Singapore then home

Well this will be the last post.

We spent another day in Phnom Pehn and had a great time at the Central and Russian markets with Steve and Maria, hunting down bargins, and cheap golf balls. There are no golf balls in Phnom Pehn!!!! After lunch at the Jars of Clay cafe we finished the day at a lovely restaurant just down from the hotel.

After leaving Phnom Pehn we travelled onto Singapore for three nights. it really is such a different place compared to Phnom Pehn. So clean, tidy, orderly. The traffic has structure, the shops are clean and dust free. Singapore is consumer driven. Mall after mall, under and over ground. As we found out you can walk for miles underground.

Although not a christian nation, Singapore has totally embraced "Christmas". The simple reason is because it encourages them to spend more. And it's not that cheap either. Most of the products we saw you could get at home for alot cheaper, especially the confectionery. I don't think I could ever justify spending $6.30 Singapore (similar to Australian dollar) on a bag of Natural confectionery company snakes, or $33.00 for a large bag of M&Ms.

My experience in Singapore wasn't helped by the fact that I got a bad batch of Chicken Masala on the first night we spent there. Needless to say, I did not move far from the loo for the first 36 hours.

We did venture out to the Zoo and the Jurong Bird park though. They were great, although I really think our Auckland Zoo has alot to be proud of.

Steve and Maria finally got their flights sorted and they spent the day with us as well in Singapore. We walked and walked and walked. It was raining outside, but as I mentioned earlier, you don't really even need to come above ground. Every thing you need is accessable below street level, although I must admit Singapore really is very hot and humid.

We boarded out flight to NZ at 9pm on Monday 8th December and arrived back to a balmy 23 degrees in Auckland at 11.45am on the 9th. Both tired but glad to be home.

We say farewell to the team

This morning we said goodbye to most of the team. Steve and Maria stayed behind, still trying to reorganise their flights to Thailand, Ben went off into Phnom Pehn to arrange cheaper accomodation until he buses to Vietnam, Colin and Adam were waiting for flights to malaysia this afternoon, but the rest of the team headed off to the airport. Smey and Andy came with us, and we had a special suprise visit from Sokhom as well.

After some tearful farewells Steve, Maria, Clinton and I said goodbye and headed back into Phnom Penh. We had heard there was a seeing Hands massage place just round the corner from our hotel. These people are all blind and organisation is endorsed by World Vision. It is an excellant way for them to make a living. Also it is as cheap as chips. A one hour massage costs $6 US. Both Clinton and I decided to get one, as we were still a bit stiff from all the riding. All was going well until they hit the Quads and Calves, OOOOWWWWEEEEEE!!! You get the option at the start, medium or strong massage. We both opted for the medium, thank God, I hate to think what the strong would have been like. We did however feel alot better after the experience and We along with Steve and Maria zoomed back to the Russian market in the afternoon.

Gas Station!!!!

Still hot and smelly, the market that is, we spent about an hour wandering around, getting some bargins and then we opted to go back to the Jars of clay cafe. So yummy. This was followed by an afternoon snoozing by the pool and a quiet night in watching the national geographic channel. It doesn't get more exciting than that!!!!

Tuol Sleng Museum & Pol Pot

Today was one of those days that will be etched into my memory forever. While 10 of the team headed off to visit their sponsored children, Clinton, Robyn, Pam and I headed in to see the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. This is an old high school that Pol Pot took over in the early 70's and used as a prison and place of torture, prior to sending people to the Killing Fields to be killed.
The first block of class rooms, block A, has one old steel bed in each room, shackles, a tin toilet box and photos of the last prisoner found there by the Vietnamese when they stormed Phnom Penh. It was hideous and cruel what they were subjected to.

Block B housed boards with hundreds of photos on the front and back showing the faces of the prisoners killed there, their clothing, and also the young soldiers of the Khmer Rouge. They were young boys forced to kill.

Block C was classroom after classroom with little cells that had been built into them with bricks. They had barbed wire down the face of the classroom blocks to stop the prisoners from trying to commit suicide.

