‘This is the Coldest You Will Be For 14 Months’ and Other Lies Your Parents Tell You.

In the beginning there was a force. This force was also known as Mike and Jean, aka, my parents. They helped me greatly in preparation for my trip. They let me move back home for a while, took me to restaurants to eat all the lovely food I may not see for 14 months, let me borrow their car to get to training at Harborne Hall and helped me pack. However, one thing they failed on is temperature guestimation. I had been informed Ratanakiri was sometimes a little cooler (as in 20 degrees rather than 30) than the rest of Cambodia as it is elevated. So on the cold October day our story begins, we loaded the car with my backpack at 4:30am and drove to Newcastle airport. As we walked to the terminal I of course was shivering and my teeth were chattering (the old age problem of not being able to dress according to the weather when travelling from one climate to another). Anyone who knows me well knows how much I hate the cold. ‘Don’t worry’ my parents said comfortingly, ‘this is the coldest you will be for 14 months’. Fast-forward 2 months and my first night in my new house in Ratanakiri and I was lying in bed trying to get to sleep. I had 2 sheets, a thermal top, a scarf wrapped around me as a shawl and yes, I was shivering with teeth chattering and my parents lie echoing in my head.

The weather here is variable at the moment. During the middle of the day you can still sunbathe (or burn) then some nights you need a jumper and blanket and other nights you don’t. However it has been lovely to get a break from the heat and be able to snuggle up in my favourite hoody or a blanket and stargaze. It reminds me of camping – something I’m very happy to be reminded of.

The weather here is a very talked about subject and temperature guessing is a regular activity. My lowest guess has been 10 degrees, whether I’m correct or not who knows, temperature starts to be based on what it feels like here and as I’m adjusting to the Cambodian climate what would feel like summer at home starts to feel like winter here. Perhaps that is a good thing as by March the temperature is set to hit 40 degrees Celsius! Or will it just feel like 40?

From one North East to Another

 After a week more in Phnom Penh of shopping, training sessions and socialising we were all ready to move to our various placements. It was a strange feeling to say goodbye to people, as we’d been together for 7/8 weeks by this point, but also a lot of us were ready for the next stage and to start doing what we’ve come here to do. The bus ride to Ratanakiri from Phnom Penh takes roughly 10 hours depending on your bus driver. It doesn’t feel as long as it sounds if you have your ipod and watch the beautiful, lush Cambodian Countryside pass you by. The road is paved as far as Stung Treng so it is only the last 3/4 hours, which are bumpy. Add in a few precarious bridges and a whole lot of dust and you have yourself a fun little last leg of the journey.

Dust! Perhaps that’s the first thing I should talk about when telling you about Ratanakiri. Dust here covers the trees and plants either side of the road into town giving a slight autumn effect enhanced greatly when looked at through sunglasses. Dust gets in your house, your helmet (and therefore your hair), your computer, your clothes, books, etc etc. However, what the dust loves most is your feet! It lovingly and determinedly holds onto them for days and days. In fact it only finally gives up and lets go when you leave Ratanakiri and have scrubbed your feet for a few days in a row. I don’t mind though, it’s like a teaser of how I’d look tanned! The Ratanakiri tan is very fetching and could give St Tropez a run for their money. Cheaper too!

My house is coming along nicely. Slowly but surely I am adding all the things I need to it. The day the gas stove was fitted was a very exciting one, I can finally cook for myself. Something I’ve been longing to do for ages. There are still some things I need to do, so after Christmas when it is completed I will take some pictures and put them up.

Work is starting slowly but surely. I have a VA (volunteer Assistant) called Sak whose main job is to translate for me. He is very good and has been great at helping me settle in. My first week I shadowed Lucy, another education volunteer also working with Communities, she is from the Philippines and has been doing a really good job here so is a great person to learn from. She also is a great cook and has promised to teach me some new dishes to add to my repertoire. Another great cook is Lucy’s husband Yasir. Yasir is from Pakistan and I have already sampled one of his fantastic curries. I’ll definitely be able to get my spice fix when dining at Yasir and Lucy’s. This week is my second week at work and Sak and I have been visiting schools Sarah and Kirsty (my predecessors) worked at to see how I might be able to help. I will write more about work as it starts to happen.

The other volunteers and ex-pats in Ratanakiri are great. There’s a wide mix of ages and nationalities and there are a constant stream of travellers coming through town so there is always someone to drink, eat and chat with any given evening of the week. There are some lovely restaurants that do western food for when you want that little slice of home - or just would like a meal sans rice. They also have well stocked bars for when you want a few drinks. Tree Tops has a great view, ‘The Dutch Couple’ (yes, ran by a Dutch couple) has a beach shack feel bedecked with fairy lights – my new favourite place and A’ dams is the Friday night ex-pat hang out. I have yet to frequent a few more places but am enjoying discovering them slowly. Another great place is Tanya’s house. Tanya is a VSO volunteer, also from England, who works in Livelihoods. Her veranda only just beats mine but has a fantastic uninterrupted view on a side less platform jutting out over the jungle. Most nights Tanya is there for sunset so as long as you bring a few beers you can turn up any time, wrap yourself in a blanket and star gaze. Fantastic!

