Trip to Cambodia - ACODO

I was super disappointed that Wendy and I couldn’t get the tuk-tuk drivers in Phenom Penh to understand where the supposedly famous Cambodian Dance Academy was, despite our use of a map and help from the hotel staff--I thought I was going to miss out on traditional Khmer dance. Luckily, we found Assisting Cambodian Orphans and Disabled Orphans (ACODO) in Siem Reap, and an evening trip to watch traditional dance turned into a moving experience that touched both Wendy and me.

ACODO is an incredible, though small due to lack of funding, orphanage in Siem Reap. The children range in age, from 3-21 years—typically the orphans leave the orphanage at 18, but the 21 year old currently residing there is a burn victim who started working at the orphanage because his chances of getting a job outside of it are lower than most and he does really love the other children. All school-aged children attend state school, and receive English classes at the orphanage from volunteers (I tried to see if I could help out for a day, but there was a miscommunication and I didn't get the opportunity to put my current profession to use for this worthy organization). In addition to the standard education and English classes, the children learn traditional Khmer dance, opera and how to play an instrument. The children are amazing -- very professional in demeanor and execution of the dances and songs. Even though Wendy and I were the only people who came out to watch them that night, they performed for us as if there were an audience of a thousand.

In between acts of the traditional ballet repertoire the director of the ACODO played a video demonstrating the needs of the orphanage--food, hygiene items, volunteers, and money--and their plans for expanding their grounds. ACODO is planning on adding a library with computer lab, and they are saving for land to start a farm so they can supply their own food and use the money they were spending on food to supply more opportunities for more children. The love in the eyes of the director was as apparent as the joy on the faces of the children.

After the performance, Wendy and I stayed to play with the children and talk with the director about coming back to volunteer later on. Wendy, ever the percussionist, whipped out her wooden spoons and taught the children how to play them. This very special organization deserves support and the bonus of being able to watch traditional Khmer dances performed by unbelievably talented children and teens should drive more tourists to ACODO—it’s far better than the overpriced dinner theater style shows that don’t give any money to worthy causes.

Trip to Cambodia - Floating village, lotus fields

If you take a trip to Siem Reap, I suggest skipping the Floating Village unless you know for a fact there's something awesome going on there. The cost of the boat out isn't worth the trip--$12 or something super expensive for Cambodian prices--and while it's cool to see buildings floating in a lake, it's not that cool.



On the other hand, for a donation of $1 you can walk through some pretty amazing Lotus Fields on the road to the floating village. I highly suggest that. It's on the same road as ACODO, so you'll pass by the orphanage on the way out of the town and you keep going (Wendy and I stopped on the tuk-tuk on the way out to the floating village and then biked out there again the next day on our rusty $2/day rental bikes). You can eat the seeds (ala 'The Odyssey') and walk along this huge field of sacred flowers. It's a really lovely way to spend a few hours. If you're into photography, you can get some pretty amazing shots there.

Trip to Cambodia - Ankor Wat and other Temples

Wendy and I got three-day passes for the temples at Ankor Wat, and took a tuk-tuk with a guide to the temples on the "long tour" for the first day. The trip to the temples was pleasant, it was a warm day and several flowers were in bloom and perfuming the drive through the country. When we got to the entrance of the temple sites, we still had a drive ahead of us and we bumped along the jungle and rice paddy lined road through villages and to the older temples. We passed so many banana trees! I was in heaven with the fresh fruit there and I'm drooling just thinking about two weeks in Thailand. Mangoes will be eaten!



Our guide was a bubbly man in his late twenties or early thirties (I can't remember) who had grown up on a subsistence farm in a rural part of Cambodia, when he was 18 he moved to Phnom Penh and started working construction by day and going to school by night. He eventually learned enough English and Cambodian history to become a tour guide (the tests are apparently pretty strict, and his knowledge of historical names and dates was really impressive), and he said his mother doesn't believe him when he says he works in the tourist industry.
It bothered me that subsistence farming was so looked down upon--especially since it's the kind of thing we need now and the Western world is slowly swinging back that direction--but I can see where the itch to get out of poverty comes from. Wendy was pretty into how long his nails were, and has some photos of his well manicured hands. I loved how he would laugh and gesture in a very friendly, bubbly, slightly effeminate way during our conversations. I had some fun trying to teach him the pronunciation of "ashes"--he had trouble with the "sh" sound and was saying "asses," which is harmless enough and I told him it wasn't an issue at all since his English was very good but he insisted on perfecting it.

