CELTA Course at the ILA, Ho Chi Minh City, Week 1/4



ILA school where im studying



Just finished the first week of the CELTA course. Its been very good but hard work. The course is very intense and most days ive been doing 12 hour days to keep up with the workload. Ive also got an assignment to do this weekend which will probably take up all of Saturday and Sunday... Its like having a proper job!!

I got to meet all my class mates on Monday. Its a really good group. I thought id be one of the oldest on the course but the ages vary alot and I'd guess, out of the 17 people on the course, im somewhere in the middle. The people on the course are from all over the place, most are American but there are also Australians, English and a couple of other countries. The people are great and its nice to hear similar reasons as me for taking the course. A number of the students are already teaching in other countries (China, Taiwan, Japan) and are taking this course to improve their skills so they can get promotions or get into better schools. Quite a few people want to work at the ILA after they finish.

I've done three lessons so far this week. 1 x 20 minutes and 2 x 40 minutes. The planning was alot of work but I did pretty well and I'm getting some good feedback. As its a private language school im teaching Vietnamese students with ages ranging from 18 - 30. As we are training the lessons are offered for free to local students who would not otherwise have the opportunity to come to the school which is a good thing to do. All the students are very friendly and hardworking although I'm finding the names challenging to pronounce.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

A View of Ho Chi Minh City

I’ve been in Ho Chi Minh City for a number of days now and settling in before the start of my CELTA course on Monday 25th July.

The first impression is that this is a very busy city. It’s similar in a number of ways to Bangkok, the traffic is nuts, its very busy but it's easier to navigate and not as hot. I booked into my guest house which is a very nice place about 6 minutes walk (yes, I timed my walk!) from the training centre where I will be based for the next month.

The Beautiful Skyline

Before I start to relax I had a number of things to get organized. Unfortunately my laptop died about three weeks ago but I’ve managed to find a shop to get it fixed. I also had to go to a tailor and get some shirts tailor made for me before my course starts. The shirts cost $17 dollars each which is great since they're made to fit. This was just as well as it turns out that in the 10 weeks ive been traveling ive lost nearly a stone in weight and 3 inches off my waist. I think my old work shirts may look a bit too baggy if I’d brought them with me!



Lots and lots and lots of traffic



In the evenings Ive met up with a couple of people I met along my travels who happened to be in the city at the same time as me and ive also met a couple of people from my course. On Saturday night we had a BBQ so all the students could meet each other and the teachers. There are 18 students in total; most are American with three English guys, a couple of Australians and a few other nationalities too. It’s a very good mix.

There are surprisingly few sights to see in Ho Chi Minh City however I have now seen the main ones. I went to the top for the biggest skyscraper in the Ho Chi Minh which gave great views of city although the skyline is not that impressive it gave you a good view of the smog. I went to visit a very disapointing catherdral called Notra Dam, it was so disapointing I refused to take a photo of it. I also went to the war museum which was very good and interesting to hear Vietnams take on the war with America. Alot of the photos were again very graphic and some of the stories were not nice to read but again, like in Cambodia it’s very interesting and upsetting to learn about.

View from the sky tower

I went to the biggest market in the city but only lasted about 30 seconds. I, like most western men, kept constantly being goosed by the girls working on the stalls which is weird, not a sales technique that works on me and not as nice as it sounds, plus since im not a good shopper anyway I thought I'd get out of there and do something more fun with my time.

I went to get a hair cut yesterday which was interesting. Since being in Asia ive had some bad ones. You'd think you can't really go wrong when all you have to do is shave someone’s head but it turns out you can. Back in Laos I asked the barber for a grade 3 cut but as he didn't have a grade 3 he just went ahead and used a grade 0.5. He pretty much took all my hair off. I feared the worst when it was haircut time again however I was plesently surprised when for $5 I got my hair cut as I wanted, a wet shave with a razor, a manly face mask and my ears cleaned and trimmed. I only went in for the haircut but the chap just got on and did the rest. I wasn't going to complain and it was quite nice!

Fun time is over now and my course starts tomorrow!!!!

Cambodian Cultural Village, Cambodian boxing and Floating River Village, Siem Reap



Me on stage feeling silly


I've done a number of things over the past three days. The day after the wedding festivities I was taken to the Cambodian Cultural Village in Siem Reap. The village was pretty cool and gave alot of information on the ancient past of the area as well as some up to date information. It also had a model village. There were also alot of performances where actors recreated legendary tales from the past with dance and music. There were about 7 in total but as they were all being spoke in Khamer I didn't really know what was going along and had to rely on my interpreter for details.

Bayon Temple stage play

During each performance they got someone up on stage to be part of the play. I was unfortunate enough to be selected which teaches me for sitting in the front row and being the only western person there. i had to play the part of someone who picked upa bow and arrow and became king. I then got married and then had to dress up again. It was pretty embarrasing! The final show was pretty impressive adn bigger than all the others. It told the story of how the Bayon Temple was build. Again I didn't understand much but it was good to watch.






