Siem Reap Week 2 Sept 2013

Siem Reap, week 2 Sept 2013

 

Week 2 has passed very quickly and I am at last becoming a little more acclimatized to the heat and the humidity which is more than I can say for my hair. I have given up and wonder why I bothered to bring my dryer and straightners with me. We have had a lot of rain particularly in the latter part of the week and over the weekend and have been caught in a heavy downpour twice now whilst out on the bike. Not a pleasant experience but it is humorous watching some of the locals.

I have enough trouble keeping balance on my bike with 2 hands but to see a young woman riding headlong into the rain holding an umbrella over her head had me shaking my head in disbelief. This is as good as seeing the woman as a passenger on the motorbike holding the umbrella over the drivers head, probably to help him keep his cigarette in his mouth dry whilst talking on the mobile. Multi talented!

I am increasing my knowledge on geography and natural hazards as I research for the students topic lessons and am probably more interested than them in the subject. Hopefully something is being absorbed.

I continue to be on the look out for food and have included a few photos of the fast and take away foods Cambodian style. There are many road side carts that sell a variety of foods. Some traditional and some from the days of the French influence. Every evening on her way home, Hayley, the volunteer coordinator buys a steamed corn on the cob, she is addicted. The addiction that she is trying to wean herself off that costs a grand total of 600 riel (about 15 cents) is a banana dipped in a type of batter that looks like it has black sesame seeds in it then deep fried. I haven't tried this as I am scared that I too may become an addict and am trying to avoid fried food and of course steering away from wheat. My addiction is the baby water melon that are a massive 50 cents each and lasts me 4 days. I bought a bunch of lady finger bananas today , probably 20 in the hand and you can only buy them in the whole hand from the market - 75 cents!

There aren't any dairy cows in Cambodia therefore dairy food is imported and not the best quality. If I am lucky I may find a small piece of NZ cheddar at the supermarket but I have got used to not having it. But I have discovered an amazing yogurt that is made in Phnom Penh, from dried milk powder. Sounds awful but it is natural with no additives, flavours or sugar and has the texture of whipped mascarpone. Delicious.

The vegetables of course are also great quality, cheap and abundant. Lots of garlic, fresh ginger and birds eye chillies that almost burn your throat just as they are cut open to remove the seeds, intoxicating! These 3 ingredients are a staple in the local cuisine along with fish sauce and oyster sauce. I made a great stir fry this week with local prawns and the above ingredients as you will see in the photos. It is amazing what one can cook in a wok on a single gas burner stove! The little gas bottles are only 1500 riels which is less than 50 cents, to replace. When the little tin is empty, I just pop over the road to the little stall and hand it in for a replacement. Praying it won't explode on me of course! These little burners throw out an incredible heat and take up very little room!

I also now buy my fresh water from this man. The 20 liters in a bottle with a tap costs initially $6 but when emptied is replaced for $1. I managed to carry it across the road to the Hotel acting with bravado but collapsed on the floor when I entered reception and paid a $1 tip for the boy on the desk to carry it up the 3 flights for me. I know when I am beaten!

My next Cambodian style creation was a stir fried rice with pork and vegetables, once again strongly laced with garlic, ginger and chilli and the beautiful shallots that are found here. They call the pork bacon but it isn't smoked and is really just thinly sliced belly pork but very good for the stir frying. The rice is of course abundant here and there are so many different types to cook with. For my rice I bought brown jasmine and cooked it in the rice cooker which I'm not familiar with, it was Ok, but I now know the secret and next attempt should be better. Fortunately didn't spoil my creation!

The kitchen staff at Grace house usually cook pork for lunch as it is cheap and plentiful, I find it a bit dry usually and eat only a little. What they do cook that is delicious is chicken. It has the usual seasonings but the outside is very caramelized and this is achieved with obviously some sugar in the wok but also a little oyster sauce. Yesterday I marinated a chicken breast in the garlic, ginger and chilli along with some ground coriander seeds and ground star anise, with a little oil and some oyster sauce. This evening I pan fried this, let it rest, sliced it and ate it as a warm chicken salad and it was so tender and delicious and the salad so crisp and a little sweetened with some pineapple chopped through it, mouth watering now thinking about it!

