First Impressions

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'The journey'

Tom and I left London at about 4pm and hopped to the tube, it was at that moment it hit me I was leaving alone and the tears started to pour! I was really questioning my decision to go and wondering had I rushed into it and made it harshly. Not to mention the guilt I felt about leaving Tom for two weeks.
Another teary goodbye at the airport and I waved Tom goodbye as the heathrow express disappeared from view. I was all alone.
I quickly went back to the terminal to make a few last phonecalls, sacrificing the purchase of a few last packets of sweet! A decision I regretted as I may as well be on Lent, sweets here are not good and those I love like haribo are too expensive!

Landing in Bangkok produced a new set of tears, I felt a lump in my throat and sick in my stomach wondering what to do! All I could see were signs or 'visa' and I had a mild panic as I didn't have one! I befriended a family who helped me navigate myself to central Bangkok via the train, the help was much appreciated as already I could see how topsy turvy south east Asia is!!!

There I ate my first solo meal, at the side of a busy road with crazy traffic! Vegetable noodle soup for 91p and the biggest Pepsi I have ever seen! The next journey to Cambodia begins tomorrow and without a wink of sleep as my body clock thought it was 11am I would endure my first 48 hours of lack of sleep!



'First day'

What a long tiring day!!! First problem... Trying to work out what all the food was to cure my poor rumbling stomach!!! The supermarket was a mission, all food appeared to be packaged noodles! I finally settled for some chocolate bread (good shout)!

Transport to the border was at least comfortable as well as air conditioned! I was shocked by the heat even at 7am in the morning the sun was out with its hat on! Unbearable and of course I had dressed in leggings, talk about being hot and sticky!





The taxi driver had my nerves on edge! He drove like a lunatic playing 'chicken' with oncoming traffic! It seemed to be a game about who could accelerate at the other quickest while beeping their horn, then without a second to spare casually pull in to a space between two cars that had previously been non existent! Red lights appeared to have no meaning whatsoever and as many as 5-7 seconds after a red light we would just cruise through while I held my breath! I resorted to travelling with my eyes closed, as the anxiety and heart palpitations I was experiencing sitting in full view of this drivers antics were not comforting! Lol! However we made it alive!!

We were dropped at a cafe, exactly what all the guidebooks had advised against! Buying you're visa off anyone other than the border! Thankfully I had my evisa. However the driver who had brought us drove off, I was left with nothing to prove I had purchased a ticket to siem reap and just had to trust the fact I would make it! The only thing I was provided was a small orange sticker with the words 'taxi'! Don't think anyone can blame me for not trusting that I would make it! I saw it as my mission not to let the man organising this operation out of my sight! Where he went I wasn't far behind bombarding him with questions! Lol!

Again I found myself in a taxi with a driver on a death wish, as I looked out the windows on the way to Siem Reap I was shocked and overcome by the severity of the poverty I saw before me! People live off stalls at the side of a dusty road, selling the same produce! It's a wonder how any survive! I have since learned the average Khmer person earns 0.5 dollars a day! Saddening to hear!! They do their best by selling food and local produce on the streets. Many children beg for you to buy the most meaningless of items! But yet, they seem happy! Even from my first day I had children waving, smiling and shouting hello at me!! What a welcome is that! They are delighted to see you and ask your name! How nice is that!?

After attending a concert called 'beatacello' which recalls how the hospitals evolved here and the devastation caused by the war, I decided to see it as my task to learn more about what happened here! I have started by reading a book written by a survivor called 'First they killed my Father'. It is shocking, sickening and at points depressing and can lower my mood. All the information is fact and is in a child's perspective! I feel I am gaining a greater understanding of why this country is the way it is, and I can only hope to learn more.

Some observations about this wonderful country that has been through so much....
1. There is no pavements, the ground is terrible underfoot with lots of rubble and potholes, a recipe for disaster for me!



2. It is a very money driven country with lots of Khmer people doing anything they can to get you to buy something! In night markets you cannot simply look, all you can hear is 'hello lady, you like to buy?' Lol

3. You cannot walk more than 2m without hearing 'tuk tuk lady' there are t-shirts that say no tuk tuk today, tomorrow or the next day ... Maybe I should invest!

4. I need to learn to barter better in markets, the prices are so low in the first place I feel rude, but I have learned that people here charge tourists more than twice the price of a Khmer!

