I landed in Phnom Penh, Cambodia around 7pm so it was quite dark. Something that I quickly learned was that I was in Cambodia at the time of year when it gets dark around 5pm. I hate arriving in new countries/cities in the dark—as you can imagine. One thing that would make the process more smoothly though is that a worker from Star Kampuchea (the volunteer placement organization) would be meeting me at the airport to take me to my accommodation.
I left the airport and right away I am approached by local people like a swarm of bees. They start saying “Tuk-Tuk, cell phone, cab, where you want to go, where are you staying.... AHHHHHH” It isn’t just one person either it is about 10-15 of them all competing for your attention and hoping that you will select them for one of the aforementioned services. From my orientation package I remember to just smile and politely refuse—so I do just that. I inform them that I already have a ride and as I tell them I think to myself, “I wonder how many of them understand what I am saying.” A couple of them eventually leave me alone as I ignore them but a select few continue to follow me around.
I look around for my name since the person from the program is supposed to have a sign with my name on it. I don’t see it anywhere and come to the conclusion that they must be running late. I stand around waiting and start to grow impatient with the constant swarm of people trying to get me to buy their services. I continue to refuse and finally agree to pay a man 2000 Riel (50 cents CD) to use his cell phone. I call the information number on my orientation package to which no one responds. At this point I am getting a little nervous since I don’t know where my guest house is, don’ know any Khmer (Cambodian language), no one seems to speak English, it is dark and the locals are watching me so diligently to see what my next move is. I think over the situation and elect to wait another 15 minutes and if there still isn’t anyone there to pick me up I will consult my guidebook and look for a place to stay.
After about another 10 minutes a guy named Brem emerges out of the crowd of people with a smile on his face. He knows my name, the place I am going and looks like a nice trustworthy guy. So I get into the cab with him and we are off to the guest house where I will be living for the next 7-8 weeks.
As it turns out, he is a local Cambodian whom is 21 years old and is also a volunteer. He has been volunteering with a local organization in Phnom Penh known as Star Kampuchea (the organization in charge of placing international volunteers in other organizations) for the last year of so. His English is good enough for us to converse and I ask him a few questions and then we both become silent—I am too overwhelmed to engage in conversation now. I peer out the window and feel as though I am reborn into a new oh so different world to which I am so much more familiar with.
On the way from the airport to the guest house I notice how hectic the traffic is. Basically, it is every man for himself. For instance, in Canada when you want to turn left you have to wait for a place where you can turn across the oncoming traffic. Basically, you have to wait until the road is clear and then you will make your turn. Well, in Cambodia since traffic is nuts and they have an insufficient supply of traffic lights, the rules are different. You can’t simply wait for the oncoming traffic to come to a halt to make your turn, but basically you have to be aggressive and just wedge yourself out into the middle of the street and make people stop for you—it is quite the experience the first time. My first experience with it was in the back of a car and it would be the last. The rest of the time I spent in Cambodia I would no longer find myself in the confines of a car, but rather on the back of a moped (Moto called in Cambodia). So here you are, sitting on the back of a moped, wedging out into oncoming traffic, seconds, inches and a heart attack from accidents, your ears surrounded by the perpetual sound of a hand slamming on their horn, and you better get used to it or you will find yourself growing old waiting to make that left turn.
It takes about 15 minutes for us to arrive at the guest house, known as Tattoo Guest house. He drops me off and tells me that in the morning they will pick us up to go to orientation. I thank him, check into my room and meet some of the other volunteers whom are also staying at the guest house. For those of you wondering what a guest house is, well it is a house basically owned by a family that has a bunch of rooms. This particular house was 4 levels with a patio on the roof where we could eat and hang out. On the first floor is the kitchen where we can also order food. With the accommodations I also get 3 free meals a day. There is a menu where you can select food such as rice, fish, curry chicken, eggs, bread and jam, fruit salad, etc. The people whom run the guest house are very welcoming and eventually after spending 7 weeks there, we would all develop into one big happy family—well, happy most of the time (lol).
 |
| The lobby of the guest house where I stayed |
 |
| My room. I shared a room with another volunteer. |
 |
| This is Jan. He is one of the people who ran the guest house. |
 | ||
| This is where we would eat our meals that were free from the guest house. Some of the other volunteers relaxing. |
I have also included a link below to my first Cambodia photo album on Facebook. There are comments that go along with the photos to describe what you are seeing and give you a better idea of what Cambodia is like. It is an open photo album on Facebook so you should be able to view it even if you aren't on my friends list.
0 comments:
Post a Comment