So I think I said it might be 3 weeks until my next post, but I was kind of forgetting that I'm on the mainland until Tuesday now, so I've actually got plenty of time to update again and tell you all about the project! It has been fun so far, although I've got to give Frontier some seriously bad rep first off...
Firstly, the project isn't how it was described: we were told that we'd be able to choose to do as much or as little beach conservation/snorkelling/community development/teaching as we wanted, and basically tailor it to our own specific desires. This just isn't true, or at least not to any kind of the same degree, as all the volunteers do a pretty equal share of all of it (except the '"conservation", which basically doesn't exist, and was one of the main things that attracted me to the project.) Secondly, for this reason, the people that (I think) paid less than me to do the community development program, and the people who certainly paid more than me to do the marine conservation and diving project, are all doing exactly the same as me! Thirdly, Frontier told me that a) I would not be able to dive, except in my free time and b) if I wanted to do a PADI Open Water course, I would have to arrange it out here with a local dive school and they would get me the "discounted" rate of 230 quid. But, in reality, I can do my Open Water Course for $100 with the people I'm working with, at an extra cost of $10 per dive or something, which is considerably cheaper and would have prepared me for diving! The other people on the same snorkelling project as me are also allowed to dive as much as they want for the small extra fee if they've got their PADI qualification.
Thirdly [Ed: Fourtly], I am paying somewhere in the region of 200 quid per week for this project, because I booked it through Frontier, who claim to get great discounts etc. for their customers. Had I booked it straight through MCC (the people I'm actually working with here), it would have cost about $200 per week (about 130 quid)! I have absolutely no idea what Frontier, a registered '"non profit" organisation, are doing with this extra 70 pounds a week unless the answer is "making a profit"! From what I can see, I'm paying this as commission to a glorified travel agent who don't even seem to know anything about the course they're sending me on! Which is highlighted by the fact that, before I came out, I had an email from them asking me to email them ASAP after I got to my project to confirm that everything is alright. They then emailed me (and the others with Frontier) again this week (not an automated message, an actual person sending a personalised message to us), reminding us to email him, which suggests he has no idea that we have no access to the internet at our project! It's only by choice that I've come back to the mainland this weekend to see Sihanoukville and contact the outside world.
Lastly, they lied. Or, at least, failed to tell us when something that was previously (and in fact still) on their website changed. They claimed that they could arrange an airport pickup (i.e. from Phnom Penh, transferring us to the project) the same day as our project started. When I emailed (just a couple of weeks before I came out), asking what the arrangements were, as I was actually flying in a few days before my project, I was told that an airport pickup does not exist for this project (by a project co-ordinator, who should definitely know!) I assumed I'd imagined seeing something about an airport pickup and thought no more, until I was looking at the project details about a week later on their website, which still mentioned an airport pickup could be arranged by them "for an additional fee", by which time I'd made other arrangements and couldn't be bothered to email again in the short time I had by that point! I can't say I'm TOO annoyed about this on my own behalf, except that two of the girls I've come to the mainland with (Ams and Kirti [Ed: Becca and Amy]) had booked their flights to arrive the day of their project, banking on this airport pickup, which Frontier then refused to supply! Meaning that they arrived 2 days after me, despite having booked (and paid) for their project to start on the same date as mine!
So, in all, I'm not too happy with Frontier right now and will be sending them a very angry complaint email when I finish and am also considering asking for a partial refund, as I was also hoping this project would give me some relevant experience for what I want to do (wildlife conservation), which I told them; because of the fact that the conservation aspect of this project doesn't really exist (despite the fact that Frontier made quite a big deal of the marine surveys we would be doing)! So I think, on these grounds, I think I'm fully entitled to some money back from them. I've also just remembered that they also told us that excessive drunkeness would not be tolerated, but (as I said yesterday) alcohol is so cheap and the locals are so happy to drink with us, that excessive drunkeness is more like mandatory! We were told on arrival pretty much, that if any of the locals invite us for a drink (which happens quite a bit), it's disrespectful to refuse, so we have to go have a beer with them! Which usually I wouldn't mind, but I'm not bothered about getting smashed every night out here, I do that enough back home! I did get semi-tipsy last night and feel no ill-effects this morning, although I realised that I forgot to take my malaria tablet last night, so it may not be conclusive proof that they've stopped mixing badly with alcohol!