At the end of town is a beautiful colonial style 5 star hotel called the Victoria. On a Friday evening they promote themselves by offering some live lay back music and a little buffet. This costs a whole $6 and includes 2 glasses of whatever you want to drink. The food included the most divine little fresh spring rolls with a fish type sauce and chopped nuts, chicken wings, sauté potatoes, tortilla chips with salsa and a wonderful sour salad with shrimp. What a lovely way to spend a couple of hours in a sophisticated venue where we could get a little dressed up and not dissolve in the heat. On a Sunday they offer use of their gorgeous pool from 10 until 3 along with a buffet brunch , $20! For us very inexpensive but that can go a long way in Siem Reap.

On the other end of the scale Grace House continue with the meals on wheels service to several of the very elderly women in the village to ensure they get a decent daily feed and of course the lunch program feeding about 20 of the children whose families suffer extreme poverty.

It sounds like all I do is eat, probably true but it is mostly very healthy and along with my swimming and cycling I have worked myself into a good routine but have to admit that the stairs are taking a bit of a toll on my knee.

I splurged out on Saturday afternoon, an indulgence but also something to do that wasn't researching for class or writing up lesson plans. I had another massage, body scrub and a facial. 3 hours of total pampering for $58. It was lovely but my guilt is taking hold of me for these indulgences especially when I see the little people in the pouring rain, little boy holding the hand of a toddler, both very skinny and dressed very poorly and both unsupervised crossing busy roads. Makes my heart sink at the poverty that is still here along with the corruption.

Politically life is on tender hooks. We had a discussion today about what we should do in the event of seeing a political rally. The Cambodian People's Rescue Party, which is lead by Sam Rainsey and who were beaten in the recent elections, have their head office close to and on the main route to Grace House. There was a rally at the local Wat, it may have been facilitated by the monks and many people turned out. The monks are apparently quite political and in full support of the people. This was peaceful but today in Phnom Penh a demonstrator was shot and killed by government troops and several more were injured. They are still protesting about the corrupt election results and this could well spill over here. We are to avoid these situations, turn back home or seek an alternative route to work. Our local commune chief is a supporter of Hun Sen's party - The Cambodian People's Party. He has apparently in the past rounded up the locals and organized a march in response, Grace House policy is to stay well out of these things even if they aren't agreed with because the concern is for the villagers and interference will not assist them at all.

The main supporters for Sam Rainsey are the more educated young people, people in business and those who lost land in the Pol Pot era. They are not influenced by the wealth of Hun Sen and want to see the corruption and injustices corrected. All very interesting but best observed from the side lines! Never a dull moment here!!!

Week 3 begins with my new evening class which is to teach a little more English to the girls who work in the Grace House shop and market stall and try to teach them some selling skills and instill some confidence. A 4 week trial and will report back in the next epistle!

Lei son hi ( good bye until next time) no idea how to spell it!!!!!

 

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Siem Reap 2013 week 1.

 

So here I am back in Siem Reap after an uneventful flight and lucky enough to have 2 seats which allowed me to stretch my leg out minimizing the discomfort in my knee.

I spent the first night and most of the next day at The Frangipani Hotel where I usually head to. I am so pleased that this time I made the decision and found a small apartment to stay in for the remainder of time here. The hotel has deteriorated, it needs a good paint, the outdoor furniture and the foyer furniture are in bad shape and the pool was poorly maintained. So disappointing as I have loved my stays here in the past. They are installing a lift which is a plus except that the drilling and hammering went on all day Sunday.

Nak picked me up Sunday and we whizzed around on his motor bike, I checked out the apartment, Nak sorted out a couple of minor issues, we bought a cheap bike for me to use here and after lunch he dropped me at the market whilst he went and picked up the bike and took it to the apartment. He had a tour group arriving at 5 and after he settled them into their hotel, ferried me and my bags to the apartment.

