Written a few days after leaving Sihanoukville....
I am pretty sure I dreamt about this place when I was a child. Treehouses and hammocks galore, this little piece of gorgeous land is filled with gardens, ponds and free-range animals of all sorts. The bungalows are simple but comfy and the food is rather delicious. Oh and the outdoor bathrooms- maybe the coolest place to spend time when nature calls... Added 'outdoor bathroom' to my mental dreamhouse after taking a hot shower amongst flowers and blue skies.
I arrived here at Nature Lodge in Sen Monorom after three days of buses and traveling- the plan was to get as far north as possible while still allowing myself some time to enjoy it before heading towards Siem Reap. The furthest north I could get direct from Sihanoukville was Kompong Cham so that was stop #1- a quiet little river town that, unfortunately, left a bad taste in my mouth.
I was pleased to see the town was not, by any means, touristy but started feeling a bit vulnerable as there seemed to be a substantially skewed ratio of men to women roaming the river-side streets. Was able to enjoy a nice dinner and sunset along the Mekong before reverting back to my nice hotel room (splurged the extra two dollars for a room that had a window didn't smell like smoke) after a moto with three teenage boys got uncomfortably close as they raced by yelling some Khmer nonsense at me. Woke up early to watch the sunrise and eat a yummy breakfast and then walked down to see the bridge that the locals rebuild each dry season that spans the Mekong over to a small island (pretty impressive as its made entirely out of bamboo). Talked to some kids on the way back and stopped for a few pictures of the floating villages. Decided to kill some time just relaxing by the river and taking in the fresh air before my bus journey to Kratie. The enjoyment of my nice little morning came to a crashing hault though as I realized a guy, half-hiding behind a tree, was doing inappropriate things to himself while staring intently at me... Feeling slightly violated and completely disgusted, I resorted to my room until it was time for the next bus.
A couple hours on a crowded and less-than-air-conditioned bus and I arrived in another quite riverside town- Kratie- that immediately gave me a sense of safety. Though there wasn't too much to do in this town, I had decided that I was already sick of bus rides and would stay here for a few nights before I headed west. Well, that decision lasted about an hour before I met a Swedish girl named Ana. We started chatting about what to do in kratie and where we were both staying. She said she had checked into a place but a guy had tried getting into her room and then began following her so we decided it would be a win-win situation if she came over to my place and took the free bed in my room. Less money for both of us and more security for her. That's when she started telling me about her amazing week in Sen Monorom and this wonderful place called nature lodge and how she already missed the friendly locals and jungles and waterfalls... That's when I, again, changed my plans. Watched the sunset from a beautiful balcony overlooking the Mekong and booked my ticket up north around 9pm for the following morning.
This time it was a five hour journey on both paved and dirt roads in a mini-van that was packed with (I do not exaggerate) 21 people. (And believe it or not, we were living large compared to other vans that were weighed down with people on their roofs and boxes hanging out the back with simple ropes holding the trunk door down...) Finally got in to sen monorom and found a moto to drive me out of town to nature lodge. And then I was home.
One of the guys on our packed mini bus showed up later and we started talking about hiring a moto to go see the various waterfalls and sights around for the next day. Walked into town and haggled for a good price and had a deal- the moto guy would personally drop off our moto in the morning to nature lodge and we had a day to hit up all the sights. Sweet. Dinner and sunset watching at nature lodge and bed before the generator turned off at ten.
Our moto biking day turned out slightly disasterous but one of those adventures that you can laugh about later and one that, ultimately, could have turned out a lot worse. The moto guys showed up a bit late with our bike- a red and white moto with a not so powerful engine and some pretty bald tires. Simon took a test drive and asked the guy if it was possible to get a better bike with better tires and a bit more umph in the engine. The guy though assured us that the roads we would be riding on would be plenty okay with what we were given so we caved and accepted the bike and went on our way.
Took us about 7 minutes of driving to figure out that this may be a little hairier than we were lead to believe- a 40 k drive up to this first waterfall and the roads were already filled with numerous hills and were definitely not paved like we were told. Instead of asphalt, we had roads of big, chunky rocks covered in inches of the fine, red dirt/dust that covered all of sen monorom. Awesome. Our bottoms were beyond sore and hurting only a quarter of the way in but we kept on...
We knew we had to be getting close when the roads started getting extra rough- bigger rocks with more dust/dirt on top- and we took a tumble as Simon was trying to brake (only one of which worked) and shift while avoiding the biggest rocks and ended up just skidding out on the loose dirt. To say 'tumble' may be an exaggeration though- it was more of a 'falling over' as as we were traveling at a speed of maybe 3mph. Scrapped up elbows, a deeply bruised hip and some cuts on our feet were the worst of our injuries- also just being covered in the finest of fine red dust from head to toe added a bit of insult to injury!
