First Temple: Andy Strikes Again

Hey folks,

So we left Kampong Thom on July 17th to go to the province of Siem Reap: which roughly translates to Thai defeat (which the Thai are not too proud of from what I hear). Siem Reap contains many temples dating back to the 11th century AD. We stopped at a temple on the way to the city of Siem Reap just as it started raining. The temple was in utter disrepair due to bombing and general lack of upkeep. We saw a few bomb craters in the ground and blocks of stone piled into rubble. Many of the entrances were completely blocked: although the stone work made for some fun climbing opportunities to gain access to the temple. Trees literally stood atop the walls and libraries with their giant roots engulfing the stone to get into the ground. It was quite an amazing sight.

Other than the van we have been using to go from place to place; we seem to have bad luck with vehicles breaking down. The common denominator seems to be Andy. Pretty much every tuk-tuk (scooter pulling a rickshaw) he enters breaks down within 5 minutes. Our tour bus was no different. After coming out of the temple: the bus would not start. The Australians noticed that it was "beer o'clock" and that the bus was conveniently broken down in front of a little restaurant/shack that sold beer. Needless to say, we amused ourselves until the bus was fixed.

Stay tuned, more pictures are coming soon.

-Brian

3 Days Worth Of Photos

Check it out, our Photobucket!

Stay tuned,

-Chris

809 Steps

It's one thing to know about the hidden places of the world, but another to see them, to be there, to feel the ache in your legs from the climb and the mountain top breeze against your face. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

We went to a mountain, and it took 809 beautifully carved steps to get to the temples at the top. The air was heavy with the coming storm and we were all sweating more than we'd care to admit. The top was a courtyard with gold covered roofs and stone carved Buddhas. The monks were in white and they lived up there in the houses and amongst the rocks and trees.

The trees. Their roots were amazing themselves as they shot out and engulfed anything and everything within their reach. The monkeys were everywhere and their babies clung to their mothers' stomachs. I tried to get close to take a picture of two babies playing and was promptly chased away by the mother.

That's right, I was chased by a monkey.

We wandered around for a while, each finding our own path to explore. Trash cans were dotted everywhere, each saying that it's good karma to pick up trash, which there was a lot of. After picking up my share, I saw a white butterfly gliding in and around the rocks. I followed it, trying to get a good picture of it. It lead me back along the path I had come from. I had climbed down some of the rocks to get there and when I came back to the base of them, I found my favorite Life Is Good hat. It must have fallen on my way down from where I had it snapped to my belt. There's good karma for you.

In a quiet mood, I did what I was made to do. I explored the path. I walked past the ornate temples to the large rocks, many hiding small carvings of a sleeping Buddha and a gold pot bursting with used incense sticks. I walked on. The forest got thinker and each carving or temple I came to seemed older. Thunder rolled in the sky and I knew I had to turn back; more trail for another day. I smiled at the monk at the top of the stairs and she smiled a toothless smile back. Yes, more for another day.

I met up with Chris on the way down and we both found ourselves in awe of where we were. We won't forget it and I hope to one day return.

- Kat J

Teaching is tough

So I helped Deb give a lesson yesterday for Teacher's Without Borders. We were basically teaching some Biology to Cambodian teachers. I gave a little lesson on plant anatomy, water movement through xylem and phloem which was followed by some microscope work. Things go really slow when you need to have a translator convey your ideas for you.

When it came time for the hands on lab work: total chaos ensued. The students got really excited about cutting up plant parts for viewing. I'm not sure my planned lesson actually got across entirely, but it was a good learning experience for me nonetheless.

For now, I think I will leave the teaching to Deb.

Going for a little bike ride today I think, and pics are being uploaded as we speak.

Talk to you all soon,

-Brian

Monday 7/12/2010

Our hotel!

After finally falling asleep, my body told me to wake up at... 4:30 in the morning! My mind raced with a new sense of confidence and willingness to try things, albeit I don't speak Khmer (pronounced 'kh-mai'). We began the day with a trip across the insanely busy street, where you're just as likely to see three hogs tied to a moped as you are a family of 5 riding a bicycle, and had some delicious "lumbao'' sticky buns, and bread stuffed with mystery fruit. Add some killer coffee, and you're ready for the day.

