As I write this, I am sitting in the lobby of the hotel, about 35 minutes away from the start of my long journey home.  I will be starting the journey with a tuk tuk ride to the airport.  I did question whether that was the sane choice, as I will probably end up arriving all dusty and windswept which is how I will have to stay for the next 24 hours.   I am hoping I will sleep on the plane as I am a bit tired.  I stayed up last night until 12.30 am, when on the dot I signed on to the BA site to check in…..and it wouldn’t let me check in.  I have no idea why, but having stayed awake especially, it would be fair to say I was not amused!  Consequently I am heading to the airport slighter earlier than planned, just in case there are any problems.  Although not convinced Bangkok Airways will be able to check me right through.  Regardless, as I haven’t been able to select my seat, looks like I am will be sitting in the toilet on the way back.  Don’t know why my flights home never go as smooth as they should.  Hope we have no delay getting to Bangkok, any more than an hour and I will be under pressure, especially if my bag is not checked right through!!   The Bangkok flight is 12 hours and 50 minutes!  Longer than coming out.  Something about the headwinds.  A long, long time!!

I saw Jon the director for the last time yesterday morning.  A civilised meeting in a café to go through my recommendations.  We had a good chat, work and non-work related.  He seems pleased with what I have done anyway which makes it worthwhile.  I must admit there was a little tear in my eye as I gave him a hug goodbye and watched him walk away.  They are all such nice people out here, doing such great stuff.  I will miss them, but have been privileged to be able to know them. And you never know, if I manage to save up enough I will come back……once I am employed again.  I had a dream about a job interview the other night, reality is biting back now.  Good news is I got the job, pity it was only a dream…but positive dreams can turn in to reality!!

I managed to full those pesky clouds though, who obviously thought I would be back working on Monday and Tuesday, so they stayed away….fooled you!!  It was nice being in a slightly more luxurious place with a pool.  Breakfast was always amusing though.  The hotel obviously caters for a lot of organised bus tours who set off early to sight see etc.  So the entire hotel, seems to come to breakfast between 7.15 am and 8.00 am.  It is like a war zone, where you almost have to engage in armed combat for a table and getting to the toaster requires you hunker down in to a scrum and then once you make it there you daren’t walk away or someone will have your toast when it pops out the other end.  Then suddenly, just before 8.00 am they all scuttle off to their buses and calm descends on the. That is apart from the carnage that is left on the tables.  If you arrive at 8.05 am for your breakfast all will be calm but you have no chance on finding a clean table.    Still it’s back to a bowl of cereal or a bagel made by myself from Thursday morning.  Tomorrow’s breakfast will be courtesy of BA.

Well I am packing up now to get ready to go.  Wish me luck…these days I seem to need it when I am travelling!!

 

Vx

Dining out brick wall!!

Well, it's official, last night I hit that dining out marathon brick wall!!  I am just so over going out for dinner!!  I went through all the motions, shower, hair done, make up, (clothes on as well....naturally!) and off I went.  I decided to try and see if I could find a pub with the Scotland V. Ireland game on and I had spotted the rugby on a couple the night before on Pub Street, so I headed for them.  Mistake. The food was not that good, and the wine was even less good than that.  I moved from the first table they gave me as it had that eau de toilete smell about it....and I'm not talking perfume.  I think it was the alley way running up the side of the restaurant.  The white wine was not good, so I switched to red.  Which was vaguely better, but was somewhat spoiled when a fly did a Tom Daly into the glass then made a bad attempt at the breast stroke in it!!  To give the waiter his due he did notice me poking about in the glass and asked if something was wrong.  When I said I think I had a fly in it, he did they only sensible thing a waiter should do on such occasions.  He offered to get me a straw to help fish it out!!  Not sure if I was meant to try and suck it out, but I thought that a high risk option so stuck to poking.

The rugby was a non starte,r we were competing with a Man City v Chelsea game and a Newcastle United game.  Although I could swear the latter started off playing Liverpool, but ended up against Southhampton or someone.  Must have been the distraction and trauma of my swimming fly!! Regardless, I figured Scotland's rugby team had no chance against those games, so I left and headed back to the hotel in the hope of finding it on the TV there.  I went via the supermarket to buy myself a bottle of fly-free wine, though not sure why, as I didn't even feel in the mood to drink anymore.  But it just didn't seem right and proper to be watching a game of rugby with a cup of liptons tea in hand!!

So, if you saw the game, then you will not be surprised that my engagement levels were not high in the first half, and I kept toying with the idea of giving up on them and going for a foot massage instead.  But  it was Scotland and in true Scot style we have to hang on in and hope when all hope seems to be lost.  It's what we do best in sport....but hey, it must have been a lucky fly I had in my wine, and against the odds I spent the last 15 - 20 minutes of the game shouting at the TV.  I do hope my neighbours through the adjoining door were out.  The last 5 minutes were torture, but at last, after a false mini celebration when the ref blew for a penalty and not the end of the game, I was jumping up and down celebrating our win!!  Whoppee!!  I now have to watch ever single Scottish Rugby game in Cambodia as it obviously brings us luck. 

So after all the excitement there was no way I was getting to sleep, so off I went for my foot massage to calm me down before bed!  I went to the first one outside the hotel, there are lots of them, but unfortunately it shut at 11 pm and not 12 pm (which most of them do) so I could only get a 30 minute massge instead of an hour.  Initially I was dissaponted, but after 5 minutes in the place not so much.  They seem to have missed something in the concept of massages...i.e. you are there to relax.  They had a big screen on the wall blaring out a National Georgraphic or something channel.  First of all I had to endure poisonus snakes.  But, when that programme finished, it got worse.  Do you know there is somewhere in America (or was it Canada) where there is a river that is so full of flying carp fish it is dangerous to be in the water as the force of them hitting you could knock you out.  No, you didn't know that did you.  Do you care that you didn't know that?  I sure as hell didn't when I was trying to relax getting my foot massage!!  Thank goodness I didn't have to endure the entire programme about flying carp (or was that crap!!).   I happily left after my 30 minutes and headed back to my book and bed, safe in the knowledge people I knew would be out there doing there bit and celebrating our win against Ireland!!

