Hello All,
So much to tell you.... We have moved house, been followed around town by our ex-landlord, Rachel has submitted her dissertation!!!!!!!!!! nearly been on a plane coming home, had worms, Rachel having suspected Malaria, Tarantula in the kitchen sink, 3 baby snakes found in the house, spent two weeks back in Phnom Penh completing our language training, been to a Khmer "Karaoke" House and we now have internet at home so we can skype more often!!!!! So we apologise for not updating you sooner but we have been a bit busy!!!!
Firstly our new house is one that we originally looked at in April (seems like a very long time ago) and we discarded it as it wasn't a wooded house on stilts!!! Our new home is a concrete house with 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom and AIR CON!!!!!!! although we can't afford to switch it on as electricity is so bloody expensive here. Our new landlord and his family are wonderful, they can't do enough for us. His 10 yrs old daughter always comes to see us and she has started practicing Yoga with Rachel!!!!
Along with the new house we have had 3 baby snakes that have somehow managed to find their way here - they were all captured and released back in to the wild (thrown over next doors concrete wall). The Tarantula was captured and lets just say it won't be coming back!!!!!
Rachel continues with her work at Stung Treng PHD and is finding it a challenge. She is getting to know here Khmer colleagues slowly (everything in the country is done at a snails pace!!), she has her 3 month review coming up and she will be putting forward her ideas of what work she wants to do with the community. After 3 weeks out of the office (language training in PP) she was summoned by her boss to attend a very important lunchtime event that the Governor (we have already met him for drinks previoulsy!! more below) was attending. It transpired that Rachel was placed on the top table with the Governor (her boss was on a lower table and sat on a plastic chair!!). After several "bottoms up" Rachel was told by her boss to forget about that meeting this afternoon and stay and drink more red wine (with ice)... Rachel also spent some time dancing with the Governor!!!!!
We originally met the Governor as Anthony's boss (Mr Chan) invited us for afternoon drinks one hot Sunday afternoon.. It transpired that the drinks were being held at the Governors farm estate and many "influential" local businessmen/politicians were in attendance. These lunches turn out to be a 1 hour drinking binge... Anthony had to share a bottle of 35yrs old Johnny Walker Black Label with another guest as the gentleman had never had the opportunity to speak to let alone drink with a native Englishman!!!! Needless to say I didn't let the side down and drank what was put in front of me!!!!
Anthony is going to work most days at the silk weaving centre (the beauty of being a true volunteer is he can work when he wants and for as long as he wants!!!). The centre and in particular the women continue to amaze him. He had to interview them last week (a funder from USA wanted some background knowledge on the women) and to hear their stories of terrible childhood memories to what they still dream to be is inspiring.
The local people here are wonderful. We have a veg woman who shouts at us as soon as she sees us entering the market and then she tells us what we want!!!! Brilliant - the quality of the veg is good and she now throws in a freebie (a whole egg plant the other day!!!). The local supermarket, Grumpies, (as the owner is such a miserable sod) now offers discount on crates of beer!!!! The baguette woman laughs at our Khmer pronunciation - no freebies off her yet so might have to try another bread person! The head monk of the Pagoada (where we teach English every Friday) has a soft spot for Anthony and always holds his hand when talking to him... something he would NOT accept back in UK..
We have now been in Cambodia just under 6 months and only have 10 months to go.. Time has flown by, partly beacuase we are having so much fun and life is never dull here in Stung Treng or as we like to call it "Trengers". We are now planning a holiday to Vietnam (10 day trip in October) and just trying to find a good place to stay on the coast.
Over and out from Cambodia and hopefully we will be able to speak to you soon via skype...
Saturday, 28 August 2010
Friday, 4 June 2010
Life is so busy in Cambodia
Hi all...
Firstly we apologise for not updating you earlier but when you have read this you may understand!!
We finished our in country training at the end of April and had a party in Phnom Penh to celebrate (i've got video evidence of Rachel doing some very special dancing to Michael Jackson with Heng (a member of the VSO programme office staff - when I have posted it on YouTube I'll post the link here!!!).