Dusting off our dirty clothes and bruised egos, we mustarded up the motivation to keep on going- one more curve and we had finally arrived- really?? Paid the park fee and entered into a beautiful two tiered waterfall that was surrounded with local families picnicing and, unfortunately, a mad amount of rubbish. Washed up a bit, soaked our wounds and ate our pack lunches on a nice big rock in the middle of the rushing waters. Discussed where we would head next and decided we would stop by our moto rental place first and tell the guys that our bike was crap and that we wanted a new one for the remainder of the day. If they wouldn't give us a new one, we would pay half the day's fee and walk away- we were more than willing to pay a fair price but we weren't gonna get ripped off for being put on a dangerous, ill-performing bike- yea, that's what we will do and if they give us crap, well then f that! (often times you have to give yourself a pep talk before these little haggling episodes or else your willpower will just fail against their veteran tourist-dealings).
Jumped back on the bike again and started heading back towards town. Took our time over the nasty streches of roads and were sure to give our asses a break or two along the way. We were doing good. That is, until we started veering off the road for no apparent reason. Simon and I were both able to balance the bike with our feet as he put on our one break and caught our breath for a second before asking eachother 'what the f??'. Our front tire had blown... Sweet. We have the number of our moto guy but no cell phone- the last village was about two miles down- let's just start walking that way. Out of some miraculous coincidence, a pick up truck (probably only about 20 of them in the entire eastern region of Cambodia) with an empty bed (empty space in any car is always a rarity) was driving towards us just as we started our journey. We asked them if we could get a ride back to town and the guys obliged and even helped us haul our POS bike into the bed of the truck. Simon got to 'ride' the bike back in the truck bed so it wouldn't tip over- we were the epitomy of 'farang' (the dumb white tourist). We unloaded the bike, offered the nice man some money which he would not take and b-lined for the cooler with beer for sale. Paid, cheersed eachother and sat down to enjoy the beer as our not-so-happy moto guy inspected the damage. He took responsibility for it and we paid him for the time we had it and then some and then jumped on his bike for our complimentary ride home.
A long shower and first-aid session later, Simon and I both agreed to just give up and hang around the rest of the day.
Today I tried getting a guide to take me around to the places I missed and even that failed. A quarter into the trip, my driver told me we couldn't go to half the places I told him I wanted to go- told him to take me home and now here I am: done being adventurous and fully soaking in the lazy feel of this place in a treehouse hammock with a book and my iPod. It could be worse...
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Farewell CCPP and all you beautiful souls...
Well here I am, sitting on another over-air conditioned bus with my life once again packed up into one oversized backpack and an overcrowded purse. Both iPods are fully charged and I have two new books and my journal within reach should I feel bored with the scenery. This time, however, I am leaving a town that was a home of sorts- one where I had a makeshift family of international sweethearts and 150+ reasons to get up in the morning. These kids have left an impression on me that I hope to never forget- they are small glimmers of hope in a country with a dire history and a dim future.
There are so many kids that come in and out of CCPP that it is virtually impossible to know all their names and stories- we have over 150 registered and still have new kids showing up daily- but there are definitely a few that stood out to me during my month here. There's the young ones who stole my heart from the very beginning- 'Grumpy' or Tas is maybe one of the cutest little boys I have ever seen- being the youngest out of a family of 9, he probably gets the most crap from his brothers but also the most amount of love. He doesn't really ever paint, he just likes to wander around making little bouts of trouble and small gestures of friendship. Not sure how he acquired the nickname as he is always pretty happy but somehow it still seems to fit him. Then there's 'sharktooth' or Dom- he's a lot like Grumps but is a real troublemaker and no one questions his nickname- this little guy has his front 4 teeth completely rotted out- all jagged and blackened. He had never painted before and would just come with his sister Vandy all the time, but he has recently started scribbling mad amounts of colors together and is selling paintings as fast as he makes them. Then there's Mary, a new little girl that posesses a beauty that makes people stare. She comes now with her two older brothers, the middle one always making trouble and the oldest always looking after the you younger two, and is a mystery to us. Sometimes she comes in with a big smile on her face and other times, it takes us a whole day to even get a sliver of happiness out of those beautiful eyes. Becca is now sponsoring one of the brothers and got to go meet the family. These three kids live on a platform on the beach with their mom and two (even younger) siblings- I was told the father passed away. Madeline and co. are going to try and find a sponsor to get the family into a real structure and/or build some kind of home for them before the rainy season begins. Hopefully it won't be too long before they have something over their heads but a simple tarp.
