Singapore Airport - Lolei - Siem Reap
Travelling often means flying, and for us, that now includes more airports and flights than we’re used to. To be honest, Delphine is getting sick of it. Travelling from New Zealand to Cambodia meant switching flights in Singapore. We knew that Singapore airport is famous, so we planned to stay there for a few hours and explore. You can’t imagine how many things there are to do-you can watch free movies all day long, walk through a butterfly, cactus, or waterlily garden, visit restaurants, and shop for just about anything. And just outside the airport, there’s a shopping centre with a rainforest and a waterfall cascading from the middle of the roof. It felt like walking through an amusement park. If every airport were like this, flight delays would be a lot easier to handle!
Leaving this little world, we boarded our flight to Cambodia. Little did we know, it was the birthday of a young boy sitting next to us. To celebrate, the crew gave him a card, some cake, and champagne for the adults in his row. So yes, we got a glass as well! That, combined with the amazing food, made this the best flight yet.
There we were, ready to start a new adventure in Cambodia. Arriving at the new and modern airport in Siem Reap (apparently built by the Chinese), we immediately experienced Cambodian culture. Dozens of chauffeurs eagerly offered us rides multiple times. After saying no a few more times and waiting for an hour, our host, Sovannarith, arrived. He drove us to his house next to the small volunteering school where we will teach the upcoming week.
We arrived during the weekend and that means no classes. Sovannarith told us about two other volunteers who wanted to see the floating village on Sunday, and we were welcome to join them. Before we really realised it, we were on our way to visit the village. Not exactly something we were planning to do but it was an experience. It is currently dry season in Cambodia and that means very low water levels. It looks like the houses in the village are built way too high but everything changes during the rainy season. Hard to imagine, but the water levels can be clearly seen on the poles supporting the houses. During the dry season the street between the houses are accessible, whereas during the rainy season, they use boats to get to school or come together.
Monday morning after breakfast, it was time to start teaching. Every day there are multiple English classes for students of different ages. Ranging from really small kids who started to learn the alphabet to teenagers who can speak and read basic English. Even though we had books to guide us, being the perfect teachers was challenging. Our lack of experience, the language barrier, cultural differences and different grades made it difficult. But because we wanted to do a good job, we often had to adjust our lessons to fit the students’ abilities. A new experience for Delphine and a good way to practice her patience-which ran out sometimes.
At the hottest part of the day, there were no classes. We had a few free hours daily, allowing us to get to know the volunteers, plan our next trip, or go for a walk. We were with five volunteers in total, and guess what? One was from Belgium too. Three different persons with their each an interesting journey ahead. Together we also did a short hike around the neighbourhood of Lolei. There is not much to do or see here but of course, there were some temples. During our walk, we passed a little one-our first Cambodian temple!
Staying with a Cambodian family meant fully embracing the local lifestyle: a simple house with rooms mostly made of hypoxic panels, no hot water, and eating rice almost every meal. A different lifestyle compared to the other countries we’ve been to. After eating rice for three mornings, Delphine was very excited to see some waffles on the fourth morning. Not the Belgium waffles but some delicious Cambodian coconut waffles.
On Friday evening after our classes, we said goodbye to Sovannarith and headed to the city centre of Siem Reap. We are very grateful for the opportunity we’ve got and enjoyed it a lot, even though it wasn’t always easy. Together with the other volunteers, we went to Pub Street to celebrate the end of the week. You could compare it to Overpoort, but smaller and bad music. We didn’t stay till the morning because the next day would be interesting and long.
Tired but excited, we woke up at 5 am on Saturday. Like most people who travel to Cambodia, visiting the Angkor temples was a highlight for us. Kind of logic if you know that Angkor Wat is featured on the Cambodian flag. To give a bit of history: Angkor was the capital of the Khmer empire (802-1432), which once spanned parts of Thailand and Vietnam—much larger than present-day Cambodia. As a result, temples and ruins can be found all over the country. We wanted to see as many temples as possible, so we rented two mountain bikes and left the hostel early to catch the sunrise.
But something didn’t feel right. Delphine not only felt tired but was nauseous and had a headache. Oo yes, the first little food poisoning was there-not ideal timing. Arriving at Angkor Wat we ate breakfast, at least Arnaud did. Delphine couldn’t eat anything. After a few hours and visiting two temples, Delphine was still unwell. Hoping that some rest would help, we decided to stop at a local restaurant. Many restaurants here have huts with hammocks and we love it. Two hours and a fresh coconut water later, Delphine finally started to feel better. We got back on our bikes and tried to explore some more temples. And we did! We were amazed by the size of some temples, the carvings on the walls and the strength people must have had to build them. Sadly there was almost never information available about each temple. But we will do some research and learn more about them. Despite the rough start, we were able to explore eight temples in total, enjoyed a great mountain bike ride through cows, sand, and beautiful forest, and ended the day with a wonderful sunset. It was an amazing day!
As they say: time flies when you’re having fun. Before we knew, it was our last day in Siem Reap. After exploring a bit of the city and its various markets, we met up with the other volunteers for lunch. We shared stories from the past week, enjoyed a good meal, and said our goodbyes. We’re curious to see where their journeys will take them and hope to meet again someday!
