Rob Maisel
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Angkor Wat??

3/31/2012

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I got up super early a few days ago and shared a tuk tuk with some friends I met on the bus, and for $5 USD each we had him for the day!  He drove us around to all of the main temples.  We began with Angkor Wat, perhaps the most famous part of one of the most recognizable temple complexes in the world!  The temples are ENORMOUS, made of large stones and with crazy intricacies built into each one; each temple (there are so many!) stands apart in its own way!  Next, we went to Angkor Thom (a small city almost..) which contained many more temples, and continued on the smaller of the two loops finding a few more temples along the way and then up this famous mountain for sunrise!

A couple of days later, I was lucky enough to go with my Cambodian friends by motorcycle around to a famous temple up North called Banteay Srei and then went to the landmine museum!  This was particularly interesting to learn about how many amputees there are in this country and how many are innocent civilians!  The museum houses amputee children and takes care of them with the funds they receive; this I think is great!  The creator of the museum is a Cambodian man who defected from the Khmer Rouge and joined the Vietnamese Army.  he has a wildly interesting account of how one day he saw his uncle on the battlefield and had to lie to his friends about why he was not shooting him.  Years later after the war, they both survived and had a laugh over the story, as his uncle never knew that they were shooting at one another!  It is smart not to wander too far off the beaten path because there are still many active landmines in Cambodia!

We stopped for a delicious local treat of rice noodles in a coconut curry, dazzled with basil leaves and banana shreddings...DELICIOUS!!!

From there, we went down south to the Roluos group of temples (still a part of the Angor Wat pass) and saw three more lovely temples!

Yesterday I went back for my third day at the temples and saw a few more before being done for a while!  Next stop, LAOS!

Side Note: The currency is Riel here, about 4,000 to a dollar.  Don't worry it's not like there are billions of bills and coins flying around, as 100 riel notes seem to be the smallest notes available, or at least the smallest ones that I have come into contact with.  More commonly used are US Dollars...quite strange.  Most prices (at least in tourist zones) are listed in US Dollars...so strange to be using my home country's currency in another country...  So since there are not coins here, if something costs 75 cents, you give one dollar and get 1000 riel back (usually in the form of one 1,000 riel note or two 500 riel notes).
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Cheers and Volunteers - Enough to Tug your Tears

3/25/2012

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I helped deliver water to needy villages two days ago and had a great time doing it!  Before giving water to the villages, I helped to paint two parts of the bathroom in the CHOICE facility where the kids have been coming for school. There were some villagers who really seemed appreciative of the help, and some of the men were drinking whisky, letting their wives and children do all of the work...not so cool haha.  Well, This organization called "CHOICE" is made up of expats who just want to help.  They have assigned a bucket of water for each village (of which there are three) and every third day, each house in a certain village gets their buckets filled.  This is particularly helpful because there is not much of a water supply and of the water that is easily accessible to the villagers contains arsenic (a type of poison) in it...not the most ideal of situations.  So, assuming things go as planned (which often does not happen due to problems with something breaking down or electricity running out, each village gets enough water to last them for 3 days until the next shipment of water is delivered!  A main problem is that the villagers' main problem is that they do not have enough money to do anything, even transporting themselves from one location to another.  The villages are one hour outside of Phnom Penh. I think it is so fantastic that people just decided to begin "saving" these people.  I also helped "boost the economy" that day by buying a bag of sugar cane juice from one of the local women selling it!  By the way the "juice in a plastic bag" culture is huge here, maybe because it is cheaper than using plastic cups...

