Koh Kong: An Adventure into the Great Unknown, Part 1

During my four months here in Cambodia I have had the chance to see a lot of the country. Where have I been? Phnom Penh (I live here), Siem Reap (a weekend trip; visited the famous Angkor Wat temples), and the beach town of Sihanoukville (twice). My most rural experience was in Kampong Cham for a 2-night stay in little Suong. That trip was arranged by my office and the purpose was part cultural orientation and part program orientation. My most recent trip was past weekend to one of most untraveled parts of Cambodia: Koh Kong. It was definitely an adventure!


Koh Kong is directly west of Phnom Penh and is the last coastal town before the Thai border. Koh Kong is known mostly for being a border town and a good way for tourists to go from Cambodia to Thailand (or the other away around) via land travel. I had never heard of Koh Kong until I began planning the staff retreat for this November. (Where is Koh Kong? See the Google map here.) One of my jobs as Interim Church Partnership Coordinator is to find the location and arrange the details for retreats that are sponsored by our church partners. In the past the Leader's Retreat has been held at a retreat center on the way to Sihanoukville or at the beach town itself. This year the staff would like to go some place new! So, the hunt began.

[Koh Kong: on the way to the Ta Tai waterfalls]

Armed with my trusty (yet, not always helpful) friend Google, I began researching Koh Kong. "Developing" is the word most used to describe Koh Kong and I have to agree! My internet research turned up a few possible hotels and many questions about what one could actually do during a visit to the beautiful land of Koh Kong. I read about possible waterfall trips, boat rides to islands, beaches, and mountains. What I didn't find were any details about these trips or any good descriptions about what they involved. It was clear that to plan a retreat to a new place, I would need to actually go there myself and check it out! So, I marked "Trip to Koh Kong" on my calendar and planned to make the trip with my roommate, Kerstin.

[A river in the mountains of Koh Kong]

I am, by nature, a "planner." I like to know what, where, how, when, and what to wear. My trip to Koh Kong, however, was less planned and more prepared for. I want to share about my visit to Koh Kong (and share pictures!), but I would also like to write out some information that might be helpful to other people (coming from abroad or within Cambodia) as they plan an adventure to an area of Cambodia that is still developing as a tourist destination.

Preparing

I packed a backpack with the basics for a 3-night journey: basic clothes (khaki pants, t-shirts, modest tank tops, long shorts, and pj's), swimsuits for waterfalls/beaches, Keen's for trekking, flip flops, toiletries, sunglasses, sunscreen, computer (which I didn't use), and camera (which I did use—a lot!). I went to the bus station in Phnom Penh the day before and bought tickets for the trip: $10 per person each way (from Virak-Buntham, St. 106 across from the river). I called the hotel in Koh Kong and made reservations for an air conditioned room. I was as prepared as I was going to be!

Getting to Koh Kong

I really like taking busses around Cambodia! It's relatively inexpensive and easy to navigate. We left our apartment around 7am and hired two moto taxis right outside to take us to the station (the "station" is a really store front on the corner and the busses park on the street). We decided to take motos to the bus and to carry our helmets with us to Koh Kong. I always wear a helmet when riding motos. (It's the law if you're the driver and it's just smart if you're the passenger!) Motos are usually faster than tuk tuks and cheaper as well. Moto ride from Toul Kork (NE corner of PP) to Virak-Buntham Bus Company (near Wat Phnom on the NW side): $1.

Since I woke up 15 minutes before we left (whoops!), breakfast didn't happen at home. Thankfully, we arrived at the bus with plenty of time to spare—and there was a lovely café just to the right of the bus company! Jaan provided the perfect breakfast to start a day of traveling: bagel with cream cheese (hard to find in Cambodia!) and a cup of really good coffee for $4. We had time to drink the coffee, but asked to take the bagels to go. The great people at Jaan packed up our food in very nice (but not very eco-friendly) containers.

[Kerstin: on the bus and excited about the yummy bagel.]

The bus was quite nice and the staff was friendly. It had air conditioning (essential) and some perks that I hadn't yet experience on the Cambodian buses: they gave each passenger a chilled bottle of water, a wrapped pastry, and package towelette to wash your hands. Wow! Such service! The bus ride was pretty uneventful. They played the standard Khmer karaoke videos (music videos with the words at the bottom that light up like karaoke). I listened to my own music, read, and napped. Kerstin did the same.

The scenery really was amazing as we made our way of the city, past rice fields, small town, markets, and into the mountains. Cambodia was changing before my eyes. I was thankful for a gorgeous day to take it all in. The trip was long, longer than the books said (4 hrs.), and we arrived in Koh Kong City around 1:15 pm, a little over 5 hours. Some road work and careful driving on the part of our bus driver (no complaints there) may have accounted for some of the time, but I think the roads probably aren't as good as they were three years ago when the travel books came out.

