Cambodia Calling

From Manila, we flew to Ho Chi Min City/Saigon on January 17th and entered Cambodia 3 days later. We traveled via the Mekong River and visited the floating markets,

crocodile farms, fish farms, and vermicelli noodle "factories" to name a few.

The highlight however was just cruising along the narrow waterways while viewing a day in the life of those who live along the river. I am certain that tourist boats run this route daily but nonetheless, the kids ran to the banks yelling "Hello" as if our boat was the first one that they have ever seen.


Vietnam is a country of natural beauty but as always, what makes a place worth coming back to (at least for me) are the people. We will be back!

After a series of buses, boats and tuk-tuks we managed to cross the border and make our way to Phnom Penh, Cambodia where we met up with Paco and AnneCe who we traveled with in China for a while. It is always great seeing familiar faces but it's even better when you love those faces.

Our days there were very interesting as our feelings and emotions went through a roller coaster ride. The first day of "sight seeing" was at the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. A series of mass graves where the remains of 8985 people were exhumed in 1980. All of these men, women, children and infants were brutally exterminated by the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1978. As I walked around the Memorial Stupa ( a tall, clear glass panel showcase housing more than 8000 skulls) I asked myself how something like this could ever happen. When will we learn? Then I looked around and saw butterflies and tried to imagine how a place so peaceful, was once a place of horrors. How?
The graves are now empty pits and as I walked around them, homeless children came up to me and asked me if I wanted to take their pictures. "Sir. You take picture? Ready? 1-2-3 SMILE!" was their pitch in a perfect English accent. To those not aware of the routine, you take their photo for your scrap book (give it a label of authentic poor kid in Cambodia or something to that effect) and then pay them 4000 riels ($1 U.S.) for their "time". If you don't pay them, be prepared to be followed for the rest of the day as they hold out their hands repeating "You take picture, you pay me!" I don't mean to mock these children as they are trying to survive. I guess I'm trying to show that the effects of the Khmer Rouge are felt by these children and many many more 3 decades later. This was the first country that I have visited where the poverty really hit me in the face. One moment I'm enjoying the view as I eat by the riverside and drink a .75 cent beer and in the next moment, a 5 year old boy carrying an infant comes up to me asking for anything. Or a man in a wheel chair comes up to us and wants to know if we could buy him some pants or a shirt because everything has been stolen and all he has are the clothes on him and they are wet after having to wash them (Erin gave food and a shirt respectively). This may be their "schtick" but in either case, we are better off then them. Because of that, it has forced us to really examine our lives and ask what are we doing as we travel and in life in general? How are we contributing to make the world a better place?
After a few days of taking in the local sights and visiting the theater (traditional Cambodian dance/music and shadow puppetry)

AnneCe saw a flyer posted at one of the Internet cafes asking people to donate their time or money at their local orphanage. We all decided to donate our time. Erin and Paco actually did double duty that day as they visited a center that was affiliated with a restaurant that we ate at the night prior (tried to hit as many restaurants labeled "Dining for a Cause" as designated by the Lonely Planet guide book). AnneCe and I went to the S-21 museum that morning which was another gruesome reminder of the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot Regime.
After lunch, we all went to the orphanage and spent the afternoon just playing, talking and laughing with the kids. It was a great day as it reminded us that even though this country (like many others) has a turbulent past, it is now healing starting with the kids and organizations such as The New Cambodia Children's Life Association and The Light House Orphanage. There is still much work to be done however, and if you have some time and can make a donation please go to www.lighthouseorphanage.org . We thank these children for showing us those things that are pure and for helping us to try and answer the questions that I think we all have.

FMP and Erin

Buses and Bancas and Tarsiers - OH MY!

