Utterly Exhausted

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Despite just throwing up, I feel it is my duty to write on this blog. It has been more than three days since my last one, and for these last few days I have felt so guilty for not writing, so... here I am!

As I've been explaining, the work is hard at the school. Though, progress is going well, and tomorrow we will continue brick-laying for six hours in the blistering heat - all for a good cause though!

Saturday was a jam-packed day, and we had a fantastic time! We set our alarm clocks nice and early (7am), to leave on a tuk-tuk to go to our destination. Our first stop was the Butterfly Farm! It was a beautiful garden that housed over a thousand butterflies, insects and other animals. Our VERY enthusiastic tour guide was super helpful, telling us all there is to know about butterflies! We witnessed hanging coccoons of all different breeds, and a particularly pretty coccoon looked like a gold bead! Ang and I were in awe of the quails... yes, you read that right, the quails! In a small cage there were three of the cutest quails you've ever seen! They were so chubby and furry, and our guide explained that they set them free during the evening to eat any small insects that were a nuisance to the butterflies (e.g spiders and lizards). It was a really special place, as half the proceeds of the entry fee ($4) went back to the community each time... so, not only did we see the butterflies, we were also helping the community!

After witnessing the butterfly farm, we once again boarded our tuk-tuks and arrived at the Land Mine Museum. Though small, it was very interesting to read survivor's stories and to learn more about the Khmer Rouge. It was run by a man called 'Akira', who was a boy soldier during the time of the Khmer Rouge. He personally, was forced to plant land mines along the border of Cambodia and Thailand, and now felt it was his personal debt to rid the land of them all. Land mines are still active in Cambodia, and there are still many places that are yet to be 'demined'. We watched a documentary about Akira and how he 'demines' the land mines, which was confronting and scary. At the land mine museum, Akira takes in children who have been land mine victims, often those who are missing a limb. It was really heart warming to realise that even in a place so badly affected by war, there are people still willing to help those that are still suffering, even 20 years later.

After this, we were driven to the temple, Banteay Srey, which is small yet stunning. Construced of pink limestone, this temple was known as a "Goddess" temple, and the carvings on it were truly beautiful. It was extremely crowded and hot, though we soldiered on! Amy bought a palm sugar juice, which was an experience in itself. Made over a fire, it was similar to drinking a cup of burnt liquid sugar.

We then proceeded to the Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity, where many rare/exotic animals had either been seized or handed in, with no place to live. We saw beautiful apes and gibbons, and these odd stork looking things that had a few hairs on their head... Amy called them 'evil scientist birds'. There was one particularly interesting animal, that, though we didn't see, caught my attentions the most. Known as the Malayan Pangolin, it is a scaled mammal that has issues! We were not allowed to see it, as if it gets too scared or overhwhelmed, it literally curls into a ball and dies. It really makes you wonder how on Earth it survives in the wild. The ACCB really does great work, and it was amazing to witness some of these endangered animals in real life. The link to their website is - http://www.accb-cambodia.org/en/index.php , if you have time, I'd check it out!

Next, we climbed a giant mountain! None of us were really prepared for the 1.5 km steep uphill climb, wearing only thongs! There was no clearly marked path, and there were hazardous giant tree roots everywhere! After huffing and puffing like old women, we finally reached the top, where we witnessed the beautiful waterfall carvings that date a long way back! The waterfall river was known as "The River of a thousand Lingas", which literally translates to "the river of a thousand penises". The river was meant to provide fertility to women, and to help them with their pregnancy... I stayed well away from that part of the river! We then walked down, until we were at the bottom of the waterfall, where Colleen, Amy and Jess took a quick dip under the falling water. It was nice and cool, and the water was so clean! Soaked and exhausted, we began the treacherous descent down the mountain.

Going off on a tangent here, but I have to rave about the amount of cute puppies there are in Cambodia! Basically, every hut owns a dog. These dogs are a mixture of about fifty different breeds, so all are individuals! They roam the streets, and the male and females meet up.... well, you know the rest of the story. Just about every female dog is either pregnant, or has just given birth! There are SO many puppies here, and anyone that knows me, knows I go gaga over puppies! I want to take them all home, they are the most beautiful creatures I have ever seen!

Sorry, back to our day. Anyway, we got back to the hotel, and decided we deserved to go out for dinner and drinks. We went to a place called 'Reflections', where we were promised a show for dinner. Oblivious to the type of show, we had reservations and were looking forward to a great dinner! Sipping on our cocktails and enjoying the night, we looked at the stage and BAM! There was a ladyboy show! These boys had better legs than I've ever seen on any girl, and man did they know how to shake their booties! It was very entertaining, especially when one of them stepped on a prop table, and put a giant hole in it!

After this, we went and got our usual Blue Pumkin desert. Then Colleen, Jess and I decided we were going to have a late night out! We alternated between two bars - the 'Angkor, What!' bar and the Temple Bar. It was such a great night, except for when Colleen fell over and popped her kneecap out...though it is okay now haha! We danced the night away, and I made a new Aussie friend called Matt from Melbourne, yaaaaay! Colleen and I locked horns in a game of pool, where I JUST won. Worn out and still tipsy, we headed home and gratefully fell into bed!

This morning was a great sleep in till 9! We woke up and went to the Central Cafe for breakfast (delicious!), though they lost power halfway through our visit, so no smoothies for us! The markets were next on our list, and Sophie and I went a tad crazy with the Ray-Ban sunnies... lots of pressies for people!

Soph and I then were looking for a cheap massage place, and boy did we find one! For only $3 we received the best full body massage EVER. Sorry mum, but this $3 massage beat the ridiculously expensive one after HSC! The ladies stood on our backs, cracked every part of our body... even gave us bum massages (which was kind of weird, now that I'm thinking about it!)

The next part of the day was actually terrifying.. getting a Cambodian hair cut. After finally finding a hair salon where at least one person spoke a tiny bit of broken english, Jess, Soph and I sat down for haircuts. I was the guinea pig, which I do regret! I explained I wanted a trim, blunt cut.... big mistake! The hairdresser simply grabbed the end of my hair, pulled it into a semi pony tail and cut off a good 3cm! It was the fastest, 45 second hair cut in the world! Deciding to go all out, Soph and I also got our hair washed which was really nice!

After we got home, I quickly chucked on a dress and went back into the city, where I versed my new friend Matt in pool. I lost 4 games out of 5, which was embarrassing, though I will improve (hopefully). I said bye to Matt, and then met the girls at 'Noodles', where we had delicious Japanese food.

I have finished both the novels I brought, so I decided I better buy a new one! So after dinner we went to the bookstore, where I purchased an interesting book...I'll keep you updated on it!

Now, I'm in bed feeling rather sick. I'm not sure if I'm still trying to get used to the food here, but something is making me very ill. I apologise now for any mispelt words or odd sentences, I'm finding it rather hard to focus! I just want to say a big thank you to my grandparents and uncle Paddy for their emails, I love knowing what is going on at home! If anyone wants to email me, it is [e-mail]! I love hearing from home, as I really do miss you all a terrible lot! I'm going to attempt to sleep now, and stop rambling on about nothing. Good night! xxxx

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Photos

Coccoons!
Hundreds of coccoons that the staff have hand glued to the railing! It is a truly incredible process!

<3<3<3
Beautiful creature... poor thing was kept as a pet by an old woman, so now he cannot be set free in the wild as he doesn't know how to act in the wild.

Heaven
From somewhere you'd rather be.

Lady Boy show
Oh yeah, shake it sister!