Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
(Continued from the previous post)
As I was saying before I agreed to go with Simone and Nadja to see the kids at the COSO 1 and COSO 2 orphanages. Simone had asked me to bring my guitar as a way to entertain the kids. I explained that I was really any good at all and only knew one song and one song only. She said not a problem the kids will be happy to hear anything that you can play.
Simone and Nadja had a meeting to attend and said that they would be back at our guesthouse to pick me up at 1130am. When the time came we took a tuktuk to COSO 2 where they had been working for the week. On the ride to COSO 2 they said I would love the kids. They also explained that the COSO orphanages were affiliated with COF the Cambodian Orphan Fund and received monies from COF for general needs. COF is an organization that helps out orphanages in Siem Reap. (I met and hung out with the founder Nick Griffin. A truly remarkable person who is doing some excellent work in a country that really doesn't do anything for homeless kids and orphaned kids.) Most of the monies that it receives are from private donations and the little money that they get from volunteers ($20) when they sign on board to do volunteer work. Simone and Nadja were part of an organization in Germany that's has been helping COSO 1 & 2 from Germany. Simone and Nadja along with 8 other friend have kind of adopted the COSO orphanages and periodically they will send some of the 10 friends over to volunteer time to help out. They also have done fundraising in Germany on behalf of the orphanages and have sent clothing and food in addition to money. (Just ten friend who decided to do something on their own and are making an incredible difference in the life of a lot of kids. Amazing!!) Needless to say I had tons of questions and Simone and Nadja were more than happy to share what they knew and provided most of the background you just read.
The ride there was long but not too long. When the tuktuk pulled up to the orphanage it was immediately surrounded by kids. All came to greet Simone and Nadja with screams of delight, hugs and bright smiles. Me they ignored. No, only joking. They came up to with a hello my name is ______, what is your name? For some this was the extent of their english for others they wanted to know where I was from what country what city you name it. Some were shy, others were ready to engage you in full on conversation. They were fascinated with my height all the while continuing to pepper me with questions. I felt like giant Gulliver in the land of Lilliputians some were that small. Ages ranged from 2 years old to 20 years old. They were all extremely nice, inquisitive and beautiful to me. They reminded me of my nieces and nephews back home.
The orphanage itself consisted on a school room. Two separate barrack like rooms for sleeping two permanent open air tent like structures; one for cooking food and eating meals and the other used as a shelter from the sun play area. There is an administration building as well as bathroom and shower facility. I'm not talking anything glamorous here. I'm talking about the basics, but it was orderly and clean. Clean running water comes from a pump that was put in when the orphanage was built. Think camp but on a much much smaller scale.
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a big kid at heart so needless to say in a compound full of 45 kids they kid in my came out. As they had had their class for the day the kids were in full play mode with other volunteers that were there Aris, Roy and Ryan. Roy had been there for two months and it was his last couple of days. Aris was there was a week and had another 2 or 3 weeks to go and I forget how long Ryan had been there. I played with the kids, met the volunteers and generally had a really good time. As it was really hot we stayed under the outdoor shelters and played guitar and I gotta tell you some of these kids picked it up really quickly. I would play the chords while they strummed the guitar much to their and my delight. Fortunately Aris and Ryan both played guitar for a lot longer than me so they were able to give much better instruction than me.
In every group of kids there is always that one kids that grabs hold of you physically and emotionally for one reason or other. In my case that kid is Torla. He was one of the first kids to the tuktuk when we arrived one of the firs to say hello but unlike the others initially he just stood off to the side and watched my interactive with everyone and then came to sit by me as I brought out the guitar. I encouraged him to strummed the strings while I played the chord and he got a kick out of it. When it was the others turned to strum he disappeared only to reappear a short while later. At some point later he pulled me aside and presented me with a drawing he had made of my arrival. It was me with my bandana on my head with my guitar sticking up in the back as I was carrying it like you would a knapsack, with his name above it and the caption "I like you" written on it. Not the best likeness of me but I really appreciated it and told him so. As he had tried to give it to me away from prying eyes I didn't broadcast his drawing for all the other kids to see and we joined the others. Well that was the first of many drawings that Torla did for me in the four days that I visited COSO 2. Each progressively better than the next. (Just as an aside: on my last day there a very brief visit there was a young women breast feeding her child, Torla was sitting next to me and saw this. He disappeared and a few minutes later gave me a really good rendering of that image. He definitely has some artistic talent!) I thought he was about 11 or 12 years old because he was so small so when he told me he was 16 I was floored. I kept saying to myself at 16 I was in my senior years of High School and 10 months later I was in college. I wondered what his life would be like. I wondered what he would be doing at 18 at 20 at 25. I knew one thing for certain: he would get a much better chance at life by being in COSO where if he continued with his english classes and somewhat mastered english he could work in one of the many guesthouse or hotels. While his english isn't the greatest compared to some of the other kids he was definitely better than when he first got there almost a year ago.
Some of the kids were doing some punches and kicks and I showed one kid how the way he was punching could really hurt his hand. Another kid saw this and asked if I knew how to fight and I told him that I studied Kungfu for five years. He wanted me to show him something so I gave a little demostration. Next thing you know they older kids are clammering for more. So I instruct them on stances and punches techniques and earned the name "teacher" from them. It was like I was back instructing kungfu again. It was a lot of fun. I don't know where the time went but before you knew it 4 hours had passed in a blink and we still had to go to COSO 1.
