- Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world-
-Hackysack in the squatters community-
-Cycloing-
- 10 people in a Tuk Tuk--I just came back from dinner and I'm going to continue the post I abandoned midthought earlier-
The big news of the next morning (at least with Mitch and I) was the Celtics mercy killing the Lakers and winning the championship. We had banna cream cookies for a nutritious breakfast and got ready to go to the land fill. The ride to the land fill took us through the poor part of town, and involved hydroplaning over large puddles that could be considered lakes. Sitting next to and posessing a comanding view of the landfill was the school for vunerable child garbage workers. Once we got out of teh bus the stench was horrendous; all we could see was giant mounds of trash with hundreds of people picking over it. Every few minutes a garbage truck would arrive and prompt a small frezy of activity until it finished depositing its load. The way back from the landfill was perilous as we opted to take an alternative route and attempt to navigate small alleys in a large bus.
We made it back to the hotel in one piece, showered and headed out for fresh crepes, and in a few cases fish. When breakfast ended we went over to Tuol Slang, the largest detention center for Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Being at a place where a genocide actually happened is incredibly intense, and hard to really put to words. If you want to find out about Tuol Slang there are a variety of books and several movies out that do a better job than I could.
That afternoon we had the oppurtunity to see Kong Nay perform, and to no ones suprise he was wonderfull. After that we made our first contact with the cambodian living arts foundation by observing a classical cambodian instruments class in action. The kids were all underprivleged childrent that cambodian living arts paid to take classes to preserve the heritage of Cambodia. Mr. Riege said that for some of them they are their families only wage earners. We also visited the recording studio where I bought a CD of Kong Nay's. After that we came back to the hotel and I started blogging, I ate dinner and I came back and continued blogging.
I'm exhausted and about to go to bed so I'm going to end here. Sorry to go on for so long.
Connor Henderson
7 comments:
Thanks for a vivid picture of your experiences. And the actual pictures, though your words invalidate the phrase that a picture is worth a thousand words. I got much more out of the words (with the exception of seeing one smiling face(I got the most out of that)). More! More!
hey friends! sounds like you've had a great first few days. nice bonus getting to see Taipei! dana and i are extremely jealous that you got to meet Kong Nai and hear him perform. know that all us past travelers are thinking of you and wishing we were there, but we know you'll have a fantastic time. eat plenty of fried bananas for us. give my love to Arn and Sey Ma. --naomi
Hey everyone! Your first few days sound completely amazing! I'm so jealous! Like Naomi said, we're both so jealous that you got to hear Kong Nai perform. He was away when we visited the squatter community. I'm really excited to follow your adventures from here. Have an amazing time and say hello to Arn and Sai Ma for me!
It sounds as though you're all adapting to your surroundings very quickly. Aren't you tired? I'm exhausted just reading about all you've already done. Thanks for the great details in your post, Connor.
Bethany
awww, Connor you're making me all nostalgic!
You guys are -so- lucky to have been able to meet Kong Nay. we didn't have the chance last year since he was out (touring, I think) when we visited the squatter's camp.
glad things are going well so far, keep us updated as far as where you guys are headed and what you'll be doing. I hope you get to go to Kampot.
-Emily Smith
hey, this is awesome! ever since a few nights ago i've been able to think about nothing but cambodia. i'm really jealous of you guys, but i'm also really happy for you. i hope it continues to be interesting, educational, and well...dangerous(but with everything ending up ok). ditto to everything naomi said, and enjoy! special hellos to karen, steve, and jake! peace!
-colin tress
I really enjoyed seeing the pictures and reading your descriptions. I want to know what it's like to be in place where you can't orient yourself with the written word -- not being able to read street signs, signs in shop windows, menus, etc. Does the written word just not matter?
Janet
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