Our journey up to Stung Treng was an interesting one. A 4am start from Phnom Penh were we along with Linda (a volunteer from Holland but whose father is from Skipton of all places). We thought we had the minibus to ourselves as we had all our worldly possessions with us for our new homes... we were wrong, oh so wrong. We were in a 9 seater minibus with 10 people... one poor girl had to sit on a plastic stool in between the driver and the front passenger seat!!!
We got to Stung Treng at lunch time and proceeded to unpack - it won't be long till we pack up again though!!! Rachel started work the follwoing day and she has been busy breaking down barriers with fellow work colleagues and spending lots of time with the local health centres..
During the middle of May we decided we needed a holiday (especially as the country was taking a 3 day holiday to celebrate the ploughing season!!!). Rachel was getting bitten on average 12 - 15 times per night by the lovely mozzy's!!! So we headed to Othres Beach near Sihanoukville in the south west of the country. We had a great time staying in a thatched bungalow on the beach. It was very picturesque and the sunsets were beautiful. we will certainly be heading back to this beach again.
When we headed back to Stung Treng hoping that the rains would finally arrive - they still haven't properly arrived yet and the weather remains in the high 30's everyday with the odd day hitting 42 degress!!! When we wake up in the morning the temperature is already at 32 degrees!!
Anthony made it to the project he had decided to help, Mekong Blue (www.mekongblue.com). Please have a look at the project and I can personally say that the silk garments the women make are the best we have ever seen. Mr Chan - the boss was very pleased to see him and immediately invited him to go to another province to see what business opportunities lie there.... What a shock in the car to find out that we were driving for 3 hours on a mud track to see a new building Chan was project managing at the referral hospital!!!! We stayed the night and drank some of Chan's lovely home brew whiskey made from rice water and left to ferment for a long time... This is something I have to get used to as after work most days we share a drink and none of them are less than 60% proof, the best one being a mixture of rice wine and chinese herbs that had been fermenting for 18 months!!! This was so strong it made me cough very much... stronger than anything else I had ever drunk. I couldn't drink much as I have a 5km motobike ride home. Their is no drink driving laws here but my sensible head kicked in.. Chan has made me an interesting offer to remain working with him in a business development capacity for the next 12 months and I have accepted.
During our 4 weeks so far in the lovely wooden house Rachel has had over 150 mozzy bites and enough is enough so we decided to look for another house to live in... Easier said than done. We have looked at 10 houses now and just when we think we have made our mind up the potential landlord changes his mind and no longer wishes to rent the property or they want excessive rent as they see us and they want to charge "Barrang" price. It looks like we have finally decided on a house and we will be moving at the end of June to a 2 storey stone built house - providing we can negotiate with the landlord about some of our basic requirements e.g. a fridge and gas cooker!!!!
Well I think that posting is long enough for now. Please don't forget we can skype people from Cambodia and our user names are very easy: -
Rachel.dukes1
Anthony.dukes1
We look forward to speaking to you soon.
Lots of love
Mr & Mrs D
Firstly we apologise for not updating you earlier but when you have read this you may understand!!
We finished our in country training at the end of April and had a party in Phnom Penh to celebrate (i've got video evidence of Rachel doing some very special dancing to Michael Jackson with Heng (a member of the VSO programme office staff - when I have posted it on YouTube I'll post the link here!!!).
Our journey up to Stung Treng was an interesting one. A 4am start from Phnom Penh were we along with Linda (a volunteer from Holland but whose father is from Skipton of all places). We thought we had the minibus to ourselves as we had all our worldly possessions with us for our new homes... we were wrong, oh so wrong. We were in a 9 seater minibus with 10 people... one poor girl had to sit on a plastic stool in between the driver and the front passenger seat!!!