My daily triathlon begins! I get up at 6, head down to the pool for a swim, usually around 500 meters. I then struggle the 61 stairs back to my apartment on the 3rd floor, shower, eat and then set off on my bicycle to Grace House, about a 25 minute ride. I must say that I don't speed as it has been extraordinarily hot and I arrive in a lather of perspiration. I work from 8.30 to 4pm then do a reverse triathlon!! Cycle home, up the stairs, swim and then back up the stairs. Bit of a bugger if I forget something and have to struggle back up again!

There have been a few changes at the project with the employment of a volunteer coordinator/ senior student English teacher, a couple of new buildings, the expansion of the social work department and some staff changes. Bridget is still in the UK (returning next week) and Alan is very busy overseeing things and keeping the electrical training going. It is great feeling comfortable and getting such a warm welcome on my return, straight back into it!!!

This visit I am working with Leung who teaches middle school so the focus is different and probably more challenging. Today's question ( my topic this month is the earth so we are looking at geology) was,"why is the middle of earth hot". I have no idea and need to do some googling!!! I have to admit that geology is new to me but also fascinating and I am enjoying the research and reading. The students seem to be interested which is a plus!!!!

The apartment is somewhat different to my home in Melbourne but I accept that it is many times more comfortable and much bigger than the majority of the teachers and students homes. Most of them live in a 1 room with a whole family with often a share bathroom. This costs around $50 a month which is a fair whack of their wage. In contrast I live in luxury here. I have a little kitchen with a 1 gas burner stove (but I am managing) I have a lounge with a small dining table and a separate bedroom with ensuite. The building is a small hotel with 2 apartments on the top floor. Currently there is myself, somebody in the other apartment and another room taken but I haven't seen anyone! I feel like I am the only person here, certainly the only person using the pool which is kept crystal clean. It Is low season and the town is relatively quiet with very few tourists.

It may be low season but the Khmers are still nut cases on the roads and the traffic has increased. Bike riders have to keep their wits about them because we are the lowest in the pecking order!!! The ride along the Tonle Sap road (which leads to the Tonle Sap lake) has changed. The banks have been cleared of many of the old shacks with the residents having been moved 40 kilometers out of town. This is a sad situation but the river certainly looks healthier and much cleaner. This clearing out of what I was told were squatters for want of a better word, was happening when I was last here. It is an ongoing situation and will eventually affect some of the Grace House families when the clearing out gets further on towards the lake.

Have a look at the safety clothing, the up to date machinery and the parking facilities that the union has negotiated for these workers!!!!!

The market prices appear to be similar to last year and this side of the river houses many more inexpensive restaurants. This side historically was where the back packers were but there is a lot of development of little boutique villa style hotels happening. I ate out with Hayley ( the volunteer coordinator) last night and my meal was $2.50!!!!!! It was acceptable without being great and I didn't get sick!

I am happy enough to eat at home I must say as I am exhausted from the day and the heat and after I have showered all I want to do is collapse. PLUS the food choice at the market is fantastic!! The fruit and the vegetables are amazing and so cheap and I know I can buy it cheaper if I wanted to get it at the market near school and ride home with it! I have discovered a beautiful yogurt made in Phnom Penh , natural, unsweetened etc etc and is a delicious breakfast with the lovely fresh fruit I bought. Lunch is at the project, a stir fry with veg and I do allow myself a bit of rice as I know I need a bit of carbs! Usually followed by some fruit and a 50c iced coffee at the local cafe. It is actually a strong long black over ice with a side serve of a thin condensed milk, sounds awful but you develop a taste for it.

I am looking forward to the weekend and a ride to the market to restock and buy some incredibly cheap prawns.

