This past weekend, February 28th - March 1st, I travelled to Cambodia with my friend Tracy. She had found a fundraising bike ride event, the Kep Trio, that she wanted to do and I quickly agreed to go along. The best part of the bike ride was the fact that the bikes we rode would be donated to local school chidlren after the race. I was very excited to see Cambodia and to be involved with the bike ride. This was the second annual Kep Trio event which includes a 10k bike ride, a 10k run, and a 21k run. We opted to only do the bike ride this year. You can see more information on it here: http://www.babsea.org/Kep_trio2009.htm.
After a short flight, we arrived in Cambodia and quickly found a Tuk Tuk driver named Dara who agreed to take us around Phnom Pehn(capital of Cambodia) all day. (A Tuk Tuk is a motorized rick-shaw.) Our first stop was to a local school that Tracy had researched where we dropped off some school supplies that we brought along. This school was built, along with several others throughout the Phnom Pehn area, by a group called The Cambodian Children's Fund. It is an amazing group: http://www.cambodianchildrensfund.org/. We got a quick tour of the school and although much different from the schools I am used to, it was great and the children looked happy. There was artwork hanging on the walls and kids happily listening to lessons.
After our school tour, our Tuk Tuk driver suggested that we bring some rice to a local orphanage, The Lighthouse Ophange. We thought this sounded like a great idea so we headed to buy the rice. Although the local currency is the Cambodian Riel (4,100 riel is equal to one US dollar), most people prefer the US dollar, so we stopped and exchanged some currency and paid US$50 for a 50kg bag of rice. Our driver loaded it onto our already packed Tuk Tuk and off we went on an interesting (and by that I mean scary) drive that took us through town, past many decrepit buildings, some very busy markets, across a shanty-lined river, and along several dirt roads with lots of small houses and very skinny cows. There were moments that we questioned this decision, Tracy appropriately made the comment that "Our mothers would not be pleased" that we had gotten ourselves into this situation. But thankfully after asking a few locals, our driver found his way safely to the orphanage. We delivered the rice, talked to the children, and got a quick tour of the facilities. Another eye-opening experience; the children have so little but seem so happy and the most amazing thing is that these small children are all learning multiple languages: Khmer, English, French, and Japanese! Wow!
Next we headed back to town and toured the National Museum, the Royal Palace, and the Toul Sleng Prison Memorial. The Royal Palace is such a stark contradiction to the rest of Phnom Pehn - it sits on beautiful grounds and includes several gardens and buildings that house many treasures like golden buddhas and even a solid emerald buddha! The Toul Sleng prison was yet another eye-opening shock that showed the horrors of the Cambodian genocide of the late 1970s. I bought a book (First They Killed My Father) while in Cambodia that taught me even more about the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot. It is hard to describe the feeling of touring that prison and to it is hard to fathom what so many Cambodians went through during that time. For something so horrific to have happened in such recent history is unbelievable.
After our day in Phnom Pehn we took a van down to Kep, a small town along the southern border of Cambodia. The ride down was crazy; it took about three hours and the entire time the van bounced around so much that I can not believe we made it. If you are ever wondering just what a car can survive, let me tell you, it can survive a lot! The bouncing and banging that this van endured was harsh and even after a short stop due to the "strong smell of burning oil," she kept on going! We bounced so much that I was literally unable to keep my arm still enough to check the time on my watch. We finally arrived to Kep and went into our hut at the Kep Botanica, a very small "hotel" that consisted of five small huts and a small restaurant. It was situated at the base of a jungly hill and was very pretty. Our hut was just barely large enough for two beds, thankfully covered by mosquito netting, and a small bathroom that only had very, very cold water.
Our bike ride was the next day at 3:30pm so we had the morning to wander around Kep. We walked from our hut to the crab markets, about 2 km away, with the resident dog as our companion. The crab markets are very small, just a few small restaurants and a small area under the palm trees where the locals sell crabs, fish, spices, and a few other items. We chose a small restaurant and had some water while we watched the locals wrap small fish in leaves and watched the local children tease and torture the feral cats. We left the restaurant and after watching a monkey eat his own regurgitated food, headed back to the hut. Once we arrived, the bus came to bring us to the start line of the bike ride.
It was very exciting - the bikes were all lined up and all 60 riders found our bikes and made sure everything was working. As they called out for us to get ready, we heard an enormous crack of thunder. As the bell sounded for the race to start, the rain began. And not just rain - torrential-sideways-camera destroying-rain accompanied by a cold wind and lots and lots of thunder and lightning. This continued for about the first 1/3 of the ride which made the dirt road very muddy. As the rain stopped the ride became much easier and we were able to see the beautiful countryside. It was so pretty, the ground is deep green and spotted with small water holes and palm trees. And off in the distance you can see mist-covered hills. We passed many people and houses and everyone would stand and wave. After about an hour and a half we finally reached the small village which was the finish line. The road in was lined with locals that were all yelling and cheering us on. It was very exciting to see. It is nice to know that the bikes would be giving some of these kids a much easier way of getting to school.
