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On Wednesday 13th January, Georgia had her leaving dinner for all her close friends in the ‘Project’s Abroad’ programme and also myself. Having spent the day working with Amy on a project about domestic violence she was kind enough to give me a lift to the girl’s apartment where I caught up with Claudia while waiting for the rest of the girls to finish getting ready - we all know how us girls can be when getting ready to go out! Georgia then took it upon herself to stand on a chair outside the building and give us the plan for the evening’s events which was to take a tuk-tuk to ‘Bonrai’ restaurant. So with a plan in mind all nineteen of us spread out into 3 tuk-tuks; a very funny sight for Cambodian people to see so many Westerners crammed inside tuk-tuks and they out right stared at us as we made our way over to the restaurant. However, upon getting there we saw that practically all the tables were full and there were not enough left for all nineteen of us! We ended up driving around trying to find Khmer Kitchen, which we actually passed before circling back around
to get there.
We sat down to eat and I was introduced to a few new recruits who had arrived just days ago and we all got along straight away, a bit like when I met Georgia and the others. Over dinner I caught up with Georgia and Claudia who were sitting next to me and also got to know Melodie, Rosie and Amy (there are too many people I know named Amy!). We bonded over traditional Khmai food and made plans to go to Kep one weekend before we left (Amy and I for our homes while Rosie and Melodie for a trip around Thailand and Vietnam - jealous much!). After dinner about eight of us decided to head over to Metro at Riverside for a little after-party. We all shared our memories of our time out here together, particularly the New Years Party and the night out in Siem Reap which really stood out for us before heading home.
The next evening I went out for sushi at ‘Amara Spa’ with some of the girls where I was able to get to know Amy, Rosie, Katie, Mel and Melodie better. Throughout the night we probably annoyed
the waitresses by asking them to take tonnes of pictures of us at all the table, just so we could remember a night of fun - a night where we cemented our newfound friendship.
That weekend a few girls from ‘Project’s Abroad’ and I put two days aside to be proper tourists go to all the major sightseeing places. We saw the ‘National Museum’, ‘Toul Sleng’ and the ‘Killing Fields’ on Saturday and the Royal Palace on Sunday morning. On the Saturday morning we met outside the Royal Palace at 9am for a full day of sightseeing as we’d originally planned to go there first, but didn’t have our shoulders covered out of respect - something we didn’t know beforehand. So, instead we walked down the road towards the National Museum while talking to the young Cambodian water sellers who were outside the Palace. They spoke very good English and in parting called out “lovely jubbly” to Sarah and I (the only English Citizens) as well as “a dingo ate my baby” to the Australians making us all laugh as we arrived at the Museum. The National Museum itself was a beautiful looking building which reminded me slightly of
some of the styles of building around the Royal Palace. The museum was full of extremely interesting artefacts like stone and wooden Buddhas as well as stone carvings from Angkor Wat which were better preserved so I could clearly see the delicacy, care and effort that went into them - they truly are amazing pieces of art and it still amazes me how they were able to create something so spectacular and makes me wonder how long it would have taken them to do - probably a rather long time. All the hard work paid off, a bit like Michael Angelo when he spent years working on the Sistine Chapel and ended up with a masterpiece!
There was also a lot of information on archaeological finds in Cambodia and there were even a few skeletons on show from one of the sites. Walking around the complex I saw many statues of Buddha and the seven headed snake, soldiers fighting each other and also the stature of the monkey warrior from the famous Asian story about Ramah and the Princess, which has been around for hundreds of years. After spending a good two hours there we made our way over
to the Tuol Sleng genocide museum where men, women, children, foreigners etc. were brutally tortured and murdered by the ‘Khmer Rouge’. Words cannot describe the intense feelings of sadness and disbelief that washed over us all when I heard from our guide the kinds of torture methods that were used and what despicable things happened there. It made us all feel sick to the stomach. I had to fight back tears when our guide told us of her own experiences during the ‘Khmer Rouge’, especially when she said that only she and her sister had survived while her own husband and children, mother and father and other siblings had been tortured and murdered. The fact that she can talk about these events is a testament to her strength as a person, I don’t know how I would have been able to cope with the amount of suffering they experienced for many years before they were liberated. As I made my way through the different rooms to read survivor’s stories hung up on the wall my mind played tricks on me when I was in the room alone and I thought I could feel a cold wind and shivered, as if
those who had died in the very room which I was standing were trying to call out to me. I had to leave the room quickly as it was too upsetting knowing that I was standing where people had suffered too much before dying.