Before I left Torla had given me another two pictures; One of his family and one of me and him. I put my red bandana on his head and told him he could keep it and his face lit up. Simone has asked if I had any old clothing that I didn't need prior to leaving and I told her that I did. I was going to leave them in the guesthouse because my backpack was heavy as it was so I was more than happy to give them to the director before leaving. I would end up leaving a lot more of my clothing (socks, more t shirts, pants and bandanas) there as the days progressed.
We left COSO 2 and headed out to COSO 1 but before we left Torla and most others asked "see you tomorrow?" Yes and I dared anyone to try to keep me away. The next day the kids from COSO 2 were going to be driving to COSO 1 to go swimming. I was coming to go swimming with the kids but beside that how many other people can say that they went swimming in one of the reserviors at Angkor Wat! Not many that I know of. Amazing time, but that's later.
As we left COSO 2 Simone and Nadja were visibly upset. This was their last day with the kids. They were leaving on Sunday and was taking the next day, Saturday, to explore the Temples. I felt their pain and could only imagine what they were feeling after working and being with the kids for 4 days. I would soon come to know exactly what they were feeling.
COSO 1 was much the same. The kids aren't as old as most of the kids at COSO 2 but the experience was the same. Ready smiles, bright eyes, smalls hands to hold and small arms that hug. The compound at COSO 1 is not as big or as modern as COSO 2 but the kids are just as remarkable. When we got there they presented Simone and Nadja with beaded bracelets and earrings. Simone explained to me that she and Nadja had just given the kids the beads and string the day before and here they were giving them gifts back in return. I dazzled the kids with my magically disappearing and reappearing red light tricked that has dumdfounded many adults. These kids caught on incredible quick what the trick was and then spent the next half hour or so trying to get me to give up the goods on the trick which as a magician I couldn't devulge. They enjoyed it immensely and when I get a computer connection that is fast the 54 bps I will upload tons of pictures me doing this trick and shot after shot of these wonderful kids.
I fell for these kids like you would not believe. I wanted to bring them all back home to the States especially Torla and make sure that they all got the chance to fulfill their potential in life. It was a sobering experience for me. Petty problems like finding a job and paying rent and bills pale when I think about the life these kids must live and ARE NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT.
The next four days were a blur. I was supposed to leave Siem Reap on Monday but decided to stay and extra day because it was Jo's birthday. Jo and Bex are teaches from London who had taken a year off to travel around the world a bit. They just so happen, if I recall correctly, to have stumpled upon COF and ended up volunteering their teaching skills at COSO 1. (While they did leave COSO 1 at the end of that week they have decided to change their plans and circle back to Siem Reap to do more volunteer work with the kids. People are amazing!) Jo was celebrating her birthday with the kids on Monday and I wouldn't miss another day with the kids for the world so I extended my stay another day. The birthday celebration was a blast with fun and games and presents for the kids. I'm really glad I got a chance to share that with them. Afterwards I went to COSO 2 to introduce two new volunteers Simon and Pascal (French Canadians) to COSO 2. I brought them along with me to COSO 1 as this was their first day volunteering for COF. They got a chance to see both places and would make the decision where they would spent the next couple of days volunteering. Saturday swimming in Angkor Wat. Sunday spent with the kids hanging out. Monday the birthday party. A lifetime in four day.
It was really hard for me leaving these kids. I now knew what Simone and Nadja went through. Before I left I handed out as many keepsakes as I could to the kids I'd really grown close to but wishing I owned an entire store so that I could give something to all. I realized before I left that it wasn't the things that made the difference. Moreso than the keepsakes it was the attention, the hugs, the conversations and the love that makes the difference.
Love your kids people, hold them close. During the NBA Finals Bill Russell told Kevin Garnett something that has stayed with me since I heard it. He said, and I paraphrase here, he said that the greatest gift that his parents gave him was knowing that he was loved. With that knowledge, he says, a kid can do anything. Hopefully I let them know them know they are loved. I truly hope I did.
- Wil
(Pictures to follow at some point)
P.S. I sponsored Torla.
As I was saying before I agreed to go with Simone and Nadja to see the kids at the COSO 1 and COSO 2 orphanages. Simone had asked me to bring my guitar as a way to entertain the kids. I explained that I was really any good at all and only knew one song and one song only. She said not a problem the kids will be happy to hear anything that you can play.
Simone and Nadja had a meeting to attend and said that they would be back at our guesthouse to pick me up at 1130am. When the time came we took a tuktuk to COSO 2 where they had been working for the week. On the ride to COSO 2 they said I would love the kids. They also explained that the COSO orphanages were affiliated with COF the Cambodian Orphan Fund and received monies from COF for general needs. COF is an organization that helps out orphanages in Siem Reap. (I met and hung out with the founder Nick Griffin. A truly remarkable person who is doing some excellent work in a country that really doesn't do anything for homeless kids and orphaned kids.) Most of the monies that it receives are from private donations and the little money that they get from volunteers ($20) when they sign on board to do volunteer work. Simone and Nadja were part of an organization in Germany that's has been helping COSO 1 & 2 from Germany. Simone and Nadja along with 8 other friend have kind of adopted the COSO orphanages and periodically they will send some of the 10 friends over to volunteer time to help out. They also have done fundraising in Germany on behalf of the orphanages and have sent clothing and food in addition to money. (Just ten friend who decided to do something on their own and are making an incredible difference in the life of a lot of kids. Amazing!!) Needless to say I had tons of questions and Simone and Nadja were more than happy to share what they knew and provided most of the background you just read.