Politically here not a lot has changed. There has recently been elections and the official result is to be announced in this weekend. Everyone knows the outcome even though they are all convinced it has been rigged. There is to be a massive peoples rally in PP on Saturday and we are asking if something may be happening here also but nobody knows. We just pray it remains peaceful and the government who we know will be returned, doesn't turn on the people. Hun Sen (who was a member of the Khmer Rouge) has been in power for many years and his main rival, Sam Rainsey has just returned from France where he fled to some years ago. A local told me that even though the government would like to dispose of him, the USA have threatened to withdraw aid and support if any harm comes to him.

We have been a bit waterlogged at Grace House due to a big storm early Monday morning that left the grounds looking like a rice paddy, the humidity has been very high and I have been attacked by Mosquitos! 15 bites that I can count and they are from my face to my toes. I spray the apartment a lot and wear the tropical strength roll on around my arms and legs and don't even feel myself getting bitten or hear the damned things but they know where I am. Trying not to scratch.

 

The heat remained with us for most of the week interspersed with some rain. The cooler weather appeared this weekend with even more rain but no floods.

The rallies never eventuates in Siem reap and it continued to be quiet and I haven't even heard anything about Phnom Pehn. Heard more on the BBC about the Australian elections, they gave it big coverage.

Saturday morning I paid a visit to the Old Market known as Chas Psar. It was bustling with locals and the country merchants are still setting up their fish stalls in the shoe shop aisles. I bought a variety of fruits and prawns but was disappointed to learn that much of the fruit is imported from the USA, China and Vietnam. The produce I bought as lovely but disappointed in the spice mix so am going to find out this week where to buy the basic spices. I am sure the ladies in the kitchen at Grace House will point me in the right direction.

In the afternoon I splurged on a wonderful massage and body scrub at a little spa in my street. Couldn't bear to wash off all the lovely lotions and potions so missed out on my afternoon swim!

Was planning to do some bike exploration today but the rain was too heavy so had a quick ride to the supermarket, spent a few hours reading about mudslides(!) and a swim with Hayley when the rain settled. A nice way to spend a Sunday.

Next week more volunteers are arriving at the project and Bridget returns from the UK so things will be different again. Looking forward to it.

Until next week......

 

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San Juan and Vieques March 2013

San Juan and Vieques Puerto Rico . March 2013

 

Where one door closes another one opens, so true.

Winters apartment produces one hurdle after another which is all to do with the Banks inability to get anything right. This leaves us with resulting problem of what are we going to do over the 2 week school Spring break.

Winter has a second job where he is teaching Math on line for the Vieques teachers and students and is asked to go to the island for a few days for face to face teaching. He will be paid and assistance is given with his travel and accommodation.

 

I head over to Puerto Rico a few days early whilst he is still working and stay in a hotel called El Convento. Gorgeous place which as the name implies had a history as a convent amongst other things. It is situated in the heart of old San Juan and close to El Morro, one of the 2 fortresses that guarded the city from the marauders and pirates. These fortresses are found in most of the Caribbean Island and Caribbean South American coastal towns.

 

The streets are reminiscent of all the other old towns I have visited, narrow, cobbled and wonderful old architecture of centuries gone by. Beautifully restored and because a lot of cruise ships stop overnight or depart from San Juan, there are plenty of upmarket shops and restaurants. Also houses MANY souvenir shops and bars!!

 

We eat the first night at an Italian restaurant connected to the hotel and that is very good. I spend my one full day as a tourist visiting the El Morro, the plazas, check out the shops with restraint and find a great cafe called Saint Germaine on Calle del Sol and close to the 2nd fortress St Christobel. Highly recommended to me and I pass that tip on! Fantastic coffee called Quatro Sombras (4 shades). Sadly couldn't find any to bring home.

 

That night we ate at a traditional Puerto Rican restaurant where I had churassco ( not only found in Argentina) and Winter ate Mofongo which is fried plantain and pork cracking broken down in a bowl into a cup shape and then filled with a meat of your selection, the most common being pork. Didn't excite me but the margarita did!

 

We set out for our drive to the ferry Thursday morning. An hour away from San Juan. The cargo ferry takes either an hour or 90 minutes depending on the seas and which ferry you take. An easy trip.

