Day 15- Sophie Ellis at Peak Sneng

Right now, relaxing in our rooms is a hard earned treat after an exhausting but enjoyable day at the Peak Sneng School. The day began as an early one, as so many have on the trip so far, but the idea of a unappreciated wake-up call and another harrowing journey on the bus (at least this time only an hour and a half) hasn’t gone unrewarded by the end of the day.

                The bus ride in was slow and bumpy along the roads of the smaller villages around Siem Reap, the bus driver was cautious and seemed very concerned about the welfare of his vehicle which is always appreciated and is a huge contrast to our experiences so far in tuk tuk’s. After the impatience that accompanied a slow arrival at our destination, we finally made it to the school and were greeted with the best welcome we could have asked for. It was all very humbling as the students clapped us into their school from all sides and generally celebrated our presence in their school community. In many a case I think a lot of us were surprised at their gratitude to us for something we had deemed so little, their passion for learning and education was inspiring.

                                The next part of the day included getting prepared to teach lessons while the library was stocked by our very own librarian Mr Kervin and Jill of all trades Mrs Seymour.  We were soon sent to our classes and in our group’s  case it suddenly dawned upon us how difficult teaching these lessons were about to become. The language barrier was difficult, as a lot of students didn’t know much more than a quick greeting and introduction. Nevertheless, we carried on wholeheartedly and luckily our lesson of choice was an easy step-by-step introduction into some easy origami. It certainly put a smile on the children’s faces to run around “meeping” at us with their chatterboxes (which apparently look a lot like birds) and somewhere along the line what was simply folding colourful paper became a sport!

                After what we would call early successes with our lessons (despite everybody’s complaints of unco-operative ‘older kids’ whom none of us has prepared for and the common problem of language difficulties) everyone settled down for a break as the students left for home and lunch. Many people left to enjoy coconut juice up the road and had great experiences again with the squat toilets. Afterward, everyone returned for an enjoyable (and large) lunch and were ready again to tackle our class’s.

                The afternoon class’s all played out much the same as the mornings with everyone encountering and in turn over coming many of the difficulties that came with trying to plan out lessons. After three more class’s we earned another break and much excitement came from our groups apparent ‘menace’ of noisy origami. We tried not to join in, but the smiling faces of the local children and their enjoyment in nipping us with paper faces overcame many and everyone was once again up and joining in the activity in a variety of ways.

Our final class’s (including private English lessons with after-school students) were a great time to relax and recount the events of the day. The whole group was able to see and appreciate the gratitude for education in this country. The desire to learn was overwhelming and the happy, friendly attitudes of everyone within the school amazing. We all made many new friends today and are looking forward to what I expect to be a magnificent celebration of the official opening of our donated library tomorrow (but perhaps not the bus ride).

Sophie Ellis

Day 14- Kabe's day on the Tonle Sap

My day started at 12am in the morning when my roommate Gareth was ill and I stayed up with him until he fell asleep. By the morning, thankfully, he was feeling much better and I had breakfast with Dan, Jake and Mr Malone. 

Shortly after we headed off to Tonle Sap (the largest lake in Asia, that swells to four times its normal size in the wet season), the trip took around 45minutes. On the way we observed local villagers making traditional “sticky rice” which many of us got a chance to taste. It is cooked for over an hour with coconut milk inside the core of a bamboo stem.  We continued until we arrived at another village on the edge of the lake. In this settlement all the buildings were built high off the ground on large stilts, as during the wet season the lake swells and the road disappears, leaving the houses completely surrounded by water. Once in the village we boarded a boat that took us on a tour down the river to the Tonle Sap, this lake was so large that you could see the earth’s curve when looking straight across it. On the lake we also observed a “floating village” where people lived in houses floating on the lake. These people made their existence by fishing the waters of the lake.

After the interesting tour we headed back on the bus to the hotel where me and a few friends went for lunch at a nearby restaurant, “kids plaza” restaurant which had amazingly good rice.

After lunch we visited to a local swimming lake and had a look at it, it was once made by hand labour and it stretched for km’s down it was truly amazing to think the amount of work that would have been needed to excavate the massive body of water.

Afterwards me and a few friends went out to a Thai restaurant for dinner and then had free time for the rest of the night.

Kabe Orr

Day 13- Emma and Fabia's day in Siem Reap

This morning we headed off to the countryside to a little village just outside Siem Reap. Waiting for us was our guide’s special surprise .....15 ox carts for us to carry us through the village. It was great to be able to see how village communities in the countryside really look. It made us feel really privileged and was a real eye opener. We were also amazed to see how friendly the people were, especially the kids.  They all came out to wave and say hullo.