The ride there was long but not too long. When the tuktuk pulled up to the orphanage it was immediately surrounded by kids. All came to greet Simone and Nadja with screams of delight, hugs and bright smiles. Me they ignored. No, only joking. They came up to with a hello my name is ______, what is your name? For some this was the extent of their english for others they wanted to know where I was from what country what city you name it. Some were shy, others were ready to engage you in full on conversation. They were fascinated with my height all the while continuing to pepper me with questions. I felt like giant Gulliver in the land of Lilliputians some were that small. Ages ranged from 2 years old to 20 years old. They were all extremely nice, inquisitive and beautiful to me. They reminded me of my nieces and nephews back home.
The orphanage itself consisted on a school room. Two separate barrack like rooms for sleeping two permanent open air tent like structures; one for cooking food and eating meals and the other used as a shelter from the sun play area. There is an administration building as well as bathroom and shower facility. I'm not talking anything glamorous here. I'm talking about the basics, but it was orderly and clean. Clean running water comes from a pump that was put in when the orphanage was built. Think camp but on a much much smaller scale.
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a big kid at heart so needless to say in a compound full of 45 kids they kid in my came out. As they had had their class for the day the kids were in full play mode with other volunteers that were there Aris, Roy and Ryan. Roy had been there for two months and it was his last couple of days. Aris was there was a week and had another 2 or 3 weeks to go and I forget how long Ryan had been there. I played with the kids, met the volunteers and generally had a really good time. As it was really hot we stayed under the outdoor shelters and played guitar and I gotta tell you some of these kids picked it up really quickly. I would play the chords while they strummed the guitar much to their and my delight. Fortunately Aris and Ryan both played guitar for a lot longer than me so they were able to give much better instruction than me.
In every group of kids there is always that one kids that grabs hold of you physically and emotionally for one reason or other. In my case that kid is Torla. He was one of the first kids to the tuktuk when we arrived one of the firs to say hello but unlike the others initially he just stood off to the side and watched my interactive with everyone and then came to sit by me as I brought out the guitar. I encouraged him to strummed the strings while I played the chord and he got a kick out of it. When it was the others turned to strum he disappeared only to reappear a short while later. At some point later he pulled me aside and presented me with a drawing he had made of my arrival. It was me with my bandana on my head with my guitar sticking up in the back as I was carrying it like you would a knapsack, with his name above it and the caption "I like you" written on it. Not the best likeness of me but I really appreciated it and told him so. As he had tried to give it to me away from prying eyes I didn't broadcast his drawing for all the other kids to see and we joined the others. Well that was the first of many drawings that Torla did for me in the four days that I visited COSO 2. Each progressively better than the next. (Just as an aside: on my last day there a very brief visit there was a young women breast feeding her child, Torla was sitting next to me and saw this. He disappeared and a few minutes later gave me a really good rendering of that image. He definitely has some artistic talent!) I thought he was about 11 or 12 years old because he was so small so when he told me he was 16 I was floored. I kept saying to myself at 16 I was in my senior years of High School and 10 months later I was in college. I wondered what his life would be like. I wondered what he would be doing at 18 at 20 at 25. I knew one thing for certain: he would get a much better chance at life by being in COSO where if he continued with his english classes and somewhat mastered english he could work in one of the many guesthouse or hotels. While his english isn't the greatest compared to some of the other kids he was definitely better than when he first got there almost a year ago.
Some of the kids were doing some punches and kicks and I showed one kid how the way he was punching could really hurt his hand. Another kid saw this and asked if I knew how to fight and I told him that I studied Kungfu for five years. He wanted me to show him something so I gave a little demostration. Next thing you know they older kids are clammering for more. So I instruct them on stances and punches techniques and earned the name "teacher" from them. It was like I was back instructing kungfu again. It was a lot of fun. I don't know where the time went but before you knew it 4 hours had passed in a blink and we still had to go to COSO 1.
Before I left Torla had given me another two pictures; One of his family and one of me and him. I put my red bandana on his head and told him he could keep it and his face lit up. Simone has asked if I had any old clothing that I didn't need prior to leaving and I told her that I did. I was going to leave them in the guesthouse because my backpack was heavy as it was so I was more than happy to give them to the director before leaving. I would end up leaving a lot more of my clothing (socks, more t shirts, pants and bandanas) there as the days progressed.
We left COSO 2 and headed out to COSO 1 but before we left Torla and most others asked "see you tomorrow?" Yes and I dared anyone to try to keep me away. The next day the kids from COSO 2 were going to be driving to COSO 1 to go swimming. I was coming to go swimming with the kids but beside that how many other people can say that they went swimming in one of the reserviors at Angkor Wat! Not many that I know of. Amazing time, but that's later.
As we left COSO 2 Simone and Nadja were visibly upset. This was their last day with the kids. They were leaving on Sunday and was taking the next day, Saturday, to explore the Temples. I felt their pain and could only imagine what they were feeling after working and being with the kids for 4 days. I would soon come to know exactly what they were feeling.
COSO 1 was much the same. The kids aren't as old as most of the kids at COSO 2 but the experience was the same. Ready smiles, bright eyes, smalls hands to hold and small arms that hug. The compound at COSO 1 is not as big or as modern as COSO 2 but the kids are just as remarkable. When we got there they presented Simone and Nadja with beaded bracelets and earrings. Simone explained to me that she and Nadja had just given the kids the beads and string the day before and here they were giving them gifts back in return. I dazzled the kids with my magically disappearing and reappearing red light tricked that has dumdfounded many adults. These kids caught on incredible quick what the trick was and then spent the next half hour or so trying to get me to give up the goods on the trick which as a magician I couldn't devulge. They enjoyed it immensely and when I get a computer connection that is fast the 54 bps I will upload tons of pictures me doing this trick and shot after shot of these wonderful kids.