Then there is Piseth who is an older boy with autism (never properly diagnosed but has all the symptoms) who was a strain on his family for a long time and who now sells these amazing abstract paintings for $40-100/each. His favorite thing to do is to make these stunning canvases filled up with a giant circle in the middle using ketchup-like bottles filled with paint and a knife. We couldn't figure out why he always did this circle pattern until it was finally told and translated to us one day- it is the golden lions traffic circle- the roundabout just up the road from our building. We were all contemplating different deep meanings of the circle before and it was just simply a traffic circle- amazing!
There is Varen who is fairly young but does just breathtaking works and is a charming but cheecky fellow and Chandlon who is new and so polite and has an amazing and very unique style of painting. There's Nyogk who has made me actually think that there IS a legitimate reason why ridaline (spelling?) was invented- though I'm thinking a minor diet change could also help to lower his hyperactivity as the kid is always eating some sugar-loaded dessert of one kind or another. There's Nil, a new ten year old boy that has more hoola-hoopin skills than I have ever seen before and who always uses his 'please' and 'thank you's'. Ho, our cook, is 18 years old and speaks amazing English- she always wears layers of clothes in the blaring Cambodian heat and tells us she's cold as she constantly sports a sweat mustache. There's one boy who always helps us with lunch and picking the kids up from school and who told us wants to be an 'NGO staff' when he gets older. Srey Own was one of my favorite little girls after our first field trip where she drew a beautiful picture of me in the sand- she always used her manners and had a beaming smile that just radiated light. Sing was a veteren kid who was great about taking care of his little brother and was a sweetheart to everyone... The list goes on.
(btw- This is nowhere close to a complete or fair compilation- a month is not near long enough to really get to know that many kids, but these are the ones that come to mind at the moment.)
As for our crew of volunteers, we had quite the variety as well: Felix, the guy who really got this project rolling, is resigning in sihanoukville to put on a European art show to make money for ccpp and for the new foundation they want to start up in Africa. Taking his place is Madeline who grew up on the San Juan islands and who has spent the last few years working in China and Thailand. Then there's Sandi- a Canadian artist who runs a big portion of this whole production- as a general rule: what Sandi says, goes. Pip and John Brown are both Khemer social workers that do everything from keeping records of school attendance and driving kids to the doctors/dentist to teaching English and disiplining. They are both great guys and are our saving grace when the kids don't listen to us (they speak the language and are male- goes a long way out here). Nikki is a Minnesota native who has spent the last six years in Alaska- she went to school for nursing so she gets to do all the first aid around the house: disenfecting wounds and wrapping toes and scrapped knees and applying anti-fungal cream to the kids we found ringworm on. There is Becca and Sarah- both beautiful Melbourne girls who are/were the social butterflies around town and in the bars every night. Matt and Lisa- a Brit couple who are genuinely some of the nicest people I have come across... I just hope they get married one day and make little children that have the same values and enthusiasium as those two- the world needs more people like them! Then there's Paige and Kylie- gorgeous friends who met in college in New York and who are now traveling and volunteering for a few months after working real jobs for a bit. And Ischtvan, our Hungarian volunteer who was previously working in Dubai and who does not have a single bad bone in his body.
As I was leaving, we were just getting four new volunteers- one, Zoe, is a spunky girl from Amsterdam with a passion for poi and fire dancing. The other three are all from Melbourne and seem to be whole-heartidly good people. I think CCPP is in good hands for awhile...
My emotions are all jumbled as I start the journey home but I am so very grateful for my time here and, most of all, the people that were a part of it all. To everyone helping to run and maintain the successful program that CCPP has become, thank you! To the kind souls that all came together to help volunteer, safe travels and thank you for making my time here what it was. And to the kids of CCPP- I love you all- keep on being kids and please please stay in school and in CCPP- you are all capable of doing whatever your little hearts desire- and thanks- you taught me a lot!
Please pass along the info for ccpp to anyone who may be intrested in volunteering and/or wanting to clear out their closests of acrylic paints and boxes of erasers...
www.letuscreate.org
There are so many kids that come in and out of CCPP that it is virtually impossible to know all their names and stories- we have over 150 registered and still have new kids showing up daily- but there are definitely a few that stood out to me during my month here. There's the young ones who stole my heart from the very beginning- 'Grumpy' or Tas is maybe one of the cutest little boys I have ever seen- being the youngest out of a family of 9, he probably gets the most crap from his brothers but also the most amount of love. He doesn't really ever paint, he just likes to wander around making little bouts of trouble and small gestures of friendship. Not sure how he acquired the nickname as he is always pretty happy but somehow it still seems to fit him. Then there's 'sharktooth' or Dom- he's a lot like Grumps but is a real troublemaker and no one questions his nickname- this little guy has his front 4 teeth completely rotted out- all jagged and blackened. He had never painted before and would just come with his sister Vandy all the time, but he has recently started scribbling mad amounts of colors together and is selling paintings as fast as he makes them. Then there's Mary, a new little girl that posesses a beauty that makes people stare. She comes now with her two older brothers, the middle one always making trouble and the oldest always looking after the you younger two, and is a mystery to us. Sometimes she comes in with a big smile on her face and other times, it takes us a whole day to even get a sliver of happiness out of those beautiful eyes. Becca is now sponsoring one of the brothers and got to go meet the family. These three kids live on a platform on the beach with their mom and two (even younger) siblings- I was told the father passed away. Madeline and co. are going to try and find a sponsor to get the family into a real structure and/or build some kind of home for them before the rainy season begins. Hopefully it won't be too long before they have something over their heads but a simple tarp.