[Me at the "bus stop" on the way to Koh Kong.]

Our only stop on the 5+ hour journey was along the side of the road. Um, yes, in the middle of nowhere. Usually the bus stops at a roadside "bus stop" with vendors selling drinks, snacks, and Cambodian food—and toilets (of varying degrees of cleaniness). This "bus stop" was more rural; i.e. people went into the trees to rest. We got off the bus to stretch our legs and take in the middle-of-nowhere-ness. Oh Cambodia.

To Be Continued…

The Summer Wrap Up

Wow. I cannot believe that the month of August is half over! The summer months were very busy with many volunteers here throughout the summer teaching English to the Cambodian staff. ESL ended the last week in July and we had a fun graduation dinner and ceremony to celebrate everyone's participation. Two of those volunteers were my wonderful parents! Mom and Dad came the first two weeks of July to teach here in Phnom Penh. Their visit included my birthday (the big 27!) and we celebrated together at a really cool restaurant in Siem Reap during a weekend trip to visit the ancient temples of Angkor Wat. It was so good to have my Mom and Dad here, but their arrival triggered every emotion possible! I was pretty homesick! I'm doing much better now, but it was rough for awhile.

[Mom and Dad atop one of the temples at sunset.]

As soon as ESL ended, a team from my home church, College Park Church, arrived in Cambodia to lead a staff retreat for the SPY (Community Health) program. It was so great to see familiar faces! (And they only made me a little bit homesick.) I got to get out of the city for a week and join the retreat held on the coast in Sihanoukville. The team did a great job teaching, organizing activities and games, and connecting with the staff. Many of the SPY staff are not believers, so a major focus of the week was to communicate the Gospel clearly and share the message of Christ's love for all people. We showed the Jesus Film, as well as a movie made to show before the Jesus Film that does a great job summarizing the Bible starting from Creation all the way to the life of Jesus. The second movie was also in Khmer and had Cambodian actors and actresses as narrators. Several staff members told us how much they enjoyed the films and that they were able to understand the Bible stories better after seeing what the places and people may have looked like.

[Me and Mom with some of the ESL students at the Kandal office.]

It is now exactly halfway between my arrival in Cambodia and my departure date. It's been an adventure so far and I can only imagine what God has in store for the next 3.5 months!

[That's me on the way to the famous Angkor Wat.]

Here are some ways to pray:

1. Pray that I would be disciplined in spending special time with the Lord each day.

2. That I would hunger and thirst for the Word and prayer.

3. I don't know very many people in Cambodia outside of work. It's easy for me to feel lonely, but I know that God is with me and I want to use this time to really grow in my relationship in Jesus.

4. As I mentioned, the month of July was a tough one for me. I was very homesick and discouraged about pretty much everything. I'm doing better, but could use prayer for my work. That I would have joy for the tasks before me and diligence to work hard and well.

Thank you for praying & for reading! It is a blessing to be here!

A Day in My Life

Some friends have told me they really want to hear about my day to day life in Cambodia. Well, yesterday was such an interesting day that I'd like to share the whole thing with you! It's pretty detailed, so if you want the good part, skip to the afternoon!

To set the scene: We've had groups of volunteers in Cambodia throughout the summer to teach English to the WR Cambodia staff. We have three teaching sites: Phnom Penh (the capitol city), Kampong Thom (near Siem Reap), and Kampong Cham (northwest of Phnom Penh). We are in the last two weeks of the ESL program. On Sunday, on the way to K. Thom, one of the volunteers lost his passport. Today, I help him get a police report, as well as try to get some other work done.

Here is the story of Wednesday, July 22, 2009:

7:15 am Wake Up; get ready for the day; eat American cereal with Lactose Free Skim Milk in a box (UHT—Ultra High Temperature milk). This week my cereal is Post Banana Nut Crunch. At $5 a box, it's one of my treats.

8:15 am Take a moto taxi from my house to the office: three blocks, 1000 Riel ($0.25). A major plus is that most of the moto taxi drivers on our street now know where our office is!

8:30 am Call the volunteers coming back to Phnom Penh to see what time they might arrive.

8:45 am Check with our office manager to make sure the driver can take me to pick up the volunteers.

9:00 am Search online to find some lessons and activities for the Advanced ESL class. I find a crossword puzzle about geography and a paragraph correction activity. I do them myself to see if I can and to find out how hard they really are. I'll look for more later.

Continue my research on how to replace a lost passport in Cambodia and how to acquire a police report.

Work on balancing a cash advance for the ESL program.

9:45 am Send an email to a local hotel to reserve rooms for the volunteers for one night next weekend.

Talk with Ashley, our ESL Coordinator, about the plan for today and the next couple of days as she travels to Kampong Thom to substitute teach. Also, make plans for girls' night on Friday and for a pool visit on Saturday!