I fell for these kids like you would not believe. I wanted to bring them all back home to the States especially Torla and make sure that they all got the chance to fulfill their potential in life. It was a sobering experience for me. Petty problems like finding a job and paying rent and bills pale when I think about the life these kids must live and ARE NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT.
The next four days were a blur. I was supposed to leave Siem Reap on Monday but decided to stay and extra day because it was Jo's birthday. Jo and Bex are teaches from London who had taken a year off to travel around the world a bit. They just so happen, if I recall correctly, to have stumpled upon COF and ended up volunteering their teaching skills at COSO 1. (While they did leave COSO 1 at the end of that week they have decided to change their plans and circle back to Siem Reap to do more volunteer work with the kids. People are amazing!) Jo was celebrating her birthday with the kids on Monday and I wouldn't miss another day with the kids for the world so I extended my stay another day. The birthday celebration was a blast with fun and games and presents for the kids. I'm really glad I got a chance to share that with them. Afterwards I went to COSO 2 to introduce two new volunteers Simon and Pascal (French Canadians) to COSO 2. I brought them along with me to COSO 1 as this was their first day volunteering for COF. They got a chance to see both places and would make the decision where they would spent the next couple of days volunteering. Saturday swimming in Angkor Wat. Sunday spent with the kids hanging out. Monday the birthday party. A lifetime in four day.
It was really hard for me leaving these kids. I now knew what Simone and Nadja went through. Before I left I handed out as many keepsakes as I could to the kids I'd really grown close to but wishing I owned an entire store so that I could give something to all. I realized before I left that it wasn't the things that made the difference. Moreso than the keepsakes it was the attention, the hugs, the conversations and the love that makes the difference.
Love your kids people, hold them close. During the NBA Finals Bill Russell told Kevin Garnett something that has stayed with me since I heard it. He said, and I paraphrase here, he said that the greatest gift that his parents gave him was knowing that he was loved. With that knowledge, he says, a kid can do anything. Hopefully I let them know them know they are loved. I truly hope I did.
- Wil
(Pictures to follow at some point)
P.S. I sponsored Torla.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
I was already loving Siem Reap before Thursday
Okay, so where to begin.
Sorry that I've been out of touch for so long. I've heard the yelling all the way from the States. Where is he? When is he going to start blogging again? I've been checking everyday and nothing from him. Well here I am, back maybe not better than before but here none-the-less.
Apology up front. Some of the writing below was written in my journal days ago while in Siem Reap and then re-typed here on Sep 11th, 2008 in Koh Samui days and in some case a week or more later. Other writing below I'm doing on the fly. As a result I've noticed on the reread that I'm jumping back and forth between past and present. Hopefully it's not too confusing. I'm too lazy to make the corrections so that all is correct. Okay, happy reading.
A lot has happened since I've last blogged. I've been to Kuala Lumpur, Siem Reap, Cambodia, Bangkok, Thailand and Koh Samui, Thailand. Currently on the island of Koh Samui. Okay in all honesty Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok were just to get connecting flights but I can still say I was there. The island of Koh Samui is very cool. It would be a lot cooler if the darn sun would finally make an appearance and stop hiding behind cloud cover. Just as well I'm not feeling up to it anyway. I think I have a sinus infection. I've had a sinus headache for the last three days. Guess now would be a great time to use those antibiotics I have with me, huh?
I knew when the plan touch down and literally pulled up to the tiny airport in Siem Reap that this city in Cambodia was what I was looking for. Leaving behind 20 some odd million chinese and the glass and concrete high rise buildings that is Beijing my body and soul breathe a sigh of relief when I saw greenage after greenery after greenichness! What! The tallest things that I saw on approach were trees then the air control tower. Sweet! I knew I'd done the right thing by not going to Chengdu then Li Jiang then Laos. May still make it to Laos at some point in this lifetime because I hear it is very nice, but not this trip I've decided.
My tuk tuk driver Mr. Sophal was waiting for me with a sign. I'd never seen a tuk tuk before so I didn't know what to expect (think scooter pulling a two wheeled roofed compartment behind it and you have the basic idea of a tuk tuk. My backpack conveniently tucked in its travel thingy weight more than Mr. Sophal so I couldn't let him lift it in good conscience or conscious (too tired to figure which one it is. ) Me, my backpack and my travel guitar put some added weight on that tuk tuk to be sure but it made it to Golden Temple Villa in one piece. On the ride in we passed barefoot young kids walking their cows home or to fields. Blue skies, the smell of grass and cows and outdoors. Heaven I tell you, heaven!! Once on the main drag the overriding sound that you hear is not that of cars honking and beeping at you it the sound of small cc motorbikes all over the place. Motorbikes outnumber cars 20 to 1 here. I've seen a family of SIX (6) all riding on one small motorbike, think those small cc bike that are appearing all around Manhat these days. One of those with six people on it. I'm amazed.
I know that I made the right decision coming to Siem Reap. It feels really right.
I've decided to stay in SR for 8 days. When I checked in the folks at the front desk were like "wow, that's a long time." I told them to shut up and mind there own business. I've come to dislike them most of them at the front desk anyway. There are not a nice bunch with the exception of one girl and one guy the rest can burn in hell. Seriously, that's how much I disliked the front desk staff.
