Cracked about Kratie

Ok, so I've met a few obnoxious travellers the last few days...asking me with their condescending snorts 'Three days in Kratie? Eh, why? We just spent 12 hours on a bus here from Laos and we are out of here first thing in the morning to Phnom Penh - where there's some life.' Yup, two solid days on a bus sounds like a great plan, good luck with that. 

I don't know what their problem was because Kratie to me is an absolute no-brainer. I extended my stay by an extra night I loved it so much. Okay, I didn't get off to the best of starts with the bus journey, it took 9 1/2 hours instead of 6. The bus seats weren't even bolted to the floor but we got there in the end. An unexpected highlight of the journey was stopping at a roadside restaurant and realising the locals were buying and eating big, hairy TARANTULAS. I was tempted but I didn't indulge. Sorry to say the below isn't my own picture but I wanted to 'play things cool' being the only non-Cambodian on the bus and all, didn't want them laughing at the funny 'barang' (foreigner) who doesn't like snacking on big, hairy spider legs. 

When I got to Kratie I was fit for nothing. I managed to catch up on a bit of reading and went to bed at 9 like the party animal I am. The next morning I got up and queued for the ferry across to Koh Trong. I sat in the boat for 45 mins, watching the local 'strong men' carry anything and everything up and down the steps to the boat for a couple of riel. Then off we went. But not before changing seats having realized the boats dirty, diesel engine was pouring toxic fumes into my lungs. No one else seemed to mind so much. We got to the island, walked the 1km over the sand bank to the local tourist office to rent a bike for the day. The office was packed full of children practicing traditional dancing, it must have been a lunch-break or something but was nice to watch. Then I got cycling. 9km circuit round the island. There's lots to do here but I just went off by myself. I actually went off the road. No joke, I found myself negotiating marshy meadows with cows staring at me. But I found the track and on I went. The highlights of the island are the following:

•     Possible home-stay with local families.
•     Rice planting
•     Reforestation projects
•     Floating Vietnamese village
•     And then the island itself is just unbelievably beautiful to spend a few hours there. 

I ended the evening with a quick cycle around the town. I managed to get stuck in mud so thick it looked like my sandals were platform shoes and my bike wheels were all jammed. A local couple stopped to help me fix my bike. When they were finished I tried to offer them some money (in fairness I could see the ramshackle house they were living in) but they refused and were embarrassed. I must have looked like such a western d*ckhead. 

My third day in Kratie, I booked a days tour with Sithy, a local the same age as me, who gives tours around the less-explored West Bank of Kratie where he grew up. Sithy is basically everything I want to be; young with a beautiful family, has his own business and bags of potential to grow it. He basically wants to grow from doing small basic tours of the village and surrounding ares into more adventure-type tours, focused more on the experience. He can totally do it. He has a nod from the Lonely Planet, glowing TripAdvisor reviews and a popular Facebook page. I learned more from Sithy in a couple of hours than I could have had from any book. He told me all about ancient Khmer society, the background to the Khmer Rouge and the years following, how Buddhism and Hinduism intertwine and all about how local people make a living. He even went out of his way to show me a local beauty spot where children and the rare Irrawaddy dolphins were splashing around within metres of each other. If you find yourself in Kratie make sure and look Sithy up at www.cambodianpridetours.com 

Sithy showing me a local farming family harvesting crops. 

House for drying tobacco leaves.

Local women making noodles from rice-flour.

So you see my dear, condescending, rat haired, hippie-pants wearing, travelling friends, 3 days in Kratie was very much needed and I think I'll stop here again on my way back down from Ratanakiri next week but we'll see about that in a few days. 

Right now, I'm taking it easy in anticipation of my early bus tomorrow morning and drinking lots of tea since I seem to be slowly but surely losing my voice. 

Volunteering Done and Dusted.

The last week has been a week of celebration, that is one thing for sure. We've had Chinese New Year being celebrated across Cambodia, it was my birthday during the week (I admit I'm a big fan of my own birthday) and then also just celebrating the end of what's been an absolute highlight of my life; volunteering at SCAO for the last two months. 