But enough ranting! Most of the people on the project are great and I really get on with almost all of them. I have been snorkelling once, which was awesome, and I saw plenty of pretty little fish. smiley It's also been quite fun to teach the little local kids one day, although very hard work keeping them suitably entertained, as their version of school is rather different to ours! It's basically voluntary and, with only two classrooms, they're basically grouped into 'little kids' and 'big kids', meaning that some of them are way ahead of the others; especially as it's all done by us volunteers, who are coming and going constantly! Seeing as school's this relaxed, they're basically allowed to just get up and wander about all they like, included wandering into the big kids' classroom and causing havoc in there! But it's very rewarding teaching them little bits of useful English, like the numbers and the colours. We've also been putting the finishing touches to a little playground that other volunteers before us have recently built, so we've been sanding and painting it, which is all quite fun (although not what I signed up for!)
Now onto my activities this weekend. I came back on the supply boat with everyone else from the project on Friday (some people didn't particularly want to come back, but they decided it wasn't worth just staying for one or two people, so we all came back) morning. We then checked into the hostel that the other two girls I'm with (Becca and Amy who, apart from being the only other Northerners, are actually from Sheffield!) stayed in before they came to the project, which is all nice! We've all got the one room to ourselves at $3 per person per night, so certainly can't complain! We decided to do quite a bit of sightseeing stuff, as Ams and Kirti are leaving the project next week, and the rest of us are thinking we may not come back again before we leave. I've also decided, after hearing so much good stuff and having a couple of days between my project ending and my flight to Sydney, that I'll take the night bus to Siem Reap and have a day there, which shouldn't really cost much more than just going straight back to Phnom Penh.
The first thing we wanted to do was to feed the wild monkeys near Independence beach at sunset, which sounded amazing. So we got a tuk tuk over to the beach a couple of hours before sunset and chilled there for a bit before walking up the road to find these monkeys. Which, after seperately asking a couple of local workers, all of whom seemed to know the word "monkey" and little, if any, other English words! But we found them without too much hassle and bought some nuts to feed them, along with the relatively few other tourists that were around. It was truly amazing, to just pour some of these nuts into your hand (keeping firm hold of the bag, which Becca failed to do and had them stolen by a particularly cheeky monkey!) and have them just come up to you and just start picking them up to eat! So expect me to be tagged in some pretty great Facebook pictures involving monkeys (I managed to forget my own camera, but the others all had theirs.)
After this amazing experience, we came back to the hostel, had a meal (by candlelight, after the generator had blown!) and went out for a few drinks along the beach, unfortunately failing to find a shishe place, which Im hoping we go to tonight. Today, we'd planned to go to the local waterfalls in a national park, so we got up at 8am to set off for about 9 in a tuk tuk the hostel arranged for us. We got a great price, of just $15 between us, there and back, for these waterfalls which are about an hour away! We got there and started walking round, taking pictures from the rocks and the little rickety wooden viewing platforms (one of which Amy managed to fall through and break her camera!) They were really beautiful and we got plenty of pictures (I remembered my own camera this time), including quite a few of us paddling around in the river and even climbing half way up these small falls. I managed to slip over on my way back out, on a particularly slippy rock, but I can't say the wet bum/back really mattered with the weather like it was again today.
Sihanoukville is very definitely one of the best cities I've ever visited (and I've visited plenty!), it's really nice. Just great weather (when it's not raining, which - to say it's monsoon season - isn't that much), really cheap, lovely people and a beautiful place. Tomorrow we've arranged a tour of the local islands (although I think Becca and Amy are just having a chill day on the beach) for $15, including food, transport to 3 different islands, a local guide and the hire of snorkelling equipment! It was just far too great a deal to miss out on! Then Monday we're either hiring out some bikes and going for a cycle round the area, or we'll just have another beach day for all four of us!
Then it's back to the island and the project on Tuesday afternoon on the supply boat, although a couple of the others on the project are going back on Sunday instead. So I'm not looking forward to using non-flushing toilets or the abundance of rice again, but it should be good getting some more snorkelling in and possibly (just maybe) arranging my PADI Open Water qualification, although I think I may just leave that, as there's surprisingly little to see out here and I'm not sure about my funds stretching that far!
