Going to the ocean

Cambodia is such a beautiful and amazing country!  The road to the ocean was bumpy then smooth and bumpy again.  There was a sea of rice fields, water lilies and more rice fields.  As we drove, mountains appeared on both sides.  They were spectacular to say the least.

The first stop of the day was at a mountain where we went through a cave.  It is known here as Kompong Trach Resort.  It was by far the worst road we have travelled on yet.  I think we all flew off our seats at one point.  As we pulled up, we were greeted by a bunch of kids with flashlights.  They said they would guide us through the cave.  Upon entering the cave, we saw formations of stalagtites and stalagmites.  They formed various images, a turtle, an elephant, an eagle, a dragon and a Buddha image.  The guides were pointing out the bats and Annie and Sara said no thanks to that one.  As we climbed back outside, we were at the base of the mountain.  There were many rocks of mica there.  The crystal formations are a beautiful amber color.  We each are bringing some home with us, our own piece of Cambodia.

Back on the road again, the mountains just grew in shades of green and then you would see sections of brown on them in various locations.  They are being stripped down.  It appears that the Chinese have bought rights to some of the mountains to take away the stone.  It was sad to hear this.  Not only does it take away from the beauty of the mountains and change the habitat of the wildlife but it also affects the environment.

We reached Kep and saw the ocean.  In actuality it is the Gulf of Thailand.  The first order of business was to have lunch and a bathroom break.  After lunch we walked across the street and walked into the water.  Ana and Maddie went swimming while Annie waded in the water.  The girls found some shells and a tooth of an animal there to bring back also.

The drive back was on a different highway.  We saw Bokor Mountain.  This is the second highest mountain in Cambodia.  It was just breathtaking.

We drove through Kampot.  They are know for the best fruit in the country and for their pepper.  This is where the kampot black pepper is grown.  We are bringing some back to use in our Cambodian cooking.  Another thing we saw was the salt factory.

Coming back to Phnom Penh it was the end of the work day.  The factory workers were coming back home.  They ride in the back end of an open truck, standing up and packed together like sardines.  Another travel option is in and on a van.  People sit on the top of the van as it goes down the highway.  There are no OSHA or transportation laws against it.  We knew you wouldn’t believe this so we took photos for you.

We went out to dinner with Yoen, Nevy and their three sons, Hong, Har and Hai tonight.  The boys wanted burgers and pizza.  Everywhere we went, they were packed and you couldn’t get in.  After going to the second mall, we were able to get in at Lucky Burgers.  They had everything there, fried chicken, hamburgers and pizza.  It was like McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and KFC all rolled into one.  We had ice cream in waffle cones and cups for dessert.

Heading back to the hotel was a trip and a half.  Yoen is the best driver in the world and has the patience of a saint!  Traffic was so heavy and people were driving in and out.  The people that were really moving were those on motos.  As we passed by Diamond Island, we saw that they were having a concert.  People were everywhere.  The police confiscated seven motos and were hauling them off.  The reason for the unbelieveable traffic is that everyone was trying to get to the water front as they are having fireworks this evening.  Our hotel is having a big celebration.  We are watching it on TV and hearing it out our window.  The girls have already fallen asleep but we will wake them up to watch the fireworks from our room.

We wish you all a Happy New Year as 2011 counts down!

                                            The awesome mountains

                                      Buddha shrine inside the cave
                            
                                               The Gulf of Thailand

Factory workers on top of a van

Heading back to the hotel was a trip and a half.  Yoen is the best driver in the world and has the patience of a saint!  Traffic was so heavy and people were driving in and out.  The people that were really moving were those on motos.  As we passed by Diamond Island, we saw that they were having a concert.  People were everywhere.  The police confiscated seven motos and were hauling them off.  The reason for the unbelieveable traffic is that everyone was trying to get to the water front as they are having fireworks this evening.  Our hotel is having a big celebration.  We are watching it on TV and hearing it out our window.  The girls have already fallen asleep but we will wake them up to watch the fireworks from our room.

We wish you all a Happy New Year as 2011 counts down!

The Russian Market

It is yet another beautiful day in Cambodia.  Our day went a little different than planned.  Annie developed an allergic reaction to a medication her doctor had put her on for the trip.  She has a rash all over.  We went to the International SOS which is a very good western doctor’s office.  This is the same place both girls had all their medical testing done prior to their adoptions.  Annie was seen and all is well.  She was given medication to counteract what caused the rash along with good old calamine lotion to aid with the itching.  This has really helped.

