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Published: December 28th 2006
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Invigorated by our temple tours we travelled the next morning to the nearby Pale School Pagoda to meet with the friendly monks who had invited us. On arrival both Chealy and Sokhorn both came out to meet us and led us up the external staircase of a two story building where bright orange robes were slung over the banisters and into their dormitory. Inside lay 4 single beds all draped in their stunning robes and on the walls brightly coloured murals and Buddhist posters. Sitting on a couple of chairs in the middle of the room we were surrounded by our three friends from the Temples plus a further two monks who were cheerily eager to talk with us. Delighted to have been invited where not many other tourists would have ventured we took the opportunity to learn as much about their lives as we could and sharing at the same time information about our lives with them.
To give you an idea of the daily life of a Buddhist Monk we established that between 7 and 9 am and 2-5pm they have lessons in the nearby school and between 4am and 5am and 6 and 7pm they go for
prayer and concentration in the monastery just outside. In their living quarters they posses no television and are not permitted to play any games with each other to pass the time. They also cook for themselves using ingredients donated to the Pagoda each morning by well wishing locals at the sound of a loud bell ringing. English however appeared to be a primary pursuit with most of them admitting to tuning in to Australian News on the radio and practicing amongst themselves. Chealy in particular shared with us how sad he sometimes gets at not being able to afford to call his family and is only able to see them once per year. Claire and I spent a good hour making conversation and enjoying the unique surroundings before we removed from our bags two large Khmer-English dictionaries to present to Chealy and to Sokhorn as a gift to further their studies. Visibly delighted, Sokhorn moved to a nearby bed and began excitedly looking up words whilst the others stood around and continued to ask us question after question about our trip and our lives at home.
Having spent a good two hours in the company of the monks and
Working on some new words
The monks spent time discussing new English words using their new dictionaries! feeling overwhelmingly privileged to have been invited here, we said our goodbyes and left with Sokhorn down to ground level where he showed us the brightly coloured Stupa's and a heartwarming message which he had written in his dictionary and asked us to sign. A truly memorable experience for Claire and I but we could tell as we chugged away on a tuk tuk that we had delighted the monks by paying them a visit and showing an interest in their lives. Back at Rosy guest house the ever reliable Poch was waiting and drove us for 35 minutes through tiny riverside communities to Son Lap Lake as we had been assured that the floating market was a must see. On arrival however we were rather stunned to find they wanted US$15 each for a two hour trip so we declined and asked Poch just to take us to a nearby hill where we were able to lookout across the vast floodplain and the ramshackle huts which spread out along its shores.
Back in Seam Reap we organised our onward travel to Vientiane by booking a flight on Lao Airlines and whilst Claire took a siesta I went for
The monks quarters
Although basic there was something quite beautiful about the colourful dormitory. a stroll along the riverbank armed with my camera. So striking was the immense friendliness with which people greeted me, nearly every few yards someone would say hello, wave or just smile and blush with embarrassment. The next morning was the day of the Water festival itself and as we walked down the river to buy some local souvenirs to send home the banks were already beginning to fill out with kids eagerly awaiting the rowers and the rowers giving the boats their first tentative dips in the water. Along the roads which run parallel to the river, hundreds of stalls were being set up selling all manner of bizarre foods such as grilled frogs, cockroaches and snakes sqewered on sticks... Yummy. With boat crews applying final coats of varnish and the opening of the water festival fast approaching thousands of free roaming kids and family's began to fill the riverbanks as the teams of rowers began plonking their boats into the water for a few practice lengths. Walking along the Eastern bank we stopped at a group of cheeky children who were jumping from trees into the river and wrestling each other into the brown water. At every one
of our steps the people smiled, waved, said hello to which we replied in Cambodian and made them blush. By 2pm the 20 or so boats had completed their warm ups and congregated on the water in front of the dignitaries box. Standing in amongst the crowd it was amazing to see so many truly happy faces. This being the biggest festival of the Cambodian year many had dressed up in their smartest attire and the kids in particular had been given a free reign to run around with packs of friends or hurtle polystyrene aeroplanes in between food stalls and onlookers.
After a long ceremony and a few rounds of applause for goodness knows what, the racing began. Pair after pair raced each other down the kilometer stretch of river, some women against women, most men against men, frantically paddled their way past the cheering crowds. We have no idea who won or even whether it really mattered but there were definitely different styles on show with some leaving their opponents floundering behind. One team had clearly had a few too many Amok Curries and their boat sat lower and lower in the water until it nose dived
and sank much to the joy of the crowd. All in all, the water festival was a fantastic occasion which continued into the night with a fireworks display that lit up the length of the river and induced some international oohing and aahing. After packing our packs and venturing for a meal at the excellent Chivit Thai Restaurant it really was the perfect day to end our fantastic stay in Siem Reap and Cambodia. The Angkor Temples are rightly a UNESCO World Heritage Site and should be a new Wonder of the world but if there were such a shortlist for human beings and their hospitality, it is the people of Cambodia who should on the basis of our experience, rank amongst the elite.
Having read (after paying for the flights) that Lao Airlines has a shoddy or non published safety record and should be avoided, it was to say the least a quiet ride in the morning tuk tuk to the Ultra Modern Siem Reap Airport. Once there we nervously boarded a small propeller plane for the flight to Vientiane and amidst thoughts of loved ones, Wills in testemant and the flight number of 522 (which to those
who know me would recognise this is a significant number of mine) we buckled up and braced ourselves...
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Laura
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Happy 2007!
Happy 2007 you two!!! Thanks for the lovely e-mail- will respond when I get to a pc where I can actually access my yahoo! Had a lovely Christmas with the family and NY with soem friends, cant wait to hear all about your Xmas and NY! Lots of love, Laura xxx