Will keep you updated when I can, but I warn you again, it may not be for 3 weeks or so until I bother posting again. Apologies for the length of these (I think this is somehow even longer than yesterday's, probably due to the ranting!)
Peace out, Andy xx
Firstly, the project isn't how it was described: we were told that we'd be able to choose to do as much or as little beach conservation/snorkelling/community development/teaching as we wanted, and basically tailor it to our own specific desires. This just isn't true, or at least not to any kind of the same degree, as all the volunteers do a pretty equal share of all of it (except the '"conservation", which basically doesn't exist, and was one of the main things that attracted me to the project.) Secondly, for this reason, the people that (I think) paid less than me to do the community development program, and the people who certainly paid more than me to do the marine conservation and diving project, are all doing exactly the same as me! Thirdly, Frontier told me that a) I would not be able to dive, except in my free time and b) if I wanted to do a PADI Open Water course, I would have to arrange it out here with a local dive school and they would get me the "discounted" rate of 230 quid. But, in reality, I can do my Open Water Course for $100 with the people I'm working with, at an extra cost of $10 per dive or something, which is considerably cheaper and would have prepared me for diving! The other people on the same snorkelling project as me are also allowed to dive as much as they want for the small extra fee if they've got their PADI qualification.
Thirdly [Ed: Fourtly], I am paying somewhere in the region of 200 quid per week for this project, because I booked it through Frontier, who claim to get great discounts etc. for their customers. Had I booked it straight through MCC (the people I'm actually working with here), it would have cost about $200 per week (about 130 quid)! I have absolutely no idea what Frontier, a registered '"non profit" organisation, are doing with this extra 70 pounds a week unless the answer is "making a profit"! From what I can see, I'm paying this as commission to a glorified travel agent who don't even seem to know anything about the course they're sending me on! Which is highlighted by the fact that, before I came out, I had an email from them asking me to email them ASAP after I got to my project to confirm that everything is alright. They then emailed me (and the others with Frontier) again this week (not an automated message, an actual person sending a personalised message to us), reminding us to email him, which suggests he has no idea that we have no access to the internet at our project! It's only by choice that I've come back to the mainland this weekend to see Sihanoukville and contact the outside world.
Lastly, they lied. Or, at least, failed to tell us when something that was previously (and in fact still) on their website changed. They claimed that they could arrange an airport pickup (i.e. from Phnom Penh, transferring us to the project) the same day as our project started. When I emailed (just a couple of weeks before I came out), asking what the arrangements were, as I was actually flying in a few days before my project, I was told that an airport pickup does not exist for this project (by a project co-ordinator, who should definitely know!) I assumed I'd imagined seeing something about an airport pickup and thought no more, until I was looking at the project details about a week later on their website, which still mentioned an airport pickup could be arranged by them "for an additional fee", by which time I'd made other arrangements and couldn't be bothered to email again in the short time I had by that point! I can't say I'm TOO annoyed about this on my own behalf, except that two of the girls I've come to the mainland with (Ams and Kirti [Ed: Becca and Amy]) had booked their flights to arrive the day of their project, banking on this airport pickup, which Frontier then refused to supply! Meaning that they arrived 2 days after me, despite having booked (and paid) for their project to start on the same date as mine!
So, in all, I'm not too happy with Frontier right now and will be sending them a very angry complaint email when I finish and am also considering asking for a partial refund, as I was also hoping this project would give me some relevant experience for what I want to do (wildlife conservation), which I told them; because of the fact that the conservation aspect of this project doesn't really exist (despite the fact that Frontier made quite a big deal of the marine surveys we would be doing)! So I think, on these grounds, I think I'm fully entitled to some money back from them. I've also just remembered that they also told us that excessive drunkeness would not be tolerated, but (as I said yesterday) alcohol is so cheap and the locals are so happy to drink with us, that excessive drunkeness is more like mandatory! We were told on arrival pretty much, that if any of the locals invite us for a drink (which happens quite a bit), it's disrespectful to refuse, so we have to go have a beer with them! Which usually I wouldn't mind, but I'm not bothered about getting smashed every night out here, I do that enough back home! I did get semi-tipsy last night and feel no ill-effects this morning, although I realised that I forgot to take my malaria tablet last night, so it may not be conclusive proof that they've stopped mixing badly with alcohol!