Anyway, back to the temples. It was seriously like walking into a Indiana Jones film (I believe Bayon was used in the filming of one of them), except with less tunnels and snake pits, crocodiles or Nazis. And the Asian children were Southeast Asian and trying to sell us things instead of Northeast Asian and trying to tag along for the adventure. Oh, and we were the beautiful women but independent enough that we totally could have rocked fedoras and a bull whip (though, I don't know about using one). It was surreal to be climbing on and touching something older than anything in the States. I always want to touch the items in museums, and this was way cool because the whole structure was an artifact! It was crazy to imagine the people who built the structures, the wars they withstood and the changes in religious figures--the older temples started out as Hindu, and were converted to Buddhist usage after Cambodia became a Buddhist nation. Banteay Srey started as a Hindu temple and became known as "The Citadel of Women" when Cambodia became a Buddhist nation, because of all the goddess imagery.

Wendy even got to jam while we were in the temples! There was a band of landmine victims playing traditional Khmer (Cambodian) instruments and Wendy impressed them with her spoons. She traded instruments with a man who had no right forearm and made their day. She wasn't just a tourist, she was exchanging cultures and having fun. ^_^




The temples were of similar architecture (except Bayon
which has a bunch of contented, smiling Buddha faces carved into every facet of the building), but our guide (I feel like a terrible person for forgetting his name already) was pretty good about taking us to temples from different eras so I didn't get "templed out." We even got to watch the sun set over the jungle on a not-too-crowded temple.


The next day, we went to Ankor Wat, which is the biggest temple and the reason Jackie O went to Cambodia back in the day, but I was less impressed with Ankor Wat than with the other temples we had seen the day before. I do recommend going, if just to see the immense grounds, but I think Bayon was the coolest looking (followed closely by Ta Pohm, which is all overgrown with jungle)
and Pre Rup is the oldest and that was the most awe inspiring.

It was a pretty good two days.

Trip to Cambodia--Siem Reap! Day 1

I started off the day miserable. K-Nay had gifted both Wendy and myself with illness, despite the menu being vegan friendly. Wendy was sick the night before and I was sick for the entire next day. Fun. I was bundled up in 80* weather, and couldn't be further than 2 seconds from a bathroom at any given time. And in this condition, I boarded a plane from Phenom Penh to Siem Reap.

When we landed in Siem Reap, grabbed a taxi (because the hotel didn't send someone to pick us up) and rode to the hotel, it was clear Siem Reap is much better than Phenom Penh and there's a reason it's more touristy. The town isn't as crowded, the air is clearer and the overall feel of the place is much more relaxed and chill.



We got to the Golden Banana Hotel and it was beautiful! There was this great pool with a waterfall and wooden tables and chairs on a stone patio for lounging. Plenty of trees and flowers. The doors to the room were painted a dark red, and had iron handles--not the typical sterile feel of a hotel. Then there were the paintings of the laughing gay Chinese man. The Golden Banana is run by two Belgian expats and advertises as gay friendly. The artist of these pictures with laughing Chinese men (same man painted multiple times in the same painting) is apparently the new hot thing in Europe, but Wendy and I couldn't help but laughing.

There was a slight issue with finding our reservations, despite us having called the night before to make sure our arriving a day early wouldn't be an issue and the person on the phone had assured us it would be okay. We were shown to a room after waiting around for a bit, and it looked nice enough, but the bathroom was upstairs and the bed I was supposed to be in was downstairs. I had trouble walking up and down the stairs (as did Wendy who was experiencing some nasty side effects from the anti-malaria pills she was taking) and we asked if we could move to a room with everything on one floor, and told it would be available the next day. No problem, Wendy went out for a massage and I laid down on the bed upstairs and passed out for the next 3 hours.

I felt a bit better after that nap, but not top of my game yet. Wendy came back from her massage feeling more tense than when she had gone out. The "spa" at the hotel had a very choppy, rough massage "therapist." So, the hotel wasn't as magical as it seemed at first glance, but it was much nicer than anything I would have been able to stay in if I were in charge of housing. :)




Mexican food! For dinner, Wendy and I walked into the stretch of town with loads of shops and restaurants. There were a couple that sounded good, but we settled at a place with Mexican food. I was not disappointed, but it still wasn't as good as the real deal. I just get super excited when I can have beans and avocado. I still wasn't feeling too great, but I was able to keep the dinner inside. Progress!