It's not easy getting around the Philippines. We've been in the motherland for exactly one month now and "unfortunately", we will be unable to visit all the places that we had originally planned to. It's not to say that the Philippines doesn't have a good public transportation system - in fact it's quite the opposite. Tricycles, bike taxis, car taxis, buses and jeepneys are only a moment away (our longest wait has been 30 mins). But it just takes a little longer to get from point A to point B. Actually it takes a lot longer.

Here's a typical example of why. We wait by the side of the road with our packs on and within seconds, a bus/jeepney pulls over. We yell out our destination and the conductor confirms with a raised brow as he climbs to the roof to stow our bags. We jump in and before we sit down, the conductor uses the coin peso in his hand to rap the metal railing twice. "Ping-ping" signals the driver that we are on board and just for confirmation he yells "Sige" (pronounced see-gay - Go ahead or OK). We squeeze into our seats and make 3 to the bench (even though the head rests indicate that the seat was designed for 2). From here, we hunker down for our 100KM ride. We go for 1 minute and the conductor hits the pole again - this time the "ping-ping" tells the driver to pull over as he has spotted another passenger. She has 4 huge sacks of rice to throw on top. They negotiate price, a couple of words are exchanged with pointing and 2 minutes later, we're on way...or so you think. Now the driver spots a waving passenger on the other side of the road so we pull over again. At home, this 60 mile ride might take 1.5 to 2 hours "depending on traffic" (in quotes because this is the most famous of sayings in Manila when asking how long it takes to get there) at most. But we quickly realize that we are not in Kansas anymore Toto (eng).

Our ride lasts for 4 hours! 4 hours of starting and stopping on a bouncing bench while losing feeling in your toes, inhaling diesel fumes, sun burning your left arm and leg and all the while, the rooster at your feet times his "cock a doodle doo" to just the moment before you get ready to nod off and hopefully pass the hours more quickly. Your eyes spring open and your head rights itself straight only to start the entire process again. But first you re-adjust your butt so that the other cheek can now tingle it's way to sleep. You see this throughout the Philippines. People line the road 50 meters apart waiting for the bus. Even though they can see their neighbor and probably already know that they are going the same way, they refuse to walk closer. On the other end, passengers expect to be let off right in front of their door. Never mind the fact that the bus just stopped 10 seconds earlier. Bus stops just don't exist!

Since Boracay, we've made our way to Cebu and now Bohol (including some surrounding islands) and in that time, we've taken almost every form of transportation available in the Philippines (just missing the caribou - water buffalo).

One day to Iloilo (where my mom was born) by air-con bus for an overnight. Got up the next day and tried to catch a flight to Cebu City but all were full (too close to the New Year). Improvising, we took a taxi to the pier and caught the 1 hour super ferry to the island of Negros (where my father was born). Next was a 2 hour bus ride from Bacolod to Cadiz only to find out that there were no bancas that day to the island that we wanted to go to (Bantayan). Recalibrating again, we took a 1.5 hour jeepney ride to Sagay followed by 20 minute tricycle ride to the pier in Sagay, followed by a 2 hour wait for the coast guard to clear the banca, followed by a wet and wavy 3 hour banca ride to Bantayan, and finally a 30 minute tricycle ride to the beachside town of Santa Fe (here's our beach side bungalow).

I realize that this sounds like a bitching session but that is not the intent what so ever as we are still having the time of our lives. It's simply meant to tell you why we feel that we have not covered as much ground as we have in other countries. Oh well, we'll just have to come back.

After a day in Bantayan, we jumped on another boat to the mainland of Cebu and made our way via tricycle, bus and banca to the island of Malapascua. We had a fantastic cottage/crib ($14 per night) over looking our private beach


and best of all met Carl and Sandra (2 more wonderful Swedes). We had great fun playing cards, dining by the beach, watching the sunset with a drink on the floating bar (pictured here behind the banca and us on it),

staying up way too late and just laughing as we got to know each other (seen here conducting our first annual ugly face contest). It was great meeting you guys and we'll look forward to meeting you again. Until next time!