After that we went to Artisans Angkor where we went on a tour around all the different workshops to see how the artists create and recreate traditional artworks from Cambodia. After buying a few things from the gift shop we drove to our next destination, an old temple. We went to a partly restored temple (Akhvah Temple) which was built at the same time as Angkor Wat. Just in front of this temple there was there was a fifty year old monastery.

Then we headed back to the hotel for lunch and a short break. After this we went to The Cambodian Land Mine Museum. The information was quite shocking as we didn’t realise just how much damage landmines have caused and are still causing. There are huge relief efforts going on which is good but it is predicted to take many many more years till they are completely eradicated from Cambodia.

On our way back to Siem Reap we stopped at two villages.  At the first village we tried palm sugar made by the villagers. At the second village we stopped and took a walk through the village to again see the living conditions of the people. For dinner we went to the main street and walked around the markets for a while before heading home by Tuk Tuk.  An early night for the group because it is a big day tomorrow.

Emma And Fabia

Photos Day 11- Volunteer School- Siam Reap

Day 11 Sassie and Mellie's adventures in Siam Reap

Today we had time to have a rest and relax until about 2pm. During this time some of us got to sleep in, wash our clothes, go shopping, swim in the pool and recuperate. It was a really good opportunity to recharge as a lot of us were still pretty tired and run down from such a full on itinerary and trip so far. Some people slept in, Maddie and Shannon even slept in until 11. However, most people woke up early enough to enjoy breakfast. On the menu; pancakes, bacon, eggs and hash browns, French toast, and cereals. All of it seemed really yummy but pancakes were the clear choice. After breakfast some started on washing their clothes in the bath tub, some went to the shops to buy snacks and Mellie got her hair done for $5 she got a wash, cut, and straighten it turned out pretty good. Others just stayed in bed and watched television enjoying a bit of normality to their lives.

 After lunch we still had an hour and a half to do whatever we wanted to do so some people just continued playing the pool and swimming in the pool, some continued with their washing. I (Sassie) went for a nice swim in the pool with heaps of the other kids while Miss Sutton just chilled being a very experienced lifeguard. After swimming in the pool and with around 20 minutes until we were departing from our hotel we all left the pool and went to get changed. This is where it got awkward; as I was getting changed I (Sassie) heard a knock on the door, it was obvious this was housekeeping, Mellie was currently preoccupied washing her clothes so the housekeepers came in and all I had was a towel. Luckily the bathroom became occupied and I got to get changed.

At 2pm we headed out to the volunteer school, for the first 20-30mins we played games like feather-feather and kicking the soccer ball around because we had to wait for the director of the school. When he arrived we gathered in a small classroom and sat in the small, really small and squashed tight spaced chairs and tables. The director of the school had a talk to us about what their school is about, when it was built and how difficult it was for them to get the school together. He also spoke about what they expected from their students in relation to their work ethic and attitudes. After the director spoke we had the opportunity to meet with an Australia man Ben. Ben used to be a volunteer teacher at the school and was also an ex-Bowral high School student; one that Mr Malone had the privilege of teaching. When we met with Ben he gave us a chance to ask questions about Cambodia, things that we may have felt uncomfortable asking Cambodian people, things about his life and anything really. Ben answered all of our questions and even told us about his life here in Cambodia, his family and his views on the education of the students. He also spoke about the issues in Cambodia and in particular Siem Reap.

While Ben was speaking we noticed that many of the students had started to arrive at around 4 o’clock the teenage students had arrived and Ben finalised his talk. After this time we all headed outside to meet the students, and waited for the bell to ring. When the classes had begun we were invited into different classrooms to join in with the lesson. On Fridays the students have interactive games and learning exercises.

 In the classroom I (Mellie) joined in with Lani, Jack, Sophie, Daniel and Blake, the first thing we did was introduce our selves to the students and the students introduced their selves to us. We played 2 games in the classroom, first game was “Hangman” group B won which Lani, Blake and I (Mellie) were in, Group A was Jack, Sophie and Daniel. The second game was a memorising game, which one person from each team would turn away from the board and whatever word the teacher called out was the word in which they had to find then circle it or touch it.

In my (Sassie) classroom we basically played the same games as Mellie, although it was difficult because the children in the classroom were only beginners at English, even though, they were all still lovely children and had an amazingly happy attitude. Also in my classroom were around six monks. One of them asked Sophie if she was married, and when Sophie went to sit next to one they moved away. The reason for this was that monks are not allowed to touch women; however this was an experience for us within itself.  After we played the games inside we went outside again to play some more games. Some were to do with numbers however others were very familiar to us, such as cat and mouse and duck-duck-goose. We enjoyed our time outside playing with the kids however it was hard to tell when the children were laughing with you or at you with their different language. The games were enjoyable and after the lessons were over we hung outside and played games such as handball, football and feather-feather with the children.

