Cambodia continued

I guess I better finish blogging about my experiences in Cambodia before I fly off to the States. We visited Angkor Wat first before we started on our project. Angkor Wat was quite magnificient and it's hard to believe that the ancient people had the expertise to construct such great structures. However, after a while, the buildings all look similar and it got a little mundane.

The first village we visited was Kampong Phluk and it was a fishing village. The journey there was horrible and the transportation of logistics was taxing. Kampong Phluk was a great experience in terms of the human interaction there as well as the things that we did. The children were friendly and it was easy to find a kid to play with. The experience of drawing water from the well, bathing in the open and climbing steep stairs everywhere will stay with me forever. I rode a motorbike for the first time there as well. It was a memorable place but our service there was limited. Towards the end, I also felt that the villagers there were becoming more mercenary.

We moved on to another village, Tapang, after a week. It was a land village and the experience there was quite a different one. The villagers were more shy and communication was more of a problem. They were not so exposed to foreigners. there is a lot less interaction and thus as a result most of us do not feel a strong attachment to Tapang. However, I find that the villagers there are more innocent and will go out of their way to assist us. It was quite heartwarming at times. Our service there, in my view, was more meaningful than at Kampong Phluk. We attended to more patients over there and really played a big role in the construction of the classroom. We laid the foundations of the classroom, shovel by shovel and it was hard work, especially with the glaring sun. It gives me immense satisfaction seeing the classroom being constructed step by step. The painting of the classroom was a great effort, and it looks fantastic compared to the bare walls of the Manjusri Sec classrooom. Seing the school kids getting excited over our painting gives me a great sense of pride, especially so since some of the drawings are done by me. We left Tapang in a hurry and never had the chance to say a proper goodbye.

We had our R and R over in Phnom Penh. The journey there was catastrophic. The bus belonged to the 1970s and it broke down on our way there. We were delayed for 2 hours while the bus driver tried to fix the bus. That set the tone for the Phnom Penh trip. The tour guide was a Chinese speaking one and was uninteresting. We visited the torture site and the killing fields. I didn't feel much sadness. Maybe because the exhibits were not moving enough or we were in too huge a group. Phnom Penh is a complicated place and I felt like going back to Singapore when I was there. It just gives me an uneasy feeling. It was the same case with Manila.

I don't think I will be going for another YEP. However , I feel it's a very enriching experience and it would be good, if possible, for Singaporeans to go out and experience a different world. Then, it might be discovered that Singapore is really quite a fine place to live in.