Road Trip! - Battambang

At the start of April we had a work trip to Battambang in order for the team to have a retreat, do some bonding and plan our next strategic plan, have some training and take in some sights. We spent long days training and planning, and some of it was pretty tiring - especially the two days facilitating I did. Around the work days we also managed to see a small national park and waterfall and visit the bamboo train and an old Khmer house.

The team working hard on our plans - all the pictures from the planning days look pretty much like this!

Ever the Brit, I managed to keep the tea flowing...

On the day we drove up we took a trip to a local national park, set in some gardens there were lots of fiberglass and ceramic animals...

There were sharks, zebras, horses, tigers, ellies, rhino and much more, it was kind of cool, but also a bit weird!

From the gardens we headed down to the river and tiny falls....

...we dipped our feet in... and soon enough one of us was in the water....

...shortly followed by most of the girls!

"This life is like a swimming pool. You dive into the water, but you can't see how deep it is." - Dennis Rodman

Just upstream there was a massive family all trying not to float away and get in a huge group photo.

There was also a small family bathing and the dad kept losing his towel and struggling with his dignity, which was hilarious as he flowed downstream trying to keep covered and retain some good towel coverage!

"When it comes to human dignity, we cannot make compromises." - Angela Merkel

Downstream there was also a group of men fishing, one had an electric pack on his back and was stunning the fish so others could catch them, eeek poor fish!

On the final day we headed to the bamboo train. An abandoned train track, turned tourist attraction - you go out about 20 mins on a flat bed train palate with an engine and come back the same way, if two come to meet on the tracks one has to be lifted off. Its great fun as you whizz along, but you really do feel the clack clack clack of the track under you reverberating up to your head. Half way in my back had had enough and we had to stop for the oncoming rain to be taken off the tracks, so I jumped off and decided to spend some time with the ladies who were selling cool drinks out of orange eskies on the side of the tracks. 

"Aaah, summer - that long anticipated stretch of lazy, lingering days, free of responsibility and rife with possibility. It's a time to hunt for insects, master handstands, practice swimming strokes, conquer trees, explore nooks and crannies, and make new friends." - Darell Hammond

We had a great time. One of the ladies was super keen to improve her English, so she went round pointing at things and saying the Khmer as I said the English. We swapped flower, sun, cow, grass,bike and much more. 

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." - Mahatma Gandhi

We pottered off together into the field, picked some flowers, swapped language and made some flower crowns. As is often the way in Cambodia they told me how beautiful I was for being so pale and complained they were dark, I explained how I preferred to be their colour and we joked about swapping - funny how we are never happy with what we have. As a paler person I have been known to use fake tan, and many people in Cambodia use damaging bleach on their skin in moisturizer, deodorant and pastes. Wouldn't it be nice if we were happy with what we have and stopped being sucked in by marketing?!

Soon enough the train came back and I was whizzing at speed back toward Battambang...

The next day we went to see The Ancient Khmer House- the house was rare as its made from wood and is really old n Cambodian terms, its had many uses and has stayed in the same family for generations even after it was occupied and used by the Khmer Rouge as a base. Its now back with the family who use t as a museum and income and also live there.

Later on I had my first KTV experience (kareoke) wow - its a must, a very unique experience!

Most evenings were great fun, eating together, getting to know each other better, shopping and playing games...

Most of the street food in Battambang is amazing - there is a place that serves the best baai set moan (rice and pork breakfast). We ate most meals family style and tried veggie dishes, roasted chicken, duck and fish, noodles, soups, curries and of course lots of rice. 

"Food, in the end, in our own tradition, is something holy. It's not about nutrients and calories. It's about sharing. It's about honesty. It's about identity." Louise Fresco

Unfortunately the only food shot I have is of these skewers - I thought they were pork, but they turned out to be 'chicken islands' to this day I am not sure which spare part of a chicken this is, (it was described as the hamster pouch of a chicken based in its throat, bleurg!). In short its tough and I'm pretty sure its what made me sick for the whole weekend after I ate it! Don't be fooled, some pork skewers are chicken islands!

Without a shadow of a doubt one of the most entertaining and stressful parts of the trip was the travel. 3- 4 hours in a mini bus there and back without enough seats, with constant game playing and singing. Fun and far too much in equal parts! When the singing got too much I handed out the lollipops, all was going well until I realized I had fed singing enthusiasm with more sugar! 

Never heard so much Westlife!!

Soon we were back in Siem Reap and our week of hard work and fun over. I feel we did a great job of taking the organisation forward and also getting to know each other better and having some fun together.