Trepidation

(By Susan)

This morning we wake up in Cambodia.  That seems like such a strange statement.  We sit by the pool having bacon and egg, listening to English, Irish, Canadian, Singaporean, Ballarat accents. In Phnom Penh. Odd.

This is where, I think, it begins.  As a part of the building project that we’re doing, the Tabitha Foundation require all of their ‘build teams’ to visit the Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng prison.  The intent is for everyone to have a context for the work that we’ll do in the villages.  I’m not looking forward to it.  Both Dermot & I woke this morning after disturbing dreams.  We’re both a little nervous.

The memorial at Choeng Ek

We haven’t seen Rory yet this morning, but I hope he’s slept well – it was a big day yesterday of travel that began with a two-hour intense Muay Thai training session.  I’ll be interested to see how he is.

The shower was the best so far.  The few laps of the pool this morning were most refreshing.  The breakfast was tasty, and included Berri apple juice and vegemite options.  Perhaps it serves to offer a dramatic contrast.  I can hear the chaos that is the streets of Phnom Penh outside the walls of the hotel courtyard.  We’ll be taking a four-seater tuk-tuk an hour-and-a-half South (apparently it’s about 15km, but it’s a terrible road) to visit the Killing Fields first, and then the Prison museum later on.  The words that have been used thus far by those who have been there include ‘heavy’, ‘hard’, ‘gruelling’, ‘intense’, and ‘eviscerating’….  Ah dear.

Wish us strength.

(Photos from various locations on the Web)

Leaving Thailand

(By Susan)

We leave Bangkok and Thailand today for Phnom Penh and Cambodia.  Again, I’m starting to feel just a little apprehensive.  We’ve kind of got a little of the geography worked out here, and are loving the food and the way these guys go about things.  We have access to wi-fi at each end of the day when we get back to the hotel, and that works quite nicely – and Dermot still gets to read his daily electronic copy of The Age.  Though leaving any city is rarely a sad thing for us.

 

The bustle of Chinatown

The view from out dinner table on our last night in Bangkok

There’s less incense in the air than in Vietnam, and the streets are much, much cleaner.  We have seen the crass ‘farang’ or tourist side of Khaosan Road and the market around it – although it’s fun, it does seem to be full of people who’d rather be amongst their own and experiencing the safety of balmy night markets where you can still eat a parmigiana washed down with Heineken.  But at least they’re travelling, I suppose. We’ve wandered through the narrow alleyways of Soi Baht and the Monk’s Bowl Market, where we did indeed buy a monk’s bowl.  Very beautiful, and crafted carefully to carry alms for the Buddhist monks around the city.  The Muay Thai fights (it’s not kickboxing) were fascinating in lots of ways, and Rory went off with Paula this morning to a boxing gym for a two-hour training session – he might be glad of the hurry-up-and-wait process of international transit! 

On the mat with the pads

In the ring with the pads

With the whole group - most of them 'newbies'.
Paula and the other instructor are at the front.
[And thank you to Paula for the pics]

We’ve also been pulled and pushed through the process that is a Thai massage, and travelled in hair-raising style with all three of us squished into a tuk-tuk.  And the Buddhas.  There are a lot of Buddhas: lying down ones, standing up ones, sitting ones, laughing ones, wise ones, gold ones, stone ones, thin ones, fat ones…..

 

At the Marble Temple - this was one of the
more beautiful temples - or 'Wats'

The toes of the Buddha - the big one

Standing below the 45m gold-leaf chap,
you could see right up his nose.

The feeling around the protests, we won’t miss that much.  The protests around the election affected our trip to the airport this afternoon.  Just after we left our street, we spent half an hour travelling about 200m.  It wasn’t fun.  There wasn’t another flight this afternoon, so a quiet anxiety had begun to settle on the cabin of the taxi.  And the driver wasn’t impressed either. Then the fit-looking guy with the dark skin, heavy middle-eastern accent, the black and white houndstooth-patterned scarf (not unlike the one you often see in the footage about Palestinian flare-ups), and the camouflage fatigues asked us to carry some of his drill-bits in our checked-through luggage as we were lining up at check-in. Uncomfortable. Very. We didn’t, by the way. So.  We’ve done that.  On to the next one…..

Some of the motifs on the wall of the
Happy Buddha's temple.
This one was a little discomforting...

Us.  Happy & round little buddhas!

Another motif, this one depicting a demon
(live a good life if you don't want to end up
with this guy in the next one)

Violence

(By Dermot, but not Violence by Dermot)

Paula assures me that Muay Thai kickboxing is more eastern philosophy than mindless violence. She has practiced the martial art for 8 years, and is now both proficient and passionate.  She also assures me that her bouts with both women and men have resulted in people being hurt. Apparently some of her male opponents have been reluctant to land a blow - but she managed to convince them.  I can sense Susan's reluctance to go watch grown men (and boys) pummel each other. But  ......  off we go!

It's Muay Thai, not kickboxing (And note the surgical gloves on the umpire)

Walking into the stadium creates an instant rush of adrenalin as a pumped crowd cheer every kick. It is obvious from the start that part of the eastern philosophy is to bet heavily on goodness knows what. Amazingly, we are absolutely ringside. It is exciting and not as 'brutal' as I expected... I notice Susan seems quite relaxed (if slightly on edge) and Rory and I cheer every kick. Most of the blows involve a knee to the ribs and tight clenches. Paula explains some of the 'finer' points of the controlled violence - particularly the bit where each combatant is absolutely intent on "getting in that ring to beat the crap out of the other guy".

So close we could nearly smell it....

The combatants honour one another at the end of the bout, the crowd, however, lose interest in the participants once the bell has rung and their betting outcomes are settled.

