Student Intakes & Fascinating Angkor Wat!

Asia
March 17th 2013

Published: March 17th 2013

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Simunique

Bubble Blower

Ginny entertaining visiting kids.

On Tuesday morning we tuk tukked to school as Petra was uncertain about riding. I noticed there were lots of scooters parked outside the gates as we approached and I wondered what was going on. Today wasn't a regular school day, it was 'intake day' for potential new students. The scooters belonged to the parents or guardians who were waiting outside the office with their children, hoping for an interview. Most had no appointments, but the word was out, so here they are.

We were all assigned jobs to help process the applications. So, I find myself sitting at a grubby desk in bare feet, sweat running down the side of my face with a red biro in hand, whilst I try to make sense of Sareth's answers. We are interviewing parents and recording their information on forms Tammy has handed out. Sareth asks the questions in Khmer, tells me the answers in English and I fill in the form. We try and collect as much extra information as we can, but sometimes things get lost in the translation. To ensure that children from the poorest families get the chance of attending ABC's, Tammy collects information about their home life.

Ice Cream Man

60 ice creams later, the seller is a happy man!

She asks about income, one or two parents at home, how many adults/children in the household, total income of all adults, anyone attending school or studying. Is the home made from brick, wood or bamboo? Any livestock? Do they have electricity or a television or own a motorcycle?

I've heard some sad stories and some inspiring ones. Families with too many mouths to feed already, who don't know the date of birth of this particular child because they took her in off the street. And now they are trying to get her a basic education by enrolling her at ABC's. The woman on her own with two children, who is already two months behind in rent and needs to get both her children into school so she can find a job. Her eldest child has an American birth certificate and now she lives in poverty in Cambodia. Everyone has a story. I'd like to delve deeper but, of course, I can't.

The ice-cream man with his esky full of homemade treats on the back of his scooter turns up at the gate during the morning, as usual, hoping for a few sales from the children. He got more

Man Thong

The entrance to the beer garden.

than he bargained for this morning when at least 60 ice creams were purchased at the bargain price of 8 for $1. We handed over $6 and treated everyone to at least one ice-cream. Some lucky kids lined up for seconds...even the mums took one. I doubt if any of these people have freezers at home. I hope they enjoyed them.

All applications were processed fairly fast and we were able to knock off early. Everyone was heading to The Central Cafe in Pub Street for brunch so we met the crowd there and enjoyed a meal and a beer then headed to the supermarket for supplies before going home.

The afternoon session passed just as fast, another early knock off. This time we all headed to Man Thong, a beer garden down the road from ABC's. Tammy was shouting everyone a few beers and Cokes for a job well done. This time the teachers were included so tables were pushed together for 23 thirsty souls to gather around. The music was turned on and we spent a hilarious hour or so there. I got to taste an unusual bar snack - pickled papaya! Not to my liking

Man Thong

It's Tammy's shout....

at all.

Wednesday at school is 'intake day' again, the locals are still turning up looking for an appointment. Early finishes for both sessions again. We went to The Red Piano for dinner tonight and enjoyed a hearty western meal.

Thursday is the same again - the final 'intake day'. Not too busy this morning and we were able to get away at 10am. We cycled (Petra tuk tukked with other volunteers) back to Globalteer House, where we grabbed our swimming gear and headed around to The Frangipani Hotel to enjoy a dip in their pool. There was a 'scheduled power outage' at Globalteer House and it's too hot to stay there with no air conditioning, so a swim was looking like a good option.

Friday was another short day for us. My English class was called out to play sports in the afternoon so I found myself with very little to do. No way I'm running around kicking a ball in this heat, I sweat enough standing still! We did a little work on the mural and Petra and I ended up leaving early. Ginny was up a ladder with a paint brush in her hand

Another Beer Anyone?

Long has taken on the job of keeping everyone's glass full.

and was happy to finish what she started, so we left her to it.

Later that evening we went to another quiz night at Chilli's, this time in aid of Angkor Paws, a small group of dedicated women trying to improve the lives of domestic animals in Siem Reap. They have their work cut out for them, it's all about educating the people.

This weekend we plan to start visiting the breathtaking temples of Angkor Wat. We have been waiting for Petra's arrival, and the complex is so vast and spread out, it takes more than a day or two to do it justice. First though, some facts about this amazing place.

Angkor is one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia. Stretching over some 400 km2, including forested area, Angkor Archaeological Park contains the magnificent remains of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire, from the 9th to the 15th century.

Angkor has the epic proportions of The Great Wall of China, the detail and intricacy of the Taj Mahal and the symbolism and symmetry of the pyramids, all rolled into one. The hundreds of temples surviving today are but the sacred skeleton

Love The Hat!