We are met by the house caretaker Mishael who guides us to the house in a barrio called Monte Santo, which Winter found to rent. I am getting very anxious as we are climbing up a hill away from the beach. We JUST manage to get the car up the steep driveway and are met by a charming, extremely clean and well presented little house with incredible views across the barrio and to the Caribbean. We have everything we need there and as we bought provisions from the mainland for the 5 days, we are set.

 

We spend the next 3 days exploring, visiting beaches and generally lazing around the place taking in the views! My favorite being Sun Bay and the little town of Esparenza where the little Malecon ( promenade along the sea wall) is located amongst a few restaurants and bars mostly owned by Gringos and offering gringo fare! We are happy to just have an ice cream and cook for our selves! I am hooked on tostones which are plantain fritters, crunchy outside and soft inside and Winter cooks these so well! Fantastic with guacamole of which we have become experts and believe we have located the perfect recipe but more of that to come!

 

There are 2 main towns on Vieques. Isabella Segunda known as Isabella II, where the ferry comes in and Esperanza where most of the Americans hang out. The Island appears on the surface to be pretty simple and humble but one of the resorts is owned by the W and hence a lot of wealthy Americans and Puerto Ricans stay here or own property here. The roads are terrible and the drivers are lunatics with no regard to road rules. When you enter a beach reserve you are meant to pay a $2 toll per car but that depends if somebody can be bothered being there to take your money or if they close the booth and leave for lunch!

I think that we have selected well to be staying on the hill in the middle of the island as everything is in reach!

 

The beaches are idyllic, soft silver sand with coco palms offering shade and turquoise waters gently rolling in. In some areas the water is warm and others much cooler but no complaints from me! The island is a series of one small bay and beach after another. It has a very Interesting history of one invasion after another, piracy and then eventually used by the USA as a base for armed forces training and bombing where no care was taken of the flora or environment. It wasn't until about 20 years ago after many problems that the island was passed back to the people and the army left. Of course leaving a mess in their wake which is slowly being cleared up but a lot of the island is off limits due to unexploded ordinance.

 

On the days Winter worked I had my first practice sessions of driving on the right hand side of the road avoiding horses and big iguanas who play chicken with the drivers and many of them loose out so a lot of squashed lizards!

The horses have the misnomer of being called wild. They are apparently not. The owners often let them roam wild and steal each others animals which then causes uproar. There have been many accidents involving horses and vehicles and this is when the owners don't come forward. For the most part they look skinny and under nourished. They have been cross bred in the past for particular purposes, military duty, farming and a means of transport. This breed has very hardy hooves which don't require shoes and their back structure and the way they walk means a different way of riding them with little bounces up and down, looks quite funny! They are found everywhere! By the side of the road, along the beach, in town!!!

So I manage to get up and down the drive way, find my way to the beach and to the bakery! There are very few street signs and we had no idea of our address and only found our way by the small highway kilometer counting sign. Turn at 5.3, take left, a left a right then a left! The beach was at 7.8!! the stupid thing is that because of the Spanish influence in days gone by the speed is in miles, the gas in liters and the road signs in kilometers!!

We had 5 nights on the island and really didn't see as much as we should have as there are museums and historical places of interest but I just loved the beaches!

The only concern for us was the lack of telephone communication and Internet as the house had no reception and this mucked up my plans to write and Winters lesson planning. We have all become so tech reliant!!!

We returned to Puerto Rico on the Tuesday evening, stayed there one night with the plan being to return to Miami for the remainder of the school holidays as Winter has some visits to make to the education department and needs to get his resume sorted for his return to The USA mid year. Proving difficult as it is spring break here which is the equivalent of schoolies and there is no available accommodation unless you want to pay a fortune! There is also the big schoolies concert so Miami is bursting at the seams.

Hence one night in Miami and onto the Bahamas for 4 nights!

Winters head is spinning with all the English and I am getting some relief from the Spanish!

This time it's see you all soon and next epistle will be from the Bahamas!

 

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