I’ve been keeping myself really busy lately. It helps keep me distracted from the inevitable sadness that accompanies this time of year. You were present in my thoughts this weekend as we celebrated dad’s birthday and K’s election to president of her high school student council. These life events are becoming increasingly more important to me as I realize that there are, in fact, a limited number of them.
As we visited you today, dad poured some of his coffee onto the grass for you. We all shared a chuckle. On a day like today, you would’ve liked a coffee.
After visiting S-21 and the Killing Fields, I felt a bit sick for the rest of the day. A monument with 9,000 skulls. Tatters of clothing sticking out of the dirt. The tree where infants would be hurled against to kill them.
When I visited Auschwitz earlier this year, it had a different kind of feeling. Overwhelming. But I think S-21 hit me in a different way as some of the photos of the people displayed in the Genocide Museum reminded me of family members.
Today, when we were visiting the RDIC, it was pointed out that culturally, forgiveness is not something that comes easily in Cambodia.
The route from Kampong Chanang to Phnom Penh was beautiful. We blazed along the main road early in the morning as the sun rose – it felt really good to be pushing my physical limit. At Oudong we detoured and took a scenic ride for the last 50 km through back roads that ran through rice fields. As the heat increased, in addition to pushing the physical endurance there was also the mental, just trying to stay focused in the heat.
The stops for sugar cane juice are absolutely wonderful. And the cascades of “helloooo” from the children that run out to the side of the road as we cycle always evokes a smile.
As we road into Phnom Penh, we stayed in a straight line and weaved through the busy traffic between trucks, tuk-tuks and motos. It was like being in a video game, except you get one life as you make a split second decision as to whether or not you can squeeze in the small space that’s quickly closing up as a truck is backing up. It was exhilerating.
We’ve had the opportunity to rest for a couple days and tomorrow we do 135 km.
We spent new year’s eve riding from Battambong to Pursat, which is approximately 110 km. Children would yell hellloooooooo from the side of the road and others would repeat it hellohellohellohello! Wewere awake at 4 am and we pulled in at about 2-3 pm. I felt completely and utterly exhausted and grabbed a quick nap before heading to dinner with the group and Sustainable Cambodia. We rang in the new year at midnight which is ahead of GMT by 8 hours and a full 12 hours ahead from back home in Kitchener-Waterloo. Today we have a rest day and then there are two back-to-back 90 km days as we make our way towards Phnom Penh.
Resolutions – I’m still working those out. Generally speaking, the resolution for 2009 still holds, be a better person, but I will be putting some other goals up here as they are refined.
As far as end of year reflections, a more detailed post will follow in time,
but for now, I think I can honestly say that 2009 has been the best year
yet, filled with adventure and fun. For those who helped make it
amazing and for those who shared in those special moments, thank you.
For those who I may have hurt or offended, please accept my apologies. For everyone, I wish peace, health, and happiness in 2010.
Today we visited the PEPY ride school and I learned a lot about the practical elements of development work versus the theory and the challenges in striking a balance between the two. We took a dusty truckride to Battambong to meet with the main PEPY group today and then we went on a 20 km ride around Battambong.
We loaded up onto the Bamboo Train which are essentially two axles with a platform on top and an engine which powers the “vehicle” down unused train tracks. As the sun set, we rode back to Battambong and enjoyed a hearty dinner.
Highlight of my day, learning how to count to 10 from a group of grade 4 students at Ankor Wat. Today we went to Angkor Wat, better known as the temples where Tomb Raider was filmed. We also had a group of 30 grade 4 students with us which made it about a billion times more fun. They have a natural curiosity and happiness about them that was contagious. We spent part of the afternoon playing games with them outside one of the temples and then when it was time to part ways at Ta Promh (sp?) I was sad to see them go. Off to Battambong tomorrow! My updates will be short, sporadic and limited in detail, but there will be pictures, video and music when I’m back.
Michelle suggested that if I had time, I would probably like the Science Museum in Singapore. I felt conflicted, because I really wanted to go, but I would be cutting it really close in getting to the airport in time for my flight.
The nerd in me won out.
The Singapore Science Museum is pretty fantastic. It has all the fun stuff that I remember growing up with in the Ontario Science Center, like a Tesla coil and models explaining ocean currents, but the highlight for me was the Body Worlds exhibit that is on until March 2010.
The human body.
A marvel of contradictions.
Simple yet complex,
vulnerable yet resilient.
The limit of our experience
yet the starting point of boundless potential.
The exhibit was amazing, starting with embryos at one week of development all the way through the gestation period. It was haunting and thought-provoking exhibit. What particularly kept my attention was that every single speciman is a real human body (not to mention the horse and giraffe that has also been “plastinated”)
I wanted to see more of the Science Center, especially snow city, which seemed to be a giant enclosed space with a snowmaker, but I was already late in getting to the airport. The standard “be there two hours before your flight takes off” that has been drilled into me from North American travel doesn’t seem to apply here though. So far from my two intra-Asia flights, I’m pretty sure I could’ve arrived a half hour before my flight took off and still have made it on time.
Maybe I’ll get to test that theory in Phnom Penh in a couple of weeks.