5. Rubbish lines the streets particularly by the river and the stench is overpowering! I have occasionally seen a bin lorry with boys hanging off the back! I literally don't know how! The smell in itself is enough to knock you out!

6. The average lifestyle here involves getting up at 5/6am and setting up a stall or hut on the street selling street food such as fruit, fried banana, spring rolls etc

7. Side streets are so uneven and bumpy I think that my bottom will never be unbruised, travelling by bike here is great but not the most comfortable experience.



8. It rains and many children go and play naked in the puddles

9. Dogs run wild, they had no collars, no names as many are more afraid of you than you of them

10. Families are huge with as many as 6 children

11. There is no such thing as a Highway Code. There is no right of way, traffic flies out from all angles, motos drive both ways up the street and cars seem to think bicycles are inferior and its ok to pull out in front of them or cut you up.... So in short I am lucky to be still standing to tell the tale (close your ears dad)

12. There is no limit to the amount of people on a moto. I have seen as many as 5 with children under the ages of 3 wedged between two adults.

13. Children and people here have remarkable balance, half the time they don't even hold onto the moto.

14. It is not uncommon to see 3 children dressed in school uniform to one bicycle! Often the eldest child (sometimes no older than 7-9) is in charge of cycling the younger children to school

15. Children over the age of 3 appear to look after themselves and are often left unattended and roaming the streets for long periods of time



16. New year here is in April! Children judge their birthday by the new year and turn a year older regardless of the date and month of their actual day of birth!

17. Supermarkets do not stock much fresh food, alot is packaged noodles

18. A delicacy here is duck embryo, pretty much a fully formed chick ready to hatch, cooked and served to kahmer people! Often the feathers and everything are there, I was nearly sick in my mouth when I first saw it!

19. People often fish in the dirty river right beside where a lot of rubbish has collect, hygiene is not a priority here!

30. In rural areas many people do not have a toilet, they live in a shack of a house and drink water from a well. Often they cannot guarantee if the water is clean.

31. Chickens are stripped of their feathers to make brushes which are placed on huge carriages and wheeled along the street to sell.

32. There are very few shops which serve coffee and those who do, you pay the price

33. It gets dark here at 6pm ( I mean pitch black)

35. The little boy at my guesthouse was traded by his mother to the father in exchange for his motorbike.... Shocking! And he is such a little cutie!

36. Food off the street is so cheap (2000 reel) and it is beautiful

37. The fruit smoothies here are delicious, but of course I would like them... They are filled full of sugar, coconut milk and condensed milk!! Yum!

48. One thing I hate.... Young Holden carry drugged up babies in scarfs around the street particularly at night begging you to give them money for food, this is just a scam so they can exchange the food for money! Not nice to witness at all!

49. Street children are up to 2am on school nights and 5am at weekends selling to tourists!

50. Massages here are as little as 3 dollars! Really need to get myself one!

51. Khmer people write their family name first and their first name second, so often teachers are addressed by their first name (e.g. Mr. Tong...I would be Miss Rachel however nearly all pupils address you as 'teacher'.

52. I can no longer count to 50

'A few new things I have done'

1. Learnt to paint with the Khmer teachers from school (check out my masterpieces, Leonie Bell eat you're heart out! )



2. Travelled on the back of a moped

3. Rode in a tuk tuk

4. Attended a 'chill pill' meditation class

5. Visited the floating village

6. Eaten a Khmer BBQ

7. Chilled out in a hammock at the lake





'The food'
Crazy food here...
1. Duck embryo
2. Insects e.g. Cockroaches, grasshoppers, maggots
3. Snake, spider, frog
4. Cat and dog are extremely expensive meat here



New food I have tried...
1. Bamboo shake - yuck and the colour of snot!! Lol
2. Fried potato
3. Fresh spring rolls
4. Little balls of rice with sugar inside
5. Bamboo stick with sticky rice
6. Fried banana with sticky rice
7. Khmer BBQ all you can eat for $3.50



I will try to write about the schools and everything else I have experienced in my next post.

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Comments

[Lorraine Jess]

Amazing blog Rachel - brings back many happy memories of our time in Cambodia. It really is a fantastic country with so many new things to discover. I was really terrified by the chaos on the roads - it really has to be seen to be believed!! You are having the experience of a life time so enjoy every minute. Hope it's not too much longer until Tom joins you and I look forward to your next blog. Take care. Lorraine xo