Not so sunny Sunday

If there is one thing you can depend on with the weather where ever you are in the world, you can guarantee when it gets to the weekend and your not working....it will not be as nice!  Lots of cloud today and there was me set up for a lazy day by the pool.  Sun has been beating down when I have been stuck in my hot, hot office.  Not that it wasn't warm today, just not as sunny.  Although all is not lost as I quite like wandering around the centre and sitting down in cafes watching the mad world of Siem Reap go by.

I know these are not really good photos, but I was trying to take them discretely as I didn't want them to notice, seems a bit goulish to be snapping the disabled, but you see so much of this in Cambodia.  People with limbs missing, which I assume is due to the horror of all the landmines that were left after the Khmer Rouge fighting.  I never quite know what to do, after all I can't give them all money.  It is somewhat ironic that there are so many disabled people here, but as a country they are not geared up for the disabled.  I read in one of the travel guides that it would be difficult for disabled travellers to get around Cambodia and I have certainly see a few people in wheelchairs having to get lifted up and down steps to get in places. 

And, yes, I was watching these poor souls as I munched on my lunch and sipped my wine, relaxing back in my comfy seat!! 

 

 

 So I am now about to go out for dinner on my penultimate night out.  Have to admit, I am  starting to get a bit bored with going out!!  Not to mention skint!!  Although I am hoping to find a pub with the Scotland Ireleand rugby game on tonight.  I am sure I spotted one of the bars last night with the Welsh game on, so heading in that direction tonight! 

I noticed one of my FBB's had posted that it was snowing back home....don't want that for my return.  I am use to nothing below 90 F.  Brrrrr.

Farewell night.

 

 

Friday night was my wee farewell party with some of the staff, which included a lot of the team I went to the Lake with.  They didn’t all speak that good English, and clearly I speak absolutely no Khmer, but we all seemed to get along ok. Jon the Director is away just now so unfortunately he couldn’t make it.  I feel quite sad to be leaving them; they are all such lovely people doing such excellent work for the underprivileged out here in Cambodia.  

We went to one of the ‘local’ Cambodian bars which had cheap but good food. I did say to Chantha I would leave the ordering of food up to her, but that I just wanted vegetable dishes …I got fish and of course rice.  But as ever, they were all just trying to fit in with what I eat, which meant fish for everyone.   Well at least at the start of the night, although they did sneak in a few meat dishes later on when I wasn’t looking!!  After the mojito tummy incident, (those cocktails will never be the same for me again) I have been trying to stick to wine, straight from the bottle, no handling required!   Much to my surprise, they did actually have wine at this bar, but only red and it would appear only one type of red wine, which they brought in an ice bucket.  But hey, maybe not so daft when it is 90F + out here!  It wasn’t your top quality reserve bin wine, so the cool worked well, although I did draw the line at them trying to put a huge junk of ice in my glass before they poured the wine.  There are some wine standards one has to stick with no matter where you are and what the temperature is!  Even more bizarrely, the guys, very quickly moved on to the Anchor beer, which they also put ice in and drank out of wine glasses!  Hmmm, can you just see all those Scottish football fans having their pre match pint out a wine glass with ice in it?  No, not working for you then?  Ok, so maybe this one won’t catch on in Scotland!!

The last day in the office.

So today it is Friday and my last official day in the office.  I will need to meet up with Jon sometime on Monday to go over my report and findings but hopefully that will be over a nice cup of coffee somewhere.  Jon is off somewhere…. either Bangkok or Phenom Phen but I can’t remember where, although I think he did tell me…at least twice.  It’s the heat, it addles the brain.

Yesterday was a busy day, hard at it all day doing catch up, and even working through my lunch, which is not easy when you are melting with the heat.  The assignment has gone a bit like my first one in Zambia, I spent most of the first week wondering what I was doing, and thinking I wasn’t really making a difference or doing anything constructive, and then suddenly it all starts to fall in to place.  I had my last reviews with Chantha, covering the payment of staff salaries and inventory control yesterday and then it is all down to finishing my report and getting it to Jon to read ahead of our meeting.   I feel disappointed that I haven’t been as hands on as I was in Zambia, but I realise now that it is more down to time.  I did spend a little longer there and of course I didn’t have three days in the wilderness with no electricity, although having said that there were quite a few days in Zambia when we had no electricity!   

I am now definitely at the stage where I have identified what improvements we could make here at TLC and had I been here a little longer would have started getting to it!  I feel sad in a way that I can’t, as I know Chantha is keen to make improvements.  I think she knows herself some of the things that need to change but, probably due in part to the culture, does not feel empowered to do them. Especially if there is resistance from other members of staff.   In particular she recognises that she is not using QuickBook to its full potential.  But we all know what it is like when you get a new system in, it takes ages to get the hang of it and that is with support from others around you.  Unfortunately, as I have never used the system, I would have to put myself through the idiots guide to QuickBook first before I could be any real help to her, and we are all out of time on that front!

Today did not start brilliantly, slightly dodgy tum again, although not to the extreme bacterial infection sort of upset.  However, after my walk here from the hotel I did need to make a major dash for the facilities.  Only to find there was no water……!!!  Argh!!  Too much information already I know, but these are important issues out here!!  I did contemplate going back to the hotel, but decided to tough it out after Sarkhem assured me he was going to fix it and it would be back on soon.  He did try to explain to me what he had to do, but I think something got lost in the translation, so I smiled sweetly and put my trust in him.  Which was well placed as it was back on by about 10 am.  So normal flushing service was resumed!  Hurrah!!

Tonight I think some of the team are coming out with me for a little farewell party.  Chantha is organising it. There are some ‘local’ bars and restaurants close by which are more Cambodian type prices, so we are going somewhere with good but cheap food.  Not sure what I will drink though, as I am not a fan of beer, but I don’t think the place we will end up in will be serving chilled Chablis by the glass!!  Doubtless my dodgy tum may have something to say about it tomorrow, but what the heck, I have a day off and very nice facilities at the hotel thank you very much!!!  J

I am truly wishing I had brought some Scottish style gifts with me from home.  I did think about it but had so much else to organise in such a short space of time that I didn’t get round to it.  Chantha told me yesterday she has a gift for me….so how embarrassed do I feel.? I will of course stand them a few rounds of drinks tonight, or even pick up the tab for the food if it is not too expensive.  But why did I not buy those silly tartan teddies and see you jimmy quality tammies!!!!!  The would have loved them....wouldn't they?

