Cambodia 2013 Teachers RECCE

I have recently returned from a Teachers RECCE to Cambodia.  As a school, we run trips every other year with an expedition company called Camps International.  I had always been envious of my colleagues who had led these trips in the past, but the time had never been right.  Either I had been very new to the school, or I had been pregnant or just had a baby.  In the Summer of 2012, 8 pupils from the School visited Cambodia with Dr D.  They had a fantastic experience and after hearing about their journey, I decided to speak to my family about the possibility of me running the next expedition.

Of course, my family were supportive, as they usually are, and so the next day I went in, and indicated my interest in the next trip, Summer 2014.  At first, I felt like it would have been nice to visit another location, but now I am certain that reinforcing the links made previously with the Camp in Cambodia and the school is the right thing to do. People have asked me "What about your boys, they are so young?" and "How could you leave your family for a month?" but, I say to them, life is short, and my boys will be fine, they have plenty of family around them, and I have to take this opportunity now, or forever regret how it may have been.

So, we are all set to go on the trip in the Summer of 2014.  As we had travelled to Cambodia as a school previously, I didn't think that I would be fortunate enough to be offered the opportunity to go on a Recce this time, but in October Half Term I accompanied another teacher from a school in Cornwall, Sam, and a rep from Camps International, Hannah to Cambodia.  What follows is a (very) brief description of the experiences I had from a personal perspective, and a very small insight into the trip next year.  I hope you enjoy reading about it and I look forward to telling you about our month long trip next year.

Lucy.

Teacher Training RECCE Week: My Summary

Packing - A lesson in how not to do it

Packing - a very important lesson learned about not packing too much! Im not sure yet how I will manage to pack for a month, without taking everything including the kitchen sink.  At least this was a source of amusement and constant disbelief amongst my travelling companions.  The 'magic number' was 5....5 packs of wipes, 5 packs of tissues, 5 weeks supply of everything...and we were only there for a week!  They knew where to come if they needed anything, a spare towel, batteries, torch etc.
I will try hard to avoid taking this amount of supplies next year....

Camp Beng Mealea

The camp at Beng Mealea is a charming, well laid out camp that affords its residents excellent cuisine from the camp kitchen, and a memorable (if not noisy at night) stay in the longhouses.  Han and his team are very friendly and cater for your every need, including the needs of the local wildlife.  This will be the focus of our stay in Cambodia, and we spent a night here during our week long Recce.

 

The Temples: Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm

Angkor Wat is a Hindu temple and is the largest  religious monument in the world.  It is situated just outside Siem Reap and is a stunning, breathtaking temple that must be explored.  We spent half a day here.  Angkor Wat is dedicated to Vishnu, the supreme God of Hinduism.  This goes against the tradition, when temples would be built for and dedicated to Kings.  Angkor Wat has become a symbol of Cambodia, appears on its national flag, and attracts over 2 million visitors per year from around the world.

S-21 Prison and the Killing Fields

A very important part of understanding the history of the country of Cambodia is to visit Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide and the Killing Fields where millions of Cambodians were executed under the regime of the Khmer Rouge.  The former high school, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh displays the horrors that took place by depicting photos of the victims, faces of the men, women and children who were tortured here.  There are few words that can describe the emotions you feel as you walk around the former high school, it is hard to imagine the school that would once have been bustling with the sounds of children running in and out was replaced by scenes of indescribable horror and torture.  

The graves of the 14 people found at the
S-21 prison when it was discovered in 1979

Electrified barbed wire was used
to stop the prisoners escaping

The Killing Fields at Choeung Ek is one of the sites where the prisoners were taken to be executed.  There are several mass graves at the site, and the audio guide describes what happened here.  In the centre of the site there is a Buddhist stupa, housing the skulls of some of those who died.  You can see where there are cracks or damage to the skulls on the lower levels of the stupa, visitors are able to walk around the outside of the stupa.  

The Buddhist stupa housing some of the
skulls found in the mass graves at the Killing fields

The Killing Tree against which
executioners beat children

Trekking

Trekking takes place in the Kulen National Park.  On the day of our trek, we left the hotel at 8am and prepared for the journey from Siem Reap to Phnom Kulen National Park.  The photos here do not do it any justice, I was very pleased when we reached the top and started to trek across the mountain towards the waterfall.  After a hot and dusty 5k trek we reached the waterfall, a stunning place where the roar of the cascading water and the damp air were a stark contrast to the heat of the mountain climb.  After a lunch of Lok Lak and Rice we were ready to climb down to the base of the waterfall and swim.  After climbing over the rocky floor, we reached the pool, where the little fish nibbled our toes.

Mid way through the trek

At the top!

Swimming in the waterfall

The noise of the waterfall was immense

Food and Drink

The Cambodian diet is made up mainly of rice and noodles accompanied by protein of some kind.  This could be tofu, chicken, fish, beef or pork.  Khmer cuisine is varied, and almost everything is served with chilli sauce.  A favourite local dish is Lok Lak, a curry served with a pepper sauce.  Amok is a coconut curry, usually chicken or fish.  The food in the restaurants is beautifully presented and below is a sample of the cuisine available.

Amok Fish

Beef in pineapple

Pork Lok Lak

Beef Lok Lak

Pineapple Juice

Khmer Phat Thai

Beef with green pepper

A selection of Khmer cuisine.

Amok Chicken

Deep fried selection,
not for the faint hearted!

Crickets....

Teamwork!

Whilst this is designed to be a short blog to highlight the trip, I could not complete it without mention of Bun Lay, Rory, Hannah and Sam.  Bun Lay was our guide, and works for Camps International.  Rory is the Asia Director for Camps International and joined us for a few days and accompanied us to Phnom Penh.  Hannah works in the UK office and was our rep for the week.  Sam completed the team for this week and is taking a group of students out next Summer from her school.  The most friendly people, without whom I would not have enjoyed the week so much.  Thank you all!

Team!

Bun Lay eating sticky rice from the street vendor

Rory at the Kings Palace

Cambodia is a beautiful country.  I had an amazing time, what is written here doesn't even cover half of the things we experienced and saw, but I think its important to leave some of the 'Kingdom of Wonder' left for the students visiting next year to experience for themselves. I am very much looking forward to visiting again in the Summer of 2014 with a group of students and seeing the team again.

Thanks for reading, 

Lucy x