After dinner, we decided to explore the Pub Street section of Siem Reap and all the small shops and things. It was crazy. Like a street fair at night, every night. It reminded me of Itaewon in Seoul, but not as seedy. There weren't enough meals in the day to try all the places to find the best pizza, mexican food or curry. The beer still wasn't good. :P

Early night in so I could sleep of the rest of the illness.

Trip to Cambodia-- Phnom Penh, Part 2 (aka "Don't look 'em in the eyes!")

More on Day One:
When we went looking for live music was pretty sad, we had just gotten terrible massages from Seeing Hands Massage and it was really awkward and the massage was not good. Despite what the reviews say, I would not recommend anybody go to this place. Wendy and I called ahead, to make sure they could take us and when we got there we had to wait (I should have known something was up given the odd vibes in the room, everyone seemed uncomfortable or anxious) we were separated--Wendy went upstairs and I went to this room in which three other people were getting massages, that's fine I thought it would be like a clinic at a massage school just in a room that looked like a prison shower or something like that. We were given loaner clothes to put on. I was told to put my belongings in a locker, but not told where to put the key, so I just kept it by my head. The massage therapist (they are all supposedly trained) didn't speak English so there was no, "What areas do you want me to focus on?" and since we couldn't gesture at each other to speak I just settled in to receive whatever I would get for my $7. The massage was okay, not great and not what I would expect from a trained masseur nor something that was raved about on websites all over the place. The massage therapists were chatting to each other as they worked on us folks, and occasionally someone would announce something over a loud speaker or come in and tell the Seeing Hands folks something (I'm assuming checking to see who would next be available as the guy working on me would check the time each interruption). At best, it was a subpar massage. At worst, an awkward way to spend an hour. So, not bad, but I wouldn't recommend it. Wendy had a more dynamic experience and would probably be happy to demonstrate the vigor with which she received massages in Cambodia. It's not pretty.

When we departed from the super weird massage place, we opted to check for the bar Equinox, which was advertised (yet again) on Lonely Planet's site as having live jam sessions. It was because of this recommendation that it jumped to the top of both of our lists. We got in a tuk-tuk, again thinking the driver would know where something was--especially since it was marked on a map--and were thankful that everything is a flat fee. The driver was asking directions and checking different streets for a while, before finally dropping us off at Equinox. When we got inside, it was dead. No music. >.< When we asked what time the jams started (on the Lonely Planet website it was listed as something like 6-9), the women working the bar informed us that the jam wasn't happening that night but the next night (the website had also said it was every night--it looks like it's been updated since). So we walked around the tiny street it was on to check out what else there was in the area--nothing. We followed the map we had toward a park we had passed on the way out. People were doing dance classes in the park! To crazy hip hop tunes! We had to check it out.

We bumped into two girls from Europe (one Russian and one German) who were looking for a restaurant in the area and we had to join forces to figure out where it was, the map wasn't that great, but I did figure it out for them. ^_^ And Wendy and I were off again to find the dancing crews.

We came to this large round about, I believe it was the Independence Monument or something, and couldn't figure out how to get across--there was no cross walk, no overpass nor underpass for pedestrians. We were stuck. Would we have to flag down a tuk-tuk just to get to the other side of the traffic circle? How did people do it?

While pondering these cultural questions, a German(?) man in his 50s (?) came up and asked if we needed help. We said, yes and that we had no idea how to cross this lane that led into the traffic circle and we just wanted to get to the park. His advice? "Don't look them in the eyes." He went on to explain that the Cambodian driver mentality was that if you made eye contact you were going to yield, if you didn't make eye contact, it fell on the other person to work around you. This stranger basically told Wendy and me to blindly walk into traffic! Wendy and I laughed hysterically thinking he was joking. But, no, he was serious. We asked him to join us on this death inviting action, and he gladly did. Stepping off of the curb and into four lanes of oncoming traffic. We followed. (Dad, please breath, I survived)

Sure enough, the drivers didn't hit us--I have no idea how close they got since I didn't dare look up. I was too busy scampering across the road, mentally bracing for impact and laughing and shrieking from the absurdity of it all!

When we got to the park, the dancers were gone, so we got a tuk tuk back to the hotel and crashed (fell asleep, not automobile accident crashed).