So I was already loving SR before Thursday rolled around. The past three days I spent exploring the temple ruins of Siem Reap. The temples are abosolutely amazing, some more so than others. Of course these is Angkor Wat, the biggest of them all. Angkor Thom which includes a number of temples my favorite of which is Bayon. Bayon has temples temples inside of it all of which are topped with a huge head with 4 faces facing North, South, East and West. Very cool. See pictures below. Then there is Ta Prohm which if you are Lara Croft Tomb Raider fan you would recognize in an instance. Tree growing right up out of and totally surrounding temples and walls. Plus the place is kinda spooky because the forest has not been cleared away and vegetation allowed to grow wild makes it really mysterious. Glad I didn't go at night because I would be freaked out. Another of my favorite temples is Banteay Srei. They call this temple the womens temple because the craving are so intricate and detailed that they believe it was done by women. No proof to that but a good story none the less. Many many many more temples all of which begin to look very alike after a while. The last day of temple hopping was sent first at Tonle Sap like seeing the floating boat village there (more pics below) and then thankfully seeing on three small temples. By the third day I had had my fill of temples. If I never see another temple ruin again in my life I will be very very happy. Imagine if you were alive centuries from now and someone took you all over Manhat looking at all the ruins of the various churches on the island. Some churches like St. Patricks and St. John the Devine you wouldn't mind seeing because they are so different from the rest with their grandeur and majesty and while others might be cool one church starts to look very much so like the next after a while. Well that's what I did for three days. You take that with incredibly hot days, and insects biting and buzzing you and little kids and people trying to sell you stuff at every single temple you visit it becomes a bit much. So the third day on the lake and just being around water was a big relief until those last three temples, again, thankfully there were really small.
Despite its laid back appearance SR has a jumping night life. Lots of obligatory bars to visit, lots of places to get really good food, lots of people hanging out. Fortunately, I arrived in the low season not so many people like the numbers that will be there next month, so it was even more laid back. I met a local who took me to a Cambodian BBQ restaurant on my second night. The place was called X Sky Restaurant, not to be confused with X bar which is a popular bar in the heart of the pub street area. Huge place where a stage took up most of the front of the place. Entertainment consisted of staffers singer cambodia songs to band accompaniment. My host who apparently has some vocal talent was asked to sing a song by the head singer as well as the manager who came over to eat with us. He declined both times. They asked me to sing as well and I declined as well thinking that they band wouldn't know anything that I know, elsewise I would have knocked it out the box. The food was really good. Didn't know that cambodian bbq consisted of using tons of butter to cook the food and veggies. Overall a really good night at a very interesting place.
So I was already loving Siem Reap before Thursday. I'd just finished my ruins tour and didn't have to get up at 7am to meet my driver so I could take it easy and finally have a breakfast and relax. As I was finishing up my breakfast one of the women that checked in after me came down and sat at the table next to mine. I spoke and introduced myself and met Simone from Hamburg, Germany. Simone said that they had been looking for me since I checked in. I explained how I was temple hopping myself to death for the last three days. She went on to tell me how she and Nadja her travel partner were working with two orphanages in the area and asked if I would like to visit with them today. I jumped at the chance. I'd been looking to do some volunteering anyway. This was perfect. She asked if I could bring my guitar, she'd seen it when I checked in, and I said of course.
My introduction to the orphan kids would begin later that morning and what an introduction it would be.
Pictures to be added soon.
To be continued....
Sorry that I've been out of touch for so long. I've heard the yelling all the way from the States. Where is he? When is he going to start blogging again? I've been checking everyday and nothing from him. Well here I am, back maybe not better than before but here none-the-less.
Apology up front. Some of the writing below was written in my journal days ago while in Siem Reap and then re-typed here on Sep 11th, 2008 in Koh Samui days and in some case a week or more later. Other writing below I'm doing on the fly. As a result I've noticed on the reread that I'm jumping back and forth between past and present. Hopefully it's not too confusing. I'm too lazy to make the corrections so that all is correct. Okay, happy reading.
A lot has happened since I've last blogged. I've been to Kuala Lumpur, Siem Reap, Cambodia, Bangkok, Thailand and Koh Samui, Thailand. Currently on the island of Koh Samui. Okay in all honesty Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok were just to get connecting flights but I can still say I was there. The island of Koh Samui is very cool. It would be a lot cooler if the darn sun would finally make an appearance and stop hiding behind cloud cover. Just as well I'm not feeling up to it anyway. I think I have a sinus infection. I've had a sinus headache for the last three days. Guess now would be a great time to use those antibiotics I have with me, huh?
I knew when the plan touch down and literally pulled up to the tiny airport in Siem Reap that this city in Cambodia was what I was looking for. Leaving behind 20 some odd million chinese and the glass and concrete high rise buildings that is Beijing my body and soul breathe a sigh of relief when I saw greenage after greenery after greenichness! What! The tallest things that I saw on approach were trees then the air control tower. Sweet! I knew I'd done the right thing by not going to Chengdu then Li Jiang then Laos. May still make it to Laos at some point in this lifetime because I hear it is very nice, but not this trip I've decided.
My tuk tuk driver Mr. Sophal was waiting for me with a sign. I'd never seen a tuk tuk before so I didn't know what to expect (think scooter pulling a two wheeled roofed compartment behind it and you have the basic idea of a tuk tuk. My backpack conveniently tucked in its travel thingy weight more than Mr. Sophal so I couldn't let him lift it in good conscience or conscious (too tired to figure which one it is. ) Me, my backpack and my travel guitar put some added weight on that tuk tuk to be sure but it made it to Golden Temple Villa in one piece. On the ride in we passed barefoot young kids walking their cows home or to fields. Blue skies, the smell of grass and cows and outdoors. Heaven I tell you, heaven!! Once on the main drag the overriding sound that you hear is not that of cars honking and beeping at you it the sound of small cc motorbikes all over the place. Motorbikes outnumber cars 20 to 1 here. I've seen a family of SIX (6) all riding on one small motorbike, think those small cc bike that are appearing all around Manhat these days. One of those with six people on it. I'm amazed.
