Kampot Province, Cambodia

We wave goodbye to our broken tuk-tuk...

We have just spent 5 days travelling in the Kampot Province, on the south coast of Cambodia (it's not far from Sihanoukville). It has been an action-packed stay, so I am ready to collapse now!

First we stayed in a small town called Kep. It used to be a popular seaside resort for posh French and Cambodian people. Sadly, the Khmer Rouge destroyed most of the buildings, so it is not very popular any more. It is a nice place to visit though, and we enjoyed hiring bicycles to explore the town.

Next we took a long tuk-tuk journey to Kampot - unfortunately, our tuk-tuk broke down, so it was an EXTREMELY long journey! In Kampot, we went to the Phnom Chhnork caves. There is an old temple inside the caves which is covered with stalactites. A stalactite forms when water drips down from the roof of the cave. Do you know what the opposite of a stalactite is called? Some children guided us through the cave - they skipped down a big rock wall in their flip flops, while we followed slowly and carefully down in our trainers!

The temple inside Phnom Chhnork caves

Next we went to visit a pepper plantation. Kampot pepper is very famous and is used by all the famous French chefs. We saw the pepper trees, with the green peppercorns growing on them. Green peppercorns can be eaten off the tree, although I warn you - they burn your mouth!

We bought some dried black peppercorns to take home. Did you know that you can even buy "bird pepper"- this is pepper than birds have eaten and pooped out, and it is thought to help with your love life!! Ick!

The next day, we took a long ride into the hills to see Bokor Hill Station. This is a resort built by the French in the early 1900s. It has a hotel, church, casino and post office, which were all abandoned after the Khmer Rouge came into power. It is very strange to walk around the old buildings, and to imagine what they must have been like last century. We were very lucky to see Bokor, because they have now shut it down to build a new resort.

The abandoned Bokor Palace Hotel

On Monday, it was my birthday - yay! We travelled by tuk-tuk and boat to Koh Tonsay, also called Rabbit Island. The island is beautiful, and not many people know about it yet, so we almost had the place to ourselves. We swam in the sea, and lay on the beach, and ate fresh crab for our dinner. There is not electricity or running water on the island, so we had an interesting night in a wooden bungalow, being woken up by howling dogs and crowing cockerels! But it was very relaxing, and a wonderful place to spend my birthday.

My birthday was very stressful...

We're back in Phnom Penh now, and I'm not quite sure what we're doing next - but wherever we go, I will send you a postcard!

Take Care,

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

It has been a bit of a sad day for me today, because I have been learning about some terrible things that happened in Cambodia around 30 years ago. An organisation called the Khmer Rouge took over the government of the country in 1975. The Khmer Rouge was communist - does anyone know what that means?

Because they were communist, the Khmer Rouge wanted to change everything about how Cambodia was run. Some of the things they did included :

• Changing the year 1975 to "Year Zero"
• All money was destroyed and the banks closed down
• The post was stopped
• All flights to other countries were stopped

Everybody who lived in Phnom Penh (even sick people, old people and children), were forced to march out for many miles into the countryside. They had to work in the fields for 12 to 15 hours a day. Some people became sick because of the work, and died. All of the food was taken away, so even more people died of starvation. Can you imagine what it would be like if that happened to all the people in London?

Anybody who did not agree with the Khmer Rouge was put into prison. The prisons were very uncomfortable - you can see in the picture below how small the cells were. Even worse, all the prisoners were then killed.

A cell in prison S-21, Phnom Penh

Around 2 to 3 million people died because of the Khmer Rouge. I went to see one of the prisons, and also a place where lots of prisoners were buried - called the Killing Fields. It made me very sad, but it also made me feel very lucky. We are all lucky to live in a country where we can vote for our Government, and we can say if we do not agree with them.

It also made me think that I should use my power to vote and say what I want. There will be elections for the London Mayor on 1st May - if you are over 18, why don't you think about using your vote?

If you have never voted before, perhaps you need some help? There is an easy-read guide to voting on the internet, here :

http://www.dopolitics.org.uk/files/dms/Easy-Read-Guide-To-Voting-England-And-Wales-Updated_23934-17770__E__W__.pdf

Take Care,

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

We are back in Phnom Penh, and I have just read something interesting in the local paper about rights for people with disabilities. I have some questions for you :

Jobs

Do you have a job?

Was it hard to get your job?

Would you like a job if you do not have one?

Access to buildings

Have you or a friend ever had trouble getting into a building, because of a disability? For example, if you or your friend have a wheelchair, can you get upstairs?

Do you know what the UK law says about these issues?

There is a law that says things about the rights of disabled people - it is called the Disability Discrimination Act.