We got to Stung Treng at lunch time and proceeded to unpack - it won't be long till we pack up again though!!! Rachel started work the follwoing day and she has been busy breaking down barriers with fellow work colleagues and spending lots of time with the local health centres..
During the middle of May we decided we needed a holiday (especially as the country was taking a 3 day holiday to celebrate the ploughing season!!!). Rachel was getting bitten on average 12 - 15 times per night by the lovely mozzy's!!! So we headed to Othres Beach near Sihanoukville in the south west of the country. We had a great time staying in a thatched bungalow on the beach. It was very picturesque and the sunsets were beautiful. we will certainly be heading back to this beach again.
When we headed back to Stung Treng hoping that the rains would finally arrive - they still haven't properly arrived yet and the weather remains in the high 30's everyday with the odd day hitting 42 degress!!! When we wake up in the morning the temperature is already at 32 degrees!!
Anthony made it to the project he had decided to help, Mekong Blue (www.mekongblue.com). Please have a look at the project and I can personally say that the silk garments the women make are the best we have ever seen. Mr Chan - the boss was very pleased to see him and immediately invited him to go to another province to see what business opportunities lie there.... What a shock in the car to find out that we were driving for 3 hours on a mud track to see a new building Chan was project managing at the referral hospital!!!! We stayed the night and drank some of Chan's lovely home brew whiskey made from rice water and left to ferment for a long time... This is something I have to get used to as after work most days we share a drink and none of them are less than 60% proof, the best one being a mixture of rice wine and chinese herbs that had been fermenting for 18 months!!! This was so strong it made me cough very much... stronger than anything else I had ever drunk. I couldn't drink much as I have a 5km motobike ride home. Their is no drink driving laws here but my sensible head kicked in.. Chan has made me an interesting offer to remain working with him in a business development capacity for the next 12 months and I have accepted.
During our 4 weeks so far in the lovely wooden house Rachel has had over 150 mozzy bites and enough is enough so we decided to look for another house to live in... Easier said than done. We have looked at 10 houses now and just when we think we have made our mind up the potential landlord changes his mind and no longer wishes to rent the property or they want excessive rent as they see us and they want to charge "Barrang" price. It looks like we have finally decided on a house and we will be moving at the end of June to a 2 storey stone built house - providing we can negotiate with the landlord about some of our basic requirements e.g. a fridge and gas cooker!!!!
Well I think that posting is long enough for now. Please don't forget we can skype people from Cambodia and our user names are very easy: -
Rachel.dukes1
Anthony.dukes1
We look forward to speaking to you soon.
Lots of love
Mr & Mrs D
Saturday, 17 April 2010
Lots has happened since the last post
Hi all,
Sorry it has been so long since the last blog but we have been rather busy, visiting Stung Treng for a week, back to Phnom Penh for a couple of days, then back to Kampong Cham and then we have just had a 3 day public holiday to celebrate Khmer New Year!!!!
Firstly - Stung Treng
We headed north to Stung Treng ( 10 hour bus journey listening to hideous karaoke music on bumpy roads) and as soon as the bus pulled into the town we fell in love with it. Rachel went to her new workplace for a couple of days to meet her colleagues and also visited a couple of rural health centres! We had to use all sorts of transport - motorbikes, ferry (a boat really), bicycle and even walking!!!. We stayed at Helen's house (the volunteer that Rachel is replacing) and we loved her house so much we are going to live there. It is a traditional wooden built house (on stilts), 2 bedrooms and a massive veranda that overlooks the river. We can see ourselves spending many nights watching the world go by with a can of beer in hand and feet up!!! We also went to meet the head monk of the local Wat and we helped out with one of the English classes that they hold there. This is going to be a regular thing hopefully. Anthony has managed to sort out some work as well at a local project that requires some business development and marketing expertise!!! We will be heading back to "Trengers" at the end of April ready to start our work at the beginning of May.