 

'Amulet man' - we thought they were padlocks, but each was an amulet - a fascinating chap.

Concentration, fascination, anticipation, and bizarre wagering by hand signals

We all 'enjoyed' it. The energy in the room was infectious and we cheered every blow that landed.

After the main card the 'kiddies' got a run. I was surprised that helmets were not de rigueur. The red shorts landed a fine punch to the head which sent blue pants to the canvass, he regained his footing, albeit wobbling. The crowd cheered both efforts. I felt squeamish, having seen my own boy knocked out cold three or four times playing footy. I felt for his parents, but perhaps I was just projecting my feelings and fears. At the end the two boys embraced, bowed to their corners and the crowd dispersed.

 

That one landed.

We all felt pumped. I'm pretty sure Paula had an urge to hit something, I just didn't want it to be me so I kept my comments about Canadians to myself!  (Remembering personal rule no 17: Never pick a fight with a woman who has more tattoos than you).

First exposure

(By Susan)

The landing outside our room

Outside our guesthouse

Streetscape

Our first time in Bangkok. Rory's first time (as an adult) in Asia. Sights, sounds, smells, tastes that we remember from other Asian cities. It's always fascinating. I always look forward to the chicken soup - for breakfast. Bangkok seems a relatively gentle reintroduction to this part of the world. Paula has booked us into a lovely older guesthouse, one she's stayed each year for the past seven. 

We've visited temples, and found the stunning handiwork of sculptors and artists.... the amazing things that people can do .... through all the ages. The Wat Arun temple is spectacular, the decor of ceramic tiles and plates delightful. I just couldn't bring myself to go to the top level - mainly because the thought of coming back down those stairs was terrifying. 

....  and that's why I didn't go up there!

A cat at the temple

We went to the Chatachuk markets, and almost didn't get lost. It must be at least 10 acres worth of 2x2m stalls. We bought very little as seems to happen when faced with far too much choice. A stunning array of shoes, puppies, toys, live fish & turtles, amazingly wonderful art, food....truly overwhelming. 

Chatachuk market

And today we are faced with the reality of the search for democracy. Just two doors up from where we're staying was a  pre-polling station (we hadn't realised that earlier). The whistles, the chanting, the protests started early as the opposition supporters tried to close down the booth. I think it may have been a little unsettling for our fearless leader as she realised the situation. We were headed well away from there anyway, so all was well.... and then we caught the taxi from the market to the Muay Thai fight at the Channel 7 studios. And got caught in the traffic jams. As a result of the protests. Our leader was not amused. But frankly, the contra flow traffic was scarier than the thought of protests. I'll let Dermot expound on the fight(s) as it's really not my thing, but suffice to say, as in Aussie rules the Under 15s got a go too. It comforted me to hear that Paula has promised not to let any of us die or get sick before we build the houses!

The warm-up

A little more disturbing photographing junior Muay Thai than the U15s footy!

The evolution of democracy is an interesting thing. Apparently the opposition here believes that attempting to close down voting booths is a good thing. But if you're trying to win a democratic election wouldn't you hope that people overwhelmingly vote out the current government? But then, who am I? And what would I know?  Really.  One shouldn't allow one's own context to form judgements on another's. 

Abandoned tyre barricades and tents at a disused protest site

Razor wire inside the fence at an official building

Due to an horrendously long day on Friday with travel, starting from 4am and finishing at 2am Melbourne time due to a great blues band, we are pretty cool with the time-shift. Poor Paula is dealing with a 12-hr time-shift & a 60C temperature difference - the change from -30 in Ottawa to +30. Gosh, I don't think my body could cope nearly as well. 

We were talking about our orientation in Phnom Penh today. I am really not looking forward to that emotional journey before the build. I found the War Memorial in Canberra difficult, so I'm going to have to be steeled. Or at least ready for the emotional fall-out. I'm not even intellectually looking forward to it. Very apprehensive indeed.

I'm looking forward now to visiting the Monk's Bowl Village and Chinatown....  the next instalment!

By Susan

Enlightenment

I like the bustle of Asian cities. Perhaps it is an indictment on the western world that for some reason there has been a boom in business selling cheap beer and  tattoos. I like the idea that most of the Chinese characters in the tattoos say "27: chicken in black bean sauce".

The reclining Buddha - all that gold leaf....!

We catch the ferry down the river to the Wat Pho temples build in 1660s by King Ramas 1 as a form of mausoleum. Within are three main temples. The most impressive contains the 45-metre long reclining Buddha. I notice his toes are all the same length. The standing Buddha and sitting Buddha temples are equally impressive. Our guide explains the symbols of the Buddha and the detailed art depicting journeys to enlightenment. At Wat Arun temple Rory and I climb the very steep steps to the high point which affords panoramic views across the river. Perhaps, here, I'm closer to enlightenment. Certainly, I can see more than Susan from where's she's standing way below.   

Wat Arun - Seriously steep, but seriously spectacular

I could be a Buddhist, not too many rules and after a number of reincarnations, nirvana. I suspect, I'm a lot closer than Susan and Rory. Perhaps I'm a part of their time in hell?

Could Dermot take his place in here?

Off the tourist streets there are lots of nice little eateries, there’s no menu, it’s simply pot luck. We sit next to some locals and enjoy a simple (and very tasty) lunch of rice and pork.

In the evening Paula arranged a catch up with Henrik Friis from the mineralogy Department of the National Museum in Oslo who happens to be on holiday in Thailand.  I felt my life was descending into a joke....three mineralogist walk into a Thai bar.... Perhaps I am getting closer to enlightenment.

 

Three museum mineralogists, an oil geologist, and a psychology student walk into a restaurant....