We attempted to go to Child Safe International and found that it was closed until after the New Year.  This is the place we made a donation to in honor of the guests at our wedding.  It looks like we will try again on January 2^nd to go there.

After everything, we decided to go to the Russian market.  This place is one that you need to see to believe.  Try to imagine a three foot walkway with stall after stall of small shops full of various items.  The vendors see you coming and begin to ask if you want to buy something.  In the mean time, you have other peddlers with books, cards, etc. coming up to ask you to buy something.  As we walked through, we got a waft of dhurian fruit.  It is vile smelling and you either love the taste of it or hate it.  Since we all have tried it, we can say we hate it.  Needless to say, we moved quickly through that area.  We did pick up several more things for the girl’s gotcha day boxes there though.

It was back to the hotel and Sara took the girls for a dip in the pool.  Annie got some reading time in the room.  The girls are doing more of their homework and we are heading to bed early.  We are in for another day of driving as we head to the ocean tomorrow.

On the Road Back to Phnom Penh

On the Road Back to Phnom Penh

Today was another traveling day…Yoen picked us up and we headed back to Phnom Penh from Siem Reap.  The country side is so beautiful when you are not dodging, cows, chickens, motos, bicycles, or slower moving vehicles. We stopped for lunch at the same place we had on the way to Siem Reap only this time we were able to get a “hut” over the water complete with hammocks. Maddie and Ana took full advantage of those.

Yoen told us more about Cambodian culture…wedding customs. The man must present a dowry to the bride’s family and the bride has three wedding costume changes. We think the girls should marry a Cambodian man so the man can pay for the wedding (ha ha).

We are back at the Hotel Cambodiana for the rest of our time here. We are relaxing this evening and going to the Russian Market tomorrow. We will have lots more tales to share then.

The Temples

Today we explored the temples of central Angkor Thom.  They are phenomenal!  How these were created is an engineering feat.  It seems that everywhere you looked, there was an even more detailed carving. 

Angkor Thom was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire.  It was established in the late 12^th century by King Jayavaraman VII.  One inscription found in the city refers to Jayavaraman as the groom and the city as his bride.

The Bayon was built in the late 12^th century or early 13^th century as the official state temple of the Mahayana Buddhist King Jayavarman VII.  The Bayon’s most distinctive feature is the multitude of serene and massive stone faces on many towers.  There are 54 towers with each having four faces of thesmiling Buddha on it facing each of the directions which is a total of 216 faces.

Many of you will be familiar with the Ta Prohm temple.  It was featured in the Angelina Jolie move “The Tomb Raider”.  Ta Prohm was built for the King’s mother.  It was originally called Rajavihara.  Unlike most Angkorian temples, it has been left in much the same condition in which it was found with banyon trees growing out of the ruins and the jungle surroundings have made it one of the most popular temples. 

Angkor Wat was built for King Suriyavaraman II in the early 12^th century as his state temple and capital city.  It is the best preserved temple and is one of the wonders of the world.  Angkor Wat is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation, first as Hindu dedicated to Vishnu and then Buddhist.  The temple has become a symbol of Cambodia and appears on its national flag.

There is a meshing of Hindu and Buddhist traditions.  Some of the Hindu deities we heard about from our guide were Visnu, Brahma, Lakshmi and Shiva.  Maddie was in her glory learning about them.

After the temples, we went to Artisans Angkor.  This is a school that teaches handicapped and rural poor individuals carving, in stone or wood, painting on silk and silver smithing.  They did phenomenal work!  We walked through the various workshops and were able to watch the students as they created wonderful pieces of art.

It was a pretty hot day today.  Needless to say, we were ringing wet with sweat after climbing and walking through the temples.  It was off to the pool for a refreshing moment.

Tonight we had dinner and a show.  We saw Apsara dancing.  This is traditional Cambodian dance.  Apsara means sky dancing.  They were traditionally the King’s concubines as they were so beautiful. There were several different types of dance that were performed.  The dancers were so graceful.  Their hand positions told stories.  It was wonderful to see and the girls really enjoyed it.

We are packed once again as we will be headed back to Phnom Penh tomorrow.