But enough ranting! Most of the people on the project are great and I really get on with almost all of them. I have been snorkelling once, which was awesome, and I saw plenty of pretty little fish. smiley It's also been quite fun to teach the little local kids one day, although very hard work keeping them suitably entertained, as their version of school is rather different to ours! It's basically voluntary and, with only two classrooms, they're basically grouped into 'little kids' and 'big kids', meaning that some of them are way ahead of the others; especially as it's all done by us volunteers, who are coming and going constantly! Seeing as school's this relaxed, they're basically allowed to just get up and wander about all they like, included wandering into the big kids' classroom and causing havoc in there! But it's very rewarding teaching them little bits of useful English, like the numbers and the colours. We've also been putting the finishing touches to a little playground that other volunteers before us have recently built, so we've been sanding and painting it, which is all quite fun (although not what I signed up for!)
Now onto my activities this weekend. I came back on the supply boat with everyone else from the project on Friday (some people didn't particularly want to come back, but they decided it wasn't worth just staying for one or two people, so we all came back) morning. We then checked into the hostel that the other two girls I'm with (Becca and Amy who, apart from being the only other Northerners, are actually from Sheffield!) stayed in before they came to the project, which is all nice! We've all got the one room to ourselves at $3 per person per night, so certainly can't complain! We decided to do quite a bit of sightseeing stuff, as Ams and Kirti are leaving the project next week, and the rest of us are thinking we may not come back again before we leave. I've also decided, after hearing so much good stuff and having a couple of days between my project ending and my flight to Sydney, that I'll take the night bus to Siem Reap and have a day there, which shouldn't really cost much more than just going straight back to Phnom Penh.
The first thing we wanted to do was to feed the wild monkeys near Independence beach at sunset, which sounded amazing. So we got a tuk tuk over to the beach a couple of hours before sunset and chilled there for a bit before walking up the road to find these monkeys. Which, after seperately asking a couple of local workers, all of whom seemed to know the word "monkey" and little, if any, other English words! But we found them without too much hassle and bought some nuts to feed them, along with the relatively few other tourists that were around. It was truly amazing, to just pour some of these nuts into your hand (keeping firm hold of the bag, which Becca failed to do and had them stolen by a particularly cheeky monkey!) and have them just come up to you and just start picking them up to eat! So expect me to be tagged in some pretty great Facebook pictures involving monkeys (I managed to forget my own camera, but the others all had theirs.)
After this amazing experience, we came back to the hostel, had a meal (by candlelight, after the generator had blown!) and went out for a few drinks along the beach, unfortunately failing to find a shishe place, which Im hoping we go to tonight. Today, we'd planned to go to the local waterfalls in a national park, so we got up at 8am to set off for about 9 in a tuk tuk the hostel arranged for us. We got a great price, of just $15 between us, there and back, for these waterfalls which are about an hour away! We got there and started walking round, taking pictures from the rocks and the little rickety wooden viewing platforms (one of which Amy managed to fall through and break her camera!) They were really beautiful and we got plenty of pictures (I remembered my own camera this time), including quite a few of us paddling around in the river and even climbing half way up these small falls. I managed to slip over on my way back out, on a particularly slippy rock, but I can't say the wet bum/back really mattered with the weather like it was again today.
Sihanoukville is very definitely one of the best cities I've ever visited (and I've visited plenty!), it's really nice. Just great weather (when it's not raining, which - to say it's monsoon season - isn't that much), really cheap, lovely people and a beautiful place. Tomorrow we've arranged a tour of the local islands (although I think Becca and Amy are just having a chill day on the beach) for $15, including food, transport to 3 different islands, a local guide and the hire of snorkelling equipment! It was just far too great a deal to miss out on! Then Monday we're either hiring out some bikes and going for a cycle round the area, or we'll just have another beach day for all four of us!
Then it's back to the island and the project on Tuesday afternoon on the supply boat, although a couple of the others on the project are going back on Sunday instead. So I'm not looking forward to using non-flushing toilets or the abundance of rice again, but it should be good getting some more snorkelling in and possibly (just maybe) arranging my PADI Open Water qualification, although I think I may just leave that, as there's surprisingly little to see out here and I'm not sure about my funds stretching that far!
