PVI Cambodia 2013 – Phnom Penh

We waved off our fellow PVI workers on Saturday morning and settled down to wait for a 10 o’clock taxi to Hanoi. Three others were joining us on the trip, leaving the team but safe with the knowledge that there were plenty of hands available to finish the job. We had ordered one big taxi, but with no chance of fitting our luggage in, we opted to pay more and buy another taxi. The trip was comfortable and uneventful, and saw us booked into our favourite Hanoi Hotel, the Hanoi Style (formerly Nam Hai 1). We were welcomed back and soon settled in to eating, shopping and getting a haircut.

Our flight to Cambodia was a milk-run with Vietnam Airlines, flying a route to Ho Chi Minh City via Vientianne (Laos) and Phnom Penh (Cambodia). This gave us a 20 minute stop in Laos, in a transit lounge. Once at Phnom Penh, we were given the choice of a taxi transfer to the City for $US9 or a Tuk-Tuk transfer at $US7. Here, the tuk-tuks are motor bikes hauling four seater carts and the open air experience is somewhat spoiled by terrible traffic exhaust pollution. We opted for the taxi.

Our destination was a hotel with the wonderful name of “1 Up Banana”. It is a very new establishment and very clean and modern, despite being situated at the end of a very dodgy looking alley. The facilities are good and we soon made contact with lots of fellow PVI members who were assembling for the Cambodian side of the experience. The 1 Up Banana is well situated on Street 51 on the edge of the “BKK” district, giving ready access to loads of good cheap restaurants and bars, many of them catering for ex-pats. We found a half dozen of our crew occupying stools at the “Aussie XL” Restaurant across the road. From the way they teased the staff, they were already well known. We consumed the required amount of draft beer (stronger than Vietnam’s fresh beer) and joined the crew in a meal at another of the local restaurants before crashing.

Video Link –> Riding a tuk-tuk in Phnom Penh

 

After a breakfast at a nearby restaurant, it was off to work at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital. The job here was to renovate three wards in the HVI patients area. They had fallen into a state of disrepair and needed a make-over with painting, plumbing repairs and a damn good clean. Nearby was the neo-natal ward so there were plenty of heart-grabbing sights close to hand. We had a team of anywhere between 10 and 15, depending on who was around and some excellent additional assistance from Ouk Sinath and his son, Khmers who do a lot of good working with under privileged kids in Phnom Penh. Sinath sprung to fame when he was featured in the film Jack Thompson made in 1991 telling the story of the rescue of a group of children from a border camp. They also made a terrific painting team, cheerfully getting into some of the hardest of the painting tasks.

 

 

In short time, the beds were out and being scrubbed, the light fittings and overhead fans down and the gurney deployed to blast years of grime from the walls. The rooms are ventilated via open grills on two sides, providing a good measure of air flow and keeping things quite cool, but this approach also allows the air-borne grime of the city to penetrate and cover everything in black soot. Each small ward has a bathroom/toilet attached, but these were in very poor condition. Many of the hand basins either leaked badly or did not have water running while the walls were streaked with grime and rust stains or mould. I would not be happy about washing here or using the toilets.

 

The progress after only one day was amazing, with sealing paint going on, walls scrubbed clean and a lot of patching of the old and broken plaster. With the temperature in the mid 30s, the work was hot and water levels needed to be maintained. A welcome break for lunch saw us tuck into some excellent chicken rice washed down with some tall glasses of iced strong black coffee. The local coffee is excellent, very strong and aromatic. A lot of travellers will not use ice, for fear of contamination, but we usually indulge in the big cities. It makes for a very refreshing drink.

