Blogs from Kampot, South, Cambodia, Asia - page 13

Fredag den 12.2 Vi har endnu ikke endelig besluttet os for, hvor vi vil tage hen i Cambodja. Valget står mellem byerne Kep og Kampot i syd. Det afhænger lidt af transportmulighederne. Kep ligger 30 km fra grænsen og er en badeby, mens Kampot ligger ud til en flod 40 km. længere væk. Vi kommer ombord på båden uden problemer. Desværre er alle sæder solgt, så vi skal på en eller anden måde dele sæder i en time og 40 minutter som turen tager. Heldet er dog med os denne gang. Det viser sig, at der er et ledigt sæde og en venlig mand flytter sig, så vi kan sidde sammen. Den forventede efterregning for sædet udebliver og vi sejler til lyden af Vietnamesisk pop musik. Havnen i Ha Tien er hjemsted for alverdens plattenslagere. Med ... read more

We began yesterday with a trip to a local school. It was airy and pleasant. The director gave us the official story about the students' low costs and the teachers' low pay. This is true on paper, but in practice, students really need to pay for “special classes” taught by their teachers for an additional fee. As we walked around, another tour participant remarked that she was looking at the classrooms and seeing S-21/Toul Sleng, the school that the Khmer Rouge converted to their interrogation and torture center. I have a similar experience when I look at giggling teenagers and imagine them in Khmer Rouge uniforms and holding guns. Lunch was pretty and all seafood, not my favorite, but I at it anyway. I did pick around the octopus and just eat the squid. After lunch ... read more

Plugged in. Technology triumphs. We began yesterday with a visit to the Cambodian Women's Crisis Center, a wonderful organization that does extremely valuable work in Cambodia. They focus on empowerment, taking a holistic, community-based, rights-based approach. 30% of Cambodian women report having experienced violence by age 15. 50,000 women were laid off in 2008 when Cambodia's trade status with the US changed and they lost their garment industry jobs. This not only adds to economic stress, but may push young women into jobs that make them more vulnerable. CWCC engages in a variety of protection, prevention, and advocacy projects. They could use volunteers who are willing to make a 3-month commitment. After a snack of rambutan, lychees, tangerines, mung bean paste in lotus leaves, and banana and coconut in banana leaf,* we headed out of Phnom ... read more

So Tuesday we finally we got to Kampot, only about 1 hour from the border. Was an interesting drive in as we went through a small town where all the houses were little shacks made our of random sheets of metal and bits of wood, you could tell straight away the different between the two countrys and how Cambodia is much poorer. It was pretty filthy too, loads of rubbish everywhere, just dumped on the streets. Our bus driver drove us round to a couple of guesthouses until we found one we were happy with. $10 room again with TV and hot water but no AC :( And it was hot!!!!! About 34 I think that day. Guesthouse was really nice though and had a little garden area with funky moon chairs and cute lights etc. ... read more

“There is no corruption in Cambodia, none at all! The country, like all of its neighbours, is commission based, that’s why it’s so easy to do things here, everybody will help you because they earn a small fee for their effort.” Kampot Survival Guide (KSG) After arriving back in Ha Tien from Phu Quoc we went back to the travel agency to arrange our Cambodian visas and transport to Kampot a town on the South Coast of Cambodia. Our visas were $25 (inc $5 charge for doing it in half an hour) and we paid $20 each to get to Kampot 2 hours away, rather expensive but G wasn’t sure on how we’d fit all our stuff on bikes which were half the price!!! While we waited for our visas we made the mistake in thinking ... read more