We then took a tuk-tuk over to Choueng-Ek (The Killing Fields). All six of us fit in a tuk-tuk and we managed to bargain the price with the driver so we only paid $1.50 each. We made the half an hour drive to The Killing Fields and as you can imagine it had the same effect on us as Tuol Sleng did. There was such silence in the fields where we walked to some of the open graves and went inside the ‘Stupa’ (a tall tower) containing 17,000 human skulls, jaws, bones and pieces of clothing that were found in the graves. We passed two large trees, one which held a stereo to play music over the screams of people being murdered and tortured, and another where young babies and children were hurled against the tree, breaking their backbones and skulls - both of which were shocking and disgusting. We took a rest stop by
Santa's Little Helpers
We were getting ready to take down the Christmas tree.the lake where some bodies were found floating by civilians during the Khmer Rouge regime and sat in silence taking in everything around us and reflecting on Tuol Sleng before making our way back round to the entrance, to go to Wat Phnom.
The tuk-tuk ride back into town was semi-quiet until we got to the hustle and bustle in streets of Phnom Penh and we all seemed to come out of our thoughts to listen to the sounds of tooting horns, calls of motos and tuk-tuk drivers and the shouts of happy children running around - a stark contrast to the places we’d been to that day. At Wat Phnom we circled the complex before making our way up to the top of the hill, stopping briefly on the way to take pictures of the monkeys that dwell there. The view at the top of the hill is spectacular, you are able to see some of the town from high above, almost like being on the London Eye, but better as you feel more a part of the setting! We had made it in time to see the last of the sunset as well as a man paying
money to free the birds in a cage to watch them fly away, despite being trained to return to their cage by the trainers. Steph and I went inside the temple and took a seat at the back while others lit incense sticks and put them in the spirit house before praying to Buddha. It was nice to sit there in silence, close my eyes, relax and feel at peace. As I made my way out of the temple, Amy called to tell me she was at the foot of Wat Phnom so I said goodbye to my friends and went out to dinner with Amy before we bought some films, particularly ones that were set in Cambodia or had some scenes which were filmed at the temples where Anji and I had been the previous weekend.
The next day at 9am I met the girls at their apartment, with Amy, and we went out for noodle soup at a popular Khmer restaurant just around the corner. The food was absolutely delicious and I could happily have eaten more but it was time for us to go to the Royal Palace as we didn’t get the chance to go
the previous day. We arrived and bought our entrance tickets (which were the most expensive of all!) and made our way around the various buildings we were allowed to see. Inside one building was the throne and Amy explained that it was made of solid gold, as well as the two statues standing by its side, it really was beautiful but I can’t image how heavy they must be if they are in fact made out of gold! We took advantage of the great photo opportunities at this building and took many fun ones, posing altogether on the palace wall! We then made our way to another great building to see the famous Jade Buddha as well as other beautiful and ancient artefacts collected by Kings of the past. We saw the Silver Pagoda which was absolutely breathtaking, especially when the sunlight caught it and also a small model replica of Angkor Wat in the middle of a pool of water surrounded by fish and a turtle - not as good as seeing the real thing though, I might add! After taking as many pictures as possible we made our way through the exit to see some more statues and
also the chair used for King Sihanomi’s coronation. After I said goodbye to my friends, Amy and I returned to the office to finish work on our project.