Back to Kampong Cham for more language training. Whilst we have been here it has been Khmer New Year so all the restaurants, shops, markets closed for a few days. We had a New Years party at another volunteers house and we managed to stay awake past midnight which is quite a feat as we are normally in bed by 9pm!! We have been to the main Wat in the town to see some of the games they play, egg and spoon race with a difference, whacking a clay pot hanging above you with a piece of bamboo and the best was saved till last - climbing the greasy pole to reach a special prize at the top of sweets, fizzy pop and money... The organisers were eyeing Anthony up for the tug of war but they didn't have time!!!! We have spent time at a local hotel which has the only swimming pool in the town where we shared the pool with 39 other kids!!!
On Khmer New Year we went to the local Wat and the head monk insisted on feeding us all sorts of meat dishes, fruit and bread.. what was left we had take it with us!!! The mangoes were especially good.
This afternoon we are heading out via Tuk Tuk to see an old wooded Wat that was not destroyed by the Khmer Rouge and instead was used as a hospital.
WE HAVE NOW DOWNLOADED SKYPE SO IF YOU WANT TO TALK TO US THEN E-MAIL US AND WE WILL BOOK A TIME (WE ARE 6 HOURS AHEAD OF YOU) TO CHAT.
Speak again soon
The two of us
Sorry it has been so long since the last blog but we have been rather busy, visiting Stung Treng for a week, back to Phnom Penh for a couple of days, then back to Kampong Cham and then we have just had a 3 day public holiday to celebrate Khmer New Year!!!!
Firstly - Stung Treng
We headed north to Stung Treng ( 10 hour bus journey listening to hideous karaoke music on bumpy roads) and as soon as the bus pulled into the town we fell in love with it. Rachel went to her new workplace for a couple of days to meet her colleagues and also visited a couple of rural health centres! We had to use all sorts of transport - motorbikes, ferry (a boat really), bicycle and even walking!!!. We stayed at Helen's house (the volunteer that Rachel is replacing) and we loved her house so much we are going to live there. It is a traditional wooden built house (on stilts), 2 bedrooms and a massive veranda that overlooks the river. We can see ourselves spending many nights watching the world go by with a can of beer in hand and feet up!!! We also went to meet the head monk of the local Wat and we helped out with one of the English classes that they hold there. This is going to be a regular thing hopefully. Anthony has managed to sort out some work as well at a local project that requires some business development and marketing expertise!!! We will be heading back to "Trengers" at the end of April ready to start our work at the beginning of May.
Back to Kampong Cham for more language training. Whilst we have been here it has been Khmer New Year so all the restaurants, shops, markets closed for a few days. We had a New Years party at another volunteers house and we managed to stay awake past midnight which is quite a feat as we are normally in bed by 9pm!! We have been to the main Wat in the town to see some of the games they play, egg and spoon race with a difference, whacking a clay pot hanging above you with a piece of bamboo and the best was saved till last - climbing the greasy pole to reach a special prize at the top of sweets, fizzy pop and money... The organisers were eyeing Anthony up for the tug of war but they didn't have time!!!! We have spent time at a local hotel which has the only swimming pool in the town where we shared the pool with 39 other kids!!!
On Khmer New Year we went to the local Wat and the head monk insisted on feeding us all sorts of meat dishes, fruit and bread.. what was left we had take it with us!!! The mangoes were especially good.
This afternoon we are heading out via Tuk Tuk to see an old wooded Wat that was not destroyed by the Khmer Rouge and instead was used as a hospital.
WE HAVE NOW DOWNLOADED SKYPE SO IF YOU WANT TO TALK TO US THEN E-MAIL US AND WE WILL BOOK A TIME (WE ARE 6 HOURS AHEAD OF YOU) TO CHAT.
Speak again soon
The two of us
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Kompang Cham
Hi all,
We are now based in a lovely provincial town three hour north of Phnom Penh called Kompang Cham where we are having some Khmer language lessons at an international school.
We will be here for another week and then we head upto our placement town (still a further 5 hours north) for a weeks visit, house hunting and meeting new employer...