Block D housed more faces, paintings and the actual items used to torture these poor soles. They say over 20,000 people went through the school. It was a horrid place and it just showed again how amazing the Khmer people really are to have come back from this.

Coming out of the museum we were faced yet again by a number of people begging. Some missing limbs, and others burn victims. We have been told it is not a good idea to give these guys money as it only encourages them to continue begging, but I must admit when confronted with the reality of what they have endured it is heart wrenching to walk away and not be able to do anything. We have all developed such a love for these people. They have an x factor that we can't describe.

After the museum we left for the Russian market, a bustling, hot and smelly place full to the brim with stalls carrying everything. The stench in the meat and fish section was over whelming. After this morning we didn't stay too long and opted instead to go to a cafe down the road called Jars of Clay. This cafe is run by 8 women. A share of the profits goes to help street people and others in need. It was such a lovely place, very peaceful. At least here we felt we were doing something to help.

We then moved on to the Central market where Robyn and Pam did some last minute purchasing and we watched Robyn fullfill her dare to eat a barbequed tarantula. Totally disgusting, but what a trooper. She said it was like eating a chewy bit of meat. Even the locals laughed at her.

Tonite was our last night together as a team, as most of the crew head back to NZ tomorrow morning. we had a wonderful dinner at the Friends Restaurant. Another resturant that trains street kids and gives them jobs in the restaurant. It is totally not for profit. We decided to give everyone a piece of paper with their name on it, then this was passed to each person and we each wrote something about that person on it. At the end we get back the paper. It was so lovely and was a great way to finish the tour.

The feeling was the same throughout the whole group. We all enjoyed each others company immensely and the dynamics of the group. We are all so very different, from all over the country, all walks of life, but somehow we just all clicked. We will miss each other and I know we will try and keep in touch.

Back to the big smoke of Phnom Pehn

A couple of days ago I reported that Bob had not sustained any further injuries. I now have to share that He also tried to take himself out on the stairwell, the bathroom door and the van. He is still standing however. At the dinner last night we had the final Nuffy and honorable awards, and Bob's was the best yet!! He had gotten disoriented during the night while wanting to go to the loo, and instead of going to the bathroom he went out the front door. Not a problem normally, unless you are completely starkers!! There has never been a dull moment with Bob.

Ben received the Honorable award for disarming Esmae's bell. Every day we were cycling Esmae would work her way from the back of the group to the front ringing her mickey mouse bell all the way. Clinton and I tried to disarm it but stuffing it with toilet paper, but she cottened onto this quite early. Ben however just knicked off with the top of the bell, to everyone's delight!!!!!

This morning after a few of the team headed down to the beach for a quick dip, we headed back to Phnom Pehn in the vans. Most of us were quite happy to see the back of Sihanukville. The beach was ok but it was so unreal compared to the rest of Cambodia. Very touristy. It is a four hour trip by van and we stopped for lunch at this lettle restaurant. Steve being one of the bravest in the team ordered lok lak and rice, not having any idea what it was. It turned out to be beef, but by the end of the day he had a raging fever, and consequently decided to stay in for the night.

We settled into the Goldiana Hotel and then most of us took a tuk tuk to the famous foreign Correspondants club. Full of westerners and europeans, but happy hour from 5 to 7pm. Two red wines and a handle of beer for $5. We then tuk tuked off to the bright lotus restaurant for some semi western/cambodian/italian fare. Nice and quite cheap to. When we arrived home Clinton and I had a ball with Esmae. She was using the internet in another room so Clinton and I spent some time showing up in her window at different angles and different times. Childish I know but we just had a ball. Later on Clinton and I headed upstairs, me lagging behind. As i reached our floor I found a near collapsed Clinton in histerics. He had though I was behind him and decided to scare the living daylights out of me as I came round the corner. Instead He startled some poor european man, who was so shaken He went to the wrong room and woke someone else up. Needless to say Clinton was nearly wetting himself with laughter and was very embarrassed.