While at lunch Anji called to tell me that Gill and Pete had invited us on a boat trip around the Mekong River to see the sunset. Anji, Amy, Chanthang, Theanly and I left work early, not realising it was an hour too early. While waiting, Amy and I decided to watch Star Trek as she was really keen to know what it was. We left for the boat and upon arriving met many of Gill and Pete’s friends, some who I had previously met on Christmas Eve. We relaxed on the top deck of the boat and mingled while watching the beautiful sunset. Amy, Chanthang and I took advantage of the beautiful view and had many pictures taken. In some Amy and I decided to imitate the famous “I’m flying” scene from the legendary ‘Titanic’ which was really quite fun and got quite a few laughs out of everyone. We then stopped off at “Snowy’s” bar for a drink to see the end of the sunset and I also took
the time to look at the spectacular art-work painted by the owner in an Aboriginee/Asian style which was really intriguing and he is extremely talented. After we took the boat back to its station Amy and I had a girl’s night in, and continued to watch Star Trek, until she had to go home and I think I’ve officially made her a ‘trekkie’, having taught her the Vulcan hand sign and the famous phrase “live long and prosper”.
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On Monday night, Anji and I opted for a nice night in with takeout and a movie. We decided to watch ‘Two Brothers’ since we had been to the temple where it was filmed and received the shock of our life when Daniel turned up at our house with a bucket of ice and champagne! Why can’t that happen every Monday night!? We had a glass of champagne and caught up with Daniel telling us about a gambling tournament he had entered and had won, winning $25,000! What a lucky guy! He told us that he would be in the paper about it as well and that he he’d ended up meeting an old friend, nicknamed Kimmy, who is actually a Prince here in Cambodia and in line for the throne after the death of the current King who has no heirs.
Later on in the week I made arrangements to head to Kep and Rabbit Island, previously known as Malaria Island, with Rosie, Melodie, Amy and a few new recruits - Jess, Martina, Andi and Ella. We had an extremely early wake-up call and headed off to the bus stop, ready to get on the two and a half hour coach journey which was spent chatting, reading and doing arts and crafts! When we arrived in Kep, we grabbed some seafood lunch by the seaside with many photo opportunies and a rather spectacular view with Rabbit Island in the distance!
We bargained for a price on a return boat trip to the Island and enjoyed the rocking backwards and forwards on the high sea, which felt very much like a rollercoaster! When we arrived on the Island we were greeted by the friendly locals and went to put our overnight bags in our ‘hotel’ which was actually a quaint little hut, very much like the houses you find in the Cambodian Villages. We spent the afternoon swimming the sea, catching a few rays of the sun and having a well-deserved miniature holiday! We met some interesting tourists from England and Australia who were biking across Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam for a month and invited them to the Sunset Party, a celebration of the Island which they do most nights! Over by the bar and stereo we listened to some classic old songs, all of which can be found on Magic 105.4 (one of my guilty pleasures!), and we bonded with the locals, as well as the tourists we had met earlier and some others who were having a getaway (just like us) and danced the night away! It was definitely one of my most fun nights in Cambodia and we were able to speak to the most interesting people from different areas of the world and working in different jobs from business to working with overseas charities.
The next day, we woke up refreshed and early at 5am in order to catch the sunrise over the Mountains, but sadly it was covered up by some (unwanted) clouds and meant we had gotten up so early for nothing! Sadly, we packed up our bags and returned to the boat, waving a goodbye to the Island and the locals we had befriended and made our way back to Kep to catch the bus to Phnom Penh. It was a two day vacation well spent and just served to heighten our overall enjoyment in Cambodia!
After much working throughout the week with IDP and helping out at Cade on occasion, Anji and I decided to take a trip to Sihanoukville with Gill, Pete and a daughter of one of their Australian friends, Alexandra who was working in a Law Firm, similar to Anna’s, who I had met when I first arrived in November. We hired a van down to the Beach and arrived at a beautiful setting, late at night, to houses that looked very much like those one would find on cobbled streets in Spain or Italy, but on the inside were very Cambodian countryside!