Today I went to the center, and kids from all three of the villages had been brought over to the center to have a large meal, for playing outside (somewhat of a recess) and English lessons, along with drawing!  The kids are separated by village at this point, and all ages of children (between 5 and 10 I would say..) are learning the same thing due to lack of time, teachers and funding at the moment, but HEY, these kids are SO HAPPY to have the opportunity to get the education that the thought probably does not even cross their minds!  CHOICE will get the kids to the center every day for school with enough money at some point, and that will be EXCELLENT!  For now, the children only come once every other week for school there, but there are local Khmer (Cambodian) teachers that the organization pays who are in the villages! :)  CHOICE pays for the transportation of the children to the center - pretty much everything because the families cannot afford to.  The families cannot afford to send their children to school because it is so expensive for them, and they must even pay a corruption fee to the teachers or government (not sure which one, maybe both) because this country is so corrupt!  The government certainly is not paying for their schooling.  CHOICE takes care of all of this for the kids, SO WONDERFUL!  I felt so happy to give my time and efforts today with the children; I teared up on numerous occasions.  I could FEEL that the kids wanted to be here, they were so excited to learn, SO appreciative that people were taking time out of their lives to care for them.  I know that this is something they will NOT forget and when they grow up, hopefully they have the urge to help others, as CHOICE has done for them.  The day actually made me consider staying here longer, seeing how cute these kids were and how fun.  Check facebook for some pictures, as you can see almost a dozen of them hanging off of me, so happy to just play and celebrate being alive; these kids know how to live!  On many occasions, as I have often said, those who have less have more.  Because these children come from families that can barely support them, they know nothing of not being able to watch their favorite television show, or being kicked off the computer by an elder sibling...these petty thoughts don't even cross their mind!  I was particularly happy to show the kids how to write the letter "e" and they were so happy to learn it!  The feeling of KNOWING you are making a difference in children's lives and NOT getting paid for it is fantastic!  I was there because I WANTED to be there, not for the money.  I found that the children's smiles were so genuine and really had such a fantastic day!  The kids will tire you out, but it's ALL worth it!  I highly recommend that people volunteer with CHOICE for the day if they are in Phnom Penh!  The $5 donation they ask for goes to costs like shuttling you to the village, paying the Khmer teachers, materials for creating and fixing up the facilities, etc. 

My hearts go out to the children of these villages, what FANTASTIC souls!!!  This has strongly made me consider teaching young children English!
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The Wild West of South East Asia

3/22/2012

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I arrived to the hostel today through the chaotic streets of Phnom Penh - there seems to be a little less of an air of calm here than in Thailand.  A gentleman in my room referred to this place as the Wild West of Asia and that might be true.  After being here 2 hours, I have heard you can blow up a human being with a rocket launcher for $1,000 USD, or a cow for $300.  Someone else told me that you could kill a prisoner on death row for enough money.  Who knows if these are just rumors, but I have a strange feeling they are not...  Children prostitutes are available as well....from what I hear they are prevalent at dance clubs, although I have yet to go out to one and see for myself..  Looks like it is a land of no rules and no morals here.

Now, writing a day later I have visited Tuol Sleng, better known as S-21 Prison, one of the main torture prisons where the Khmer Rouge help captives before sending them to Choeung Ek, better known as the Killing Fields, (which I also visited today).  These two places were very hard to witness, as thousands upon thousands of Cambodians (actually 1/4 of the population..not including those who perished of starvation) were brutally violated, treated inhumanely, tortured and murdered.  Most were tricked or forced into going to Tuol Sleng Prison (S21) and were forced to confess to some crime that they did not do, or they would be tortured mercilessly.  Once they confessed it was off to the killing fields without proper trial or anything, just pure slaughter.  It was a really heavy day, seeing the nail marks on the walls and blood stains on the floors of this once calm children's school.  Seeing all the mass graves with bones, clothing and teeth coming out of the ground, along with a tree where babies were held by the legs and their heads smashed before being tossed in a pit can make one sick to the stomach.  The fact that human beings could do this to each other, and that this only occurred around 35 years ago is quite scary!  Even worse is Cambodia's corruption, and the fact that there is a very wealthy man in India who owns the Killing Fields and is making money off of the tourism.  This symbol of a national tragedy, instead of using the money to better the country has been sold to a private investor for some quick cash, this is outrageous in my opinion!

Tomorrow I will volunteer at a small Cambodian village, bringing them water.  I do not know yet what to expect, but am super excited to help out!  I plan on spending two more nights here in Phnom Penh, but if this experience is incredible, I may go back to help out the villagers more.  It may be the most impactful or helpful thing I have done so far on my trip, aside from donating to KONY2012.  If you have not yet watched the video, please check this out:

http://player.vimeo.com/video/37119711?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=d13030

What do you think about the blog??  Feel free to leave comments, I would love to hear your opinions! :)
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The Party Begins...but When Does it End?