You can find out more about it on the internet :

An easy-to-read version can be found here :

http://www.employers-forum.co.uk/www/guests/publications/downloads/easyread-dda.pdf

The full version can be found here :

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/RightsAndObligations/DisabilityRights/DG_4001068

Disability rights in Cambodia

The Cambodian government is thinking about making a new law. They say that if a public institution (like a school, or a hospital), does not give jobs to disabled people, they will take away some of the boss's pay!!

If a private company (like a shop, or a cinema), does not give jobs to disabled people, they will be charged a fine, or made to go to court. If the company has a good reason for not giving jobs to disabled people, then they will have to give some money to charity instead.

Public buildings must be made accessible to all people with disabilities - no excuses accepted!

So, all public and private businesses will be punished if they do not respect disabled people's rights!

Questions

Do you think the Cambodian law is better than the UK law?

Do you think the Cambodian law is good enough?

What things would you like to see in the law?

This has made me think lots about rights for disabled people. My final question is...

Do you know your rights?

Take Care,

Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Occheuteal Beach, Sihanoukville

Sihanoukville is a town on the South coast of Cambodia. It has beautiful beaches and lots of tasty seafood. The locals barbeque the seafood on the beach, so you can eat your dinner right next to the waves!

Sihanoukville is a 4-hour bus ride from Phnom Penh. The buses can be a bit hot and uncomfortable, so the town is not as popular as beach towns in other countries. This is very nice, because it means that the beaches are not very crowded.

At the weekend, however, lots of locals come to the beach. Cambodians are a lot more modest than Westerners like you and me. This means that they don't like to wear swimming trunks and bikinis - instead they swim in the sea wearing all their clothes!

This may seem funny to us, but when you visit another country, it is important to respect their customs. You should find out what the customs are before you visit a country, or you may offend someone. For example, in Cambodia, you should only use your right hand to give something to someone - this is because they think you use your left hand to wipe your bottom! Yuck!

Next, we're going back to Phnom Penh, as my friend has a job interview - wish him luck! I'll send you another postcard when I get there...

Take Care,

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Phnom Penh is busy and hot...

Phnom Penh (pronounced 'puh-nom-pen"), is the capital of Cambodia. The city lies on a big river, just like London. There are lots of things to see in the city, including the Royal Palace. This is where the King and Queen live, so it's a bit like Buckingham Palace in London.

Part of the Grand Palace

I was looking forward to seeing the Silver Pagoda. The floor is made of silver - 5,000 silver tiles weighing 1kg each! However, I was very disappointed, because it was RUBBISH! They have covered the silver floor with nasty carpet - imagine! Would you do that if your living room floor was made of silver?!

I did see a great statue of Buddha, though. It is made of gold and has 9,584 diamonds on it!

Phnom Penh is very hot and busy, so next we are going to have a break on the beach - yay! I'll send you a postcard from there...

Take Care,

Siem Reap, Cambodia

A tuk-tuk

We took a 4 hour bus journey to Aranya Prathet in Thailand. Then we took a small vehicle called a tuk-tuk (see the photo above), to the border between Thailand and Cambodia. We walked across the border to Poipet...and now we are in a whole different country! Then we had to take a taxi for 5 hours to Siem Reap - phew! After a long day of travelling, we were glad to relax.

Siem Reap is famous for the enormous temples of Angkor, which are nearby. The temples were built around 1,000 years ago. They made up the capital of the ancient Khmer (pronounced "ker-mare") empire. Angkor Wat is the largest of the temples - in fact, it is the largest religious building in the world. You could fit 110 football pitches inside it!

Angkor Wat

A lot of the temples are in ruins. Some are even being taken over by the jungle - check out the picture below! These pictures may look familiar to some of you - this is where the film Tomb Raider was made.

The Ta Som temple, being eaten by a tree...

Next we are heading to the capital of Cambodia - do you know what that is? I'll send you a postcard from there!

Take Care,

Bangkok, Thailand

Thailand's 1st Dance Music Festival was held on a helicoptor landing pad!

Now we are back in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. We have come back to attend a dance music festival.

Food in Thailand is very delicious. They eat lots of rice and noodles, with curries, stir fries and soups. Some Thai food has lots of chilli in it, so you have to be careful you don't burn your mouth!

Stalls at the side of the street sell lots of tasty food, so you need never go hungry. If you have never tried Thai food before, why not go to a Thai restaurant this weekend? There are a few Thai restaurants in and around Wimbledon. If you don't like spicy food, I would recommend phad thai (pronounced 'pad-tie'). This is thin noodles, with beansprouts, chicken or shrimp, peanuts and lime. You can add some dried chilli if you like it.

Pad Thai - Yum Yum!

Thailand has lots of delicious fruits - you can get lovely cold fruit shakes to cool you down on hot days. One fruit - called the durian - is so smelly that it is banned from buses, planes and hotels!

Next we are going to travel to a new country, Cambodia - I'll send you a postcard when I get there!

Take Care