I know that I made the right decision coming to Siem Reap. It feels really right.
I've decided to stay in SR for 8 days. When I checked in the folks at the front desk were like "wow, that's a long time." I told them to shut up and mind there own business. I've come to dislike them most of them at the front desk anyway. There are not a nice bunch with the exception of one girl and one guy the rest can burn in hell. Seriously, that's how much I disliked the front desk staff.
So I was already loving SR before Thursday rolled around. The past three days I spent exploring the temple ruins of Siem Reap. The temples are abosolutely amazing, some more so than others. Of course these is Angkor Wat, the biggest of them all. Angkor Thom which includes a number of temples my favorite of which is Bayon. Bayon has temples temples inside of it all of which are topped with a huge head with 4 faces facing North, South, East and West. Very cool. See pictures below. Then there is Ta Prohm which if you are Lara Croft Tomb Raider fan you would recognize in an instance. Tree growing right up out of and totally surrounding temples and walls. Plus the place is kinda spooky because the forest has not been cleared away and vegetation allowed to grow wild makes it really mysterious. Glad I didn't go at night because I would be freaked out. Another of my favorite temples is Banteay Srei. They call this temple the womens temple because the craving are so intricate and detailed that they believe it was done by women. No proof to that but a good story none the less. Many many many more temples all of which begin to look very alike after a while. The last day of temple hopping was sent first at Tonle Sap like seeing the floating boat village there (more pics below) and then thankfully seeing on three small temples. By the third day I had had my fill of temples. If I never see another temple ruin again in my life I will be very very happy. Imagine if you were alive centuries from now and someone took you all over Manhat looking at all the ruins of the various churches on the island. Some churches like St. Patricks and St. John the Devine you wouldn't mind seeing because they are so different from the rest with their grandeur and majesty and while others might be cool one church starts to look very much so like the next after a while. Well that's what I did for three days. You take that with incredibly hot days, and insects biting and buzzing you and little kids and people trying to sell you stuff at every single temple you visit it becomes a bit much. So the third day on the lake and just being around water was a big relief until those last three temples, again, thankfully there were really small.
Despite its laid back appearance SR has a jumping night life. Lots of obligatory bars to visit, lots of places to get really good food, lots of people hanging out. Fortunately, I arrived in the low season not so many people like the numbers that will be there next month, so it was even more laid back. I met a local who took me to a Cambodian BBQ restaurant on my second night. The place was called X Sky Restaurant, not to be confused with X bar which is a popular bar in the heart of the pub street area. Huge place where a stage took up most of the front of the place. Entertainment consisted of staffers singer cambodia songs to band accompaniment. My host who apparently has some vocal talent was asked to sing a song by the head singer as well as the manager who came over to eat with us. He declined both times. They asked me to sing as well and I declined as well thinking that they band wouldn't know anything that I know, elsewise I would have knocked it out the box. The food was really good. Didn't know that cambodian bbq consisted of using tons of butter to cook the food and veggies. Overall a really good night at a very interesting place.
So I was already loving Siem Reap before Thursday. I'd just finished my ruins tour and didn't have to get up at 7am to meet my driver so I could take it easy and finally have a breakfast and relax. As I was finishing up my breakfast one of the women that checked in after me came down and sat at the table next to mine. I spoke and introduced myself and met Simone from Hamburg, Germany. Simone said that they had been looking for me since I checked in. I explained how I was temple hopping myself to death for the last three days. She went on to tell me how she and Nadja her travel partner were working with two orphanages in the area and asked if I would like to visit with them today. I jumped at the chance. I'd been looking to do some volunteering anyway. This was perfect. She asked if I could bring my guitar, she'd seen it when I checked in, and I said of course.
My introduction to the orphan kids would begin later that morning and what an introduction it would be.
Pictures to be added soon.
To be continued....
Friday, August 29, 2008
Just a few things.
CHANGE OF PLANS
Previoulsy I posted that when I left here I was headed to Chengdu then Li Jiang, China by train and then I was going to Laos. Well a change in plan has taken place. Laos is out and Cambodia is in. Why? 1. the train ride from Beijing to Chengdu is 30 hours. I was under the impression that it was something like 12 or 13 hours. Not bad considering you can go to sleep and wake up next morning at your destination. Thirty hours, however, is a completely different story. I spent a long time on an Amtrak train last summer going to Cary and Savannah and while I didnt have a sleeper it was fairly comfortable but long and that trip was only something like 15 hours. We were even delayed because of something going on on the track which made it trip even longer. If I'm being honest with myself seeing the Chinese countryside from a trip while it does have its appeal is not worth 30 hours of a train in any country for me. 2. I thought that me going to Chengdu was going to small city. A sleepy little village even. Yeah right. This is China you idiot where that sleepy little city has a population of 15 million! And more likely 15.2 milliion after that 30 hour train ride! Right now I need to get away from so many people and big metropolitan cities. So I go to Cambodia where the population of the entire country is 15 million and Siem Reap, the first city I'm going to, 158,000. I'll spend a week in Siem Reap then head to the south coast and the city of Sihanoukville pop. 77,000!!! Yeah baby. Will spend a week in Sihanoukville soaking up the sun and water on the beaches. (That big roar you heard was me shouting for joy at finally getting sun and surf this summer.) I will take tons of pictures.
The only downside to this trip to Cambodia is that my flight on Malaysia Airlines is taking me past Cambodia to Kuala Lumpur where is land at 11pm and have an 11 hour layover in KL. Anyone know anything good to do in KL other than seeing the Patronus towers. If so please let me know. Not sure if I'll stay at the airport and camp out a la Amazing Race contestants or if I'll seek out a hotel for a good night's sleep.