10:45 am Receive an email from a hotel confirming rooms for the volunteers for next weekend. Send my own email with names, final confirmation, and a "thank you" for being so quick. Check that item off of my To Do list!

11:30 am Send some emails to people in the states to make sure details are set for the volunteer team. Hope that I get a response and everything resolved by Thursday.

12:15 pm Leave the office and drop Ashley off at the ESL house. Run in the kitchen, grab two pieces of cold fish sticks left over from dinner and stuff them in my mouth. Lunch will happen later!

12:30 pm Go with our driver to the bus station to pick up Randy & Tim (two volunteers from Lake Ave. Church in Pasadena)

12:45 pm Purchase a bus ticket for Ashley for 2:30pm today. Find Tim & Randy and head back to the house.

1:00 pm Eat some lunch: this time I heated up a plate of fish sticks and French fries and enjoyed them more.

1:40 pm Go with the driver again: to a police station to get the report necessary to get the replacement passport for Tim. (The first thing on the list from the embassy is "A police report substantiating loss or theft.") *I'll write more on my police station experience, but overall, it was a highly unsuccessful visit and a complete waste of time. (Thankfully, only 15 minutes.)

2:00 pm Drop Ashley off back at the house to take a tuk tuk to the bus station.

Go back to the WR office to find out which police station can actually help us.

Do some more research online and a PDF from the UK embassy called "How to Obtain a Cambodian Police Report," which turned out to be the most useful information I'd found so far. *Why can't the US Embassy have a similar document? 10 points for the British!

Solicit some help from Grace, our office manager, to contact the Tourist Police and type a letter from our organization. She is Cambodian (her Cambodian name is Rachny) and speaks English very well.

I find some more material for tomorrow's ESL class. Two lessons on adjectives: Comparative and Superlative. The lesson is complete! Print copies, punch holes (with help from the volunteers), and check it that off my To Do list!

3:00 pm Grace convinces me to drive (for the first time!) to take us (Tim, Grace, and me) to the police station. *I have my Cambodian driver's license, but have not been brave enough to actually drive a car here. More on this later! Note: I avoid telling Tim that this is my first time driving in Cambodia! Innocence is bliss, right?

3:30 pm I drive, Grace is the navigator, and we make it safely (in the afternoon rain) to the Tourist Police office. *Thankfully, it's on our side of town and traffic is a little lighter than the city center.

We meet with the police officer (I'm not sure what his position or rank is) in his office. He is very nice and seems quite helpful. Grace is invaluable in this whole process!

I play Solitaire on my iPod Touch (Thank you again Mom & Dad!), while Tim and Grace work things out with the officer.

5:00 pm The report is almost done! Tim pays the $30 "fee" to the officer and we arrange to meet him later to pick up the final report. He needs to get one more signature from one of his superiors.

5:30 pm I drive through a few ponds and lakes that have accumulated on the roads since the rain started and drop Grace back at the office.

Tim and I go to the ESL house to eat dinner and wait for the call to meet the officer.

6:00 pm The report is ready early! (Does that really happen in Cambodia?!) We drive 2 blocks to meet the officer and get the report. Step 1 of 'Getting Tim a New Passport' is complete!

6:30 pm Eat dinner!

7:00 pm I drive back to the office to leave the car and pick up my moto helmet. *My first nighttime driving. Only 4 blocks.

Blessings!: I get a ride home on a moto from one of the WR staff that is heading home late. And the night guard loans me his poncho to wear home in the rain!

7:15 pm Home!

Watch some TV on DVD with roommates. Send some emails. Eat some Pringles. Eat some ice cream.

10:15 pm Lights out! Sleep!

And that, my friends, is one day in Phnom Penh, Cambodia!

Two Months in Cambodia!

This week marks two months since I packed my life into two 50 lb. suitcases (as well as a compact carryon and a computer bag) and moved to Cambodia. One forth of my stint here has already passed by! Wow!

So, how am I doing? How is life in Cambodia? I am doing very well! And I am really enjoying life here on the other side of the world!

I am amazed at how normal my life seems after just a couple of months. I don't have a regular routine (and I may not for a couple more months!), but I feel like I'm settling into the Cambodian way of things. I'm continuing to take language classes; I'm learning my way around the city (and able to tell the drivers where to go!); and I'm starting to feel comfortable...natural...at ease. I have yet to have a dramatic "culture shock" moment. Perhaps it will come still. (But I hope not!) I do feel homesick occasionally, but I've only cried myself to sleep one time! But really, I do miss my family and my friends and my church family and the many, many people who are so dear to me back home. I am so thankful for technology. We have pretty good internet at the office and at home, so I can use Skype, facebook, email, and this blog, to keep up with those so far away.


