Impressions of Cambodia: There is a lot of greenery, the restaurants are outside, and there are so many fruit trees, because they have no winter. People work really really hard, all the time. much harder than Canada. They work outside in the heat, which we are not used to. And tuk tuks, are amazing, I wish we had tuk tuks in Canada.
Angkor Wat:
Jade: Usually on the blog, I am sharing information through talking. Instead, here are six fun facts about a cool place we visited called Angkor Wat. Before we begin with the facts, I’ll tell you what Angkor Wat is: Angkor Wat is a family or group of temples that were built for the king as palaces hundreds of years ago.
Here we go:
1. Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument ever built in the world. They are now trying to include it as one of the 7 Wonders of the world.
2. To build the various temples, they went to a mountain miles away. They chopped out stones and carried them back to the palace where they were going to build.
3. Angkor Wat translates into “City of Temples” or more frankly, City Temple because new and lost forgotten temples are still being found close to the border of Angkor Wat’s walls.
4. Cambodia is very proud of hosting the Angkor Wat symbol on their flag. They put it on in 1850. It is one of the first flags to put a real monument on its flag. That makes tourists want to visit Cambodia even more.
5. Angkor Wat stretches about 400 square km. But tourists only visit 60 or 70 km max. We only had time to visit about 20-40 square km.
6. (Advice from perspectives of the family): It was an amazing experience. I really enjoyed it. One thing I didn’t like was all the walking. To learn more check out wikipedia on Angkor Wat.
Phare Circus:
Mady: So February 20, was my birthday! I got a beautiful purple dress, shorts with elephants on it, and a shirt (with an elephant on it and it also says Cambodia) and I got to go to the circus! The lunch we had was like a “We day activity” as we went to a restaurant/training school for people experiencing poverty or who didn’t have job opportunities. They cooked fabulous meals. Some of the people that served us were students and some were teachers. They also had a gift shop and the posters in the shop talked about child poverty and encouraged people to give food to children, and not necessarily money, instead it is better to give money to organizations that help children – that works better.
And, if that wasn’t enough, we also went to the Phare circus. Watching it felt like only 5 minutes, but was an hour long. The circus supports students to go to school. They are able to take classes and perform and the money from their performing would go to them learning the arts of the circus and regular school. The supper we had there was amazing. The really exciting thing that I am so happy about, I didn’t even notice it, until mom and dad said Happy 12th birthday and something suddenly clicked in… I can finally babysit! As soon as I found that out, I was so excited.
Fish Feet:
Jade: At the market, there are these fish that when you stick your feet into the tank, they eat your dead skin. It feels disgusting, they are sucking your feet, and it’s ticklish. I liked it at first as it made my feet feel like a baby’s bottom.
Art Gallery:
Mady: My family and I went to an art class that was very fun. They taught us tips on how to paint, what brush to use and how to use water colour. We also got to paint our own fan which was really fun.
Royal Palace:
Mady: We went to the Kings Palace. It was absolutely glamorous. The temples were covered in gold and tiles and pieces of mirrors so that it would shine in the sun. The architecture was beautiful and there were trees and ponds and there was a mini Angkor Wat that had a whole lot of big fish around it, like the moat that surrounds the real Angkor Wat.
Silk Island:
Jade: We took a tuk tuk onto a ferry that carries cars to Silk Island – called that because they make silk there. The guide first talked to us about the war they had in Cambodia and what happened to everyone there. They had to stop making silk and could only start again after the war. He then showed us a tank with these two gigantic fish. Imagine a catfish, except as long as an average 10 year old and as wide as a 1 1/2 feet. They don’t bite, they are friendly to humans. If you get a chance to touch one, you get good luck. After the fish, he showed us how they made silk, moving from the eggs, to larvae, that get bigger, until they hatch into caterpillar, meal worm kind of things.
They eat Mulberrry leaves and when they are big enough, you put them on a branch or stick. They worms eat the leaves, and they make silk on the branches and you collect that silk. And that silk isn’t as fine as the one you collect from the cocoons. Sadly, you have to boil the cocoons to get the silk. You pull a thread from the cocoon and weave it through this machine. Then the silk is put on spools for a thread and then onto a loom. You can weave it in a certain pattern and make a blanket or scarf. It takes a week to make 1 scarf. Each day, you can weave about 42 cm. Imagine trying to make a bedspread? That would take you a month.
Night Market:
Jade: The night market was filled with beatuiful lights and there were shops filled for you to buy stuff. We got some food, noodle soup, a pad thai type dish, and we ate on a blanket. It cost about $2-3. It was the cheapest meal we ate yet, but yummy!
Snorkeling:
Mady: Oh, snorkeling. Another family adventure! We made 3 stops, the first stop the coral was sort of circular, like a tornado, or ribbon. There were crabs, tropical coloured fish. The 2nd stop there was no sand. We saw anemones, coral that was highlight green, blue and pink. They were so beautiful. You could wear a snorkel or just hold your breath. When you don’t have your snorkel, you could dive deeper. But, I didn’t want to get too close to the coral. Unfortuantely, the last 45 minutes, the boat had left us to pick up other people and I wanted to go back to the hotel. I took off my mask and I felt something all over my face, a tingling, burning sensation. And then it got bigger, and bigger and hurt more and more and more. The salt water and the sun had burnt me. Now as I’m talking to you, I still have the sunburn but it is getting better. I’m fine now! It does not hurt anymore.