We woke up extremely early in the morning and got ready to head off to a boat tour, near our place of stay, which was rather modern looking, painted in red and with three floors (the topmost floor, being solely for sunbathing which we went to straight away)! It was a rather relaxing afternoon, where I was able to go snorkelling for the first time in my life! The coral reef itself wasn’t particularly exciting, but the amount of wildlife that we saw underneath the blue waves was plentiful! There were different types of crabs, fish, lobster, plankton and I am pretty sure that I saw a squid at one point too! From there we moved onto an island with a beach and while everyone else took a small speedboat to the Island, Alex and I dived off the boat and swam in the soft and beautiful crystal clear blue water, which was definitely worth it!
On the Island, Alex and I went on a short tour through a murky swamp river, full of interesting plantlife and insects as well as our tour guide’s dog who was having the time of his life splashing through the river and running through the different plants. We learned a fair bit about the uses of the plants and how people would utilize them if they knew they were there and it was rather enjoyable, despite feeling extremely dirty during and afterwards. When we arrived back at Sihanoukville, Alex and I met up with a group of tourists whom we had befriended on the boat trip and went out with them to the Full Moon Party at Serendipity beach which was extremely fun! The party was in full swing when we arrived at 9:30pm and we stayed there getting to know each other some more and joined in the party until 3am! It really is true when they say ‘how time flies when you’re having fun’.
We woke up only a few hours later to join Anji, Gill and Pete on a 20-25km bike ride around the beaches. We took a few detours however, instead of sticking on the same straight path and ended up cycling through some small town communities who had never seen the likes of Westerners riding on bicycles and were more than happy to call over to us and come and speak to us. It was quite sad to see the disgusting conditions in which they lived, with rubbish littering the streets, broken glass everyone and children and adults in clothing which they had probably been wearing for days, but the fact that they were so happy with the little they had was incredible, especially when I think about how selfish and greedy children can be in our culture, always wanting the latest ipod, iphone, laptop, xbox etc. We really are worlds apart!
Well, not we are onto the last week and it was an emotional rollercoaster to say the least. At first, it didn’t really sink in that I would be leaving on the Saturday, but as the day drew closer I began to feel extremely sad that my time was coming to an abrupt end! I spent the last week working with Anji and spending much more time with her and some of my closest friends too, opting to spend nights out doing things I had not already done before, like walking along the riverside with Mel, getting her to try the Khmer delicacies of friend tarantula, crickets and snake on a stick while taking hilarious photographs of her facial expressions which were definitely priceless!
I was in for a shock on the Friday before I left as Anji was not only showing a premier of the finished film to the cast and crew members who had worked on the project, but it was also a send off party for me. She and Chanthang had worked together with Chas to host a goodbye party at his flat (which I am still extremely grateful for) combined with the film premier with most people whom I had worked together or spent a lot of time with throughout my three months in Cambodia. Everyone was so kind and thoughtful and a lot of people even went out of the way to buy my small gifts to wish me luck back in England. In all honesty, I had never expected them to be so kind and think of me enough and for others to even buy me something out of their hard earned wages. It really was too much, and that coupled with a cake saying “Goodbye Joanna, we will miss you” was literally the tip of the iceberg and I was knocked over the edge by their generosity and kind-hearted attitudes that I ended up shedding a few tears of thanks to the people who had welcomed me and made my time in Cambodia so special. I a little shaken up, but made a speech to show people just how much I admired and respected them and enjoyed their company. I thanked them profusely for their kindness, gifts and being so welcoming to me and making Cambodia feel like a second home, which in a way it became. I was so immersed in the culture by the end of my time there, had made so many interesting new companions for life and had been able worked in different occupations which were all enjoyable in their own ways. You could almost say that I had experienced what would be years of my life, in only three months!
Spending three months in Cambodia has definitely been the best experience of my life so far - hands down! Everyone whom I met, I will miss dearly and I very much hope I will see them again in the near future. My time there has shown me too much to list and I have definitely learnt so much, not only about myself, but about Cambodian people, their culture and religion as well as the sheer poverty that affects so many but who are resilient and strong to not let it get to them. I consider myself lucky enough to have been given such an amazing opportunity to visit and work in such an amazing place and I can definitely see why people fall in love with Asia. It’s safe to say that my time here has been indelibly etched into my memory so that I will never forget it - because I know I don’t want to!
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