The journey home!

So after the excitement of the clinic, we are packed up, boat loaded and ready to go in about 20 minutes….a well-practised routine for the team. To say I was there flinging the stuff on the boat to speed things up would be untrue, but only because most of the boxes and bags were too heavy and if any had landed in the water it would only have further delayed the departure!! 

It has been a love hate experience.  One that you could never experience on any holiday, but not one I want to repeat in a hurry.  I so admire the teams, of which there are currently 2 in TLC, that do this week in and week out.  Spending 3 days away from their family and friends in what, even for most Cambodians, are very basic conditions.  Their enthusiasm, love of the job, and their overwhelming desire to help those who have nothing is humbling and my admiration goes out to each and every one of them.  

Meanwhile, back on the boat I have my kindle, my iPod and not a lot else to keep me occupied over the next 7 hours!   The journey was uneventful.  The cook served up French fries at 10 am, which we all ate and then for some bizarre reason lunch just after 10.30 am.  Now I know we had breakfast about 6.30 am but we had 7 hours to kill so why rush lunch?!!  Who knows?!  I had a short post lunch nap on the floor of the boat, not that I really slept.  Then I read  some, stood up , sat down, read some more, stood up, sat down, read some more!!!!!  Staggered to the toilet, a marginally less traumatic experience than squatting over a hole over the river, but not pleasant by a long stretch.  Sat down, read some more, stood up, sat down, stood up, sat down,  read some more…..bored yet?  Not as much as I was!!  Eventually as we got closer to home I went to the front of the boat and plonked myself on the oil cans, which was the closest you could get to a seat.  We passed the first floating village we saw on the way out, the one that stared in to the grey desolate edge of the world!  Little did I know when I first passed it how flippin far it was to the next one!! 

I was aware that trips were run to floating villages at the top of Tonle Sap.  When we left it was far too early for them to be up out of bed, but on the way in we passed a few of the boats.  I felt quite irritated every time one of them passed….especially when they waved at us.  Argh!  They were on a jolly to gawp at the floating village nearby and then let everyone know they had seen one and how wonderful it looked!! Seriously folks, you won’t get the half of it cruising past on your boat, with seats no less….no sitting on the floor for them!!

The lake got narrower as we got closer to our landing point and there were lots of twists and turns.  As I sat at the front of the boat I was getting eye strain looking for the ramshackle village that we left from.  It would be round the next turn, I knew it was.  Ok, maybe not this one but the next.  No, well the next then?  No!! ??  Oh for feck sake, who moved the village!!!  But at last there they were, those wonderful wobbly falling down houses on stilts, what a beautiful sight, but even better there was Sudoth with the minibus, boot open waiting for our conglomeration of medicines and bits and pieces.  Another hour plus and I would be at my 4 star hotel.  Only problem was I felt embarrassed to be going there.   After what I had just experienced it seemed like decadence beyond belief and for most of the staff I had been with my 6 night stay was in excess of a month’s wages for them.    Fortunately we were heading back to the office first and only Sudoth and Jameil were in the bus when I was dropped off at my new luxury abode!

I felt like a tramp as I walked in to reception, but hey, I had paid in advance and I could bluff it out no problem as the door man rushes to take my case from me.

After a slight delay at reception, due to a couple of blokes arguing with the staff over beds, not sure if it was too many or too little of them, I eventually get served and get given my key!!  Beds, all I need is one of them, which doesn’t fold away, is bigger than the width of my body and is not shrouded in a mosquito net.  I have simple tastes.  Reality is I now have two, one double and one large single!!  Whoop!!

When I get shown to my room I am beyond excitement when I realise I have not only a separate shower, that doesn’t have to be held by hand, but a bath as well.   I practically fling the bell boy out the room!  Now ordinarily I am not a bath sort of girl, give me a shower any day, but I had that hot tap on and the bath filling before the bell boy had reached the lift. I felt so caked in dirt, especially my feet, I was thinking bath, followed by shower was the only option.   It was around then I discovered all my efforts dressing from head to toe in clothes during the evening to avoid mosquito bites had been scuppered by my late night / early morning, needs- must, trips to hover over the hole over the lake in the middle of the night. I had a rash of bites in places that the sun normally don’t shine.  Not the easiest place to scratch surreptitiously!!    

Barring the bites in the places not discussed in public, I had survived and after emerging shiny clean from my bath and shower I went in search of food…..that did not involve rice and fish.  I had pizza!!!

The final hours on the floating prison!!

Day 3 and my escape back to civilisation is imminent.  Last night I must have had a different camp bed and this one was definitely not as comfortable, so there was a lot of tossing and turning and huffing and puffing going on under my little mosquito tent.

The guys had a busy clinic in the afternoon yesterday with quite a few people turning up, although there was still the consistent theme of stomach ache, diarrhoea, and also rashes and skin irritations.  One little girl was given her first asthma inhaler and had to be shown how to use it.  She was only given one inhaler, so I am not sure what happens when that one runs out! Most of the children have an adult with them, but some turn up on their own, like this little girl.  I watched another teenage girl as she got back on her boat and rowed away from the clinic.  I couldn’t help but wonder what she dreams about, do her dreams just consist of the life she has.  Will she be happy to marry a villager and produce the average 4 children they have in the villages?  Surely not I think?   Surely she must dream of escaping to a better life on land, but then does she even know what the differences are?  She was a pretty little thing, but her eyes looked sad.  The kids here don’t get any proper education.  The building next to the clinic is a school but it is locked up and has not been used for a long time.  No doubt some charity that ran out of funding or people willing to come out here and live the life they would have to when teaching.  The education the children get is all about how to fish and make a living from the lake.  It is all they know so to escape to something else is all but impossible.  