Not long after the first lesson had finished more and more children started to show up and headed into the classrooms. Again we were invited to enter the classrooms and interact with the children. The classroom I (Sassie) entered was full of the best English speaking students and most spoke fluent English, which was nice. I was amazed at how happy the students were and their positive attitude rubbed off on everyone. The girls I was sitting with were so lovely and I will never forget how they smiled the whole time and relished the opportunity of visitors. The girls I was sitting with ages ranged from 16-21, and we had some good chats, especially when they asked me to sing a song. They told me that they were in love with Beyonce and that one of their favourite songs was ‘If I were a boy’ so of course they got me to sing it for them. The Cambodian children were so lovely and thought that every one of us was beautiful and gorgeous, calling the boys handsome,  which I’m not going to lie, of course we areJ. During the next lesson I (Mellie) had the chance to take photos of everyone in the classrooms, I enjoyed taking photo’s catching happy and interactive moments with the Cambodian students and teachers. Anyway soon it became time to say goodbye and it was a little bit sad. However it was such a great experience to talk to the students and see how happy they were just to have visitors at their small school. We will never forget their kindness and positive attitudes. It truly astounded us how friendly people in this country, who have gone through and lost so much, can be. We also got to see some similarities between our lives; the girls told us how when they got on facebook it was hard to get off. They told us how addictive it can be. See parents it’s not just us who think it. After the sad goodbyes we headed back to the hotel and soon after that headed to dinner.

The funny part for me (Mellie) was when a few students and teachers asked and try to guess what my nationality was, but in the end they did guess it. They were saying I looked Khmer (Cambodian).

It was a magical afternoon and we will never forget the experience.

Sassie and Mellie

The Temples of Ankor Wat

Day 11- Britney's Day at the Temples

Today we got up around 7am and went to the top floor of the hotel to have breakfast .After everyone finished their breakfast we left on the bus at 8:30am to go and see the Angkor Wat temple complex. The Temples are currently being restored section by section but they were still pretty amazing to take pictures of and venture inside. There were brilliant reliefs engraved into the walls of them. There was so much effort and time put into the pictures and so many stories behind each relief. One of the temples we saw was 900 years old. They were all so big and had amazing architecture which fascinated a lot of us. The never ending Cambodian heat competed with some of our energy levels. It was as if we were hiking through a desert.

     After we finished looking at some of the temples for the day we went back to the hotel to have lunch and relax. The majority of students took the chance to grab lunch at the local markets, while stocking up with some extra munchies for later.

     After lunch we got on the bus to go see the rest of the Angkor Wat temples  (Bayon).  One of the temples we saw was 42 metres in height. However, the place was really crowded which made it hard to move around but helped to show the significance of the temple we were so fortunate to see. Throughout the temples the magnificent design revealed how they used a combination of rocks to make one section of the temple such as the eye of a statue.

It took 2 hours to walk around one of the temples. It was very exhausting in the humid and sticky heat. By the end of the 3km walk around the complex everyone was dusty, hot and tired. However, it was a definitely worth it!!!!

Returning to the hotel everyone was looking forward to having a swim and relax before going out again for dinner via tuk tuk. With a variety of restaurants to choose from my friends( all twelve of us) and I settled for Mexican. Whilst there we decided it would be funny to sing happy birthday to Rachael  Waine (even though its not her birthday) many of the other customers joined in to wish her the best of wishes on her special day.  With some spare time a handful of the boys and Farbia payed three dollars to have their feet massaged by fish, as disgusting as it sounds apparently it was good. The rest of us (the normal ones) went shopping at the local markets where we bought some pretty dresses.

Tomorrow we look forward to a relaxing sleep in and the opportunity to work on our preparation for our school lessons,

  Britney Dumughn

Day 10 Photos- Phnom Penh to Siem Reap

A selection of fried tarantula's(about 10 of which were later eaten)

 At every stop we are surround by locals trying to sell us just about anything.