Then there is Piseth who is an older boy with autism (never properly diagnosed but has all the symptoms) who was a strain on his family for a long time and who now sells these amazing abstract paintings for $40-100/each. His favorite thing to do is to make these stunning canvases filled up with a giant circle in the middle using ketchup-like bottles filled with paint and a knife. We couldn't figure out why he always did this circle pattern until it was finally told and translated to us one day- it is the golden lions traffic circle- the roundabout just up the road from our building. We were all contemplating different deep meanings of the circle before and it was just simply a traffic circle- amazing!
There is Varen who is fairly young but does just breathtaking works and is a charming but cheecky fellow and Chandlon who is new and so polite and has an amazing and very unique style of painting. There's Nyogk who has made me actually think that there IS a legitimate reason why ridaline (spelling?) was invented- though I'm thinking a minor diet change could also help to lower his hyperactivity as the kid is always eating some sugar-loaded dessert of one kind or another. There's Nil, a new ten year old boy that has more hoola-hoopin skills than I have ever seen before and who always uses his 'please' and 'thank you's'. Ho, our cook, is 18 years old and speaks amazing English- she always wears layers of clothes in the blaring Cambodian heat and tells us she's cold as she constantly sports a sweat mustache. There's one boy who always helps us with lunch and picking the kids up from school and who told us wants to be an 'NGO staff' when he gets older. Srey Own was one of my favorite little girls after our first field trip where she drew a beautiful picture of me in the sand- she always used her manners and had a beaming smile that just radiated light. Sing was a veteren kid who was great about taking care of his little brother and was a sweetheart to everyone... The list goes on.
(btw- This is nowhere close to a complete or fair compilation- a month is not near long enough to really get to know that many kids, but these are the ones that come to mind at the moment.)
As for our crew of volunteers, we had quite the variety as well: Felix, the guy who really got this project rolling, is resigning in sihanoukville to put on a European art show to make money for ccpp and for the new foundation they want to start up in Africa. Taking his place is Madeline who grew up on the San Juan islands and who has spent the last few years working in China and Thailand. Then there's Sandi- a Canadian artist who runs a big portion of this whole production- as a general rule: what Sandi says, goes. Pip and John Brown are both Khemer social workers that do everything from keeping records of school attendance and driving kids to the doctors/dentist to teaching English and disiplining. They are both great guys and are our saving grace when the kids don't listen to us (they speak the language and are male- goes a long way out here). Nikki is a Minnesota native who has spent the last six years in Alaska- she went to school for nursing so she gets to do all the first aid around the house: disenfecting wounds and wrapping toes and scrapped knees and applying anti-fungal cream to the kids we found ringworm on. There is Becca and Sarah- both beautiful Melbourne girls who are/were the social butterflies around town and in the bars every night. Matt and Lisa- a Brit couple who are genuinely some of the nicest people I have come across... I just hope they get married one day and make little children that have the same values and enthusiasium as those two- the world needs more people like them! Then there's Paige and Kylie- gorgeous friends who met in college in New York and who are now traveling and volunteering for a few months after working real jobs for a bit. And Ischtvan, our Hungarian volunteer who was previously working in Dubai and who does not have a single bad bone in his body.
As I was leaving, we were just getting four new volunteers- one, Zoe, is a spunky girl from Amsterdam with a passion for poi and fire dancing. The other three are all from Melbourne and seem to be whole-heartidly good people. I think CCPP is in good hands for awhile...
My emotions are all jumbled as I start the journey home but I am so very grateful for my time here and, most of all, the people that were a part of it all. To everyone helping to run and maintain the successful program that CCPP has become, thank you! To the kind souls that all came together to help volunteer, safe travels and thank you for making my time here what it was. And to the kids of CCPP- I love you all- keep on being kids and please please stay in school and in CCPP- you are all capable of doing whatever your little hearts desire- and thanks- you taught me a lot!
Please pass along the info for ccpp to anyone who may be intrested in volunteering and/or wanting to clear out their closests of acrylic paints and boxes of erasers...
www.letuscreate.org
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