Where to after that? Hmm, good question. Might be Thailand.
NAME CHANGE
One of the activity classes that I attend when I first got here was a chinese name class where the instructor looked at your name and consulted some book of ancient chinese names and characters (yeah right) and came up with your name. Good, fine and lovely. The only thing with that is that this instructor didn't know me and I didn't know her. After getting to know my Chinese teacher these last 9 weeks she finally told me that my chinese name Kong Wan Liang was bu hao (not good.) She said that it didn't represent me because the person who gave it to me didn't know me. I wrote my name down for her and she came back the next day with my new chinese name that takes into consideration my personality and in my case the Chinese zodiac animal and that name is Chang (second tone for you chinese out there) Wei (first tone). Chang being the family name and Wei meaning powerful like my chinese zodiac animal the tiger. The name actually works for me. I like it as soon as I heard it. Goodbye Kong Wan Liang and heddo Chang Wei. LOL.
SLICE OFTHE BIG APPLE IN THE RICE BOWL (IS THAT OFFENSIVE?)
I mentioned in an earlier post that my friends Jennifer and Anindya are in town from NYC. Well I met them at Q-Bar on Tuesday night. Q-Bar is a bar that I've been to before and talked about in this blog. It's full of ex-pat from around the world and could easily be accomodated on the upper east or west sides. Mostly non-asians 30 somethings who probably don't speak a lick of chinese. So I meet Jenn and Anindya there because some guidebook told them it's the place to be. Blah blah blah, the drinks are too expensive for the measure ounce they give you and the place gets too smokey for my almost 3 years non smoking ass. So I get there and there they are sitting at the bar the image of a very respectable marriage couple sipping their expertly mixed blah blah munching on some provided peanuts. Fashionable NYC clothing, bags, electronic equipment; they had just come from Tian an men and Forbidden City and dinner I think. A full day for them. Hugs and kisses all around and Absolute and orange for me. The really like the bar. What's not to like it's a very nice place for sipping drinks and chatting and smoking but not a lot going on in terms of activity. I want to take them to a place where they are guaranteed to have a great time and I tell them as much. We leave Q-bar a short time later and hop in a cab and head out to Sanlitun. Yeah. I take them off the main drag of Sanlitun to Kai bar where the drinks are 10 yuan, 20 for my absolute and orange. The music is pumping, the drinks are flowing we are dancing and having a great time. We bump into Angie and Cher from Canada who I had met on Friday night and proceed to have a really good time. The tequilla shots are flowing and a great time is being had by all. At one point this really hot song comes on and Jenn and I hit the dance floor where she proceeds to drop it like it is HOT. I'm mean she is dropping it down to the ground and shaking it like I never knew Jenn could. She was gritty personified. I never knew she had it in her. I'm mean yeah she's a sista and all, but never seen her git real like dat. She got all old school and was like "owwww" as she was dropping it. So we dropped it together to the looks of amazement and awe from the patrons looking on. SO MUCH FUN! Anindya doesn't dance but at one point he was out there as well on the dance floor.
Fast forward to Thursday night. We met up again in Sanlitun this time we went to Butterfly right next door to Kai. Music was pumping. Jenn and Aninyda already had their drink on from being at The Smallest Bar in Beijing (all of 12 square meter) where they were drinking Manhattans. So they were a little tipsy when they met up with me. Music was pumping at Butterfly as well. We were drinking beer and having a good time. I had introduced them to my Spanish friends and were all having a blast dancing and carrying on. No one was expecting it when Jenn started to do the Robot on the dance floor and I followed suit. I mean we already stand out being tall and Jenn has bazzooms that has been making the folks in China break there necks to get a look at, and now here we were doing the ROBOT. The ROBOT of all possible dances. It was a sight. People came up to me after saying how cool it was. I promise you we did not plan it.
Friday night we went to Li's Family Restaurant. The Li family, so the story goes, has the distinction of cooking for the Emperors of China. The family recipes have been handed down and a restaurant opening in the Huotong area of Houhai lake. Don't know if the story is true but this is where we went to dinner on Friday. The menu consist of make a choice of a complete menu ranging in prices from 230 rmbs to 3100 rmbs. We chose the menu that was 300 rmb or around $45 dollars and had 15 small dishes and 6 or 7 large dishes. The food was ridiculously incredibly delicious. No partying this night, we just went back to their hotel room and had some wine and beer and talked since they were leaving the next day. It's been a really good visit. I'm glad they were able to make it over to see Dorothy (Jenn's mom) and me. It was really good having a slice of the big apple in the rice bowl. (I hope that doesn't sound offensive.)
Take it easy folks. - Wil
Previoulsy I posted that when I left here I was headed to Chengdu then Li Jiang, China by train and then I was going to Laos. Well a change in plan has taken place. Laos is out and Cambodia is in. Why? 1. the train ride from Beijing to Chengdu is 30 hours. I was under the impression that it was something like 12 or 13 hours. Not bad considering you can go to sleep and wake up next morning at your destination. Thirty hours, however, is a completely different story. I spent a long time on an Amtrak train last summer going to Cary and Savannah and while I didnt have a sleeper it was fairly comfortable but long and that trip was only something like 15 hours. We were even delayed because of something going on on the track which made it trip even longer. If I'm being honest with myself seeing the Chinese countryside from a trip while it does have its appeal is not worth 30 hours of a train in any country for me. 2. I thought that me going to Chengdu was going to small city. A sleepy little village even. Yeah right. This is China you idiot where that sleepy little city has a population of 15 million! And more likely 15.2 milliion after that 30 hour train ride! Right now I need to get away from so many people and big metropolitan cities. So I go to Cambodia where the population of the entire country is 15 million and Siem Reap, the first city I'm going to, 158,000. I'll spend a week in Siem Reap then head to the south coast and the city of Sihanoukville pop. 77,000!!! Yeah baby. Will spend a week in Sihanoukville soaking up the sun and water on the beaches. (That big roar you heard was me shouting for joy at finally getting sun and surf this summer.) I will take tons of pictures.