After a short flight, we arrived in Cambodia and quickly found a Tuk Tuk driver named Dara who agreed to take us around Phnom Pehn(capital of Cambodia) all day. (A Tuk Tuk is a motorized rick-shaw.) Our first stop was to a local school that Tracy had researched where we dropped off some school supplies that we brought along. This school was built, along with several others throughout the Phnom Pehn area, by a group called The Cambodian Children's Fund. It is an amazing group: http://www.cambodianchildrensfund.org/. We got a quick tour of the school and although much different from the schools I am used to, it was great and the children looked happy. There was artwork hanging on the walls and kids happily listening to lessons.
After our school tour, our Tuk Tuk driver suggested that we bring some rice to a local orphanage, The Lighthouse Ophange. We thought this sounded like a great idea so we headed to buy the rice. Although the local currency is the Cambodian Riel (4,100 riel is equal to one US dollar), most people prefer the US dollar, so we stopped and exchanged some currency and paid US$50 for a 50kg bag of rice. Our driver loaded it onto our already packed Tuk Tuk and off we went on an interesting (and by that I mean scary) drive that took us through town, past many decrepit buildings, some very busy markets, across a shanty-lined river, and along several dirt roads with lots of small houses and very skinny cows. There were moments that we questioned this decision, Tracy appropriately made the comment that "Our mothers would not be pleased" that we had gotten ourselves into this situation. But thankfully after asking a few locals, our driver found his way safely to the orphanage. We delivered the rice, talked to the children, and got a quick tour of the facilities. Another eye-opening experience; the children have so little but seem so happy and the most amazing thing is that these small children are all learning multiple languages: Khmer, English, French, and Japanese! Wow!
Next we headed back to town and toured the National Museum, the Royal Palace, and the Toul Sleng Prison Memorial. The Royal Palace is such a stark contradiction to the rest of Phnom Pehn - it sits on beautiful grounds and includes several gardens and buildings that house many treasures like golden buddhas and even a solid emerald buddha! The Toul Sleng prison was yet another eye-opening shock that showed the horrors of the Cambodian genocide of the late 1970s. I bought a book (First They Killed My Father) while in Cambodia that taught me even more about the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot. It is hard to describe the feeling of touring that prison and to it is hard to fathom what so many Cambodians went through during that time. For something so horrific to have happened in such recent history is unbelievable.
After our day in Phnom Pehn we took a van down to Kep, a small town along the southern border of Cambodia. The ride down was crazy; it took about three hours and the entire time the van bounced around so much that I can not believe we made it. If you are ever wondering just what a car can survive, let me tell you, it can survive a lot! The bouncing and banging that this van endured was harsh and even after a short stop due to the "strong smell of burning oil," she kept on going! We bounced so much that I was literally unable to keep my arm still enough to check the time on my watch. We finally arrived to Kep and went into our hut at the Kep Botanica, a very small "hotel" that consisted of five small huts and a small restaurant. It was situated at the base of a jungly hill and was very pretty. Our hut was just barely large enough for two beds, thankfully covered by mosquito netting, and a small bathroom that only had very, very cold water.
Our bike ride was the next day at 3:30pm so we had the morning to wander around Kep. We walked from our hut to the crab markets, about 2 km away, with the resident dog as our companion. The crab markets are very small, just a few small restaurants and a small area under the palm trees where the locals sell crabs, fish, spices, and a few other items. We chose a small restaurant and had some water while we watched the locals wrap small fish in leaves and watched the local children tease and torture the feral cats. We left the restaurant and after watching a monkey eat his own regurgitated food, headed back to the hut. Once we arrived, the bus came to bring us to the start line of the bike ride.
It was very exciting - the bikes were all lined up and all 60 riders found our bikes and made sure everything was working. As they called out for us to get ready, we heard an enormous crack of thunder. As the bell sounded for the race to start, the rain began. And not just rain - torrential-sideways-camera destroying-rain accompanied by a cold wind and lots and lots of thunder and lightning. This continued for about the first 1/3 of the ride which made the dirt road very muddy. As the rain stopped the ride became much easier and we were able to see the beautiful countryside. It was so pretty, the ground is deep green and spotted with small water holes and palm trees. And off in the distance you can see mist-covered hills. We passed many people and houses and everyone would stand and wave. After about an hour and a half we finally reached the small village which was the finish line. The road in was lined with locals that were all yelling and cheering us on. It was very exciting to see. It is nice to know that the bikes would be giving some of these kids a much easier way of getting to school.
After the race we were treated to a great dinner at a local hotel and we were even entertained by some amazing local break-dancing kids! Afterwards we headed back to our hut to get some sleep before our early trip back to the airport. The cab arrived at our hut at 5am and we got in expecting a 3 1/2 hour trip back to Phnom Pehn. Well, we got an absolute psychotic for a crab driver who got us there in about two hours! He rarely took his hand off the horn and drove so fast through the small villages that I really can not believe we did not hit any people. And I say "people" because unfortunately we did hit one dog and one chicken but that did not even remotely slow down our crazy driver. We were so stressed out by the time we arrived that I think we were both in shock. The crazy driver just got out, helped with our bags and waved goodbye with a huge grin on his face. I am really not sure if that was a normal ride for him or if he was just giving us special treatment. Either way, I could have done just fine without that ride.
That was a really long post about a short two day trip but it was one of the most interesting and amazing things I have ever done in my life and I am very thankful that Tracy found it and invited me. It was an adventure that I'll never forget and I am already looking forward to the third annual ride next year! Can't wait. :)