The evening followed the same pattern as the previous night. Dinner around 5.30 and then in bed under my mosquito net by 7 trying to read while listening to the noises around me.  Never a dull moment on the floating village!!

My appetite diminishes with each day.  The poor cook is apparently worrying about how little I am eating, so last night she had sent the boat boy off to the little village shop (they do actually have shops that sell the key supplies) to find some noodles as she thinks perhaps I don’t like rice.  She is right, I am not a big rice fan, but I feel guilty again when I realise she has made an effort just for me.  Not that I had been complaining about the food.  Her cooking is wonderful, but the smells, the lack of running water and the mere look of the lake wipe out my appetite.  When Jon and I discussed in the office the 3 most important things for the volunteers to have to encourage them to keep coming out here I said hygiene would be top of my list.  He disagreed and said it would be food.  Perhaps that is the case for most people, but now I am here it is definitely hygiene!  Although the cook uses bottled water and she is constantly washing up so there is not really a hygiene issue for the food we are eating.  I am sure some of the restaurants I have eaten at in town are worse than this….but still; I can see how much grime there is under my finger nails!!

This morning all I can think of is getting back.  I have to endure another 7 hours of complete boredom on the boat then another 1 ½ hours on the mini bus.  I feel grimy and greasy.  I am dying to wash my hair.  I contemplated doing it in cold water, but then what’s the point as it won’t really clean it.  Although vanity eventually got the better of me and I did smooth it down with cold bottled water.  At least it stopped me looking like scarecrow woman!!  When I got up this morning……just before 6 am, but then I did go to bed at 7am, albeit not to sleep straight  away…. all I could think of was getting back to my hotel.  Breakfast today was noodles and fish; I ate the noodles, but ignored the fish!!  I thought it was a case of breakfast, pack up and go.  My heart sank when after breakfast the guys started to set up the clinic. They do a 2 hour clinic before they leave.  Again I feel so guilty for wanting to rush off to a warm shower and air conditioning.  Of course we should be doing a clinic.  I am sure I would have felt differently if I was one of the medical team, but the boredom and feeling of being trapped is so powerful.  I can’t even do a complete lap of our floating home as there is no decking at the back and there is a log assault course around one side of the building.  I start to type this up but my laptop eventually dies on me…..it has had enough as well!!

I decide to play my voyeur role again!  The clinic is busy.  A few from yesterday have come back complaining the medicine hasn’t worked yet.  Bless them; they think they should be better after one pill.  They are reassured and sent off again.  Later in the clinic there is a great deal of fuss over one small boy.  He has abdominal pain and has been vomiting. He appears to have been brought in by his gran or someone who is unsure of what his recent bowel habits have been.  I guess what Jameil is worrying about quite quickly.  Could it be appendicitis?  The wee boy is clearly distressed and unhappy.  The options are either severe constipation brought on by a high protein low fibre diet or much more serious appendicitis.  All they can do is physical examinations and ask questions, the latter being more difficult than you would think.   The doc wants to know if the pain is coming and going (i.e. peristaltic pain) or constant.  Savann asks if it is coming and going and the wee boy says yes, but as Savann has 5 years experience in these clinics he also asks if the pain is constant…the wee boys says it is.  So we are no further on! I am picking up on Jameil’s anxiety; he has to make a call on what it is.  They are veering towards the severe constipation but Jameil is frustrated when he learns we no longer stock drugs to soften stools.  It is the first time I have seen Jameil look annoyed, but after short moan on why they should stock the medicine, he quickly covers it up.  He knows making the wrong call on this one could have drastic consequences.  If it is appendicitis and we leave him here it will eventually rupture and he will die as there will be no hope of getting him to medical care in time to save his life.  If they decide on appendicitis as the cause we will have to take him with us on the boat.  I have no idea how we will all fit in as I assume at least one adult will come with him, but it will have to be done.  The clinic is almost over so everyone’s attention is now on the small boy.  They eventually decide on some form of medication, a pill, which I think was just a pain killer and some intravenous saline.  The wee boy struggles with the pill and takes several attempts, including some chewing to get it over.  There’s some tears and struggling as they insert the intravenous needle.  Although they only give him a small amount of saline and the needle is soon out again.  Suddenly the wee boys says (in Cambodian of course so I needed translations later), I’ve had medicine so now I am better and jumps up on the wooden bed, all tears gone.  He later jumps on to the floor and demonstrates how he can jump up and down.  The relief on the docs face is clear to see ‘there’s no way a child with appendicitis could jump up and down like that he says, we’re ok, he’s just constipated’.  Worry over and everyone is laughing at the wee boy, who thinks the magic medicine has cured him already.  He skips off to his boat with his gran, clutching some bottled water we have given him to drink. The power of the mind over matter!!

The clinic is now closed for business for another month!!

 

Holiday home...I think not!!

We eventually arrived at our destination after 7 long hours on our wee boat on which we had both breakfast and lunch while on the move.  It is amazing what the cook managed to make in such a small space as you can see from the photo below.

 On arrival it was obvious it was not quite what I had been led to believe.  I thought I was going to one of the better floating treatment stations, but no, we were at one of the more basic ones, no electricity, no running water and one squat toilet.  If you wanted to shower you flung a bucket of water over yourself.  But as I wasn’t sure if it was lake water or not, I just wasn’t going there.  The lake is very dark and murky looking.  Everything happens in or goes into the lake.  They wash themselves in it, they wash their babies in it, they wash their clothes in it, they wash their babies soiled nappies in it, they wash their dishes in it, but they also use it as a toilet, including when they have infectious vomiting and/or diarrhoea.  A lot of them have diarrhoea and they are in a constant cycle of infection.  The guys set up their clinic as soon as they got there, but we didn’t have many visitors. Apparently they were too busy making cheese from fish paste….I know, I did ask, but I have no idea what they meant either!!

The photo below shows the view from my holiday home...we appeared to be looking out on to some of the posher floating huts, or at least from that angle we were.  The other angle would show you the poor neighbours view!!

