Khmer New Year

We enjoyed our third "new year" ceremony of the year in April; Khmer New Year. The celebrations roughly went from the 12'th to the 17'th of April. At this time we were invited to Khmer friends' houses and to huge street parties in Siem Reap. A big stage was built at the end of Pub Street and every night there was free entertainment provided by local stars, then a dance party with local and western music until the early morning hours.

On Pub St. looking at the stage.

Stan and Nicole join the locals in dancing. This is quite a sweaty affair in the 30+ degree weather. The street was packed with people.

We also attended a celebration with our friends in our Khmer classes. This was held at the school. There was a Khmer BBQ meal and dancing.

As far as new year parties go, we have enjoyed ourselves immensely. We liked the fact that this party lasts several days and we enjoyed celebrating with our Khmer friends.

More crazy things on the road

Here are some more of the funny things on the road in Cambodia.

Look carefully at/through this car. It is fully air conditioned. If you look carefully you can see the boy's foot sticking out the front door.

Finally a good photo of a person on a motorbike holding their IV drip. Drove right past us as we were having lunch.

This is the main road between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. It takes about 6-8 hours to travel 350km.

People don't have tow ropes here, so they chop a tree down and tie it between cars to tow it along.

Google maps is starting to do street view in Siem Reap.

When the car is full of people (sometimes 9 or so in a sedan) there is always room for people to sit in the boot.

Taking some roofing iron home.

There is a van under these baskets.

Street art in Thailand

Nicole and Stan went on a short visit to Thailand where we enjoyed all the trappings of modern life for a few days. We had air conditioning. We watched a movie in a proper cinema. We went to shopping centers. It was all very nice, but it was also nice to get back to our more primitive life in Siem Reap.

While we were in Thailand, we stumbled across a street art exhibition. These were made up of drawings that would come to life if you stood in a specific spot and could see the painting from the right perspective. To show this, we have tried to take the photos of the street art from different perspectives so you can compare them. The drawings were made with plastic and passers by were encouraged to stand in the drawings.

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.