Cambodia 77 degrees F at 7.30 pm

Had a good journey and was met as I hoped for by Sechong the coordinator and brought here to the hotel.  It's very much a hostel but most acceptable now I've changed my room from a dark and noisy one to the quiet and light 2nd floor.  

Day 1 was the Phenm Ben festival which is why I came early and we (Jane - the other volunteer) and I were taken by Tuk Tuk to Sechong's village near Siem Reap where we took part in the Bhuddist ceremony to honour the dead (Ancestors' Day). This consisted of visiting various pagodas within the village complex and giving small donations to the monks who then prayed over us and gave us incense to burn and leave by the side of the many statues and candles.  The main ceremony was in a large open sided hall with a music group including gamalans playing some very soulful music.  Here we put donations into a line of small metal bowls.  (Donations were fractions of pence in riel notes)  After chanting and prayers from a large group of orange clad monks, we then lined up again to put a spoonful of rice into each of the metal bowls.  This is then thrown around the pagoda for the dead to eat.  We were the only Westerners there and were treated very kindly.   The elderly ladies - who often become monks when their families grow up - were especially pleased to see me (as a contemporary I suppose) so I got loads of bows and praying hands and smiles with one of the ladies grabbing me by the arm and waving it about.  As we had been warned not to touch the monks I was a bit disconcerted.  

The following day Jane & I walked to an ethical series of craft workshops where young people are trained in traditional arts.  After their year-long stay learning their trade, they return to their villages and set up workshops there.  All the wonderful things they make - silk weaving, wood carving, lacquer plaques etc are sold in the shop at the centre.  The stone carvers are also involved in renovation of Angkor and the other Wats.  All the beautiful objects were really wonderful.  Later that afternoon, she and I went for a walk and found the Royal Palace which I hope to visit when I can see it through the rain, and also Raffles. We squelched in and had a wonderfully served cup of tea there and a trip to their posh loos by way of a treat!

It is now Sunday and we have just returned from a trip to Battambang which took 6.1/2 hrs by boat yesterday through the flooded parts of the huge Tonle Sap lake, past half submerged vegetation and a number of floating villages.  The houses are built on rafts of bamboo and as the flood waters rise and fall are on lake or land. As we journeyed we picked up passengers either at small boat docks or the would-be voyagers called the captain on their mobile phones to arrange a meeting.  As we got to the appropriate place, the captain sounded his hooter and a small boat shot out with passenger and luggage.  The most impressive of these was a small girl about 8 years old and an elderly lady. The grannie got on the boat and the child paddled the boat back to the family.

 
We stayed in Battambang at a very nice resort hotel intending to look round the colonial buildings on Sunday morning but we have had the tail end of a typhoon ever since I got here with copious rain so the town was inundated with water and unvisitable plus we had to get a taxi as all the buses were packed with people trying to get back after the festival.  The floods have been enjoyed by all the locals who got their fishing nets out and started to catch their dinner at the side of the road.  The typhoon (up near Hong Kong) has caused torrential rain everyday so when you go out it is complete with umbrella, poncho and flip flops to wade through the waters. 

And the reason I'm here?  I am due to start tomorrow but the children (although in an orphanage) are with their families for the holiday so I am going with Jane to her project although as it is 45 min away by Tuk Tuk in the Angkor National Park on potholed dirt roads this might be a bit optimistic.  If we do get there it will be a very good thing as I will get to see how to structure the day.  Our job is to add to their regular school lessons by teaching them English - my children haven't had a volunteer since May so I am planning to find out how much they know then start to work on basic verbs, alphabet and vocabulary with loads of games, singing (poor them listening to my creaky tones) and some fun!

Everyone is lovely here - very happy to smile at you and try out their English. It's hot and humid but nothing too bad - food is great - dinner just now was $3.20 for a Chinese meal of green noodles, duck and shrimp wonton. It's easy to get around Siem Reap and I feel safe here but you do take your life in your hands crossing the road especially when the downpour is making your orange poncho stick everywhere so it's difficult to see!