In front of Bayon Temple

                                        
                                           Apsara carving at Angkor Wat

                                           Carving from Angkor Wat 
                                    

Carving from Angkor Wat

                                                                                 Apsara dancers

                                               Girls with Apsara dancer

The long road to Siem Reap

Today has been a very long day.  We began our journey to Siem Reap at 8:00 this morning and arrived here around 4:15.  Although it was a long drive, we are glad we did this versus flying.  Throughout, we saw the rural areas of Cambodia.  There is such a difference here in comparison to the city living.  No matter the area though, it became even more evident the poverty in this country.

A typical home in the countryside is no larger than the family room in our home.  The building type varies from either concrete pilings or wooden ones.  The houses are elevated due to the flooding during the rainy season.  Roofing can either be corrugated metal which is usually worn or a thatched type roof.  The sides can be wooden, thatched or bamboo.  There can be cows or chickens in the yard.  Their water is stored in a large ceramic vessel.

We pulled over a few times along the way to see things.  We got to walk down a road and stand at the base of a mountain.  There were vines climbing up the rock and the stone formed to look like the eye of a needle.  As we looked down the side of the road, an ox cart was headed our way.  The next stop was the friendship bridge that was built during the Angkorian period (10^th or 11^th century).  Only foot traffic and motos are allowed to cross it.  This bridge far surpasses modern day ones as it has really lasted through time.

We passed through a town called Santuk.  This town is known for its stone carvings.  On both sides of the road you saw magnificent stone carvings in various states of completion.  It was quite an inspiration for Annie to see this.

Driving in Cambodia is challenging.  We are so thankful that Yoen is driving instead of us.  People pass all around you.  It seems as though the rule of the road is the biggest vehicle wins.  Imagine passing a moto pulling a cart full of hay piled up to 15 feet in the air with people laying on top and the driver barely seen from the hay surrounding him.  Then as you are passing, there are motos to the right of you going the opposite way and a car coming right at you.  Yoen honks the horn so the moto with hay pulls slightly to the right so he can get ahead of it before the car coming at you reaches where you just were.  It can be a bit harried.

The infrastructure is not as we have in the U.S.  We have vowed never to complain about pot holes again.  There are sections that are good and then you come to huge potholes.  It can go from a paved asphalt road to unpaved.  It appears that the Chinese are putting a lot of money into Cambodia.  Seems they are financially everywhere in the world.

Schools here are different than the states also.  You do not see buses or parents bringing children to school.  They either walk or mostly ride their bikes.  You see nothing but a sea of bicycles parked  outside the school.  The children go to school from 7:00 am until 11:00, get on their bikes to go home for lunch and then pedal back to school to be there from 1:00 pm until 4:30.  School is from Monday through Saturday.  The girls think they are fortunate having two days off.

Not sure if you all know that fried spiders are quite the thing here in Cambodia.  We passed through Phsar Skuon (Skuon market) today.  The vendors were selling fried spiders.  In talking with Yoen about them he said that people said the body was like eating an egg.  Needless to say, we kept on going.

The girls are enjoying swimming at the new hotel.  There are gardens all over here.  It is a tropical paradise.  Orchids are hanging everywhere.  This is just beautiful.

We got to try some more new food tonight at dinner and our favorite spring rolls.  We are going to look for a recipe for amok chicken as it is delicious so we can fix it for Cambodian New Year in April.  Got back to find that we have a new pet in our room, a lizard.  We have named her Lillie.  It is now time for bed as we get up early to go to the temples.  Until tomorrow . . .

                                                PASSING A MOTO HAULING HAY

                                                               AN OX CART

                                     AN EXAMPLE OF HOUSES IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

                                                                LILLIE

Day Four

Our day began with a long car ride.  We traveled a bit outside the city into a rural village.  It was difficult to find the NGO, Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity (CASC) because the location of the center is hidden for the safety of the victims.  This was a humbling experience.  The survivors are both men and women.  They sew their own compression garments and make the hospital scrubs for the staff.  The victims stay there until they are well enough to go back home or someplace else.  We met the survivor that makes the compression garments who was featured in the International Zontian magazine.  It was because of her story that we wanted to find CASC in order to give a donation to them.

Sara hit it off with one of the social worker there and promised to send him books on PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) which is prevalent with all victims.  Annie connected with the other social worker and is going to ask her Zonta group if they can sponsor a girl who is an acid burn victim in order to get her a proper education. 

The victims make purses, wallets, eyeglass cases.  These are all crocheted and are beautifully done.  This enables them to give them some money and a sense of helping themselves.  We purchased a number of these bags to bring back to Annie’s Zonta group.  Ana and Maddie purchased bags for themselves as well.

