Goodbyes

On Sunday after the River Swim it was time for the farewell party at CDCC for the children of both CCH and its sister centre CDCC. As well as a "goodbye curry party" from me we were also celebrating Khmer new year which starts this weekend.

Although I was there an hour early the children from CCH had already arrived. The powerpoint was set up and things kicked off by showing a few films that had been made about CCH.

We then moved on the the dancing/speech part of the entertainment. The older children spoke about their experiences on studying at international schools and we were treated to some traditional Cambodian dances: including the coconut dance (one of my favourites).

The thanks followed and then we couldn't resist the urge to use the microphone and talk about my experiences with the students at this fantastic place. Then food and dancing.... Khmer New Year traditionally brings with it the HOT season and to say it was hot would be an understatement - it was boiling!



Only one more visit left to CCH and CDCC before home time in only 5 days time. It is very sad to be leaving Cambodia mainly because of these children who are so inspiring.

The Mekong Swim

Me emerging happy but ready for a bacon sandwich

I did the Mekong River Swim... More pictures and story to follow when I have recovered!!

Ok, I have now recovered from my swim across the Mekong and have resumed the energy to type!

The event was great fun albeit that the start was early as I had to drag myself out of bed at 6am. Not something that happens very often, especially for exercise. I travelled with the team from School in the minibus and arrived promptly at the swim site at 7:30am. The organisers greeted us with horrified exclamations about how early we were. No, we were just on time, shocking and unexpected in Cambodia. The "non-competitive" race was due to start at 9am and (in true Cambodian fashion) did not actually start until 10am. I was not feeling my best as I have been a bit sick for 3 weeks now (looking forward to some NHS when I get home in a week!) but was unwilling to give up!

The school swim team

Near to 10am the boat, carrying more swimmers, arrived from PP. And then the organisers gave us our information "DO NOT BE A HERO! If you have trouble GET OUT. SOMEONE NEARLY DROWNED and DIED last year. Have you eaten breakfast? [no], have you had a good night's sleep? [errr no, I was being sick], did you drink lots last night [at least I was OK on this one]... YOU WILL DIE"!!! Honestly, it was like being in the army, and having failed 2 out of 3 criteria for a successful swim I was bound to die!

The spectators went off in their boat and the swimmers got ready. Slipping down the muddy bank until all 160 of us were in the murky water. Then after a 10 minute wait we are off ...the water didn't taste too bad just a bit muddy and I didn't see any rubbish or sewage floating past. The kids from school zoomed off and a few of us unprepared teachers gently followed. The swim was longer than we had prepared for and about 3/4 of the way across the current got so fast you could not swim at a slow pace for fear that you would end up in Vietnam or somewhere... After what seemed to be a long time I made it across and up the slippery slope triumphant!!

Getting ready to go and then down the slope

The kids from school were doing the race to buy bikes and helmets for CCH and I swam to help children who are in Prison with their mothers so there were lots of great causes which made the swim very worthwhile.

Some children from CCH who came for a paddle and support their fundraisers

The Phnom Penh Post ran an article on Monday and I was pictured wearing my team swim hat (not a good look) but at least I am smiling!

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2009040625206/Life-Style/Tackling-the-mighty-Mekong.html

Me - mid river, taking advantage of a chat with the press boat and the picture that appeared in the paper!

House move

We move out on Monday so have been packing like mad and trying to weigh my huge bag.

Furniture wise - Have you ever managed to move all the funiture you own in a house plus some extras on a motorbike taxi???!!

I have!

Getting ready to leave

Early mornings just won't be the same without the crazy mix of sounds in Cambodia. Here is a picture collage of some of the people who pass.



Breakfast stand

Rubbish collction day

One of the many recyclers

Feather duster man

Ice man

Banana man

Snack man

Coconut man

Bread man

Charcoal van

Moto men wait for a fare

Rainbow Lodge

Oh Magic bus pony bring us safe to our destination!

My journey to Rainbow Lodge, just outside Koh Kong, in the west of Cambodia began with a bad bus experience. We had booked our tickets but upon arrival were told that we had to be "taken" to the place where the bus went. A tuk tuk that was about to fall apart was thrust upon us and off we went to a different part of town. I wasn't sure if I was being taken for a ride (well, literally I was but...) to get an extra couple of dollars from a white face but.... We arrived at the Rith Mony bus station which is possibly the most disorganised of Cambodian bus "departments" where no one had a clue what was going on.