So what exactly have we done? What haven't we done?! The week started off heavy in my heart, knowing you are leaving behind some of the most wonderful children in the world is a daunting thing. Having Chinese New Year this week meant we had Thursday and Friday free from lessons which actually left me finishing up earlier than I had expected. I had to tell the children on Tuesday that my last day was on Wednesday and I was dreading it. But the funny thing is, the feckers weren't sad at all but were so excited about getting a new teacher. Maybe this speaks volumes about their true feelings for me, but it helped lift the sadness I was feeling knowing the kids are happy and that the new volunteers are just as eager as I am to continue with their progress and that's all that matters. SCAO and SCOOP are really doing a great job in Cambodia. 

Wednesday morning myself and the bold Sophie went with the man of the house, Sovanred, to the market. I really have to admire him. He gets up at 6 every morning to cycle 5 kilometers to the market to pick up food him and his wife will cook for the volunteers. It took us 45 minutes to get there in total. Sophie asked Sovanred if he can do it in less time, he said 'Yes, I can do it twenty' - but he was going slowly for us. Sweet. The market is a very interesting place at 7 in the morning. Firstly, it's crawling with people. At one point I couldn't move but a moto was trying to drive into me. Secondly, it's full of fantasticly weird and wonderful food you won't see at home. There's snake meat, pigs heads, leeches, insects and lots more. It was a bit overwhelming to be honest but amazing to be among Khmer people in such a central part of their lives, cliche as that sounds. 

The below pic is of snake meat. Couldn't confirm if it was from one snake...

The other big thing we did this week was join our student monks on a day trip. We had organized to meet them in Phnom Penh at 10 in the morning. They didn't make an appearance till 12, Cambodian style of course. They wouldn't tell us what their plan was but about 1 or so they hired two tuktuks to take us 40km out the other side of Phnom Penh to a national Buddhist centre. It was amazing. Set among the most beautiful farmland were some incredible Pagodas and woods. We were so busy taking pictures here, there and everywhere that one of the other girls playfully slapped a monk on the arm. She felt so bad, being a woman you aren't allowed to touch a monk. He had to reach into the lake to wash himself 'clean' again. We stayed a little bit too long in the Buddhist centre because at around 4 we felt we needed to leave to get back to the village. This didn't go down too well with our monks. They had planned to take us to their 'home' Pagoda which was close by. In the end we went with them and I'm glad we did because we got to see another side to their life. We saw where they entered the 'monk' life and how they acted with their leader, not to mention the fact they fed us some yummy mangos from their mango tree. We left at around 5.30 and a few of the girls cried knowing just how much effort they had put into the day and that we wouldn't see them again. Absolute sweethearts. 

Other stuff we got up to:

-  slept on the roof of the school. Woke up at 5 freezing. Now understand more easily how people are dying of exposure in the village. 

- our resident two year old hid the moto key of a volunteer in the water pump. 

- Sophie went with one of Khmer teachers to his rice fields. I couldn't go as I was far too busy being sick. 

- watched Lethal Weapon Tuesday night. Watched Bad Grandpa Wednesday night.

- a Dutch lady came to volunteer at the school. I finally got to practice some Dutch. 

- my birthday was Thursday. One of the German volunteers made some typical German food and we had a drink on the roof to celebrate. A birthday I am sure to never forget. 

And then team bonding with the other volunteers just got way out of hand. I did think that I'd settle and have a laugh with the others in the school but nothing could have prepared me for just how close we all became. Every meal was a laugh a minute and we ended up spending close to every evening in the village huddled together in the downstairs classroom, preparing our lessons, watching movies or just talking while swatting thousands of Mosquitos off us. We were all very much open and honest with each other (or tried to be) and managed to laugh when times got tense even when the boys evaded some essential bathroom cleaning.

So, here's to the other volunteers at SCAO School 2, Emilly, Cecile, Nik, Vikram, Khai, Soph, and most importantly the bold Anne-Sophie, because without you guys it just wouldn't have been the same. 

So what's next on the cards? I've got a couple weeks free now until my friend, Katie Finn, arrives for some Indonesian fun. For now I'm going to wind down in Cambodia and see some more of this beautiful country I've fallen head over heels in love with.

Till then,