Day Two! The day to tour the major sites of Phnom Penh. Wendy and I went down to breakfast and made sure our driver was on his way. The servers were so sweet, the coffee was good, the fresh fruit delicious, and there was this astounding homemade jam (my favorite was, surprisingly, watermelon- it had something like cinnamon making it more savory than sweet). After eating our fill, we gathered our things to be touristy and see the darker side of the history of Cambodia. Neither Wendy nor I had known anything about Pol Pot before coming to Cambodia, but we quickly learned how nearly everyone 30 years or older had been directly affected by the Pol Pot regime and those in their 20s had siblings, cousins or other family members who had either been murdered or tortured by The Khmer Rouge. Our driver had a brother who was taken, since his father was a professor (or maybe a secondary school teacher) in a village. He was lucky to be left alone, since even toddlers were brutally beaten to death by this regime, and that his father was allowed to live.

We started our day at Tuol Sleng Prison and Genocide Museum, which used to be a school but was converted into a prison during the Pol Pot rule. The grounds were actually beautiful, there were magnolia and palm trees in the courtyard
and the skies were clearly visible and blue. The weather was warm and beautiful. The buildings felt out of place in the natural beauty of Cambodia.


Inside the rooms were photos of some of the victims, ranging in age from infants to the elderly, and in some rooms there were loops still sticking out of the tiled floor with bits of chains still attached (I kept tripping on them). Pol Pot killed an estimated 1.7–2.5 million people because he wanted to restart civilization, he chose these people as victims because they had shown some form of intelligence and free thought. All around the grounds where signs requesting people keep a somber mood (or that's what I'm assuming since I can't read Khmer):



In some of the rooms, there were cots and photos of how people were tortured and killed in the prison. Electrocution, burning, bludgeoning, bleeding and all sorts of forms of torture were used. Here's the (poorly translated) rules of the camp:



After this light-hearted affair, we went out of the city limits to visit The Killing Fields where trucks of people were brought to be killed and buried. There were many disturbing things in this area, the stupa
full of the bones and clothes of many of the victims found in the mass graves, the tree that was used to break the skulls of toddlers and small children, the ditches that were once full of dead bodies and the tree that was used to hold loudspeakers that would play music to drown out the groans and screams of the victims. We ran into the two Euro girls there, Phnom Penh has a small town feel if you're just hitting up the touristy things--like sites of mass murder.


Next, we headed back into town to see the Royal Palace, it was nice and big like palaces are, but I wasn't that into it. There was a Pagoda/Temple on the grounds that had silver tiles on the floor (This is the Silver Pagoda), but the tiles were mostly covered by rugs.Buddha told his followers not to make statues and riches in his name, but monarchs will be monarchs and they built this gaudy place to celebrate an aesthetic monk. Wendy nearly fell into a display case trying to stand in front of a fan, that was pretty awesome. ^_^ We were laughing pretty hard during the day--trying not to do so too much at the more somber locations, but not always succeeding.




Finally, we had planned on trying to take in The National Museum, but we opted for lunch then heading back to the hotel to try and catch the Apsara Dance performance again. We had lunch at a place that looked popular, again being underwhelmed with the food, not that it was terrible, the service was kind of shotty and they were really bad about the veggie thing.

We failed at going to the dance place, but we opted to go to a pretty awesome restaurant near The Tuol Sleng Prison and Genocide Museum, The Bodhi Tree. The Bodhi Tree had good food and good wine, it was directly across from Tuol Sleng, so that was a bit creepy at night, but the grounds themselves were beautiful and the service was pretty good. A little slow, but they were super chill and I think they were just hanging back to be non-obtrusive. They covered the tuk-tuk since I only had big bills ($10s and $20s) and neither the restaurant nor the driver could break them, and just added it to the bill. Pretty cool. I'd recommend this place to anyone looking for good food, it was a little pricier than other restaurants, but was delicious.

Trip to Cambodia-- Phnom Penh, Part 1

Lunar New Year, the halfway point (nearly) of my contract! I had been looking forward to this trip to Southeast Asia since I found out the dates of available vacation time (and that I wasn't, contrary to the assumptions of all teachers here, able to just choose when I would go) and the plans were in the works! My plan left Incheon at 11pm, so I went home and dumped my work stuff, baked some no-sugar, hemp protein pumped banana bread and headed to the airport.

