Hey Adriene

SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA (6-8 February 2005)

Flew from Vientiane to Siem Reap on Lao Airline. Yes, there really is a Lao Airline! Transit at Pakse airport for half an hour to pick up more passengers and refuel. Teamed up with 2 lovely fellow backpackers, Petra and Ursula from Switzerland who were on the same flight and I'd been bumping into them throughout my trip since Huay Xai, Lao.

We checked into a lovely guesthouse called Ivy 2 beside the Siem Reap River. It was really nice. Room with 3 beds and an attached bathroom. Nice quiet bar outside. Hammock on the balcony. Bikes for hire and a free pool table too! USD6 per night, so just USD2 per person.

I was on a mission in Siem Reap! My goal was to meet up with Navy and Savin, my two Cambodian friends living there. Both of them are professional dancers for the Dept of Culture and Fine Arts. But the problem was I didn't have their phone numbers or addresses and they don't use Internet, or speak much English either. The best I could do was email my other Cambodian friends in Siem Reap and hope they could help me get a message to them somehow.

How I managed to find Navy and Savin, or rather how we found each other, and on my very first day as well, was pure chance, and truly a miracle! Miracle #1: I was exploring the town on bicycle. Saw a Catholic church and went in for a look-see. Next thing I know, Navy rode in on his motorbike!

In a town of 100,000 people, there he was! When he saw me, he was half-hyperventilating from the excitement! I couldn't believe my eyes either!

Turns out that both him and Savin teach apsara (classical Cambodian ballet) to the kids from challenging backgrounds at the church every weekday. The church pays for the lessons and the kids learn for free.

My friend Savin teaching apsara at the Siem Reap Catholic Church.

If you're ever in Siem Reap, I highly recommend that you go watch the apsara at the Catholic Church compound every weekday, from 5.30 - 8pm. For FREE! Because it's not a tourism gimmick. It's real kids, learning real lessons. It helps these kids stay off the street, gives them a marketable skills and boosts their self esteem. So go there and give them your support! And the kids are just adorable! Some of them are as young as 5.

Go on and say hello to the teachers, Navy and Savin for me!

The next day I attended mass at the same church. Just a dozen people attending mass on a weekday morning. Half of them were nuns from Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa. Recognisable by their humble white sari with blue trimming.

After mass, went to say hi to the parish priest. Who started speaking Indonesian to me! What a surprise! He's from Java! And so is his helper Brother Tui. Tui's name means two in Indonesian. Named so because he's the second born in his family.

And then Miracle #2 happened! Tui knows of my friend Mark who's studying to be a Jesuit priest in Jakarta!

Had a home cooked lunch with Navy's family at their home, which is a very humble wooden house, with no piped water but a water pump instead. The food was simple but delicious!

I will never forget the WOWWW I felt when I first saw Angkor. It is truly awesome! I spent a whole day there going from temple to temple. Climbing here and there. Amazing! I really enjoyed chatting with the tour guides there. The temples are a few km away from each other. Good thing, Navy took me there on his motorbike. If I had cycled from temple to temple which was my original plan, I would have died from the heat and exhaustion!

Chilled out at the Western Baray which is an enormous lake where locals go swimming. Tried a fried cockroach there. Tastes like a spiny salted kuaci. Not very filling but tasted ok.

One night at a restaurant in Siem Reap, spoke with one of the workers is Cambodian Chinese and he could speak Cantonese. His Cantonese was even better than mine! Ok ok, I know it's not that hard to better me ;) Turns out that he didn't learn Cantonese until his 20s, when during the war, he was a refugee and he escaped into Vietnam.