Will keep you updated when I can, but I warn you again, it may not be for 3 weeks or so until I bother posting again. Apologies for the length of these (I think this is somehow even longer than yesterday's, probably due to the ranting!)
Peace out, Andy xx
End of the First Week
(From the 7th July 2012):
Using Blogger now instead of the WallInside site I was using because that's apparently full of spyware and horrible stuff like that! So welcome to my new blog, I'll just start by copying in all my old posts.
Hi everyone!
Thought I'd create a blog to keep people updated about my travels! Easier than facebooking/emailing everyone! Have been in Cambodia now for a week, of which there's definitely been ups and downs! Arrived all fine after a very tiring but uneventful journey including flying from Manchester-Singapore (via a 2-hour stop in Munich), waiting in Singapore airport for about 8 hours (where most of you will probably have seen/liked my status about how amazing it is!) then another 2 hours from Singapore to Phnom Penh, where I had to wait around at passport control etc. for about 30 minutes before I even got my visa. Luckily I'd managed to email my hostel using the FREE internet at Singapore airport to arrange an airport pickup, so there was a taxi waiting for me there!
Got to the hostel after a long 30 minutes or so in the taxi, which only cost me around US$10. But thankfully the hostel (Velkcommen Backpackers) was nice and I managed to just dump my stuff, go for a really nice meal (a crocodile, ostrich and kangaroo platter with whiskey sauce and chips) and just pass out for over 13 hours, which then sorted out any jetlag! I then explored Phnom Penh on the Saturday, which proved to be just as tiring as the journey, but at least more interesting! I first walked from my hostel over towards the Independence Monument and was hoping to get there, see that and wander over to the Royal Palace, via some food, for about the time it re-opened for the day at 2pm. But I got stopped about halfway by a random tuk-tuk driver who claimed to recognise me because he'd been outside my hostel that morning or something (I'm not entirely sure, I was still getting used to the Cambodian version of speaking English, which basically involves missing out the middle of every word and hoping people get the jist of it!) who said I was better going to the killing fields first, then he'd drop me back at the genocide museum and I could then walk over and see the Independence Monument and the Royal Palace.
So I got to the killing fields, which is a mass grave where Cambodians were detained and soon killed during the Khmer Rouge regime under Pol. Pot, while my friend the tuk tuk driver (who kept saying how alike we were because I had no mama or papa, just like him...) waited outside. The killing fields were amazing and interesting (and obviously devastating), basically going into every gruesome detail in a very well done audio tour about the whole way in which about 20,000 people were brutally killed by their own people during a period in which over a quarter of the entire population was killed during a period barely more than 3 years! The main monument to them all there was also a tall building with large glass windows from which 1000s of the people's skulls faced out at you! It took about an hour to walk around and was worth far, far more than the $5 I paid for it and my friend was waiting there to take me back to the museum about it all in the main town as agreed (probably because we agreed I'd pay him the $20 when he dropped me off again!)
The genocide museum was slightly less interesting to be honest, although still educational and moving. The group of buildings used to be a school in the pre-Khmer Rouge days, until they abandoned the silly notion of schools and converted it to a prison in which they could torture people until they confessed to false crimes, usually spying for the CIA or KGB, so they could then be transported to the killing fields and bludgeoned to death along with their other innocent countrymen! I then walked over to the independence monument, which was all covered in scaffolding and nothing to see while they cleaned it (I think.) I was also extremely hungry by this time and didn't have much time until the royal palace was due to close at 5pm, so I rushed over there (by which point I was horribly sweaty, all this having taken place in 30 degree heat and probably near 100% humidity!), but couldn't actually work out where the main entrance was, so I just walked all the way round and admired the bits I could see from the outside! I'm hoping to have some time to see it when I'm back in Phnom Penh and overstaying my visa for a day (which I am assured is only a $5 charge!) before my flight to Sydney on the 30th. I then had a meal near the palace, having to leave my nice camera with them while I walked down the road to find a cash machine after I'd eaten because I'd forgotten how many places don't accept either Visa or Mastercard out here!!