 

Despite the odds, I actually managed to sleep ok.  We decided to sleep outside on the decking areas (gosh doesn’t that sound posh…it’s not!), under our mosquito nets. I thought I might have been in for a night on the floorboards on a mat, but joy of joy they had camp beds.  Not padded but better than floorboards.  As there is no electricity and therefore nothing to do when it gets dark, we ate around five and then started setting up our bedding by 6.  As the night drew in (by that I mean 6.30 pm!), I began to put more clothes on than I had on during the day.  Long length trousers and top to cover as much skin as possible.  But as I fumbled around in my little mosquito net tent I was sweating loads and thought I would never sleep, but fortunately as the sun set the air did become cooler and almost bearable.  It was so noisy though, boats going past, people talking and shouting, strange clunks and bangs in the night. The resident cats squealing and fighting with each other.  It was a case of take a nytol, put the ipod speakers in the ears and hope for the best.  Thank goodness my kindle has a backlight on it, and I remembered to pack my head torch!!  I would have taken a picture of what it looked like when we had all our little mosquito tents set up, but that would have meant rowing out on to the river, which (1) I had nothing to row out in and (2) it was so not happening anyway!

Morning was a bit of a faff, involving lots of wipes and grappling to change clothes under a towel.  As soon as I woke I was dreaming of the long hot shower I will get when we get back to Siem Reap and I get to my 4 star hotel….so glad I booked it now!!  Although I also felt guilty and extravagent as I looked around my current surroundings.  My hotel bill for 6 nights would be more cash than they would have in a year for sure.

Breakfast was rice yet again, and either chicken wings or fish, just what you want for breakfast, none of this toast or cereal malarky (if only).  The fish I know was there for my benefit being the only non meat eater, but as it is fish from the lake I was beginning to struggle more and more to eat it.  Every time I look at the lake my stomach churns to think what is in it and what might be in those fish! I nibble on a few bits of fish out of politeness and force down several mouthfuls of the stodgy rice. Yummy!!!! I have brought some snacks and crisps with me otherwise this would be a good weight loss programme for the 3 days!!  By the time I get back to Siem Reap, I may not want to eat rice ever again!!

Clinic started early, people began arriving before 7.30 am.  I pop in and out to watch what is going on fascinated by the people.  I mainly listen in to Jameil, the volunteer doctor from the US as he needs Savvan the TLC nurse to translate for him, so I can undestand what is happening.  Lots of stomach ache and diarrhoea, one little girl seemed to have a potential heart problem and it was recommended they take her to a hospital to have her checked.  Whether that happens or not is anyones guess as the nearest free childrens hospital is the same 7 hour boat plus 1 hour road journey we have just made.  Another little boy they thought might have pneumonia, they were not sure but thought it best to treat him as if he did rather than not.  It will be another month before the clinic is back here!

There's no appointment system here, you row up in your wee boat, register ,as they do have records of past and new patients, then plonk yourself on the ground to wait to be called.

Privacy is also a luxury as there are several patients being seen at one time in the clinic, and then you get eaves-droppers like me hanging around listening in and snapping your picture when you are at your worst!  Nonetheless, it is a good efficient system and the team work well to get through the patients as quickly as possible while giving them all the care they need. The team consisted of 2 doctors (one Cambodian and Jameil from the US), 2 nurses, a team leader and one person to register the patients as they arrive.  Most of them arrived clutching little cards in plastic bags, which was obviously their registration cards...the plastic bag being required for obvious reasons!!  Support staff included the boat man and the cook.

 

It goes quiet by 11 so we have an early lunch at 11.30.  Yes, you’ve guessed it, rice and fish.  But mainly rice for me!! Don’t get me wrong the food is delicious with some wonderful flavours, but there is only so much rice a girl can take and then there’s the issue of the river fish!!

This afternoon I have started to pace like a caged animal, well as much as you can pace in the limited confines available.  I have outdoor claustrophobia!  I feel trapped.  I can go from our floating building to our wee boat or the building next door, which is closed up and that is it! The thought of not being able to just wander off as I choose is driving me nuts.  I think about hijacking one of the patients boats and going for a paddle, but the risk of me tipping it over is high and although the lake is quite shallow at the moment, the thought of being in it sends shivers up my spine. And imagine if you swallowed some of it by accident....antibiotic emergeny I think!! 

I have a 7 hour boat journey back to civilisation, but I am counting the hours already.  What work I can do here is limited to reading TLS’s Financial Policy, not exactly riveting stuff!!  I have only a few hours battery power on my laptop so I have been preserving that as much as possible.  Oh to be able to go for a walk!!!

The adventure begins!

As I type this, in word,  we are chugging along in our wee boat to get to the floating village we will be working at for the next few days.  The boat is more basic than I expected, and yes, below is a picture of the plank I had to walk to get on it.  The Cambodians were bounding up and down it loading on our supplies, while I stood and stared in horror at the very narrow wobbly bits of wood and the very murky, dirty water below. Ok so not enough to drown in but I sure as hell would have been mucky!  I decided the best course of action was to let someone else take my stuff on board and for me to concentrate getting myself on board.  At that point I was shaken from my semi catatonic state and realised everyone else was trudging back and forth with supplies from the mini bus to the waters edge, while I stood there like the honoured guest doing nothing.  So I collected some water from the mini bus and carried it down….well that was all that was left.

I have also put some pictures in of the village we left from. I believe there are some opportunities to buy property at knock down prices over here if anyone is interested!!  The houses are built on stilts as the lake level rises almost up to the entrance level during the wet season.  It is coming towards the end of the dry season here so the lake is very low right now.

The good news is with some helping hands I made it on to the boat with no mishaps!  Breakfast was served prior to departure…a cheese roll for me! The regular trippers immediately got themselves settled on the floor, while the cook became a positive hive of activity in a very small space sorting out dishes, pots, pans cutlery and food.  Somehow I missed the fact that we were going to be on the boat for about 7 hours plus!  Aferall we are not talking luxury cruise liner here, even of the smaller version!!  I think perhaps my mind intentionally blanked it out in my determination to get the opportunity to go to the remote villages.