3/16/2012

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The change made moving from the Western side of Koh Phangan to the South into Had Rin proved to be perfect!  Having updated my facebook status and pictures and blog several times, I was left with a feeling of "okay, what do I do now?".  I had relaxed, I had unwound and had enjoyed!  Had Rin provided the madness that I needed!  I was able to connect with many more backpackers here and hung out on the beach where the party was going on every night!  Even in preparation for the big Full Moon Party, which happens on the night of the full moon every month (there are also half-moon parties, etc!) the party seemed to be raging on every night!  With tons of places selling buckets of red bull, juice/soft drinks and alcohol combinations for a reasonable price, it seemed quite impractical that the people would be found doing anything BUT "having a good time".  Well for the night of the actual full moon, there was a discrepancy due to some errors on the internet, confusion about the leap year and the original date falling on the Day of the Buddha.  Even when the festivities are not occurring, you can still certainly party like a rock star in Had Rin Nok (Sunset Beach), though I recommend you stay closer to Had Rin Nai (Sunset Beach) if sleeping is one of your priorities..

While most went to Ko Tao to relax from Koh Phangan, I figured I would go to Koh Phi Phi, although I was warned that this place too was a party.  When I arrived with nowhere to stay, I found an expensive (but cheap for this island!) accommodation and would later have TONS of trouble sleeping.  Along with the music, drunken people and doors opening and closing, I heard my French neighbor stumble back into his room (mind you the walls are paperthin) uttering, "This is my room" ...and I will leave the rest to your imagination...  I moved into a different spot the next day and it proved to be super clean and quiet, away from the music, which was great!  I relaxed a bit that day and got ready for my tour of "The Beach" the next day.  This was great because I met a super fun group of people, and had a blast snorkeling and kayaking with our English-speaking guide!  We saw some brightly colored and exotic-looking fish in the "oh-so-clear" waters which gleamed of their turquoise color from afar!  Apparently it is SUPER expensive to buy bird's nest...a delicacy in Thailand!  We were taken to many spots, including the secluded (now you dare not use that term as it is QUITE the opposite) beach made so famous by the movie, "the beach".  We enjoyed some delicious food and watched the sunset on the ocean before hitting the beach later for the party!

After having spent way too much money on the island (although much of it went to some of the most delicious and enormous pizza slices I have found Thailand to offer) I was glad to be off of the islands and back to Bangkok!  BEWARE, Thailand is becoming INCREASINGLY more EXPENSIVE and will CONTINUE DOING SO!  The SOUTHERN ISLANDS, KOH PHI PHI leading the list, are SUPER expensive (at least for Thailand!) so be ready to extend your daily budget and maybe even double or triple it down here!  I will be here another few days to gain my groundings before heading to Phnom Penh, Cambodia for a total culture shock on March 20th!
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Sand and Solidarity

3/4/2012

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Aside from its wild and wackiness, Thailand is also known for its fantastic beaches!  Well, despite being a "white-boy" who needs to slather on loads of sunscreen to maintain his pearly-white complexion, I still love the beach!  When I first heard about Full Moon Parties, I thought that this was a very cultural Thai event.  I came to find out that it is really more of a drunken backpacker fest.  I have been on this island, Koh Phangan for a few nights now, on Laem Niad beach on the West Coast, and have been away from the madness.  I do intend on diving into the wildness for the next few nights before heading to Koh Phi Phi.  Koh Phi Phi is another island made famous by the movie "The Beach".  I must say, traveling around Thailand has been more expensive than I anticipated, but much easier than India (as fellow travelers had informed me).  I went down to Had Rin today to explore the craziness that people speak of and it was not too outrageous.  Outrageous was the storm this morning, as well as one of the beaches in the area - called Haad Seekantang, or more colloquially known as "Leela Beach".  I will spend my last night on Laem Niad and may very well miss the peacefulness and serenity of this location.  However, for the time being it is a bit TOO dead for me, which is why I will enjoy the atmosphere in Had Rin!  More information to come about the infamous Full Moon Party soon!
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