So, in all, a very tiring first day in Cambodia! But I had a nap when I got back to the hostel and went out for a meal and some drinks with the manager there, having a very enjoyable Asian hotpot and trying frog for the first time! Getting up in the morning though was a massive struggle, although thankfully my coach down to Sihanoukville wasn't until 12pm, and I soon realised it was more than a hangover when I started feeling light-headed and sick! I was strongly considering staying in Phnom Penh for another night and making my way down to the project the next day, but I manned up and got on the horrible, sweaty bus anyway, which then insisted on playing Cambodian karaoke/"comedy" TV and hooting excessively loudly and agressively whenever we were trying to pass anyone on the road (i.e. every 30 seconds or so). Despite the bus ride from hell and a less-than-enjoyable night in Big John's hostel (not so much for the place, although it wasn't inspiring) mostly because I felt sick and dizzy whenever I moved and couldn't sleep on my back because my kidneys hurt too much. In the end, I was glad I manned up because when I finally got down to the port, met some of the other volunteers/interns/co-ordinators and got the supply boat over to Koh Rong island, I realised they're actually just once every few days or so, so it wouldn't have been too easy to just stay an extra night and make my own way down!
But I got to the project fine, although still feeling a little light headed and sick, but nothing I decided a heavy night of drinking couldn't cure! So I joined everyone at the 'bar' (i.e. one of the locals selling a few beers/whiskeys for 15 cents per can of beer from his front porch on the pier) after inspecting the living quarters and eating some food, surprisingly including rice, which comes with breakfast, lunch and tea out there! But we went out and got to know all the other volunteers etc., old and new and had a good night in which I would say I was maybe on the drunk side of tipsy, but certainly no more than that. But when I woke up in the morning, I again realised it was far more than just a normal hangover and proceeded to throw up several times, drink some water, throw it back up and go back to bed for a few hours; kinda missing the first morning of my project, but it was monsooning all over the place, so no one could really do anything anyway! My explanation for my extreme reaction to getting drunk both those times is because of my malaria tablets, in which most of my symptoms are described as side effects, although it doesn't say anything about mixing with alcohol! I also then spent a couple of days to fully recover from that episode too!
But the project has been amazing so far and I would tell you all about it, except I'm starving and want to get back to the hostel to go get something to eat with the other volunteers I've come over to the mainland with for the weekend! So you'll have to wait for the next installment, which will probably be in about 3 weeks when I leave the project!
Thanks for reading, hope it wasn't too boring, but I never know much or how little detail to include in these things!
Lots of love, Andy. xx
Using Blogger now instead of the WallInside site I was using because that's apparently full of spyware and horrible stuff like that! So welcome to my new blog, I'll just start by copying in all my old posts.
Hi everyone!
Thought I'd create a blog to keep people updated about my travels! Easier than facebooking/emailing everyone! Have been in Cambodia now for a week, of which there's definitely been ups and downs! Arrived all fine after a very tiring but uneventful journey including flying from Manchester-Singapore (via a 2-hour stop in Munich), waiting in Singapore airport for about 8 hours (where most of you will probably have seen/liked my status about how amazing it is!) then another 2 hours from Singapore to Phnom Penh, where I had to wait around at passport control etc. for about 30 minutes before I even got my visa. Luckily I'd managed to email my hostel using the FREE internet at Singapore airport to arrange an airport pickup, so there was a taxi waiting for me there!
Got to the hostel after a long 30 minutes or so in the taxi, which only cost me around US$10. But thankfully the hostel (Velkcommen Backpackers) was nice and I managed to just dump my stuff, go for a really nice meal (a crocodile, ostrich and kangaroo platter with whiskey sauce and chips) and just pass out for over 13 hours, which then sorted out any jetlag! I then explored Phnom Penh on the Saturday, which proved to be just as tiring as the journey, but at least more interesting! I first walked from my hostel over towards the Independence Monument and was hoping to get there, see that and wander over to the Royal Palace, via some food, for about the time it re-opened for the day at 2pm. But I got stopped about halfway by a random tuk-tuk driver who claimed to recognise me because he'd been outside my hostel that morning or something (I'm not entirely sure, I was still getting used to the Cambodian version of speaking English, which basically involves missing out the middle of every word and hoping people get the jist of it!) who said I was better going to the killing fields first, then he'd drop me back at the genocide museum and I could then walk over and see the Independence Monument and the Royal Palace.