The traffic in Cambodia is not for the faint hearted... it seems to be every vehicle for themselves and you quite often come face to face with a car heading towards you on the wrong side of the road.... all you do is toot your horn to let them know you are there!!!!
Have passed through a place known as "spiderville" where they deep fry tarantulas!!!!! we didn't sample them - yet!!!
We have been on a boat trip today to a Wat some 20km up river and we managed to have an audience with a monk!!! he offered us lunch but we had to decline as the boat was leaving..
Our first breakfast here was certainly one we will never forget... chicken, rice, tea and soup!!! This was no ordinary soup as Rachel had a chickens foot in it and Anthony had what looked like some organs!!! needless to say we went hungry that morning.
We are getting around town on bicylces which is much better than walking as the temperature is well in to early 40's!!!!!!
keep coming back for our next update which should include some photo's........
We are now based in a lovely provincial town three hour north of Phnom Penh called Kompang Cham where we are having some Khmer language lessons at an international school.
We will be here for another week and then we head upto our placement town (still a further 5 hours north) for a weeks visit, house hunting and meeting new employer...
The traffic in Cambodia is not for the faint hearted... it seems to be every vehicle for themselves and you quite often come face to face with a car heading towards you on the wrong side of the road.... all you do is toot your horn to let them know you are there!!!!
Have passed through a place known as "spiderville" where they deep fry tarantulas!!!!! we didn't sample them - yet!!!
We have been on a boat trip today to a Wat some 20km up river and we managed to have an audience with a monk!!! he offered us lunch but we had to decline as the boat was leaving..
Our first breakfast here was certainly one we will never forget... chicken, rice, tea and soup!!! This was no ordinary soup as Rachel had a chickens foot in it and Anthony had what looked like some organs!!! needless to say we went hungry that morning.
We are getting around town on bicylces which is much better than walking as the temperature is well in to early 40's!!!!!!
keep coming back for our next update which should include some photo's........
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Greetings from Cambodia
Hello to you all...
We arrived here in Cambodia a few days ago and we haven't stopped since. Their are 27 of us on our in country training (the largest group ever) and we have people from all over the world (Sweden, Holland, Philipines, USA & Canada plus others)..
We are heading off to our first stage of in country language training tomorrow for 10 days and then we have a week visiting our placement in Stung Treng..
The weather is hot!!!! 43 degrees yesterday so it was nice today that is was only 41 degrees!!!!!
We will put another post on here soon with some photo's when we have a better internet connection!!!
Speak soon and love you all lots
Anthony & Rachel
P.S. the next blog may have some Khmer in it!!!!!
We arrived here in Cambodia a few days ago and we haven't stopped since. Their are 27 of us on our in country training (the largest group ever) and we have people from all over the world (Sweden, Holland, Philipines, USA & Canada plus others)..
We are heading off to our first stage of in country language training tomorrow for 10 days and then we have a week visiting our placement in Stung Treng..
The weather is hot!!!! 43 degrees yesterday so it was nice today that is was only 41 degrees!!!!!
We will put another post on here soon with some photo's when we have a better internet connection!!!
Speak soon and love you all lots
Anthony & Rachel
P.S. the next blog may have some Khmer in it!!!!!
Sunday, 21 February 2010
Curryaoke Night & Update
Hi All,
Last nights curryaoke will be re-named "Rachel's hot curry night supported by bollywood dancing in a rugby club!!!" How surreal is that???
It was great to see you all last night and a MASSIVE thank you to everybody who came and braved the elements, you were more than generous... In total we raised a massive £730 on ticket sales and raffle tickets. It was great to see so many people drinking lots (probably due to the hot curry). I am sure the rugby club will be happy with the bar takings!!!!!
A huge thanks to the following: -
Michelle and Liz for helping with the curry and surviving the "cold" of the kitchen.
Rox, Heather and Sara for the bollywood dancing.
Denise & Grace for selling so many raffle tickets.
Martyn for picking all the high raffle ticket numbers!!!