 Josh enjoying fried tarantula

 A tarantula silhouette infront of our Australia Day flag

 Enjoying a brief' pit stop'

 Handing out resources at a local primary school

 Local Cambodian students

 A student excited to recieve some donated resources

 Another student from the primary school we visited on the way to Siam Reap

 A view of Phnom Bakheng, a Hindu temple near Ankor Wat

 Emma before the climb to the top of Phnom Bakheng

 Reaching the summit of Phnom Bakheng for "sunset"

Enjong the view from the top of Phnom Bakheng

 Lilly and Sam observing Phnom Bakheng

A distant view of Ankor Wat, one of the temples we will visit tomorrow

Blog Day 10 - Phnom Penh to Sien Reap- Lewis and Blake

Last nights dinner at the Friends restaurant was really good. The Friends restaurant is a training service which rescues young kids who are living on the street, and helps them get a trade in hospitality. This helps them establish a stable future and gives them a career. The service there was better than any other restaurant we have eaten at so far. The students really enjoyed their line of work, and just learning in general. They were all really nice and at the end of the dinner I (Lewis) went through the kitchen and shook everyone’s hand, and thanked them for the dinner they seemed to enjoy serving and preparing.

The bus trip from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap was long, about 8 hours. We had a stop half way so the people that wanted to eat spiders and cockroaches could do so, but not me. I thought it was quite disgusting, but Blake tried them and thought they were good. We stopped at a school along the way to donate books and pencils to the children. The students at the school were so glad to see us and to receive our equipment.

When we arrived at Siem Reap we noticed our hotel and were so happy to see that we had a pool table and a swimming pool. After we checked in, we jumped back in the bus to visit our first temples from Angkar Wat. We had to climb up a really big hill and them some very steep, narrow steps. The view was fantastic from the top and we got to see the sun set.

The freedom we had tonight to choose our own group and choose our own place to eat dinner was awesome. The weather is warm but not too hot which will be good because we are going to spend the day tomorrow visiting all the temples.

Lewis and Blake

Day 9- Phnom Penh (Cambodia)

Our day started at 8:30am with everybody singing Happy Birthday to Mr Sam Campbell, (Sam turns 18 today!).

Our first stop was at the Royal Palace where we were welcomed by outstanding architecture and countless numbers of other tourists.  The most unforgettable parts of our visit to the palace was Throne Hall [aka the gold temple thing] and the Silver Pagoda. In the “gold temple thing” we all had to take off our shoes as we entered into the building. The temple glittered with gold. The architecture inside was more French than the outside of the building which was very Cambodian, with grand chandeliers hanging down from the hand painted ceiling. The Silver Pagoda contained a statue of a golden Budda which comprised of 19 carat diamond on its chest alone, and everyone thought it was funny that the statue was only padlocked by a small lock, the kind that you’d lock your suitcase with.

Our tour guide, Lucky, told us if we were good enough we could go and have a cup of coffee with the King of Cambodia (who, apparently is single and good looking  ... being 58!!). A few girls (aka Sassie and Maddi) actually believed this and were disappointed when Lucky told them he was actually joking.

After the palace, we walked over to the National Museum. It was filled with stone statues and beautiful gardens. Though, by this time everyone was quite exhausted from the humidity, so we went back to the hotel and had a bit of a rest. Then we went to the markets! The Central Markets were inside a large yellow dome right in the middle of the city. Once you walked in the glittering from all the jewellery just caught your eye. There was so much to choose from! Watches, glasses, clothes, shoes, iPods, you name it, they had it!

All that shopping for family and friends back home was quite exhausting (of course we’re buying gifts for you all), so once again we walked back to the hotel to rest. We may be Australian, and should be used to the heat, but we’re from the Highlands, so not really !)

Lily and Rheanna

P.S.  we both miss our mums! :D

Day 9-Phom Penh Photos

The elaborate Throne Hall or Preah Timeang Tevea Vinicchay

 Group photo infront of The Throne Hall

 The Royal Palace

Jill at the Throne Hall tour.

 Rachael, Mitchell and Leilani outside the Throne Hall

 Traditional Cambodian costume- A different colour for each day of the week.

 Amanda and Jill in front the "Silver" Pagoda

 Enjoying the tour of the Silver Pagoda

Sophie E, Sophie W and Rosie hunting for a bargin at the Central Markets in Phnom Penh

Photos Day 8- Phnom Penh(Cambodia)

 The confines of S21 prison Phnom Penh

 Tour of the S21 prison

Images of the torture carried out at S21 prison

 Graves at one of the killing fields surrounding Phnom Penh

 Remains recoverd from the Phnom Penh killing fields

 Tour of the Law and Commerce University in Phnom Penh

 Chiris Harker at the Law and Commerce University

 Enjoying the "I Love You" game at the University

Britney, Dimity and Mikalea dancing with the locals by the Mekong after dinner

Playing "Feather Feather" by the Mekong after dinner