Laying low in Laos and showing compassion in Cambodia

On Thursday, April 12th, we had Songkran activities at school for the entire day. It was really neat to participate. Monks visited our school to accept donations and then a few of the foreign staff and most of the Thai teachers headed to the gym to demonstrate traditional Thai games to the students. It was so much fun! After lunch, the students honoured the teachers with water. The highest ranking teachers and administration sat on chairs, and each student walked past with scented water and sprinkled it on the hands of the teachers. It was so peaceful to watch. Thai teachers then walked around and sprinkled water on all the teachers. There were supposed to be games and other activities on the sports field, but it was RAINING! Talk about irony . . . we weren’t allowed to run around in the rain, in fear of getting sick – but yet we were supposed to be celebrating a water festival! At the end of the day, a few of the foreign staff went out to have a water fight on the field . . . and some students joined in once their parents signed them out of school. It was really fun – I got drenched from head to toe!

After school, 8 of us (me, Jill, Kristen, Nicole, Robyn, Jeff, Mimi, and Dan) met on Khoa San Road to board a night bus to Laos. Khao San was crazy with Songkran celebrations – water was everywhere! The highway traffic was so busy and unsafe! People were squished into the boxes of trucks to travel hundreds of kilometres.
We arrived in Vientiane on Friday, April 13th. We had breakfast and then we hopped on a local bus to Vang Vieng. The bus was really hot (no air-con), and squishy . . . people sat on stools in the aisle (something I’ll never see in Canada!). We arrived in the afternoon and found a guesthouse and relaxed.
On Saturday, April 14th, the 8 of us met for breakfast and then went tubing down a river (3km). It was so great . . . there were ziplines and swings into the river, and little shacks along the way for drinks and snacks.


Jill, Kristen, Nicole, and I went tubing again on Sunday, April 15th; it was really relaxing and laid-back. And Monday, April 16th was a repeat of Sunday! We met lots of travellers, many from Canada.
On Tuesday, April 17th, the 4 of us hopped on a bus to Vientiane to meet up with Robyn and Jeff. We then boarded a night bus at 6pm to return to Bangkok.
We arrived at 6:30am on Wednesday, April 18th and ate a quick breakfast before boarding ANOTHER bus to the Cambodia border. Wow! That was a lot of busses! We then took a taxi from the border to Siem Reap. It was 3 hours on the most horrific gravel roads I have ever seen! The rumour is that the airlines pay the government NOT to upgrade the roads . . . so that travellers get frustrated and fly, instead of enduring the wicked potholes and the dust storms, and dodging random cattle and other crazy drivers on the road!
On Thursday, April 19th, we hired a guide and 2 tuk tuks to take the 6 of us to Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat (the world’s oldest religious structure – built in the 1100’s). We ended our day by visiting the Kantha Bopha Blood Bank (http://www.beatocello.com/) at a local Children’s Hospital. Jill, Kristen, Nicole, and I donated blood.
On Friday, April 20th, the 6 of us hopped on a bus at 12:30 to head south to Phnom Penh.
On Saturday, April 21st, we took a mini-van tour to various areas around Phnom Penh. Our first stop was the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (a high school turned Khmer Rouge S-21 Prison). It is estimated that between 1975 and 1978; 11,000 prisoners were housed here – 1500 at any one time, waiting to be exterminated. The innocent victims in the prison were of different nationalities and from all walks of life: workers, farmers, engineers, technicians, intellectuals, professors, teachers, students, and even ministers and diplomats.

Our next stop was the Choeung EK Genocidal Centre . . . aka: The Killing Fields (http://www.cekillingfield.com.kh/). Between 1975 and 1979, the Khmer Rouge Regime executed and murdered 20,000 people, including foreigners. There are 129 mass graves and 8,000 human skulls on display in a Memorial Charnel (built in 1988). The site was eerily peaceful. We then went to lunch at a really neat restaurant called ‘Friends’. It is run by Mith Samlannh; a leading Cambodian organization, providing services to over 1800 street children and their families per day. The restaurant trains street kids; enabling them to obtain jobs and stay off the street. It was the best service we’ve had in South-East Asia! (http://www.friends-international.org/ http://www.streetfriends.org/). After lunch, we went to an orphanage that is home to 147 children! (http://www.cambokids.org/) We were all expecting a building (I was picturing something like ‘Annie’), but what we found were ramshackle huts, no green-space, and razor-wire in the most bizarre places. We donated rice, canned food, cooking oil, and soap. The children were so happy – sparkling eyes and smiles everywhere! They performed traditional dances for us, and loved doing so.
On Sunday, April 22nd, we boarded a minibus at 6:30am to make our return to Bangkok. It was quite the experience . . . and we didn’t get home until 10:30pm.

Well, I am now back at school for the week. I’m officially done teaching on Friday, April 27th; I can’t believe it! Jill, Kristen, Nicole, and I are heading south to Koh Phangan for a full moon party and some relaxation. And then, Nicole and Kristen are going to Australia, and Jill and I are travelling around southern Thailand and Bali. I’m looking forward to being a ‘backpacker’ for the month, but am really anticipating my return to Winnipeg!