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

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Our home on Lake Kew Lom

Chiang Mai (pronounced 'chang-my'), is in the north of Thailand. It has lots of hills, mountains, forests and rivers, and is cooler than the south.

Chiang Mai is near the borders of Myanmar (Burma) and Laos. This means that the city has always been very busy with trade from other countries. There is another - very big - country near the north of Thailand which also traded in Chaing Mai - can you guess which country that is? (clue : it has lots of tea!).

There are also lots of tribes living in the hills near Chiang Mai. They all have their own language, customs and way of dressing.

We went camping for a few days on lake Kew Lom in the Lampang province. We moved around the lake on a bamboo rafthouse. We did lots of activities, like rock climbing, kayaking, fishing and swimming - not to mention karaoke in the evening! It was just like a Squad activity weekend!

Me rock climbing!

Next we are taking an overnight train back to Bangkok - I'll send you a postcard when I'm there!

Take Care

The Andaman Coast, Thailand

Karon Beach at sunset - Phuket

We have travelled down to the South of Thailand on an overnight bus. The journey took 20 hours and it was VERY UNCOMFORTABLE!

Luckily, we are staying on the beautiful island of Phuket (pronounced 'poo-get'). Phuket has many beautiful beaches. We have had lots of fun sunbathing, swimming in the sea and relaxing.

We have stayed in two towns on the west coast of Phuket - Karon and Kata. We have also taken a boat trip to another island, called Ko Phi Phi (pronounced 'ko-pee-pee'). On Ko Phi Phi we climbed hundreds of steps up a big hill. This was very hard in the heat, and we were sweating like pigs when we reached the top! But it was worth it, because we had a beautiful view of the island...

View from Ko Phi Phi Viewpoint

Does anyone remember the sad thing that happened in Thailand in 2004?

On Boxing Day, 2004, there was an earthquake in the Indian Ocean. This made a big wave, called a tsunami. The tsunami was 15 metres high, and it hit the Andaman Coast of Thailand, as well as some other countries (do you remember which ones?).

The tsunami washed away many buildings, and many people died. People all across the world were very sad, and they sent money, food and other things to help. What sort of things do you think they sent?

I'm glad to say that a lot of work has been done in Thaland since the 2004 tsunami. As you can see in the pictures, the beaches and towns look beautiful again. They now have alarms that tell them if another tsunami is coming. There are also signs which tell people where to go if there is a tsunami.

Next, we are flying to the North of Thailand - I'll send you a postcard when I get there!

Take Care

Bangkok, Thailand

Wat Pho

Hello Squad! How are you all? I hope that you are all well and having lots of fun in the new term. I hear it's very cold in England - I'm lucky because I am now in Thailand, which is very hot and sunny. It took me almost 24 hours to get here, and the clocks here are 7 hours ahead of yours...can you work out what time it is in Thailand now?

Bangkok is the capital of Thailand. It is very busy, and there are lots of things to do and see. There are lots of temples like the one in the picture above. Temples in Thailand are called "Wats" - they are sort of like churches, but most Thai people (95%) are Buddhist.

Does anyone know anything about Buddhism? Here are a few facts :

• Buddhists worship Buddha. There is a statue of Buddha shown below. You can see that the Buddha is lying down (can you see his feet?) - this statue is called the Reclining Buddha. Reclining is another word for lying down and relaxing.

The Reclining Buddha.
This is the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand - it is 46m long and 15m high!

• Buddhists believe in reincarnation. This means that when you die, your soul returns to earth in another person. You therefore have lots of lives on earth, and you learn something each time you live as a different person.

• Buddhists believe in Karma. This means that if you do good things, good things will happen to you. But if you do bad things, bad things will happen to you! What do you think?

• Holy people in Buddhism are called monks. Only men can become monks. They shave their heads once a month and wear orange robes. All men in Thailand must become a monk for a little while - usually when they leave school. Have a look at the men in Squad and see who looks most like a monk! (clue : what do they do every month?).

Anyway, that's all from me for now - in a few days time I am going to travel to Southern Thailand, where there are lots of beautiful beaches. I'll send you a postcard from there!

Take Care