Blogs from East, Cambodia, Asia - page 9

Hey y'all I meant to post some pictures last week of a show we were invited to at Wat Nokor (Wat is Ka'mai for temple), which was organised by a charity called BSDA. BSDA works with vulnerable and severely impoverished children in Cambodia, providing support, education, training and housing to those children most at risk of abuse, trafficking, prostitution and exploitation. We were treated to a display of traditional Ka'mai dancing, starting with an amazing show where the dancers were dressed in traditional Cambodian ceremonial dress, performing a variety of very beautiful dances. It was just so graceful and dignified - not exactly the kinda thing you see at the Dog & Duck on a Saturday night! The second half of the show was a group of about 15 younger kids, who danced did a kind ... read more

So my language training is in full flow, and we've started out with basic words and phrases and some grammatical rules. However, the two things you need for learning a language, natural aptitude and memory, are two talents I distinctly lack! Thankfully our teacher, Dara, is an absolute genius. He taught himself English by reading a dictionary in a refugee camp in Thailand during the Khmer Rouge period, speaks Ka'Mai, English, Spanish, French, Thai, Vietnamese and who knows what else. It is fair to say that more than a couple of the female volunteers have developed a crush on him! Dara is a brilliant teacher and has a knack of honing in on those words/phrases that you struggle with, pushing you (subtly but firmly) to nail it. We are learning about 30 new words a day, ... read more

Hello everyone, first and foremost I'd like to say thank you very much to everyone who has left comments and sent me messages – it really means a lot to hear from you. I'll do a posting this week to respond to the various questions and queries people have asked. Please do send me an email to let me know what you are up to, and if you are on Skype, let me know your Skype Name and I'll find and add you so that we can have some face-to-face banter. So last night my fellow volunteers and I arrived safe and sound in Kampong Cham....despite the best efforts of the bus driver I must add! Quick tip for anyone ever travelling in a Cambodian bus - never sit at the front, ignorance is bliss ... read more

My friend and I originally had a goal with this trip -to reach the summit of the sacred and powerful Haling Halang Mountains, which straddle the border of Cambodia and Laos, and have one foot in both countries. What happened was this: there are 2 ways to get to Veal Thom Grasslands (which is on the way to Haling Halang): the normal tourist trail, which, while still challenging, is nothing compared to the "alternative route." The "other way" to go is by tracing the Tok Mok River up a grueling commando/special forces type of training workout, a trip which makes your bag all the more heavier because this way takes another 1.5 days and thus entails carrying more food. There were 6 of us in all: myself, my friend Richard, park ranger Soukhon, indigenous Brao guide ... read more

Now that we are back in Cambodia, memories are reactivated of our last visit to that country, which was just over 2 years ago. That was in my pre-blogging days. So here is one, as the TV chefs say, that I prepared earlier.... We were on our way from Kratie to Sen Monorom. The first part of this journey was no problem, just a regular bus journey to the little town of Snuol, from where, we had been told, we could easily catch a minibus to Sen Monorom. But it was in Snuol that things started to go slightly pear-shaped. Snuol. The very name of the place should have told us something. Instant mental associations are invoked with words like snide, snigger, sneaky, and snot. And indeed it turned out to be a bit of a ... read more