[Chilis drying in a field near a Wat (Buddhist temple)]

I feel like I am getting into the swings of things. I’m merging into my role as Interim Partnership Coordinator. I’m thankful for the gradual transition process. Right now the main focus for partnership is our summer volunteers. Our summer ESL (English as a Second Language) program began two weeks ago and will continue through the end of July. Groups of volunteers from our partner churches come for two weeks at a time to teach English to the WR staff. This is the fourth year of the program and it’s evident that this is a great opportunity for the volunteers and for the Cambodian staff. I have really enjoyed meeting and helping to host the diverse teams of volunteers while they are in Cambodia. The teams bring lots of energy and enthusiasm for the work of WR and for building relationships with staff members.


[Fun friends at the Hope staff retreat in May]

I get to be involved in ESL in my own way this summer by writing new curriculum for the advanced class! No, I was not an education major, nor have I ever formally taught ESL (or any other course!), but it needed to be done! I consider this an opportunity to take advantage of my internet resourcefulness. I hunt down grammar and writing lessons, find devotionals and stories, adapt exercises and games, and put it all together in a lesson format. I can’t promise that it’s anything remarkable, but as long as our staff are practicing their English and feeling at least a little bit challenged, I believe I have succeeded.


[Reviewing last years curriculum...and working on my own!]

Thank you so much for praying for me and missing me! My parents tell me often about friends from home who ask about me and say “hello!” It means so much to me. I feel so loved. And God is so good. He continues to confirm that Cambodia is exactly where I should be right now. I would appreciate your continued prayers for my future and clear direction from the Lord as to where he would want me next.

Please pray:
--For the summer ESL program: that WR staff and church partner volunteers would each be blessed and be a blessing. Pray that volunteers would gain a vision and passion for the work of WR Cambodia and take that back to their church families.
--For me as I continue to write lessons for the advanced ESL curriculum. Pray for diligence and joy for the work. I do enjoy it, but it’s a bit daunting and seems never-ending! Pray too that I will do a good job and create lessons that are helpful for the students and teachers.
--That I would hunger daily for God’s word and time with Him. I am excited about how God is using this time in my life. I desire to learn more about Him and what it means to live a life devoted to Christ.

Photos!

Me and my Off! Deep Woods--we're bonding.


This photo goes with the post below on mosquitoes and their daily interference in my life.

You can see many more photos of my life in Cambodia, the crazy things I see while driving around the city, and my trip to Thailand in May!

Go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/Katherine.E.Williams

Buzzzz Off!

Mosquitoes. They love hot, humid climates. They hide out in bathrooms, in dark places (like moto helmets), and they greet me every morning when I enter the office. They are quick to bite and the bites seem especially itchy here in Cambodia! Oh, mosquito! How I loathe thee!

But, it's not just the bite that is bad; it's the potential danger that comes with the bite. Mosquitoes in Cambodia are carriers of two major diseases: malaria and dengue fever. The risk for malaria is only at night; it can be prevented with mosquito repellent and anti-malarial medication (thankfully!). The risk for dengue fever is during the day, especially in the morning and evening. There is no known medicine to treat or prevent dengue, so it is very important to wear mosquito repellent. I need to be better at this!

There are several "natural remedies" to repel mosquitoes: apple cider vinegar, garlic, citronella, etc. But, the very best way to shun those nasty little guys is with some good, strong DEET! I'm sticking with the strong stuff!

Sometimes it seems strange to spray myself with Off! Deep Woods while I'm in my air conditioned office. It's for the "deep woods," right? There aren't any woods to be seen from my window, but the mosquitoes are here and they are hungry. I think that I've gotten used to the "bug spray smell"–that reminds of camping and bonfires–but I don't think I'll get used to my flying, biting enemies.

They say that dengue fever is a high risk this summer. Ashley Weselo, from College Park!, is in Cambodia for the summer volunteering as our Summer ESL Coordinator. She came down with dengue two summers ago while she was here teaching English. She was very sick, but the dengue didn't keep her away for too long! Thankfully, she is back in Cambodia this summer with mosquito repellent in hand! Her advice: "Wear lots of bug spray!" I think that sums it up.

Note: I originally wrote this post for our Summer ESL blog. Feel free to check it out at eslcambodia.wordpress.com.

Posting Pictures!

I've been so bad about posting anything lately, I thought I should start with some pictues of my life here in Cambodia! Here are just a few from my visit to the field during my second week--almost one month ago! My roommate Kirsten and I traveled north to Kampong Cham province to meet staff and visit three World Relief programs: SPY (community health education), Hope (evangelism, cell church planting, and HIV/AIDS support), and CREDIT (micro-financing lending).

And I ate a fried tarantula!

For for pictures of this trip and life in Cambodia, please visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/Katherine.E.Williams