Toothbrushes and hygiene

Some days when we have some time and need the natural air conditioning of being on the back of a moto, we will drive for several hours into the country side and spend some time giving away toothbrushes, soap, combs and shampoo and teaching kids and their families how to brush their teeth and some other basic hygiene. We may also have the odd toy or two to give out. Many of the children have terribly rotten teeth. This is partly because of diet (eating nothing but rice), and partly because they do not care for their teeth and love sweets.

Little girl and her brother with their toothbrushes and a fluffy toy.

After we had given some toothbrushes to a number of children in a village, we rode back through the village about half an hour later and it was really cute to see the whole family of five children all standing around their well with a bucket of water brushing their teeth. It was nice to know that the message has at least sunk into five people. Unfortunately, we didn't take a photo, but it was very cute to see them all standing there brushing their teeth.

Some kids with their brushes.

Nicole giving the family toothbrushes, soap, combs and shampoo.

Never too young to learn.

Visiting a temple off the beaten track

We went on a moto (motor bike) tour. Along the way we visited an old temple which were were told was built in the ninth century. Apparently this place was still standing until the Khmer Rouge shelled it in the 1970's. The story our guide told us is that they heavily mined the area then shelled the villages in the area. When the villagers ran to the stone walls of the old temple, many were killed by land mines. Hearing that story made it a little scary to walk around the temple. There are still many millions of mines lying in the jungles of Cambodia.

Walking to the temple.

Destroyed by the Khmer Rouge artillery.

A tree in the temple ruins.

Hard to believe this is over one thousand years old.

Random events- a sad photo inside

We continue to learn Khmer. We often will spend some time after lunch at our a restaurant learning Khmer. The kitten here is always happy to see us. Sadly she is the only one left of three kittens that we have managed to keep alive. The kid from the shop next door, about 6 years old, is an absolute terror who has killed the other two. A couple nights ago we had to stop him from running after the kitten and the mother with a knife. We have caught him stomping on them, strangling them and otherwise torturing the poor animals. We can't believe that no one other than tourists like us tell him off. The moment we arrive the cats sit under our table as they know we'll stop him from coming close. They also know some food will drop on the floor.

Nic trying to learn Khmer while someone has found a temporary safe location.

It is very sad to see how people treat animals here. People never think of helping a hurt animal. (Many don't seem to go out of their way to help hurt or injured people so we shouldn't be too surprised.) Everywhere we go we see maimed and mistreated animals. It is very hard for us who have grown up with pets who are almost part of the family.

Sights like this little puppy are common and it hurts to see them.

Some of our good friends here are heading back home to Sweeden. It is very sad to see them leave and we'll miss the fun times we  have had together. They had their farewell on Nicole's birthday so we included that in the evening.

Nicole is not really 21. Stan just thought it would be safer (for him) to buy these candles.

We ended up sharing the cake with a lot of neighbors as well.

We finished the evening off watching the kids play musical chairs and a competition on who could knock coke cans down with a balloon filled with sand. Hopefully Nicole had an enjoyable birthday.

Going to Bokor mountain

While Brian and Samantha were visiting us, we hired a car to take us to Bokor mountain on the way to Phnom Penh. Bokor mountain is a high mountain overlooking the ocean between Sihanoukville and Kampot. It gets quite cool up at the top and a lot of clouds blow past. On top of Bokor mountain there was once a French Casino/Hotel and a small French community. Construction began in the 1920's and this became a popular place for the French colonists to go on holiday because of the weather. It certainly is the first building that we saw with fireplaces anywhere in Cambodia. Back in its day, the casino was an impressive building.

The Bokor Casino was built on the edge of the mountain top to catch the breeze. A very impressive colonial building.

Decades of neglect and the fact that Bokor station was a battleground between the Khmer Rouge and the invading Vietnamese left this place an eerie wreck and a dilapidated reminder of past colonial glory.

Out front of the old casino/hotel there is a broken French statue.

They are restoring the old Casino with concrete (the ingredient for fixing anything in Cambodia). It still looks impressive, but it has lost some of the character.

Front today.

Same building a few years ago.

Inside we find some remnants of the original French building including the tiles and plumbing in some rooms, but most of it has been restored with cement.

This is the biggest hall in the casino.

The view from a balcony over the edge of the mountain. You can see the cloud rolling in.

The back of the casino. Not quite as imposing as the front.

Besides the casino, there are some other old French ruins.

There is also an old catholic church. It is just out of site from the casino, no doubt so people wouldn't feel guilty.

The church.

The alter.

Priest's bedroom and kitchen.

Priest's privy.

On the road up to Bokor station there is a huge Buddha.

Trip to West Baray, Siem Reap

The CDO kids were heading off for a swim in West Baray lake. As usual, when so many cannot swim, they were looking for helpers to make sure no one drowned (and to help pay for the fruit). We had to leave a little early so this time we followed the truck on our moto.

West Baray is a man made lake just out of Siem Reap. West Baray was probably made in the 11'th century and people think that it served as a reservoir for the area (though some say it may have been a swimming pool for a king). It is massive about 8 by 2 km.

Once we got there, we negotiated the price of a seating area and then the kids ran towards the water.

Nicole was teaching some of the kids how to float.

The boys wanted Stan to throw them up into the air. You can see Stan's tan is half Australian and half Cambodian.

Nicole eventually had a break and was able to relax for five minutes (sort of).

At one stage Stan had a bunch kids climbing all over him and got pushed under and tasted the water. YUK! Nicole made sure to take a photo of his face.

Here is a short video of the fun.

When everything goes wrong

Recently we were in Sihanoukville for a visit with Brian and Samantha (Nicole's brother and sister). While there we decided to go for a moto ride to the Sihanouk waterfall which is about 20 km from the city. During rainy season, the place is beautiful (see photos below). In dry season, February-April, the place is hardly worth a visit.

We did the trip on three motos with Nicole on the back of Stan's moto. Everything went well until we got within 1 km of the falls. As he braked, Brian's bike skidded on the dirt and he had a fall causing some scraping to his foot, leg and arm. It looked (and no doubt felt) very painful.

Just after Brian had a fall, Stan's bike started having mechanical problems. The petrol was getting clogged. This meant that he was able to drive 300 meters at a time before the bike would die. Then we'd have to wait ten minutes for enough petrol to trickle through to drive another 300 meters. It was going to take a long time to get back to Sihanoukville at that rate.

We got to the empty falls and Brian had a dip water (which was not too clean) to clear the dust out of his abrasions. Once Nicole and Samantha had cleaned him up, he and Samantha drove back to Sihanoukville. Samantha's moto lights were not working, so she and Brian had to drive home sharing the light of his bike.

Stan and Nic started making slow progress back, 300 meters at a time, while they waited for the moto owner to come out and pick them up. People along the way would stop and offer advice.

Eventually, just as it was getting dark, the owner came out and decided that we would have to push the moto back to Sihanoukville...Cambodian style. This consisted of him using his foot to push Stan on his bike all the way home for 20 km.

So for 10 km of bumpy dirt road, then 10 km of the busiest highway in Cambodia, Stan was pushed along by another motorbike at between 30-50 km per hour. It was a very scary experience as we struggled to stay together yet still weaving between potholes and out of the way of other bikes and cars along the road. Here is some of the footage of the event.

Along the dirt road at dusk.

On the highway and in the city at night.