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Published: September 18th 2012
Day Cut Short
Our day started early as we caught a taxi to Angkor Wat to meet up with Cambodian Childrens Trust. I was excited as I was going to get to spend the day with Kai touring Angkor Wat followed by horseriding in the afternoon. When I woke however, my tummy was rumbling and cramping and I was feeling generally under the weather!
We got out to Angkor Wat and after a few phone calls with Erin from CCT we eventually found the group. I couldnt believe when I saw Kai how grown up he had become in a year and how great he looked! As soon as I turned up he left his group of friends to hang with me. I told him he was okay to head off with the other boys and have fun with them but he was insistent on staying with me. Very sweet gesture!
After touring Angkor Wat we headed to a shaded area for lunch. I was not feeling good at all by this stage and knew that I was not going to last the day. I spoke to Erin and decided to catch a taxi from Siem
Reap to Battambang early rather than continuing on with the exercusion. I was disappointed but I knew my body well enough to know that I was only getting worse and would not survive until 10pm that night!
We caught a taxi back to the hotel, arranged a taxi to Battambang and off we headed. We stopped at the Bakery for some food for the trip then we settled in for a couple of hours in the taxi. By the time we got to Battambang I almost was crawling to the bed. I was shaking, hot/cold, cramping and generally feeling like I was going to die.
I went straight to bed, and Danni set off to explore Battambang alone. It was only about 3-4pm at this stage and I lay in bed sick and starting to get worried. I actually thought I might have dengue or something as the symptos seemed more dengue fever than food poisoning.
I slept though until the next morning. When I woke up I was still unable to move so after a phone call to Tara at CCT it was decided to put off the day meeting Davi and seeing Kai until the
following day. Danni headed off to the CCT drop in centre to help out and then was heading off to explore Battambang some more. I asked her if she was able to grab me some food from somewhere 'clean' while she was out and then I passed back out. Tara turned up a short time later and took me in to a clinic for a blood test to see if it was Dengue or something else. On the way back to the hotel she bought a couple of fresh coconuts off the side of the road and told me to drink them to keep hydrated.
Back at the hotel, I asked if they were able to make me a fruit platter but their English was terrible and they couldnt work out what I was saying. At that point I gave up as I just wanted to get back to bed so crawled upstairs and waited for Danni to get back with my food.
Danni rocked up later that day empty handed, so I crawled out of bed, got dressed and headed out to feed myself. At this point I was feeling very sorry for myself. It's hard to
be sick in a foreign country with noone to look after you... I hailed a tuktuk off the side of the road and asked him to take me to a restaurant that had good reviews in the Lonely Planet. I ordered some healthy food then asked to go to another cafe that I had heard was good for a coffee... Back to the hotel and straight to bed, I was determined to get better for the following day which was my last day and the only day I had to spend time with Kai and meet Davi.
If you are wondering who Davi is, she is the lady that I ran the City to Bay funrun for raising over $3000 towards building her a house! The house had already been built so we were going to see her new house and meet her!
The City To Bay 12km was ALL worth it
The following morning, I was up bright and early and actually feeling surprisingly good. Danni was heading out to do some sightseeing but I decided to head to a cafe for breakfast before meeting Erin from CCT to go see Kai for lunch. Kai
had school in the morning, but we met at his home where we ate with the rest of the boys and the house parents, before Kai gave me an Art lesson! He is an amazing artist and I am terrible but under his careful instruction my drawing turned out pretty good (if I do say so myself)
After we finished our drawings, Erin and I headed off on the motorbike to the local Art supplies where I stocked up on Art supplies for Kai. He was over the moon when we got back with all the supplies! Hopefully they lasted a while!
After finished up with Kai, it was time to head out to meet Davi. I headed out with Danni and Erin, Tara, Elaine and Mardi from CCT. Davi's house was about a 20 minute drive outside of Battambang. She had a very basic one roomed house with a small bathroom. I was a little shocked at how basic it was, but Tara explained that this is exactly what they want and need. She told me stories of giving children beds, only for them to not use them and sleep on the floor. I guess it is
what you are used to and sometimes its really hard to get your head around how others dont want or even need the same luxuries we take for granted.
After meeting Davi, we all piled into the Ute and drove up the road to see Davi's old home. Tara explained that she met Davi one day when she was hiking up the mountain where Davi's old 'house' was. Davi and her children were severly abused by her husband and Tara was responsible for helping bring him to justice. He is now spending the rest of his life in jail for the severe abuse and pain he inflicted upon his own family.
Arriving at her old 'house' I was shocked to see it was a wooden platform with scraps of material used as 'walls'. I walked up closer to take a photo and had only been standing there seconds when I was told to watch out for the fleas. I looked down to see my legs covered in fleas... I beat a hasty retreat from the old house. Heartbreaking to know they used to live in these conditions.
We dropped Davi and her family back to their new
home and I posed with her for a photo out the front of her house. She was extremely grateful for the house and I would like to take this belated opportunity to thank each and every person who donated towards this home. Your donation changed this womans life! She now has a stall at the local markets selling local produce and earning a living. Davi and her children have a safe haven they now call their home.
An almost tragic ending
On the way back to town we were horrified to witness an accident. Tara and I were seated in the front of the ute with all the girls in the back. We were travelling along when up ahead we both saw a motorbike coming towards us flat out weaving all over the road. It stood out straight away as he was going so fast and coming at us head on but wobbling all over the road. I caught my breath thinking we were about to have a head on, when at the very last minute he swerved to the right of our vehicle and zipping past us. Only seconds later, Danni banged loudly on the
back window screaming at us to stop.
Tara slammed on the brakes and we froze. Next thing I knew, Danni was running down the road, thongs in hands screaming "Marita Marita" at me as she ran down into a mob of Cambodians... Elaine and Mardi not knowing what to do and not wanting to let Danni go alone started heading on foot back down the road. Erin then told Tara and I that they had seen the same guy on the motorbike go head on at a vehicle behind us before swerving and colliding with another motorbike, then careering into a group of children on the side of the road. We were horrified and quite scared as to whether we would be blamed. Usually in these situations, where there are foreigners, they are often the ones that get the blame. My first words were "Ummmm are we in shit here??". There was no way I was running back down into a crowd of angry distressed Cambodians!
I then asked Tara if the girls should have gone back and she was adament that we should have either kept going or at least stayed with our car until we could
assess the situation. All three of us were feeling quite stressed at this stage given that Danni had run down into it without assessing it first. By now, Danni was standing in the middle of the road whistling and yelling at me to get down there... Tara jumped on the phone to Jedtha, her right hand man and he said he would head out. Tara then said we would head back but in the car. She said that way we could leave if needed.
When we got down there, I got out, grabbed Danni and told her to 'get in the car now, let Tara deal with this'. The guy who had caused the accident had somehow survived, jumping back onto his motorcycle and tearing off when it all first happened and luckily for us the Cambodians were angry with him and not us! We bundled up some children and their Mums that were complaining of injuries (nothing major thankfully) and put them in the back of the Ute. We then drove them into Siem Reap and arranged for them to be seen at a local medical clinic.
After it was sorted, Danni headed off to meet up
with new friends for dinner and I headed back to CCT office with the girls for a debrief! We were all a bit shaken up by the turn of events and had a good long chat until we all felt better. We then headed to a local restaurant where I enjoyed a lovely evening with the girls, a great way to end my very mixed up trip to Battambang!
The following day we had a long day of travel which included a taxi to the Thailand border, a bus to Bangkok and then a plane to Phuket.. over 12 hours of travel! Urgh!
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Tracy
non-member comment
Great blog as always. Looking forward to reading all about your next trip!!