I have also been getting used to my moto. My first long trip was an incredible 140km round trip to the Vietnamese border and back. We left early in the morning when the mist hovers around the mountaintops and the sun is just starting to peek over the skyline. The ‘mountains’ are in fact large, lush green, rolling hills. They’re 400m so you can decide for yourself whether they classify as mountains or hills. The people of Ratanakiri call them mountains so that’s good enough for me.

Ratanakiri is an exceptionally beautiful province and I feel very lucky to be placed here. I still have a lot to experience – restaurants, the gem mines, the waterfalls, treks through the jungle, the elephants, indigenous villages, the Chinese village and all the wildlife of Lumphat. It’s going to be an exciting year! 

Life in ‘The Cham’ and Homestay

Life in ‘The Cham’ (Kampong Cham) flowed nicely. We were split into two language groups. Our group met each morning for breakfast, practiced what we’d learnt the day before, either went for a cycle or caught up on some sleep before going to language classes. The evenings held big decisions on which restaurant to eat in that night and whether to be good and just have a couple of beers or……….!

Our language teacher was called Dara who made us say all sorts of things in Khmer and often made me repeat it in English too. This was due to my North Eastern trait of dropping the ‘T’s’ in the middle of words and he said Khmer people who speak English wouldn’t be able to understand me if I didn’t speak English properly. So my Khmer teacher taught me both Khmer and English. Did it work? Well let’s just say you can take the girl out of Sunderland but you can’t take the Sunderland out of the girl.

Our life in ‘The Cham’ was not all Language classes, we all left for a week to go visit our placements where we will be based permanently whilst in Cambodia. I went off to Ratanakiri – an incredibly beautiful, mountainous, remote area in The North East. I stayed in the most amazing guest house called Tree Tops which looked like Bedrock from the Flintstones, except made of a wood. I had a gorgeous bungalow with a hammock outside and a great view. During placement week I met everyone I will be working with, other VSO volunteers and lots of ex-pats. I also picked my house, which I deliberated for ages over but finally settled on a wooden house above a family with a wrap around veranda and lovely view out back. I won’t write any more about Ratanakiri as you will find out about it as I write more blogs.

Another adventure we had whilst in ‘The Cham’ was Homestay. This is when you live with a Cambodian family for 24 hours. We were all loaded onto a bus and driven to a village 40 minutes from Kampong Cham town. We were in pairs and had a family each to stay with. Hannah and I doubled up and lived with Brian and Sue. What their real names were I have no idea (there are only so many times you can ask) but they looked like a Brian and Sue. So, Brian and Sue are an elderly couple, may or may not have small children (they may have borrowed them for the purposes of homestay), definitely have 9 grown up children, speak no English and didn’t understand our Khmer.

Over the course of the 24 hours we had some lovely food, played volleyball and played with uber cute children. We also were put to bed three times by Brian and Sue’s neighbours during Siesta, were told to shower three times and ate a lot of unripe Mango.

Sleeping arrangements were you all sleep in the same room on the floor (Bri and Sue gave us their mattress) and listen to the roosters all night who need to learn what morning is because it certainly isn’t 12 o’clock at night. I loved homestay though and it was definitely a positive experience.

Hallow-wan and the Henley Regatta

Cambodians are terrified of Ghosts! They believe adamantly that they exist and they are scared of them, (one of the other volunteers Zac has a theory that is the reason so many babies cry when they see me – I’m so pale they think I’m a Ghost). Due to this phobia we wondered whether to celebrate Halloween. Hannah and I decided to go American style and dress up as anything rather than spooky things. We had a chat with the restaurant where we ate breakfast every day and they were more than happy to let us decorate a table for our ‘happy, happy day’. Nathan who works at the restaurant and speaks perfect English made us pumpkins with twigs for hair and put lights inside. We made orange paper chains and Nathan hung them all around the restaurant. Everyone dressed up and Garry won the prize for best fancy dress – he went as a pirate and looked great. All the Khmer people who work in the restaurant were totally bemused but got in the spirit and the night ended with Khmer dancing and costume swapping.

So if you are ever in Kampong Cham in Cambodia go to Joe’s Restaurant on the riverfront and scan the walls for pictures of ‘Hallow-wan’ – you might just see me there!

Another event close to Hallow-wan was the water festival. This is probably now on most people’s radar due to the tragic stampede that happened this year. Before the main festival in Phnom Penh each province has qualifying boat races to see who will compete in the main event. Therefore one Sunday afternoon off we went to find a spot to sit and watch the heats. This spot turned out to be a rather high wall that I wouldn’t have managed to negotiate without help from the boys.

Each boat has around 40 people in it all wearing the same colour shirts. I was betting on the green boat, someone else had ‘the Thompson’s Holiday Reps’ (their shirts wouldn’t have been out of place on a resort on the Med) and someone else had ‘the pub team’ (they didn’t have matching shirts). All in all if I’d had a glass of Pimms and a cucumber sandwich I could have been at the Henley Regatta.