On the longer flight to Malaysia (all Air Asia trips are routed through there), I had planned to sleep, and did for a bit but the plane was super bright for a lot of the trip and everyone else seemed to be awake. I was sitting near a Russian family, so I was trying to eavesdrop and decipher their conversation in between naps. Oh, the exciting travelling I do.

Landed in Malaysia at 5 something in the A.M., and walked through their super low security airport, found a Starbucks--it didn't have chai in any form WTF?--the heavens opened and I grabbed a latte. For whatever reason, the woman checking passports in the line I was in, was super slow and five people in the longer line would pass by the time she opened the book of one person in ours. Whatev's. I got on the plane to Phnom Penh on time. On this shorter leg, I sat next to a couple of Aussies on their first trip abroad--they were 17 and pretty cool.

We landed at 7 or 8am--I felt like it was closer to 3pm, and I parted ways with my plane buddies. Despite Phnom Penh being the capital of Cambodia, its airport is super tiny--not many tourists hit up this city. I was picked up by a driver from the Le Biz Hotel (Wendy graciously made the hotel arrangements ^_^, so I was already pumped because I wasn't going to have to deal with potential hostel drama--rare as it is) and relaxed into the beauty of the surrounding area.

Then we hit the city. Holy crap. The traffic! It seems there are no rules in Cambodia with driving, but I still feel safer than in Korea because folks drive much slower and will stop if someone doesn't seem to be paying attention (more on that later). So many motorbikes and tuk-tuks (a motorcycle with a 4 person trailer on the back)! It was a sea of people and pollution. The skies were blue, the air was warm and everyone was beautifully brown. I felt like I was home.

I got to the Le Biz and they were touching up the breakfast spread, and they had an espresso machine! Oh the joy! After settling in, showering of the travel funk (in the simultaneously future and aggravatingly not separated from the rest of the bathroom shower with voyeur window), and doing a quick taking of the room, I went down stairs for coffee, fruit and baguette. I didn't need a parka. I didn't need thermals. I didn't need long sleeves. It was 80* at least. So nice, when I left Korea it was just below freezing. I sat outside in a skirt and tee shirt! Checked my Facebook and email using my iPhone and the hotel's wifi and waited to set out and collect Wendy that afternoon.

Phnom Penh seems most comparable to a touristy city in Mexico, lots of street vendors selling food, trinkets and such. Buildings not quite up to any code, teeming with life, clothing out to dry, cars and noise everywhere. I wondered around the area by my hotel, immediately felt that this area wasn't as safe as Korea but that I would be okay in the daylight. There were monks in saffron robes with yellow umbrellas weaving through the traffic of the streets to go pray and beg for food or money at the hotel and surrounding restaurants. There were several auto repair shops in the area, and lots of bakeries but nothing really worth checking out, so I went home after wondering down an alley that had tiny stands and shops. I accidentally walked through some sort of Buddhist (I'm assuming) ceremony (there were monks sitting on one side of the alley and a restaurant on the other with people folding fabric while others watched--I hope I didn't ruin a wedding).

I napped for a bit after working out in the room, then headed out to the airport to meet up with Wendy.

Wendy had had quite a trip already, and was telling me all about her adventures through Laos and Thailand--it all sounded pretty cool, and I'm hoping to be able to experience the massages and food of Thailand come August. ^_^ The hospitality of Thailand sounds like something I'll really enjoy, and other vegans have told me that Thailand is one of the easiest places to be vegan in the world.

We got back to the hotel and made a plan to take in the Apsara dance show after dinner, so we set out to find the recommended restaurants by the Mekong river. We couldn't find the restaurants that were on the map (later during the trip we did, but it turns out our tuk-tuk driver didn't know where anything was) so we just went to this huge restaurant on the side by the river with an extensive menu. I handed over the list of things I don't eat and they said "no problem," then brought out spring rolls with shrimp in them. Grr, shrimp was on the list. They switched them out (or removed the shrimp, I don't know) and Wendy and I dove in. The food was okay, the wine was alright but the company made the meal!

After eating, we flagged down a tuk-tuk and tried to get a ride to the Apsara Dance Academy touted as amazing in Lonely Planet, but unknown by any of the people at the hotel as well as this tuk-tuk driver. He didn't tell us he didn't know, he just drove around asking everyone for directions. It ended up being too late for the show anyway, so we went back to the hotel (or maybe this was the night we tried to find the live music, but I think the music search happened the next night or later).

So far, not the best tourist experience, but it was warm and I had a familiar face near me! I was enjoying myself despite the hiccups.