So I got to the killing fields, which is a mass grave where Cambodians were detained and soon killed during the Khmer Rouge regime under Pol. Pot, while my friend the tuk tuk driver (who kept saying how alike we were because I had no mama or papa, just like him...) waited outside. The killing fields were amazing and interesting (and obviously devastating), basically going into every gruesome detail in a very well done audio tour about the whole way in which about 20,000 people were brutally killed by their own people during a period in which over a quarter of the entire population was killed during a period barely more than 3 years! The main monument to them all there was also a tall building with large glass windows from which 1000s of the people's skulls faced out at you! It took about an hour to walk around and was worth far, far more than the $5 I paid for it and my friend was waiting there to take me back to the museum about it all in the main town as agreed (probably because we agreed I'd pay him the $20 when he dropped me off again!)
The genocide museum was slightly less interesting to be honest, although still educational and moving. The group of buildings used to be a school in the pre-Khmer Rouge days, until they abandoned the silly notion of schools and converted it to a prison in which they could torture people until they confessed to false crimes, usually spying for the CIA or KGB, so they could then be transported to the killing fields and bludgeoned to death along with their other innocent countrymen! I then walked over to the independence monument, which was all covered in scaffolding and nothing to see while they cleaned it (I think.) I was also extremely hungry by this time and didn't have much time until the royal palace was due to close at 5pm, so I rushed over there (by which point I was horribly sweaty, all this having taken place in 30 degree heat and probably near 100% humidity!), but couldn't actually work out where the main entrance was, so I just walked all the way round and admired the bits I could see from the outside! I'm hoping to have some time to see it when I'm back in Phnom Penh and overstaying my visa for a day (which I am assured is only a $5 charge!) before my flight to Sydney on the 30th. I then had a meal near the palace, having to leave my nice camera with them while I walked down the road to find a cash machine after I'd eaten because I'd forgotten how many places don't accept either Visa or Mastercard out here!!
So, in all, a very tiring first day in Cambodia! But I had a nap when I got back to the hostel and went out for a meal and some drinks with the manager there, having a very enjoyable Asian hotpot and trying frog for the first time! Getting up in the morning though was a massive struggle, although thankfully my coach down to Sihanoukville wasn't until 12pm, and I soon realised it was more than a hangover when I started feeling light-headed and sick! I was strongly considering staying in Phnom Penh for another night and making my way down to the project the next day, but I manned up and got on the horrible, sweaty bus anyway, which then insisted on playing Cambodian karaoke/"comedy" TV and hooting excessively loudly and agressively whenever we were trying to pass anyone on the road (i.e. every 30 seconds or so). Despite the bus ride from hell and a less-than-enjoyable night in Big John's hostel (not so much for the place, although it wasn't inspiring) mostly because I felt sick and dizzy whenever I moved and couldn't sleep on my back because my kidneys hurt too much. In the end, I was glad I manned up because when I finally got down to the port, met some of the other volunteers/interns/co-ordinators and got the supply boat over to Koh Rong island, I realised they're actually just once every few days or so, so it wouldn't have been too easy to just stay an extra night and make my own way down!
But I got to the project fine, although still feeling a little light headed and sick, but nothing I decided a heavy night of drinking couldn't cure! So I joined everyone at the 'bar' (i.e. one of the locals selling a few beers/whiskeys for 15 cents per can of beer from his front porch on the pier) after inspecting the living quarters and eating some food, surprisingly including rice, which comes with breakfast, lunch and tea out there! But we went out and got to know all the other volunteers etc., old and new and had a good night in which I would say I was maybe on the drunk side of tipsy, but certainly no more than that. But when I woke up in the morning, I again realised it was far more than just a normal hangover and proceeded to throw up several times, drink some water, throw it back up and go back to bed for a few hours; kinda missing the first morning of my project, but it was monsooning all over the place, so no one could really do anything anyway! My explanation for my extreme reaction to getting drunk both those times is because of my malaria tablets, in which most of my symptoms are described as side effects, although it doesn't say anything about mixing with alcohol! I also then spent a couple of days to fully recover from that episode too!
But the project has been amazing so far and I would tell you all about it, except I'm starving and want to get back to the hostel to go get something to eat with the other volunteers I've come over to the mainland with for the weekend! So you'll have to wait for the next installment, which will probably be in about 3 weeks when I leave the project!
Thanks for reading, hope it wasn't too boring, but I never know much or how little detail to include in these things!
Lots of love, Andy. xx
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