Erin and I also did some of our best diving yet as we saw animals that we have never seen before. Thresher sharks (no photos as they don't stick around very long but we did see them and was impressed enough to dive the same spot again just in hopes to catch another glimpse),
mantis shrimp, tiny clear/fluorescent shrimp, soft corals,

different types of nudibranchs (colorful sea slugs)

and Erin's favorite - the sea horse and pygmy sea horse - are all things we have not seen before! This trip has been full of firsts and we just thank God for every day!

After 6 days on Malapascua, we traveled to Cebu City for the night and got up early the next morning to catch a 6:20 AM ferry to Tagbiliran on the island of Bohol. From there, we jumped on a tricycle to the town or Corella to see the Tarsiers (world's smallest primate). These guys are 3 to 5 inches tall (not including tail) and it goes with out saying (but we'll say it anyway) that they are the cutest little things.

Then we headed upstream to Nuts Huts which are cottages situated in a valley along the Loboc river. Great place to relax and explore the Chocolate Hills (brown during the "dry season" which is obviously not now) and National Park which we did the next day by motor bike. We also met up with Iddo and Orit who we met for 15 minutes in the small town of Songpan in China. It's a tiny world.

The weather was fantastic yet again for us (we always seem to get lucky when planning outdoor activities) as we spent the day cruising thru the country side, swimming at a natural spring pool (with rice paddies in the background), visiting local churches and just taking in the sites (even saw semi wild monkeys - free to roam but are fed by the locals).

We've made our way to Panglao which is a small island to the south of Bohol and have done more diving. Our place (Alona Tropic) is the most expensive place that we have stayed to date (1200 pesos or $24 U.S.) but it's right on the beach and has a pool (uncommon) on very nice grounds. It's still a cold water shower with a little salt, but what can you expect for $24 in a country that is consistently at 80% humidity and made up of 7100 islands.

I celebrated my 35th birthday (thank you well wishers!) on Panglao and it went like this - Woke up to a beautiful sun shiny morning and did 2 dives. We saw all of the usual suspects

but also saw/did more firsts. Schooling big mouth mackerel eating (feel free to stop the video after 45 seconds as I was so happy after seeing it - you can hear me rejoicing into my regulator -that I forgot to stop the camera)

frog fish (the oddest creature that we've seen - look for the eyes)

and dive #100! Then a swim in the hotel pool with mango shakes followed by a surprise dinner arranged by Erin on the beach under a starry moonlit sky while being serenaded by an acoustic guitar during the entire meal. She invited Iddo, Orit , Chris and Christina (dove with us that moring and seen here at our 2nd annual ugly face contest), ordered a cake and got what seemed like the entire restaurant staff to come out and sing happy birthday to me. Simply an UNFORGETTABLE day! Thanks babe.

Sorry for the long post but it's been a while since I could find some time and a good connection. Off to Vietnam/Saigon/Ho Chi Min City in a few days. On a final note Erin's mom is home! Here's the report from Chris:

"Cindy has been moved again. Kaiser has moved her to our home in Riverside!!! She will be here for a few weeks before they do the planned surgery. She will return to the hospital twice weekly for tests until then. We are very happy at this blessing for her and us. So we are thanking God for this blessing and praying that she will not have a relapse. Cindy is looking forward to getting her hair cut after all that time in the hospital. Thank God in your prayers tonight for this blessing and answer to prayer, and please continue to pray for her improvement. Thanks to all of you - Chris"

We love you Mom!

On the flip side - please send your thoughts/prayers/well wishes to my Lola (grand mother) who fell down last week and broke her other hip (almost one year to the date that she broke her other hip). She has already had it replaced with titanium and all reports are that she is doing well but it never hurts. Our thoughts and prayers also go out to Manong Jerry and the Aten family who took such good care of us when we were in Chuuk. Here's to a speedy recovery.

FMP and Rin-rin
P.S. - This is Butch. Yet another Pinoy goat-tee wearin' brethren!