I sat out front on the boat to start with as we made our way up what was at first a fairly narrow river with land on either side.  Then slowly the river began to widen until it became difficult to see the land.  The first floating village began to appear in front of us in the distance.  I sat for ages looking round trying to take in the scene and assess how it made me feel.  Sitting on the stern of the boat I could feel the sun beating down on my head and back, and feel it’s early morning warmth as we got closer and closer to the rickety floating homes, but when I looked to my right there was nothing but grey.  I stared mesmerised, struggling to understand why there was such a vast bleak blanket of grey, while still feeling the warmth of the sun.  I looked up in the sky to check the sun really was still there above my head.  Looking back out at the grey it looked for all the world like the edge of the earth, where the sky disappears and drops down merging with the grey murk of the river.  The rays of the sun above my head refusing to penetrate as far as the bleak worlds end.  Looking from the floating homes then back out to the bleak, desolate, grey I felt this overwhelming feeling of isolation and sadness.  To be living day in day out on a wobbly makeshift home staring in to a void of nothingness, with no hope of ever escaping, must be soul destroying.  I so wanted to capture the picture, but I knew my basic point and shoot camera would not do it justice, so all I have are my words to try and convey how stark and hopeless it looked.  As the boat keeps chugging along, I wonder what other emotions I will feel over the next few days.  Although I know I will see smiley faces and friendly waves (I have had a few already) from the locals, who make do with their lot for it is all they have ever had, and all they will probably ever get!

Lazy Sunday

Today is the first day I haven't set the alarm since I left the UK.  Inevitabely I woke up early anyway but it was nice to be able to roll over, on my hard bed, and lumpy pillow, for a little while longer.  A nice leisurely breakfast, then off to one of the hotels to use their pool for $5.  I had a very relaxing time reading and enjoying some sunshine....that was until a family of 6 screaming chinese children arrived at the pool.  The fact that you don't even know what they are screaming and shouting about somehow does make it worse!!

Unfortunatly after the relaxation came the dreaded packing.  Room still looking a bit chaotic as I have to split the things I need for the lake from the things being stored in the office for a couple of nights and of course I still need some of it in the morning.  Trying to minimise what I take to the lake, but not easy for a girl that doesn't travel light!!

Dashing off out now for some dinner with two other volunteers over here.  Not the ideal night for me as I need to get up about 5 am, so it will be a well behaved night and hopefully not a late one for me.

We have electricity at our base on the lake but I don't think we will have the web, so look out for the pictures from Tonle Sap in a few days when I return.

All play and no work…but so tiring

Today is Saturday, so no work and all play.  I did have one room incident during the night on Friday.  Woke up to running water noises from the bathroom, which although it was 1.30 am I thought it best to investigate in case the place was being flooded.  Fortunately it wasn’t but the toilet cistern was not retaining water and wouldn’t flush.  So there I was in the middle of the night with the lid of the cistern off, poking around and waggling things like all good DIY people do!  Fortunately I managed to poke or waggle the correct bit and normal toilet service was resumed.  The skills you have to possess to volunteer abroad are innumerable!  So back to bed for a few more hours of sleep before getting up early, yet again, this time to go see the temples at Angkor Wat.

The temples are fantastic, such wonderful detail in some of the stonework depicting stories from the time they were built.  Sadly a lot of the stone Buddha’s and statues have no heads, a lot of them I think were destroyed by the Khmer Rouge, where others were cut off by thieves and stolen to be sold in other countries.  However, wonderful as they are, there are so many of them, apparently spread over 25 miles,  and although I had the luxury of an air conditioned minibus between each temple, walking around them was exhausting.  So much so by the time we got to the most famous one, Angkor Wat itself, I don’t think I cared anymore!!! Sodath, my personal guide from the charity, was wilting quite a bit by then as well and complaining about the sun more than I was.  But then he had been up since 5 am to go to classes from 6 am to 7.30 am where he is doing civil engineering and he was going back to class again in the evening, and Sunday.  In fact he seems to do classes nearly every night and was excited about the fact he had none on Sunday afternoon.  You really need to work hard out here if you want to get a decent education.  So many people back home have it offered on a plate and just don’t even try!!

Despite my tiring day I still found the energy to go out on Saturday.  Very nice way to spend a Saturday night; a wander round the centre of Siem Reap, nice food, few glasses of wine, some healthy green tea to wash it down then off for a one hour foot massage.  Of course I should have gone straight back after the food massage, but one of the pubs was beckoning to me as I passed it tempting me in for that final glass of wine!! Then having realised I had acquired another mosquito bite and I had not brought my mosquito repellent out with me I decided to call it a night!!    

Week one draws to an end.....already!!

So I finally think I am getting somewhere and getting the hang of this, which is just as well, as week one is drawing to a close.  Unfortunately, the only reason I think I am getting the hang of it is because I am finding out what is not happening that should be happening, which is good for me, and lets me know I am here for a reason, but not so good for the Lake Clinic.  Initial views that all was well on the surface are not so when you delve deeper in to the actual processes.  As with all these small charities, there is lots of room for improvement, and fortunately lots of quick wins that can be put in place to strengthen their processes and controls.  Hopefully AfID will be sending out a second accountant quite soon, which will enable them to get the changes in place quite quickly.  Language continues to be a problem, so I have now taken to miming, but this has only served to confirm the fact that I should not give up my day job any time soon for a career on the stage!   Language aside, Chantha is good and has enough grasp of accountancy to understand the need for the changes and to implement them efficiently.   

Of course the other thing that must happen is that the managers and directors need to pay more attention to the numbers, rather than holding an idea in their head of what they have to spend and what they need to spend it on.  But hey, how many times have I had that discussion with managers and directors in the huge global organisations I have worked for.  Why should NGO’s in the third

I am suddenly aware of how little time I have left to make an impact, especially as the work I can do will be limited when I am out on the lake itself.  But hey, I am only the advance party, and between me and the accountants that follow we will get this charity whipped in to financial shape and then all that needs to happen is for them to find some nice new big donors!  Which given that I have an e-mail from the Euro Lotto saying they have news for me about my ticket could be me!!  The lotto won’t let me log on from abroad (isn’t it scary how they can even tell where you are!!) so I have no idea what I have won, but I am not making any plans to spend my millions as likelihood is I have won something like £2.43!!  I can but dream until I get back to the UK!

