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Day 26: 4/7/13
The airconditioning wasn't working in our room last night so the sweat was out through us! We didn't really realise that it was broken when we went to bed but we woke up in a sweat! I didn't feel great either, same as last night- a funny tummy. I took an Imodium as I didn't want any innocents on a 6 hour bus journey, but I don't think I'm that bad.
We were up and off at 6:45 this morning. We had to walk out to the top of the road and a bus picked us up there and brought us to the bus station. We had to wait about twenty minutes there and then we got on the bus for Kompong Cham. I wasn't sure what to expect when I heard we were going to be on public transport but it was fine. It was a coach but was probably a small bit smaller than a normal coach. Te seats were comfy and they had the airconditioning on. There was a tv too but there was some weird Asian film on with no English subtitles, but I didn't watch it as it seemed to be nothing but violence! I tried to sleep so I wouldn't feel sick but it didn't really happen.
We stopped about an hour and a half in. The driver and the locals all were getting food- like dishes of fried rice and things but our guide had warned us that it mightn't suit us and we all had our own snacks.
We drove for around another three hours then. I tried to sleep again but didn't. We were chatting to the other group people near us for a while about English, Aussie and Irish accents and then I tried to catch up on the blog a bit and save photos onto the laptop and stuff.
When we got to Kompong Cham we went straight to a restaurant for lunch. It was for an organisation that took in orphans and taught them how to work in a restaurant so that they could get a job somewhere else when they were older. It took a long time to get all our food there but it was really good. They don't believe in bringing the meals all at once- most people were finished when I got mine! I find they are bringing us to restaurants all the time when there are stalls on the road that I'd say most backpackers are eating from. I had heard from everyone how cheap the food is but it isn't where we're eating. There really trying to get us to spend money, especially at organisations like this restaurant.
We went for a cycling trip then to Koh Paen island. We cycled from the hotel a few minutes down the road until we came to a ferry. It was a flat boat so you could cycle onto it if you wished. There were loads of locals on it with bikes and motorcycles. I'd say there were at least sixty people on it. It only took five minutes to get across to the island and then we cycled around. It was gorgeous. The roads were just sand so sometimes, if it was deep your bike would get stuck!! It was great craic! There were beautiful green bushes and palm trees around and we passed lots of houses. Most of them were made of wood and lots of them are on stilts. The people were all out waving at us and saying hello, some of the kids were looking for hi-fives! They're really friendly. There were chickens around the road aswell and men riding horses and carts! It was like something from the 1800's!
The guide pulled up outside a temple and said there was a school beside it where they learn English, so we got to go in. One class were still waiting on their teacher so some of us went into them and our guide introduced us. We introduced ourselves one by one and then spoke to them in little groups. I was speaking to girls who were 13. They were in secondary school and they just go from 5-6 in the evening and only learn English. They learn their own language in primary school. I couldn't figure out what other subjects they do. They are taught by Buddhist monks in the orange gowns. They had good enough English when reading but they didn't really know what I was saying. They were afraid of us aswell I think. The guide had said that lots of people are afraid of 'barang'- foreigners- as the only foreigners they knew were the French who ended up colonising them. The girls were really nice anyway and wanted to know how old I was. They wanted us to sing a song so we did Hokey Pokey. The guide then got us all to move outside and we did it in a big circle. They were self-conscious really and didn't do many actions but they seeme to find us hilarious. Colin, was in the centre leading it all in his theatrical voice! He stopped us now and again, jokingly saying we needed more action and more leg movement and stuff! They didn't know what to make of him! We played a Cambodian game then which is like duck, duck, goose except two people were on and they choose two people by tapping their joined hands. Of course we were picked all the time! I was picked once and was dragged around by a little Cambodian girl and she somehow knew to pick Ann-Marie! It was kind of a draw! The guy who had been leading the hokey pokey was picked and picked up his child partner and took off around the circle. I dont think they were used to something like that! We had to go then as we would miss the last ferry. Anyway it was 6 o clock and they all headed off home in their bicycles. It was great craic there- I really enjoyed it! The guide said they'd be talking all evening about how they spoke to barang! (I don't know how to spell that word but that's what it sounds like!) We had the ferry almost to ourselves on the way back and it was gorgeous- they have pretty dramatic clouds and skies over here!
We only had a few minutes to have a shower when we got back and then some tuc-tucs came to collect us to bring us to a local house for dinner. It was my first tuc-tuc ride- it's quite bumpy! A local man and his wife and children took us in for dinner. It was all laid out when we got there. We'd to sit on mats on the ground. They gave us rice, chicken curry, stir fried veg, noodles, fried mushrooms and fried pork which were nearly like crisps and fried morning glory which are like green beans. My stomach had been only middling all day and it turned on me near be start so I mostly stuck with play rice and I was okay. They brought out pineapple for dessert too. The man was talking to us saying he does this to earn money for his kids to go to school. We paid $6 each and some cent for drinks. It's hard going for the wife who has all the cooking to do! They have four kids- 3, 6, 13, 16. The two youngest were tearing around the place while we were eating. They had soft toys and I was throwing one back and over for the six year old who liked to jump up and catch it up high! They were really cute! He was trying to trick me aswell and pretend he was throwing it!
After dinner they brought out spider wine which was a jar of alcohol with tarantulas at the bottom!! It was definitely home-made as the jar looked like it had been used a lot! They passed around the tarantula for us to touch and then we had a shot of the wine. It was rotten, real strong stuff like Absinth or something! I only had a tiny sip anyway incase my stomach would turn again! The youngest boy put the leg of the tarantula in his mouth then for photos- not a bother on him!!
We went back to the hostel then which was about 9pm. It was good because we got some time to sort out photos, write the blog and go on the Internet. I was chatting Shane on Facebook for a while and talking to Shell on Skype. The connection was bad so she couldn't really hear what I was saying!
Earlier today when I went up use my camera for the cycling it said it had no memory card and I didn't remember putting it away after saving the photos on the bus. I thought I must have left it on my lap and then stood up and forgotten about it. It was okay because I had just saved all the photos but I need a new memory card a the ones for my old camera don't work in this one!
Then when I was sorting out photos this evening I went to put in a different memory card and it wouldn't go in. I realised that the one for my new camera was still in there- it wasn't lost at all. I had searched everywhere earlier and hadn't found them- but obviously forgot to look inside the laptop! When I didn't find it I said a little prayer to my angels and lo and behold it turned up!!
Also, in Bangkok, I had my valuables in the safe and then when I was leaving it wouldn't open. It was like the battery was dying as the green light would flash for a second and it wasn't enough time to open the door. I said a prayer again and shortly afterwards I just managed to turn the k*** while the green light was on! So, my angels are really working for me!! I thought you'd like to know that Margaret!!
I wonder how the angels are at curing dodgy tummies?!?!?
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