Siem Reap- Part 2, Orphanages and absent buses

While in Siem Reap I did a lot of drinking coffee and doing yoga. It was all very chilled and laid back. I had heard of an Orphanage in the city that concentrates on looking after children and providing them with a good education. I decided to email them and see if there was anything I could do to help out. They invited me to spend a day in the orphanage to play with the children.
Anyone that knows me will know that I don't consider myself to be particularly maternal, or good with children in general. I have little to no experience with them. Why was I doing this, I kept asking myself. I couldn't really come up with an answer other than someone had told me what a great experience they had doing it. So I was a bit anxious arriving. The head of the orphanage, Sok, a lovely guy, picked me up from my hotel and we got chatting about Cambodia and the political situation there, as well as the poverty. Like all of the countries I was visiting, corruption was a big problem. There is a massive gap between rich and poor, the poor as a general rule being the country people. The rich living in towns. He told me that the government did nothing to deal with this problem. He said that while some of the children were orphans alot still had parents in the countryside who had to give up there kids as they couldn't afford to look after them. What a terrible situation to have to be in. Others have disabilities and again, need extra care which their parents can't provide.
When we arrived to orphanage in the afternoon the younger children had finished school for the day, and the older ones would be back in an hour of so. As soon as I got out of the car, children began appearing to steal curious looks at me. Then two little girls of about 5 approached me and told me we were going to play. From that moment on I didn't sit still in my whole time there. Theres 35 children in the orphanage ranging in age between 1 and 19. They can all speak English, some better than others. The girls in particular wanted to play, while the bous played soccer amongst themselves. I joined in on skipping, jigsaws, and strange card games I didn't understand. They were all far more adorable and loveable than I could ever have imagined. The two youngest girls, one was 1 and a half, the other two, latched onto me and didn't leave my side the whole time. They wanted to be picked up and carried and kept giving me hugs and kisses. It was clear that all any of the kids wanted was some individual attention. They were all fascinated with my lip ring and kept staring and asking questions about it. I don't think they'd ever seen one before. I had brought some sweets for them, and when I opened them to give them out they all lined up and said thank you after getting them. They were all so polite and clearly well cared for. I gave them my camera to take photos with and the youngest kids wanted to look and the photos and videos on my phone. The favourites were, a video of Denis singing George Michaels 'Faith', which they played on repeat about six times. The other was a video of me and a Halloween skeleton that moves and howls when you touch it. I lost count of how many times that one was played.
They asked me did I want to stay for dinner, which was a meat and veg watery stew and rice. I chatted to Sok about volunteers. They get several at a time who come from all over who stay to teach English and help out. They also have 9 permeant Khmer staff.
After the girls wanted to bring me to see their bedroom. Girls sleep upstairs and boys downstairs. It was a large enough room with four large double beds. 'oh your beds are big!' I exclaimed.
'yes, five are in this one, six in this one...' They suddenly didn't seem like so big. They each have a small shelf with their personal belongings. They decided they wanted to do my hair. They liked playing with my 'yellow' hair. One girl plaited a very impressive French plait. They kept asking would I come back tomorrow, which broke my heart.

After, it was tv time. 35 kids all crowded around one tv with a Cambodian ghost film. To me, it was hilarious. The 'effects' were so crude and unbelievable that if I hadn't known better I would think it a spoof. But the kids were clued to it, the younger ones a little scared. The eldest orphan, a 19 year old disabled boy explained that ghost films are very popular in Cambodia. The people are very superstitious.

After, it was time for me to go. I was sad to leave and to say goodbye to the kids, they were all so amazing. The experience stuck with me for a long time after. It's possibly the most rewarding thing I've done since I got here.

The next morning I was up bright and early at 4.30 am to wait for a bus to The capital of Thailand, Bangkok, that was to pick me up between 5.30 and 5.50. At 5.50 there was still no sign of the bus. I've been in Asia long enough to know that buses are never on time here. However I decided to ring the travel agent where I had booked the bus just incase. He said he would ring the bus driver to check where he was. Five minutes later he hadn't rang me back so I ring him again. He says the driver is on his way. Ten minutes later, still no bus. I ring the travel agent again. He says he'll ring the driver again. Driver says he's on his way. This process continues for another half an hour. It gets to 6.40 and I'm getting increasingly frustrated. I know something's not right. Eventually I ring and he says I need to get a tuk tuk to his office. I ask why, he tells me the driver came and picked up the wrong people, I'd been waiting in the reception since 5.15 and no one had come, so I'm pretty sure that they just forgot me. Not that it makes a difference. This is the point where, for the first time in Asia, I completely lose my patience and temper. I went on a rant about what a bad service it is and what am I supposed to do now. He says he'll put me on a later bus, but I know this means having to wait even longer at the border crossing into Thailand, plus, after the previous drama, I know longer have any faith in the company. I tell him no, I want my money back and I'll get a different company.

There are times when traveling alone is amazing, and times when it's pretty shit. This was one of those times when it was shit. I went to the reception of the hotel and desperately asked did they know of any bus companies leaving for Bangkok later that day. They told me they all leave at 7. That wasn't enough time for me to get my money back from the other company and catch a bus that day. I asked could I stay another night and leave the next morning. The guy, with broken English, looked frustrated, sighed and told me he would have to check. Only he wasn't checking, he started to ignore me and serve other guests. It was Chinese New Year, so high high season and I knew that almost everywhere in the city was full up. In the mean time, a tuk tuk driver with no English had arrived. Another member of the hotel staff told me he was from the travel agents and I had to go with him to get this later slow bus. 'no, I don't want to go with him, I want to know if I can stay another night!'.
'you must go, everything's alright, no worry!'
'no, I don't want to go, I need to know if I can stay!'
'no worry, you go, no worry!'

Imagine being at your most frustrated and upset in a foreign country, alone, and three men are telling you not to worry. I was worried. I was angry and getting increasingly upset. This charade went on for 20 mins, eventually the tuk tuk driver left. Still the receptionist was refusing to tell me if I had a room. Finally another staff member showed up and I practically begged him for a room. 'yes, no problem! No worry!' he said, without checking. Relieved. I had to wait a half an hour while a room was cleaned, but I finally got to my room and slept. Later that day I successfully got a refund for the failed bus, and booked a bus for 7am the next morning. I ate icecream and watched 'Ghost' in my hotel. It was Valentines Day after all!