It’s 3.30 pm here and as ever I am flagging in the heat!! No wonder they have siestas in hot countries!

Sightseeing tomorrow at Angkor, with my own special tour guide, Sothat from the charity.  Should be good.  Sunday I will try and chill, before packing to check out and head off to the lake. Packing, packing, packing, my life is ruled by packing!!  L

 

 

Never a dull morning!

It's funny how getting out of bed and ready for work in the morning is so uneventful back home, but in Cambodia, well there's always something to add variety to the day.

This morning I get up and stagger towards the toilet, only to find I can't get the toilet door open.  So I'm standing there pushing and shoving the door and wrestling with the door knob in my skimpy sleep wear.  I no doubt would have tried kicking the door but I had my legs crossed through most of this struggle so limiting the kicking opportunity.  Giving up I had to go and put on less skimpy clothes to go down to reception for help.  However, before I could get to reception I had to deal with the tricky problem of getting out the room.  The bolt that you can slide across for extra security was stuck.  But all was not lost, as I had sussed this one out during my battle to get out the room yesterday.  So I fetched my trusty tweezers, which have been used for many things on this visit, except their designed purpose of tweezing. So having prised open the lock I toddle down to reception for help.  Easily resolved as the door was locked from the inside and all that was required was a master key.  No not poltergeists, just the locking system in Cambodia!  So now the ablutions and day could begin.  Fortunately the stomach is settling down or this little incident could have had catastrophic consequences .....but you don't want to go there, especially if you are reading this before breakfast.

The next minor upset was the discovery of a large mosquito bite on my wrist, and I had been doing so well with only two small bites to date.  However, a worse discovery was yet to come as one of the little blighters had obviously taken a stroll across my forehead during the night, stopping off for several bites to eat on the way.  Come on guys, is nothing sacred in mosquito world?  Biting on the face is just not playing the game.  I look like I have an outbreak of acne, and to make matters worse Chantha has told me my face looks black today?  So I'm thinking, have I got lots of dust on it,  has my mascara run, but no she means I look tired and thinks I didn't sleep well.  But actually I slept sounder than most other nights....so clearly the stress of Cambodia has advanced the ageing process rapidly!  Just as well I am only here for a few weeks or I would come back looking like a 70 year old.  This is somewhat disappointing as prior to this they have been awash with comments about how young and beautiful I look (relative to my age of course) and what good skin I  have.  Maybe they were just trying to get on my good side earlier and now the truth is out!!  :-(

Finally, as after the bathroom drama, I was running later than normal, I took a tuk tuk to work.  As there is no street name where the office is (why would you want to bother!!!) I have to give them directions.  So when I shout to my driver that we need to go left at the next junction, he doesn't fully understand me, but they are very polite and obliging people, and he clearly does not want to offend, so he moves over from the right and starts driving up the left side of the road. While I am shouting no, no not yet, the road further up!!!  Argh!!  Maybe I should stick to walking.  Although the Cambodians think I am mad to do so and you very rarely see them walking here.  Which as I was thinking about it today, means there is no pedestrian power when it comes to the roads.  At the large junctions here they do actually have green men which come on.  This means nothing in Cambodia.  You still have to watch for the traffic as you cross and even if you go to step out, they won't stop just because the green man is on!!  Now if there was lots of people crossing they would have to, but when there is only one or two of you, you have no power!!  All power to the pedestrian I say!!!

Not able to post comments?  You should be able to now.  I discovered the setting was for registered users only, hence hardly any posts on my blog.  And there was me thinking no one loved me!!!  Hopefully it will work now, and feel free to post.....although maybe not really insulting ones!!

How to be freezing in Cambodia!!

Having gone back to the U-Dara last night, having been kicked out for one night, I was given one of the better rooms.  Yeah?  Better was slightly larger and a shower over a bath that you didn't have to hold  in your hand.  Only problem was it was connected direct to the mains rather than a water unit and the Cambodian version of hot water is not the same as ours!  At best we could call it tepid, but with the air con up high during the night it felt freezing and I was jumping in and out of it.  Had goose bumps on my body.  Now you don't see that often in Cambodia.   Bring back the hand held warm shower!!  Mentioned it this morning and the fact that the toilet itself was definitely not clean, but I'm not expecting much difference when I get back.  Such is life in Cambodia.  Think I will see if I can get some toilet wipes in the supermarket on the way home and do my own cleaning!!  Or is that too OCD!!! 

Now, having experienced a far from clean toilet, a cold shower and knowing I am going to spend two nights roughing it on a boat on the remote part of the lakes, this morning I have thrown caution to the wind a booked a four star hotel, with pool (!!) for my last 6 nights.  The excuse being that I am treating four days of that as holiday (albeit I need to meet up with the Doc Jon to do final breifings at least once during that time).  Luxury is only around the corner!  Although given the experience I have had of bookings in Cambodia I am going to pop in to the hotel on my way home tonight to check they actually have my booking.

Another fact of being in Cambodia or countries like this at all....today I am sitting at the desk with the shortest running distance to a toilet, one that flushes that is, as some idiot blocked one of them two days ago, wonder who that could be!! (Well, this not putting your paper down them is hard to remember!!). 

Today I am going to pretend I am an auditor, which being a management accountant I am definitley not, but nothing like developing new skills!  I have e-mailed Chantha my to-do list today, which sounds ridiculous as we sit next to each other (when I am not hugging the desk closest to the toilet that is) but we do struggle on the verbal communication.

So off I go to follow through a purchase order trail, stock inventroy and petty cash.  Hey bet you wish you were here!!

Day 3 in the office.

Still trying to find my feet and go through the various processes with Chantha.  We strugggle a bit with the language as Chantha's spoken English is not always clear....and she struggles with my Scottish accent a bit.  But we get there!  The morning usually starts ok but you can't help but flag as the heat builds up, by about 3 pm I am ready for a sleep!!  Oh to be lying by a pool sipping a cocktail!  But hey, how boring would that be?  Doing bank reconciliations and cash flows are much more interesting!!