When we’d finally had enough of painting and cleaning for the day, it was back into a tuk-tuk to find our way home. The afternoon traffic was horrendous and the fumes in the little open cart were vile. It is hard to figure out which way each tuk-tuk driver is heading, as they all seem to have a different way to navigate to the same location. Even so, care has to be taken because they will always say they know where you want to go, even if they don’t. On one trip, we checked Google maps and found we were way out on the other side of Phnom Penh. Amazingly, the tuk-tuk driver looked at the iPhone and immediately turned 90 degrees and headed off in the right direction. Another interesting trick is to drive down the wrong side of the road, into oncoming-traffic and then suddenly throw a U-turn to end up on the correct side. It seems to work.

Outside of work, the busy social life of the PVI group keeps us very busy. One night, we went out for a dinner to celebrate one member’s birthday. We started with a drink at the famous Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC), which is beautifully situated on the promenade overlooking the Mekong River. The walls are adorned with photographs of a past era, many showing scenes from the Vietnam War. It has that special piece of atmosphere, and drink prices to match. Then it was off over the road to a wonderful venue with much more sensible prices. The food was amazing. A few more drinks and several rounds of “Happy Birthday” gave notice to the other diners that we were in for a good time. We got some old Beatles favourites going, moved the tables back and started out own little dance floor. Next to us, was a large contingent from a tour group but they only sat and stared, ignoring all advances for them to join us. Only the local tour guide showed any enthusiasm, until eventually a Russian girl succumbed, followed by an American. One at a time, the younger members of the tour joined in our revelry. Once a group of Khmer girls got into it, the music changed to local and we were all taught to dance in the Cambodian style. Only the drinks kept me going. Eventually, we rolled out and into a tuk-tuk for the ride home.

With plenty of helpers on hand, I spent a couple of days staying in to work on the PVI Web Site, while Christine went off to work at the hospital.  After work we’d go shopping or sight-seeing. A visit to the Central Markets saw us relieved of some dollars for clothing. The girls were very skilled and worked as teams to make sure that no sale got away. I’d love to see an out and out battle between the girls in Ben Than Markets in Saigon and the Central Markets in Phnom Penh. I think the Cambodians might just have the edge. We frequented the Lucky Supermarket, an amazing store where it is possible to buy almost any food stuff except Vegemite. Aussie and Cambodian brands sit side by side and shopping for muesli was just like home. It is actually quite hard to find true grain based cereals in Asia, but the Lucky has them all. Another time, we got a tuk-tuk to drop us at one end of the Promenade and wait for us at the other, while we strolled along the banks of the Mekong admiring the splendour of the Royal Palace and watching the many varies activities along the grassed foreshore. At first approach, the Royal Palace does not compare with the wonders of Bangkok, but as the vistas change, the true glory of the Palace area emerges. It is a spectacular sight.

By the end of the week, the work at the hospital was nearly done. I spent a day working on the plumbing, an exercise in frustration because the system seemed to be made up of two totally different standards. Where they met, the answer seemed to be to bog it up with silicon and put up with the leaks. A couple of visits to the local hardware stores failed to find any logical method of joining the S traps to the rest of the out-going plumbing so in the end, we did the traditional silicon thing. We left the team to complete the work while we headed off to Siem Reap to explore the wonders of Angkor for four days.

On our return, we joined the rest of the crew on a trip out to Takmao to the Kousar Thmey Centre for Child Protection. Here, children at risk are given shelter and care, attending the local school. PVI has given support to the centre over the years, building a computer/library facility some years ago. The centre is beautiful, clean, comfortable and obviously being run with a very strong vision. This year, a few of the guys went out and extended a shelter over a paved area, creating a wonderful weather proof area. After inspecting the facilities, we played frisbee and volleyball with the kids, losing many litres of sweat in the steamy conditions. The kids were happy and got on well together, signs that the centre is succeeding in its work.

 

 

In the evening, we went a few doors down to a party put on by Sinath and his family. There was food in abundance, ice cold beer and thumping loud dance music with a strong team of young people urging on the oldies. Even when the power went out across the area, the spirits weren’t dampened and the generator was started to fill the gap. It was a terrific night but some of real oldies gratefully crawled into a tuk tuk for the safety of bed and escaped yet another really late night. It all catches up in the end.