We set out crossing the nearby Stung Sen river in pursuit of less-populated surroundings. It didn't take long to realize that National Highway 6 was not going to peter out into country side anytime soon, so we took a chance and went left. Stores...GONE! D.I.Y. housing, HELLO! Seriously, we'll have pictures up as soon as we can. We spent the next hour or three walking around dried-up rice paddies and saying Hello! to tons of people. But, as the sun beat down and the day pressed on, we quickly ran out of water and food. We also lost our way, completely. And just as we were feeling particularly dehydrated and lost, a Tuk-Tuk driver came to our rescue! Or so we thought... After 10 minutes of driving in what half of us thought was the right direction, he pulled over next to an unknown hotel and waved us out. No way dude! Luckily I had snapped a photo of our hotel's sign, and after showing this to our driver he promptly pulled a 180 and sped off in the other direction.

Pause for remembering...

Lunch with Deb at her favorite "restaurant", next to the internet-cafe-pharmacy, cost 5 people a whopping 6 dollars... TOTAL! Delicious.

That evening we laid low until venturing out with 20+ Austrailians, 4 New Yorkers, all here with "Teachers Across Borders". Now one might believe that a big restaurant means a clean restaurant, but I'd trust the little lady with her food cart any day.

That's all for now, I promise pictures soon.

-Chris

The Longest Day...

Well!

We're safely hanging out at an Internet cafe/pharmacy/lunch stop in Kompong Thom. Here's what it took to get us here:

6 hour car trip from Eau Claire to Chicago
1 hour debacle at check-in at O'Hare
2 hour wait
3.5 hour trip to Seattle-Following the setting sun
4 hour layover-Is it 1 am? 2 am? Huh?!
12.5 hour trip to Taipei-It would have been awesome if sleep were a possibility, but the headrest television and its offerings of Michael Jackson, Video Games, and "Clash of the Titans in 4 different languages" was just too good. The meals were tasty, and silverware pleasantly green and ergonomic.
4 hour layover-This place had relaxation on lock-down! Fake mountains and potted plants, combined with massage chairs made for a real nice break. For some reason, the business director at the Taipei airport decided the most useful items to sell were high-end perfume, chocolate, and Johnny Walker...
3 hour trip to Phnom Penh- Lunchbreakfast was great.
3 hour van trip to Kompong Thom-Countryside! Hammocks! EXTREMELY DANGEROUS DRIVING SITUATIONS! Well, not by Cambodian standards... Be sure to check in for our Illegal in America section in future posts (once we get our photo-uploader working)
Arrival at our majestic "Stung Sen Royal Garden Inn Hotel"!!!!! At about 4 pm local time, 4 am Wisconsin time...

For some reason it seemed best not to go to bed, and instead we wandered around the market place. Unfortunately, the freezers in the meat section weren't working, and our noses were not prepared for the olfactory onslaught that ensued. Very close emesis-call for everyone. But boy was dinner great.

Things are good,

--Chris

T-Minus 4 Days!

Hello All,

To start things off, here's an overview of what's happening:

Associate Instructor Deb Freund, along with 5 students (Chris Maierhofer, Kathryn Prince, Katrina Jacobs, Andy Ludvik, and Brian Pauley) are flying to Cambodia this Friday to get their hands (and probably feet, faces and hair) dirty in the name of biological research. Thanks to a generous grant from the ASIA-Network, Freeman Student Faculty Fellowship Program, they will be spending a total of 5-weeks in the country. The goal of the project is to investigate the levels of biodiversity found in different rice-paddy agro-ecosystems; or in layman's terms, to catch and quantify fish, amphibians, and frogs. The group will also be indulging in deep-fried tarantula, visiting the temples at Angkor Wat, and traveling to other exciting and beautiful locales around the country.

Be sure to stay tuned as the trip progresses. We will be updating the blog as often as possible, and each member of the group will be making their own contribution. We invite you to follow our adventure as it unfolds over the next 5 weeks!

Lee -hai (goodbye!),


-Chris