Clare and Tom for their help in food preperation and washing up.
Everybody else who travelled far and wide to taste Rachels curry.
Apologies for the mess up with the karaoke - it is such a shame you all missed out on my performance of Freddie Mercury singing I want to break free!!!! It's probably for the best that you didn't see that..(especially as I was going to do it in drag!!!!)
We move out of our house this coming weekend (still have our mobiles) and will be crashing with our parents for a few days till we head down to Heathrow!!!!
Not much curry left, well enough to keep us going for the rest of the week!!!!!
We'll put another update on here prior to departure and then as soon as we can once we are in Cambodia..
Speak soon
Ant & Rach
x x x x x x x
Last nights curryaoke will be re-named "Rachel's hot curry night supported by bollywood dancing in a rugby club!!!" How surreal is that???
It was great to see you all last night and a MASSIVE thank you to everybody who came and braved the elements, you were more than generous... In total we raised a massive £730 on ticket sales and raffle tickets. It was great to see so many people drinking lots (probably due to the hot curry). I am sure the rugby club will be happy with the bar takings!!!!!
A huge thanks to the following: -
Michelle and Liz for helping with the curry and surviving the "cold" of the kitchen.
Rox, Heather and Sara for the bollywood dancing.
Denise & Grace for selling so many raffle tickets.
Martyn for picking all the high raffle ticket numbers!!!
Clare and Tom for their help in food preperation and washing up.
Everybody else who travelled far and wide to taste Rachels curry.
Apologies for the mess up with the karaoke - it is such a shame you all missed out on my performance of Freddie Mercury singing I want to break free!!!! It's probably for the best that you didn't see that..(especially as I was going to do it in drag!!!!)
We move out of our house this coming weekend (still have our mobiles) and will be crashing with our parents for a few days till we head down to Heathrow!!!!
Not much curry left, well enough to keep us going for the rest of the week!!!!!
We'll put another update on here prior to departure and then as soon as we can once we are in Cambodia..
Speak soon
Ant & Rach
x x x x x x x
Monday, 15 February 2010
Curryaoke Evening Is Getting Closer
Hi Guys,
Only 5 days till the Curryaoke and 4 days till Rachel leaves work!!!!! Hope you have all chosen your songs carefully. Anthony and Rachel will probably have a little trick/treat up their sleeves for Saturday night.... It will of course involve plenty of alcohol and some shocking singing... Party starts at 7.30pm but we (I mean Rachel) will be up at the rugby club all afternoon cooking as Anthony will be putting his boots for one last time to play for 1 minute!!!
Looking forward to seeing you all on Saturday and if we don't get chance on the night many many thanks for all your very generous donations.
Ant & Rach
Only 5 days till the Curryaoke and 4 days till Rachel leaves work!!!!! Hope you have all chosen your songs carefully. Anthony and Rachel will probably have a little trick/treat up their sleeves for Saturday night.... It will of course involve plenty of alcohol and some shocking singing... Party starts at 7.30pm but we (I mean Rachel) will be up at the rugby club all afternoon cooking as Anthony will be putting his boots for one last time to play for 1 minute!!!
Looking forward to seeing you all on Saturday and if we don't get chance on the night many many thanks for all your very generous donations.
Ant & Rach
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Curryaoke Evening
Hi all,
We are having a Curryaoke at Anthony's rugby club (Roundhegians RUFC, Chelwood Drive, Leeds LS8 2AT) on Saturday 20th February starting at 7.30pm. All are welcome, including little people.
Tickets are available from either Anthony or Rachel and cost £15 each. All money will be donated to VSO to help with our fundraising.
We are having a Curryaoke at Anthony's rugby club (Roundhegians RUFC, Chelwood Drive, Leeds LS8 2AT) on Saturday 20th February starting at 7.30pm. All are welcome, including little people.
Tickets are available from either Anthony or Rachel and cost £15 each. All money will be donated to VSO to help with our fundraising.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
