Battambang!!

This blog post is a little delayed as this is what I did LAST WEEKEND. But it deserves its own entry because I loved loved loved this place so much. I only spent 2 and a half days there but jammed in quite the itinerary.  It was a place that always left you with a smile on your face and a warmth in your heart. It gave me a true Cambodian feel!

My trip started with a short 3 hour bus ride from Siem Reap to Battambang- there are always multiple stops along the way and you are never quite sure when exactly you arrive at your stop -  for me it is generally when most people get off – follow the white people! Haha Once you get off you are bombarded with tuk tuk drivers trying to take you on tours and others yelling to see if you have a hotel booked and they all stand right outside the bus door so you can barely get out.  

I weaved my way through and met up with a couple volunteers who made the trip up from Phnom Pehn. The first afternoon we did a tour of the countryside and some of the smaller villages along the Sampeoung River and ended with the killing caves and finally the bat cave! The killing caves were yet another place to see and remember the reign and terror of the Khmer Rouge. This place has a local temple which during the reign was used as a prison where prisoners were then thrown through a gaping hole into a deep cave. Could you imagine? Pretty eerie and one of those situations where it is so hard to imagine, visualize or know what to say, think, or do.

Our moto driver/guide was a young boy trying to make money to finish highschool. He told us something interesting... they don’t teach the history of the Khmer Rouge in school. He is very interested in that time but has to go to outside sources to learn. I wonder if they don’t teach this history because the horror is still so fresh in many people’s minds. Our tuk tuk driver lived and survived the time of Pol Pot and still fears of a Communist return.

Once we descended from the killing caves we sat at the bottom of this “mountain” with a slit opening in the side which is the home of millions of bats you can see them fly around inside. But right around sunset all of the bats fly out in a swarming cloud. They do this each night to go and feed and return to the cave in the early morning. The clouds of bats reminded me of the clouds of bugs you see in movies like the Mummy! Nature never fails to surprise me!

The following day we did a bike tour through the countryside and parts of the city where we saw how rice paper was made – I even made a couple! :P, we saw how banana chips are sliced and dried, moved onto a rice wine “factory,” a fish paste market and finally another killing field (Killing fields are found all over Cambodia – over 300 places throughout the country) A great bike tour with a little exercise too! J

I do want to share one story of one of the families we visited during our bike tour – They were the ones who sold dried bananas. They can earn between 5-8 dollars a day and must support a family of 8. You can imagine the difficulty it must be to support a family of this size with such a small income even in Cambodia.  Before Pol Pot took control of the country this family was relatively comfortable all things considered. They had a home of their own and land to grow gardens and raise some livestock. When Pol Pot ordered the evacuation of the cities the family was forced to leave their home and all of their possessions. Many of the members of this family were lucky to survive the 4 years of the Khmer Rouge but they were late returning to their home and found others had taken it as their own. There was only so much they could do and attempted to take legal action, though many obstacles stood in their way. First of all Cambodia did not have any legal property rights before Pol Pot took power so there was no legal rights of this family to their home or their land. Second, legal advice and a lawyer cost money something they obviously had none of after slaving in the fields- they were lucky they had their lives. After 20 some years they did finally gain their house back but not their land and now try and make a living selling dried bananas. A middle man will come to their home every few days and buy the product and take it to the markets to sell. There are so many untold stories of the victims and survivors of the Khmer Rouge. Its unfathomable.

Ok onto happier and hopeful things – the Battambang Circus!!

This circus performs 3-4 times a week by students. There is a school in Battambang dedicated to the arts, music, drama, and acrobatics where street or orphaned children can attend and learn these skills. The performances support the school and the children. It was such a happy experience- left with such a happy heart seeing the smiling faces of these kids and how much fun they seemed to be having during that performance – spectacular!

My weekend came to a close with a morning Kayak tour down the river before taking the bus back to Siem Reap– another view of the various villages. At one point I was bombarded with smiling Cambodian children where they almost flipped my kayak! Haha It was scorching hot on the water but it was again such a “beautiful” site. I say “beautiful” because the water is murky and muddy, the banks are lined with garbage and you see the poor conditions many people are living and yet.... there is a sense of beauty and simplicity in it all. As I was floating down the calm almost glass like river, I was heated by the warmth of the sun, I heard the cries of the cicadas in the trees and received big “hellos!!” from kids in every village or home we passed. It is such a contrast to our way of life back home.  These are the things I love about travelling, seeing the diversity and variability in how people in this world live....and with how little.

Think about what you could live without...

Still to come àMY FUNDRAISER!! J Ive organized a fundraiser for next Friday March 29^th J

CHECK OUT MY Gofundme page - http://www.gofundme.com/2crvfc?pc=fb_cr
 Its another way I am trying to support my organization and raise funds for a well-deserved project that I truly believe in. Was that not a message I left you with before – Whatever you do, Believe in it! ;) Be The Change You Want to See in This World J I am trying!