Beauty and the Beast

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Home stay

On Wednesday we embarked upon a Cambodian home stay, the one missing from our set and as it turns out, the best yet!! We left Kampot on Wednesday lunchtime by shared taxi. This is the cheapest mode of travel out here but not necessarily the most comfortable. About 16 of us were crammed in a local minibus made to seat about 10. I was squeezed in next to the door, with half my bum perched on about 3 inches of seat - I wouldn't recommend it.

The home stay was in a village called Daem Po, roughly half way between Kampot and Phnom Penh. The taxi dropped us off at the nearest local market where our host was due to meet us. It was clear that the area generally receives very few westerners, let alone two girls and we were definitely the talk of the place. All eyes in the market quickly became transfixed on us, accompanied by various whispers and giggles - something we have had to get used to.

From the market we were taken in vaguely more comfortable transport to the village of Daem Po. Here we were dropped off at the development center and had a welcome drink in the form of a coconut, very refreshing. Throughout our stay we were accompanied by the ever reliable and very sweet village chief. He look us on a tour of the village and showed told us about the local practices and introduced us to a number of the local residents. We even had a go at planting, harvesting and collecting the rice!

For those of you that are interested rice is planted during the wet season and for some reason I didn't catch needs to be planted twice before it can be left to grow. Once ready for harvesting it resembles something similar to wheat and the grains are batted out from it. Much to our surprise the rice grains were yellow and from what we could make out have to be blanched before they are sold.

Wandering around and getting to interact with the locals and learn about their lives was fascinating. Rural life is hard and education isn't widely available but there is a great sense of community and much joy and happiness amongst the locals.

In the evening we were shown to one of the local’s houses and soon had attracted a huge crowd. In Thailand and Laos we were mainly left up to our own devices but here we were able to laugh and 'talk' to our hosts, albeit mostly using hand signals. They were all fascinated to hear about our lives in England. Asking us questions about our family's, or did we grow rice and if we were married or not and if girls in England ever married Cambodian boys. Some diplomatic answers were required in order to avoid ending up with a Cambodian husband but mostly it was just interesting to talk and compare our vastly contrasting life styles.

Phnom Penh

On Thursday morning we left Daem Po and headed for the capital, Phnom Penh. Our transport was once again a shared taxi and if the last one had been uncomfortable this one was possibly worse. After once again standing at the market with the locals starting at us a normal 4 seated car pulled up. The car already had six people in it and we couldn't possibly believe this was for us. Clearly we were not using our imaginations and if you sit two people on the driver’s seat and then two people on every other seat you can all "fit" in. To make matters worse our driver seemed to have no fear and would drive at whatever speed he like and whichever side of the road he like. Something we learnt after a few days in phnom penh is perfectly acceptable and the roads are a bit of a free for all.

In Phnom Penh we stayed in the lakeside region which has become backpacker central. It is true that the world is in fact a small place and as we were walking down the main backpacker street I managed to bump into Sarah Helme, a friend from school! She has been working in an orphanage in Phnom Penh. Even at the other side of the world you can never truly escape life back home.

Phnom Penh has a very turbulent history especially when it comes to the history of the Khmer Rouge. On our first day there we visited Tuol Sleng, also known as S 21, the prison used by the Khmer Rouge to torture and kill many innocent Cambodians. The prison is now a museum dedicated to the memory of those that suffered and a means of documenting the terrible history that once struck this country.

The museum told the story of thousands of Cambodians that were tortured, murdered or starved to death as a result of Pol Pot and his dictatorship. The prison has been "well preserved". As you walk around you can still see smears of blood on the walls, the cells in which the prisoners we kept in and even the rooms that were used for torture. The Khmer rouge ended just 30 years ago but the torture methods used were similar to those employed in England during medieval times. I was obviously appalled at the number of people they murdered (approx 25% of Cambodia’s population) and the horrific lives they forced people to live in. However, what appalled me the most that up until 2007 the leaders of the Angkor government, in power at the time, were walking around freely living normal lives. Pol Pot did suffer for his crimes, unlike Sadam Husain or other dictators of the 20th century, Pol Pot lived a normal life amongst the Thais and died of natural causes!!!!! 30years after the Khmer Rouge were destroyed only, now are we imprisoning and capturing the people than destroyed the lives of countless Cambodians.

I have just finished a book called "First they Killed my farther" written by Luang Ung. In her book Luang describes her childhood and how the Khmer rouge tore her family apart. It is a compelling read and brings to life the images that we saw in S 21. For anyone who is interested in learning more about the recent history of Cambodia I would definitely recommend reading it.

Fortunately, the rest of our time in Phnom Penh was not quite so dismal. Phnom Penh is home to a number of markets all that reflect the busy, dusty and chaotic atmosphere that engulfs the city. However, amongst the storm there are areas of solitude one of which we visited this morning - The Royal Palace and its Silver Pagoda. Unfortunately a number of the buildings are closed off to the public but the architecture of most of them is stunning. The designs are so intricate and ornate it is hard not to become in ore of them.

Thailand Again

We are currently back in Thailand and staying in Bangkok before we fly down to Krabi in the south of the country. Unlike our other cross boarder journeys this one was pure luxury. Instead of sitting on the floor in a rickety old bus we dived head first into luxury and boarded a plane. I have loved taking the more authentic modes of transport but I can't tell you how nice it is to be back in civilization where things work out the way you expect. Fenella even managed to find galaxy chocolate at the airport, which really made her day.

As I said we are now back in Bangkok and have extended our day of luxury a bit further and are currently staying at the Sheraton, very kindly organized by Fenellas step Dad using some of his travel points. I am not sure if having a taste of how the other half live is a good or a bad thing but been clean and having a toilet that flushes itself is definitely a welcome treat!!!!

Tomorrow morning we are heading down to Thailand’s beaches where I hope to try out some of the world famous rock climbing on Raleigh beach.

Hope you are all well.

Lots of Love
Becky
xxxx

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