We next drove back to the city and went to NADP which is an organization which helps disabled persons.  This is where we have purchased many of our Buddha statues in the past.  We did the same again and are bringing back a beautiful carved Buddha for ourselves and also some smaller ones for friends.

Upon arriving back at the hotel, we had a short amount of time before heading back out with Maddie’s foster Father.  He picked us up and brought us to his home to meet his family.  It was wonderful to see them.  The joy on their faces when they saw us was heartwarming.  They served us many different fruits, several of which we had not had before.  Mony brought out all the photos that we had given to them of Maddie and Ana.  After catching up on each other’s lives and exchanging email addresses, it was time to leave.

On the way back to the hotel, Mony talked with us about the Khmer Rouge tribunal that is happening.  He was 11 years old when Pol Pot came into power.  He told us that was not his given name and that it meant political potential.  He is very interested in keeping up on the tribunal happenings and gave us a booklet about it.  Mony lost many relatives during the Khmer Rouge reign.

When we got to the hotel it was time to eat something and pack our bags as we will be heading out to Siem Reap tomorrow.  It will be an early to rise day so we can get on the road.  It is a five hour drive so the girls will be working on some of their homework.

                                        Staff of Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity

                                                      Maddie's Foster Family

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We have had an incredible Christmas Day in Cambodia…it’s hard to know where to begin. It started with Santa leaving two DSI games and t-shirts for the girls. A hearty breakfast and then Yoen picked us up to visit the elephant Sambo (mentioned yesterday) at Wat Phnom, the temple in the middle of the city. The girls got to ride Sambo around the base of the temple and feed her bananas. At the top of the Wat, the girls got to release a caged bird.  This is like the book "The Caged Bird Sings" which was written by an UU.  You whiper all your dreams within one breath and then release the bird.  This is to make your dreams come to pass.  It was awesome at Wat Phnom!

After the elephant ride, we went to pick up the girl’s skirts.  They looked beautiful in them.  From there we went to Yoen’s home.  His wife cooked a wonderful meal for us.  They have three boys, Hong (14), Hor (pronounced how-11) and Hai (8).  The boys and the girls were being shy with each other.  The boys are learning English in school and they were practicing their language skills with us.  The house had their tuk-tuk (a motorcycle with a cart for four average sized people) inside the main room.  Yoen’s family was very gracious. 

Yoen has done a number of birth family searches.  The girls have indicated they would like to find their birth parents.  He said that since Ana’s orphanage closed he may not be able to find them as there is no longer any paperwork available to work with.  He told her that if he couldn’t find any information that they would be her family here in Cambodia.

We went to the Buddhist monk who is the supreme patriarch of the area.  We began by lighting incense and praying before the Buddha.  He gave each of us a blessing which included a red yarn bracelet and a talisman to protect our home.  We then received a water blessing which is like a Baptist baptism.  Luckily we requested a little water and only our heads got soaked.

From there we ventured out of the city to a Buddhist monastery.  This was the most incredible place we have seen yet.  The temple was full of hundreds of Buddha statues of all shapes and sizes.  We met some Buddhist nuns who loved patting Annie and Sara’s belly.  Yoen took us around the grounds.  We heard young monks chanting.  Yoen pointed out a Buddha tree, the kind in the Buddha received enlightenment.  We walked through many stupas which is like a burial vault.  One of these contained many bones of people killed in that area by the Khmer Rouge.  We then went to a pond with the biggest catfish we had ever seen.  The girls got to feed them ramen noodles.  

Another experience was having fresh squeezed sugar cane.  It is an extremely sweet drink.  It has been fun trying new fruits and Cambodian treats.

Throughout the day, Yoen shared his experiences through the Khmer Rouge time and how he survived.  He was 13 at the time when they took over.  He was punished by them for catching fish for his family and had his arms tied behind his back while the ants bit him.  His oldest sister did not survive during  this time.

                                               Ana & Maddie riding Sombo.

                                        Ana getting ready to release her bird.

                                                 Yoen Soek and his family.

                         This is a small part of the hundreds of Buddhas in the temple.

                                    Standing in front of the Buddhist monastery.

                              Ana & Maddie with young monks who are about their age.

We ended our day back at the hotel for a Christmas barbeque complete with Christmas carols, Yule logs, golden glitter masks and a Cambodian Santa making balloon animals.  This will definitely be a Christmas to remember!