Cambodia the second

At the moment I stay in Ban Lung which is situated in the north eastern part of Cambodia. I planned to do here a trek in the National Park, but was really disappointed when I found out that they are not only chopping the trees outside the National Park but inside as well. Instead I decided to look for a nice quiet place and spend some more time on my yogapraxis. I found this place and I can tell you it's hard getting away from here!

What happened before I arrived in Ban Lung.....


First I went to Kampong Cham, which itself is quite a dull place...really nothing to do...but more to see and do around town. I Visited some temples, the Man and Woman Hill, an Island and have been drinking coffee and eating muesli ;-) About the Man and Woman hill goes a lovely story, which is too long to tell you now but the essence is that women are more clever than men and that's why there hill is a little bit higher :-) 
People love to play beach volleyball along the Mekong and they are really good in doing this. Next stop Kratie...for some Irrawaddy dolphin watching. I already bought my busticket to Kratie but than a tuktukdriver a met a day before asked me if I wasn't interested in a drive by jeep. Well my first reaction was...noway I'm a low budget traveller...way too expensive. But he said, well it's not that expensive because this men has to go anyway to pick someone up in Kratie and bring this person back to Kampong Cham. All I had to pay was the ferry to cross the Mekong and a bit for the driver. And so I cancelled my busticket, or actually he did, and had an amazing trip along the Mekong from Kampong Cham to Kratie. Would have love to do this by boat, but since the roads improved and buses are cheaper there are no boats anymore that make this trip.

In Kratie I met Emily, Nathan, some funny Spanish guys and a lot more travelers. Emily, Nathan and I went to see the Irrawaddy Dolphins together with just an amazing sunset! The Dolphins where quite far away but the atmosphere was so relaxed that it was all worth it to stay here one night. 

Nathen, Emily and I went the next day together in a mini van for a 6 hours trip to Ban Lung. These Minivan's are just hilarious....13 Seats....and by the end filled with 26 people! Unbelievable the just can't say no...and they find always a way to take someone more. We had to stop a couple of times to check if the chickens at the back were still there :-) All arrived full with orange dust in Ban Lung.

That's what Ban Lung is....orange....there are hardly paved roads, so you' re just the whole day orange. Emily and I stayed here...Nathan went the next day to Vietnam. Emily wanted to do a trek, I decided not to....but Emily never did....and we spent almost one week together with a lot of bicycle fun! Emily hadn't been on a bicycle for at least 10 to 15 years....and it's so amazing how something so natural for one person can be such a crime and horror for someone else. For her it was training, hard physical training....for me mental training...I could test my motivating skills and had a change to be patience. We both trained our laugh-muscles as well! After two cycle days we hired a motorbike to see some more waterfalls. This was something new for me, cause they don't have automatic motors here...well Carry... there you go...we survived and I leveled my driving experience to half automatic now!


And we just loved our bungalow in Tree Top. I met nice people here. Unfortunately 2 lovely danish girls got reallty ill and one of them had to go back to the hospital in Phnom Penh. I hope she is doing better by now. Tree Top, please check this place if you ever plan to come up here. See the pictures. 

Now I'm alone again....Emily left this morning. In a couple of days I'm going to Laos but first I will enjoy my stay here in Ban Lung, doing Yoga, drinking my coffee at the Dutch couple (yes they are dutch and the only ones with a coffee machine in town ;-)) meeting some foreigners at the dutch couple who work here and on Monday I'm invited to spend a morning at a Cambodian  primary school in a village nearby. The teacher already asked me if I want to give English classes....well first the visit and then we will see....Volunteering is still really into my mind!

What I miss most at the moment?....physical contact. Oli where are you at the moment for a great big hug!


love carry



 

Pictures: Cambodia

Cambodia part one

I had no idea what to expect of this country but first impressions came on the airport of Phnom Penh: small, ATM with only US Dollar no riel, no one to pick me up. From the airport into the city....it's so wide and open, though there's a lot of traffic, cars/motos hardly hoot...only when necessary, clean, broad and well prepared streets. People are smiling, like to make jokes, especially about foreigners. It can happen that you pass by a group of Cambodians and whole of a sudden they start laughing. You might think they are laughing about you...well they do! Dancing- or aerobic lessons in almost every park... and so on and so. When I'm writing this I find out that I had expectations, but none of the above. 

After three days Phnom Penh, I went to Siem Reap for the famous well known temples of Angkor and did some temple hopping. Visited 4 Temples in one day and that was enough! I'm not a temple hopper at all... way to exhausting! To get to Siem Reap, I booked a local bus, non air-con and no board toilet, for a trip of 6 hours. I expected something like the local buses in Northern Thailand...but what I got was an air-con bus with incredibly good seats! I really have to stop expecting because this country keeps on surprising me.

The trip to Siem Reap started and ended the same....endless views of rice-fields and of nothing. Really calming scenery, but just outside the towns they are so poor. They have nothing, no food, no clothes, no toys, no medication...just nothing! In between something happened which really shocked me and awakened me. The bus slowed down quite rapidly, but that was nothing unusual. This time I checked out why he slowed down and saw a man laying down on the street, dead, shot down. How do I know this...well it was quite obvious and I talked about it with the Cambodian guy next to me. He whispered "this is nothing special". Why do I tell you this? I know it's not nice to read but...this is Cambodia as well...this is daily life...besides all the smiling and laughing they argue, they fight, they are not satisfied, and yes they shoot.

I'm still thinking about volunteering, Cambodia could really be one of the countries. After the Pol Pot time about 30 years ago now, with all the killing of educated people, there are hardly educated people, hardly any kind of knowledge outside the big cities. Children for example don't know what to do with a pen....they can't even draw. The government is not really investing in these people...who knows where all the money goes.

Discovered the old city of Siem Reap: Can I keep on falling in love? When Phnom Penh is Zurich, than Siem Reap is Winterthur...and I love Winterthur! Joined a Yogaclass, with a dutch Yogateacher :-) and I liked doing nothing, although it's sometimes really hard. I'm still not completely used to it...doing nothing. I always start to read, drink, eat, walk, but just sitting and doing nothing...that's quite hard. The best way to practice is in a bus or train. So I decided to not take my music in the bus from Siem Reap back to Phnom Penh. What happened??? Nothing... except for vomiting kids around me and a lovely Cambodian girl that slept in my arm for hours :-)


Why Phnom Penh again? Well just had to pick up my passport with the visa for Laos and Vietnam...for me no Killing Fields, no horror musea, it don't need this confrontation with cruelty! But keep on practicing doing nothing :-) 

For the next two weeks I planned to go more in north-eastern direction, but take it step by step: Kampong Cham, Kratie, Stung Treng, Ban Lung....Laos.


I'm doing fine!
Carry