Siem Reap: Cambodia

I couldn’t help but make this a new entry because it was the most pivatol part of my journey. It was when I created a wonderful connection with a local. I guess I should begin at the start. We arrived to Siem Reap in the evening, searched around for hotels and eventually found one that was quite doll-house like. Very quant. Many lizards on the walls, but not in the rooms, so nice from a- far ha ha. Siem Reap is the home of the famous stone temples, called the Angkor Wat. There are miles and miles of these temples that were first made in the 12th century for the king. It is so unbelievable to fathom that these remarkable structures could be created so many years ago. They are breath-taking, stunning and just so large! They were abandoned and eventually the jungle began growing over and around them, they were mostly untouched during the Khmer Rouge genocide era, but have been restored in many spots and vegetation has been cut around it. It is on the Cambodian flag and is a source of national pride for the peoples here. Not to mention, it generates a lot of money for their economy. It is $40 to see the temples for 3 days (which you need at least 2 since they are so spread out). I was glad to pay that, knowing that without these wonders, the country may not be able to stand alone.
Our days here were spent awestruck looking at these temples, and of course, taking 4 billion pictures, just trying to capture even a ¼ of the beauty we saw before us. We had our personal tuk tuk driver, Heang, who was always at our beckon call when we came out of the temples, tired, hot and ready for some wind in our hair! Ha ha. We watched the sun set on the Angkor Wat, on top of a semi-mountain, along with many other foreingers and some monks! We also visited a random park a few times to feed some wild monkeys (a good 40 in one park). Not to mention, our first encounter was when one came up on our tuk tuk, stole Carmen’s scarf, draped it over his head for some laughs and proceeded up a tree. Little butt. Heang played tradsies and offered him some fruit, he reluctantly, dropped the scarf for some tasty mangostein fruit. They saying holds true, “Quit being a little monkey.” I tell my nephew Jacob that all the time.

After a week or so of traveling, your laundry runs very, very thin. Time to find a laundry service, so our hotel directed us next door to a family home. The mother does laundry as a service, and the son, Sarat, is a bright eyed, 21 year old who was eager to use his English with some native speakers! We befriended him and he even invited us to join him at the club that evening. After a long day at the temples, a full day of sun (in which Im pretty sure I had a slither of sun stroke because I was dancing underneath the statue elephants singing “Nelly” songs, with distasteful dance moves…ask Carmen, she videoed it…ha ha)….we decided to have some Cambodian BBQ, a beer, and bed. The next day, some fresh laundry was not the only thing Sarat offered us. He told us he taught adults English, 3 hours a day in the afternoon. He offered us to come join us for one of his classes. After a few minutes of pondering, I gladly accepted the offer, while Carms curved her enthusiasm for Cambodian culinary at a cooking class. I showed up, soaking wet post DOWN POUR coming home from the temples. But, I was welcomed with nothing but open arms and eyes. The classroom was in this wide open room, no windows (thus, wind barrelling in), some chipped paint, cobwebs, tables and an entire class of eager students aged 16-35 (and one monk!). They were all very shy at first, and Sarat finished off the class before we began the “English conversation class.” I sat in awe, comparing this experience to all of my copious experiences in a classroom. Nothing but a notebook and pencil. No bells and whistles…I felt like I was living in the days of my parents one school room classes. I sat back, and decided to snap a couple of pictures to capture that feeling at that exact moment. But, I had my flash on. So they all kind of giggled…I looked at Sarat…and he translated for me that they thought it was lightning! Ha ha.

One class ends and the next commences. Now it’s my turn for the spotlight. With nothing prepared, I still felt confident at the front of the class, because contrary to popular belief that with 9 weeks off…I still DO have a job…and one that puts me in this position all of the time. I had to first feel out their English level. How fast could I speak? What words would they understand or not understand? They were all so shy. He encouraged them to ask me a question. I got questions about Canada, so I explained the 4 seasons, our flag, Canadian animals, my pet raccoons, yes, pet raccoons growing up. I talked about my family, my travels. I told them I respected them for being so avid about learning a second language. They asked me some grammatical questions, and all recorded my email for further English questions!

My trip to Siem Reap had a fantastic ending as Sarat took me on his motorbike on the outskirts of town. We got to have a great conversation and I learned a lot about the lifestyle there. He pretty much fell off his bike when I asked him if he’s ever driven a car! He also told me that he gets 10 cents from each student per hour. TEN CENTS. Heck, I don’t even know if I’d pick a dime up off the ground. Man, again and again I was smacked in the face with how lucky I am and how much my parents gave me. This encounter with Sarat was life changing. I also got his mailing address so that I can mail him some school supplies!
Now….time for the long awaited Thailand

Best Video EVER. Monkey stealing Scarf! Press Play!