This is one of ABC's teachers, hamming it up in another teacher's hat. Lookin' good!

of a vast political, religious and social centre of an ancient empire that stretched from Burma to Vietnam. This city boasted a population of one million when London was a small town of 50,000. Angkor Wat was probably built as a funerary temple for King Suryavarman II ( born 1112- died 1152) to honour Vishnu, the Hindu deity with whom the king identified.

Angkor Wat, meaning 'temple city' in Khmer, is the largest of the monuments at Angkor and the best preserved, as it was never abandoned to the elements. Everything at Angkor Wat is epic in scale. The temple is surrounded by a 190m wide moat, crossed by a sandstone causeway. The stone was quarried 40klm away and floated down the Siem Reap River on rafts. According to inscriptions, the construction of Angkor Wat involved 300,000 workers and 6,000 elephants, yet it was still never completed.

There are many web sites dedicated to this beautiful place. If you're interested, I suggest some reading. But beware! Don't be surprised if you too, develop a desire to visit 'Heaven on Earth' as Angkor is called.

We organised a tuk tuk to pick us up at 5.30am Saturday morning.

Gangdam Style!

Rachel, Monica, Pete and Sareth doin' it Gangdam style. It was hilarious!

This is the time the ticket office opens, and we need tickets! We all purchased seven day passes for $60 each, which are valid for a month. I was surprised to find that cash is the only form of payment accepted, no credit cards. Millions of tourists visit here every year. How many, I wonder, expect to pay via card? I did, but thankfully Petra had enough cash with her which I borrowed. The best way to see the temples is with a tuk tuk and driver. We were picked up, driven between the temples we wanted to see, and dropped home again six hours later for $15, our pre-arranged payment amount.

We wanted the early morning start to avoid the heat. Many people were out there before us, tripods set up and jostling for the best photo position, all waiting for the sunrise over Angkor Wat. We didn't join them. There was a lot of scaffolding covered with green shade cloth below the centre tower which would spoil photos unfortunately. I'm not happy with the ones I took here and will try again another day, when the sun is out and the light is better. If I'm really

Waiting Patiently

Family members waiting for interviews at ABC's.

lucky, the scaffolding might have disappeared by then too, but I won't hold my breath! Despite the number of tourists the temples weren't crowded and we were able to get some good photos.

After Angkor Wat we visited Bayon Temple and Ta Prohm. Bayon looks like a glorified pile of rubble from a distance. Only when you enter the temple and make your way up to the third level does it start to work it's magic. It's a place of stooped corridors, lots of steps and 54 gothic towers decorated with 216 smiling faces of a God long passed. The bas-reliefs carvings at Bayon cover 1.2klm and feature more that 11,000 figures, all hand carved. Absolutely amazing to see today, around 900 years after their creation. How many men carved this, and how long did it take? Guess we'll never know.

Ta Prohm was fascinating, and I will definitely be returning here again before I leave. Described by Lonely Planet as the 'ultimate Indiana Jones fantasy', it's crumbling towers and walls are locked in the embrace of vast tree root systems. Ta Phrom reminds us of the awesome power of the jungle. There is a poetic cycle to

Ginny and Baby Sandy

This baby belongs to one of the teachers. She is very cute.

this ruin, with humanity first conquering nature to rapidly create, and nature once again conquering humanity to slowly destroy. Several scenes from 'Laura Croft: Tomb Raider' were shot around the temples of Angkor. The 'tomb raider tree' is at Ta Phrom, and is included in the photos.

We returned to Globalteer House by 11.00am. It was getting really hot out there and we were happy to call it a day. A cold shower and air conditioning were what we needed. Petra had booked herself into a two hour spa treatment at the Frangipeni Hotel and Spa, so disappeared at midday to enjoy her pampering. Ginny and I were happy to spend a few hours in the cool of our rooms, blogging, reading or sleeping. Later we walked into the Pub Street area so Petra could look around some of the smaller shops there. We enjoyed barbequed pork ribs for dinner and headed home for another early night.

Sunday is another slow day. We left Globalteer House on foot around 10am, not too sure just where we were going, after we had dropped our laundry off at the end of the street. We ended up at Reflections Guesthouse/Cafe on

Petra and Baby Sandy

Pet got a cuddle too.

Wat Bo Road for a cold drink and then we moved on to the Butterfly Restaurant for morning tea. Ginger cake, ice cream and choc marble cheese cake later, we left there reluctantly as we could all have easily snoozed on their day beds for an hour or two. Ginny and Petra decided to walk it off and headed to Pub Street for a browse in the shops and I, not really wanting to shop, headed back to Globalteer House. A very lazy day indeed as I haven't budged from my room since getting back, except for a trip or two downstairs to the fridge. I think we'll order in dinner tonight.....

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