In general I think most of the things that should be getting done are, but it is more about pulling them all together and making sure they know what to do when, how often, by whom and what needs director sign off.  But still more checking and reviews to be done!!  In the heat.

Having a quiet night in with a DVD....bit of a dodgy tum this morning, goes with the territory I guess.  Think I will make sure I avoid the ice from now on.  As the Doc said to me today it is not so much the ice that is the problem as it is not from tap water, but it is who and how they handle it!!  Ugh, hold that thought.  Will avoid the cocktails and stick to wine.  No ice and straight from bottle to glass!!  :-)

Hope you are enjoying the snow!! 

Keep Calm and Carry On!

What a palaver!  Having confirmed with one of the staff at the guest house I could stay until the 13th and then they had no room at the inn until the 17th, they phoned today to say that I was expected to move out today (Jon had only booked for 3 nights), but I could move back in tomorrow and stay for the duration of my visit after that.  Duh!  Like the complete opposite!!  We did consider arguing the toss with them but would have got us nowhere, so we had to find a guest house for tonight.  Which we did after driving round a couple, then I had to go back and pack, take my case to the new guest house, where I will stay one night, then back to the U-Dara until Sunday. On Monday it has been agreed I am going on the Medical Boat for 2 nights, with the bugs and mosquitos and the heat...but hey what an experience it will be.  After that I think I can go back to the U-Dara, but I had already secured somewhere else, so I may just go there as the U-Dara have somewhat annoyed me.  Although they have promised me the big room when I get back with the shower over a bath tub instead of the floor!   Such luxury!!    Now to those who pack light this would not be such a hassle, but for me....so much to go in and out a case, when will I ever learn!!  Now I have to go back to work! 

The mad, the sad and the just plain daft!

 A day on an assignment abroad with AfID always flings a whole variety of challenges and emotions at you in one day. Some of which are mad, some of which are sad and some of which are just plain daft. I certainly had all of them today!

The mad: as Jon the director had given his car to his wife today, it was decided that Chantha, the accountant, would give me a lift back in to the centre to get some lunch.  Pretty straightforward until I realised it was on the back of her motor scooter!  Like, seriously? Have you seem how they drive in Cambodia?  I am way to be old for that sort of thrill seeking, especially with a dress on.  It was suggested I ride side saddle….. again, like seriously?  At the risk of causing offence I succumbed, but refused on the side saddle bit, going for the more secure hanging on for grim death with every free body part position!  Now, it is only a short journey but it seemed like a real long time.  I couldn’t decide whether I should shut my eyes at the worst bits so I didn’t need to see what was happening or to look, just so I was prepared for the worst should it happen!  I went for a mixture of the two and am glad to say survived both journeys unscathed and even managed to keep my lunch down on the way back!!  Although it was touch and go at one junction!!!

The sad:  a rather ironic sad note given my comments above and one that justifies my fears!  In a general chat with Chantha about her home life I asked if she had a boyfriend.  She said she had a fiancé but he died three months ago in a motor bike accident with a car that didn’t stop.  The poor girl is only 26 and should have married in January.  We talked things through a bit, she cried, I nearly cried, I gave her a hug and we talked some more. Her English is not so good at times, but it didn’t need to be for this conversation.  A lot of grief for one so young to deal with.  Cambodia does apparently have a high mortality rate for road accidents…not a difficult one to sort really!

The plain daft:  The obvious award for that would be any Cambodian who drives up the wrong side of the road or parks their car, bike or tuk tuk on the pavement so that pedestrians have to walk on the road at times. Having decided to walk back to the hotel, after declining Chantha’s kind offer of another lift on the back of her scooter (!), I spent much of the walk mutter, mumbling and shaking my head at the general antics of the Cambodian drivers. However, the daft award for tonight has to go to my escort…..a dog who started following me, almost from when I left the office, tail wagging happily, looking for all the world like he was with me.  Which was fine, until we started to get in to busier and busier traffic, not sure dogs really get the green cross code, and not sure the drivers in Cambodia have heard of it either, so a bad combination for a dog!  Despite several attempts at scolding him and pointing him in the direction we had just come from he was not having it and just kept on following me.  I guess he didn’t get the Scottish accent!  Eventually as we approached the busiest area I snuck in to a supermarket in the hope of shaking him off.  The plan succeeded, and I truly hope he headed back home. Which if he did, I guess I will see him tomorrow!  Which will be ok for the walk in but I may need to disguise myself for the walk home!

Day one in the office!

After a not so good nights sleep due a hard matress and lumpy pillows (how do you get hard lumps in a pillow....I really don't think I want to know!!!) I was sort of ready for my first day at the Lake Clinic offices. As the first accountant out there my remit is to review all their financial processes and identify any weaknesses and potential improvements. A bit duanting really as where do you start? Although at first it looked like there wouldn't be much of a start as there was no electricity and the advice was it might be off for two days. But after less than an hour, and as if by magic, the lights suddenly came on. Well at least they did in the office, not sure they did in my head with regards to what I was meant to be doing and where I should start! :-(

As a CIMA accountant auditing is not my speciality which is a lot of what I need to do....but then there is nothing like a challenge and it will broaden my experience as well. Although last time I did this I ended up very hands on and pulling spreadsheets and templates together and ploughing through reconciliations. Not sure yet what this one will bring, but initial views are they have quite a lot of good controls and processes in place already. Hey, maybe I get to do this in a week then go sunbathe for the second week....as if!!!

Anyway on the upside.....there is a flushing toilet in fact more than one flushing toilet in the office. For those of you who followed my Zambia exploits you will know I became obsessed with plumbing and toilet facilities, due largely to the lack thereoff!

I admit to being somewhat distracted today due to the imminent possibility that I will be sleeping in a cardboard box from the 13th! Coming to work in a tourist area during peak tourist time is not the best idea, especially when you only give yourself two weeks to prepare for it!!

But tomorrow is another day!!