The last 24 hours have been a total whirlwind of activity. After a 4 hour layover in the Hong Kong International Airport, I went on to Singapore. I scheduled the stopover in Singapore enroute to Cambodia to visit a friend I met while traveling in Eastern Europe earlier this year. Michelle took me all over Singapore City which included Orchard Street, the Esplanade, Merlion Park (yes, a combination of a lion and mermaid) and my personal favourite, Little India.
For lunch, Michelle ordered us the signature Singaporean dish, chicken and rice, which is absolutely delicious. Though my time in Singapore is brief, it has been great fun. The metro has provided an endless source of comedy. The metro system uses wireless RFID cards which let people in through the gates – I figured Michelle was swiping for us both, so I just hopped in after her before the gates closed. When I realized this wasn’t the case and was trying to figure out how to get back out, that proved to be a bit difficult. On the metro on the way back after an exhausting day exploring the city, I fell asleep while hanging onto the overhead strap and snapped awake just as I was losing my grip, much to the amusement of people around me.
I will be braving the bus and metro system myself tomorrow as I navigate my way to the airport. I take some comfort in that most people know English here and as a backup, my Cantonese is decent enough to get around. There are many pictures which have yet to be uploaded, but I’ll likely not find the bandwidth for the high resolution pictures until I get back home.
Despite Starbucks being an international brand, short, tall, and venti didn’t seem to make the leap. On the board, the Chinese characters for small, medium and large are used.
Two red panniers and a helmet. (The other pannier is checked luggage) Probably the lightest I’ve ever packed for a trip, but when you have to cycle with all your stuff, it’s a lot easier to cut out the extras.
I’m now in the Hong Kong International Airport, tapping away on my Blackberry – connected via the wifi. I opted to bring the Blackberry instead of my laptop, or even the netbook because I have to cycle with everything that I bring and I needed to keep things light. I feel a bit disoriented, still adjusting to losing a day in transit. The plane ride was filled with dozing and watching movies on the back of the seat – I managed to take in 500 Days of Summer, Julie and Julia, The Time Traveler’s Wife and Transformers 2. I had to watch Transformers in fast forward though, because it simply wasn’t making any sense after the first half hour.
I am waiting for my flight to Singapore where I will be meeting up with a friend before continuing on to Siem Reap, Cambodia. There’s lots more I’d like to write, but it will have to wait till I get to a real keyboard.
For the last month, my friends Erika and Jared have been walking the 800 km Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain. In English, it is known as the Way of St. James and it is a centuries old pilgrimage route. Erika and Jared are both individuals with big hearts and they are using this opportunity to raise money for War Child Canada, a charity dedicated to providing urgently needed humanitarian assistance to war-affected children around the world. Jared is certainly no stranger to long distance treks as he cycled coast-to-coast across Canada a couple of years ago to raise funds for the World Wildlife Foundation.
They have been sending out detailed updates via their Facebook Group during their journey and they are currently about 70 km from Santiago.
Over the Christmas holidays, I picked up a guitar and decided to try my hand at learning how to play it. My skills are still pretty basic, but my sister has been an enthusiastic supporter, nudging me to learn more music so she can sing along. This past weekend, Cliff brought over his ukulele and we decided to try a cover of Ingrid Michaelson’s The Way I Am. I’m not really playing any chords, just plucking one string at any given time, but I’m working on it. The sound is pretty low, so you’ll have to turn up the volume.
The last stop on my adventure was Nijmegen, The Netherlands, which is about an hour and a half by train southeast of Amsterdam. There, I stayed with a former roommate of mine who had been on exchange two years prior in Waterloo. When we had lived together, I always remembered that she spoke quite affectionately about her home in Ubbergen, a suburb near Nijmegen. Back in Canada, I typically only hear the same kind of attachment to a place when people are talking about waterfront cottages.
“We could meet in Amsterdam, but you could also come to Ubbergen, I think you’d really like it.”
There was something about her gentle nudge to go to Ubbergen, a desire to share a place and experience that she loved so much. I booked my train ticket and I was off. It was amazing seeing her again, because when many of my international roommates went back home, I always thought to myself that I would likely never see them again in my lifetime. As I walked up the road to her home, I immediately saw why she loved it so much. I also fell in love with the area as well and that made it very difficult to leave. (Pictures coming soon!) It was a good way to wind down after 3 months on the road, but as I rode the train to the airport, I was already dreaming about when I would return.
My time in Berlin was brief, but it was enough time to take in a good bicycle tour and learn more about its history. There was so much to see and so little time. My day of wandering took me to the Reichstag and the Berliner Dom. I spent a few hours in the cathedral just enjoying the atmosphere and exploring all the small details inside. Absolutely beautiful.
Berlin is definitely a place I’d like to visit again.
I found myself wedged between two rocks unable to turn my head around to look around. I pulled myself forward inch by inch. I could only see the shoe soles of the Australian ahead of me, blurred by my breath in the cold cave. We all emerged from the tiny hole in the rock, tired and sweaty.
Our guide, Laszlo, asked us all to turn off our headlamps for a moment and we all sat in a dark and total silence.