Due to the rip off tuk tuk we were late and so feared the bus had already gone. Bus conductors just laughed sending me shuttling between the three buses that were parked. Eventually, a woman turned up on a moto taxi carrying a big honey covered baked pig on a piece of cardboard. I heard her ask a fellow traveller about the "Koh Kong" bus and from that moment I followed her (and the big pig's) moves. An hour later the bus arrived and with the air con blasting to Arctic temperatures we set off. Khmer Karaoke was obligatory as was a comedy about 2 men getting very "interested" as they watched a woman wash from their hiding place in the bushes.... ummm. Khmer comedy at its best.

The driver was a maniac. It is customary to beep your horn in Cambodia as a warning when you overtake. However, our bus driver just LOVED the horn. To amuse myself I counted how many times on average he used it in 5 minutes - 37 times. 37 TIMES!!!!!! Completely unnecessary and almost caused me to deliver a fatal blow to the back of his head (I was on the seat directly behind him so could have got a good swing). I restrained myself. A nice touch on the bus was the delightful nodding pony on the dashboard which was sure to keep us safe from harm on the treacherous mountain roads. The conductor was very keen to make sure the pony was free from dust and spent some time cleaning it. Shame he couldn't give the same level of attention to making sure the bus operated at a decent standard and shutting up the driver.

Eventually, we arrived at Tatei, the village about 20km from Koh Kong where the boat for Rainbow Lodge picks up its guests. We were escorted onto the small traditional fishing boat with other guests and started to make our way up river. The hideous bus journey was completely worthwhile as the scenery was lush, green and stunning. The river was fringed with palm trees and jungle with a backdrop of mountains. On arrival the journey was further eased by a great welcome and a delicious lunch followed by a lazy lie by the river in hammocks while thinking about what tomorrow's activity could be and watching the slow moving river traffic.

Relaxing in the hammock exotic fruit and the river view

Stunning scenery

The accommodation at Rainbow Lodge was good. 6 individual bungalows with a different colour theme. This was the view from our bed and bathroom! Nice!

For our only full day in Tatei we decided to do a jungle trek to the nearby waterfalls - it sounded like a nice length hike of 2 hours - Just enough in the heat and humidity. It sounded nice until we were told how we should prepare for the leeches... Suddenly I was less enthusiastic but still willing. So, unattractive as I may have looked for the wildlife with my hiking boots, trousers with socks pulled up over the bottom of them, I decided it was preferable to abandon fashion when the alternative was having my blood sucked. Midway into the walk I spotted the first leech that had started to cling on to my sock in the hope it would find flesh. Ugh! disgusting. Many more followed and I was more than glad of the sock/trouser combo.

Our guide was Mr Lei and he showed us many interesting things - Mainly insects, footprints of wildlife and a massive spider. We had been told not to expect to come onto the trek and see elephants and tigers!! - Apparently some tourists were disappointed when they didn't see any (!!!!!).

Jungle trekking with Mr Lei and Sonny, one of the Lodge dogs

Insect life and Jimmy, the Lodge's dog who has possibly the longest dog tongue ever!

After our walk which involved scrambling on and over many fallen trees and bamboo we arrived at the Tatei waterfalls where we were treated to having the many tiered waterfall to ourselves and a couple of other Lodge guests. We swam and wallowed in the water as we waited for the boat to bring our lunch. A feast of a lunch arrived but the clouds got darker and darker and large splats of rain began to fall.... we scrambled to the boat and then the sky opened up and thunder and lightening followed! We got completely drenched. The Lodge dogs who were with us didn't like the rain and pushed their big, wet doggy bodies into the tiny space where the two umbrellas met to get some shelter.

The dogs had their own umbrella for a while...

The view from the room mid-storm

The 4th big bridge built by Thailand despite Cambodian/Thai loathing of each other.

The following day we were back on the bus. We were dropped off by the Lodge boat at this bridge (built by the Thai) and waited for the bus to arrive from Koh Kong. This would be our last authentic Khmer bus ride(!) - It had all the usual things including a lot of body smells (ughhhh!) and a beautiful sign on the toilet door (below).

!!!!