The only downside to this trip to Cambodia is that my flight on Malaysia Airlines is taking me past Cambodia to Kuala Lumpur where is land at 11pm and have an 11 hour layover in KL. Anyone know anything good to do in KL other than seeing the Patronus towers. If so please let me know. Not sure if I'll stay at the airport and camp out a la Amazing Race contestants or if I'll seek out a hotel for a good night's sleep.
Where to after that? Hmm, good question. Might be Thailand.
NAME CHANGE
One of the activity classes that I attend when I first got here was a chinese name class where the instructor looked at your name and consulted some book of ancient chinese names and characters (yeah right) and came up with your name. Good, fine and lovely. The only thing with that is that this instructor didn't know me and I didn't know her. After getting to know my Chinese teacher these last 9 weeks she finally told me that my chinese name Kong Wan Liang was bu hao (not good.) She said that it didn't represent me because the person who gave it to me didn't know me. I wrote my name down for her and she came back the next day with my new chinese name that takes into consideration my personality and in my case the Chinese zodiac animal and that name is Chang (second tone for you chinese out there) Wei (first tone). Chang being the family name and Wei meaning powerful like my chinese zodiac animal the tiger. The name actually works for me. I like it as soon as I heard it. Goodbye Kong Wan Liang and heddo Chang Wei. LOL.
SLICE OFTHE BIG APPLE IN THE RICE BOWL (IS THAT OFFENSIVE?)
I mentioned in an earlier post that my friends Jennifer and Anindya are in town from NYC. Well I met them at Q-Bar on Tuesday night. Q-Bar is a bar that I've been to before and talked about in this blog. It's full of ex-pat from around the world and could easily be accomodated on the upper east or west sides. Mostly non-asians 30 somethings who probably don't speak a lick of chinese. So I meet Jenn and Anindya there because some guidebook told them it's the place to be. Blah blah blah, the drinks are too expensive for the measure ounce they give you and the place gets too smokey for my almost 3 years non smoking ass. So I get there and there they are sitting at the bar the image of a very respectable marriage couple sipping their expertly mixed blah blah munching on some provided peanuts. Fashionable NYC clothing, bags, electronic equipment; they had just come from Tian an men and Forbidden City and dinner I think. A full day for them. Hugs and kisses all around and Absolute and orange for me. The really like the bar. What's not to like it's a very nice place for sipping drinks and chatting and smoking but not a lot going on in terms of activity. I want to take them to a place where they are guaranteed to have a great time and I tell them as much. We leave Q-bar a short time later and hop in a cab and head out to Sanlitun. Yeah. I take them off the main drag of Sanlitun to Kai bar where the drinks are 10 yuan, 20 for my absolute and orange. The music is pumping, the drinks are flowing we are dancing and having a great time. We bump into Angie and Cher from Canada who I had met on Friday night and proceed to have a really good time. The tequilla shots are flowing and a great time is being had by all. At one point this really hot song comes on and Jenn and I hit the dance floor where she proceeds to drop it like it is HOT. I'm mean she is dropping it down to the ground and shaking it like I never knew Jenn could. She was gritty personified. I never knew she had it in her. I'm mean yeah she's a sista and all, but never seen her git real like dat. She got all old school and was like "owwww" as she was dropping it. So we dropped it together to the looks of amazement and awe from the patrons looking on. SO MUCH FUN! Anindya doesn't dance but at one point he was out there as well on the dance floor.
Fast forward to Thursday night. We met up again in Sanlitun this time we went to Butterfly right next door to Kai. Music was pumping. Jenn and Aninyda already had their drink on from being at The Smallest Bar in Beijing (all of 12 square meter) where they were drinking Manhattans. So they were a little tipsy when they met up with me. Music was pumping at Butterfly as well. We were drinking beer and having a good time. I had introduced them to my Spanish friends and were all having a blast dancing and carrying on. No one was expecting it when Jenn started to do the Robot on the dance floor and I followed suit. I mean we already stand out being tall and Jenn has bazzooms that has been making the folks in China break there necks to get a look at, and now here we were doing the ROBOT. The ROBOT of all possible dances. It was a sight. People came up to me after saying how cool it was. I promise you we did not plan it.
Friday night we went to Li's Family Restaurant. The Li family, so the story goes, has the distinction of cooking for the Emperors of China. The family recipes have been handed down and a restaurant opening in the Huotong area of Houhai lake. Don't know if the story is true but this is where we went to dinner on Friday. The menu consist of make a choice of a complete menu ranging in prices from 230 rmbs to 3100 rmbs. We chose the menu that was 300 rmb or around $45 dollars and had 15 small dishes and 6 or 7 large dishes. The food was ridiculously incredibly delicious. No partying this night, we just went back to their hotel room and had some wine and beer and talked since they were leaving the next day. It's been a really good visit. I'm glad they were able to make it over to see Dorothy (Jenn's mom) and me. It was really good having a slice of the big apple in the rice bowl. (I hope that doesn't sound offensive.)
Take it easy folks. - Wil
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