Team France


The following day we went to watch some Cambodian boxing at an outside arena near Angkor Wat. It was an International competition and featured France vs Cambodia. I was half expecting the French to follow tradition and run away but they meant business.

The French won all the fights easily. The first three fights were over in about 20 seconds. One Cambodian chap refused to come out for the second round. It was a bit of a stuffing.







Children swimming by the river houses


In my final day in Siem reap we went to a river / floating village. We too a boat down the river for a bout an hour. There were so many houses and so many people living on the river, it was quite amazing to see. Many of the houses are attached to barrels so the houses can be moved easily when the river level rises.

The stilts on some of the houses are so big due to the amount that the river rises when the rains come. Its quite hard to imagine without seeing it for real but you could see the water lines on the stilts.

Bridge and houses by the river

I'm off to Phnom Penh tomorrow before going to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam where I will get ready for my study. As I will be working hard I doubt I'll have much interesting stuff to blog but I will see how it goes. I can't believe how quickly the past 10 weeks has gone. Its been great fun and when I look back its great to see everthing Ive done and how far I've travelled.

Ive added another album which has lots of photos of me looking a bit embarrassed on stage in a funky costume. As funny as the costume was it was quite comfortable but unfortunatly they didn't let me keep it.

Cambodian Buddhist Wedding, Siem Reap

Me!

I've had a really strange and interesting couple of days which is not very easy to explain and not something that can be done without going into detail.

About four nights ago I went out to dinner with a couple of local people I'd met in Siem Reap, the dinner was a pre wedding party for a friends wedding the following day. I met the bride and groom and had dinner and chatted to everyone on the table. After a while, out of nowhere, I was asked if I would like to come to the wedding, but not just come to the wedding but to be one of three best men as one could not make it! As you can imagine I didn't feel comletely confortable but the tradition of having best men is different in Cambodia than in the west and not knowing the groom is apparently ok. Thinking this would be a really good experience and a chance to see something very different from the normal travelling stuff I accepted.

The Monks with the Bride and groom

What I didn't know at the time of agreeing was that the wedding would be over two days, I would have to change clothes about 7 times and day 2 would involve a 4:30am start.

We started the following morning at the brides relatives house with a rice, chicken, duck and fish breakfast before a traditional ceramony where the bride and groom get the guests to pretend to cut their hair, splash them with water, spray them with perfume then show them their reflection in a mini mirror. This was repeated about 15 times before we moved upstairs and sat down.

Bride with brides maides

At this point 5 monks came to join in the festivities where they chanted and blessed us all. For a finalle they splashed us all with water then threw flower buds all over the bride and groom which everone got involved in on... It was good fun. Food and drinks were presented to the monks before they left. They took all the food but left behind the pineapple fanta which I found odd because its quite a nice drink.

This lead into the evenings drinking and dinner celebrations. I did my best to get involved in eating alot of traditional Cambodian food, I found my poker face came in useful on a couple of occasions but I was very pleasently suprised how tasty the majority of it was. I did have to turn down the kind offer of a chickens throat and chickens feet. I got to bed about 1am.






One of the many clothes I had to wear

 

Day 2 started at 4:30am which was tough due to this early start. It involved putting on a suit and walking to a monestry with all the guests then walking back to the wedding. I was sooo tired this was all a bit of a blurr. After this the bride and groom had their hands tied together to show they were married. This was repeated by a large number of the guest and also some more prayers from the master of ceramonies. At about 10am this was over until the evening party which would be a sit down dinner and all the friends would be invited.

Brides maids

At the evening party I changed clothes again and was involved with the meet and greet on the door for 2 hours, after 1 hour, I changed clothes then an hour later I changed clothes for the final time where I was excused from my duties on the door and went to enjoy the party. There was about 450 guests and free beer. A tradition in Cambodia is when you finish the drink you throw your empty bottle under the table. I took a photo of this which is shown in the attached album.

At the wedding

The party was live music; unfortunately there were no proclaimers or bon jovi but traditional Cambodian music sung by I’ve singers. It was very similar to the bus karaoke but better after several drinks.

Overall it was a surreal but great couple of days. I’ve added some more great photos of some really good costumes. Unfortunately I won’t be able to make it to Sihanoukville due to a lack of time but as I'll be close to whilst in Vietnam I'll go back another time. Got a few more thinks to see and do here so will stay in Siem Reap until Monday when I go to Ho Chi Minh City.

Siem Reap and the Temples of Angkor



Back at the Bayon Temple



In the past couple of days ive been exploring the temples and having fun in Siem Reap in the evenings. Yesterday I hired a bike and was taken by a local, who we'd met at one of the bars in Siem Reap and who is also a temple tour guide to some of the more lesser known but still very good temples. It was great going with a tour guide who can give you more information on the temples than the lonely planet guide book which is what I rely on. It also helps as you don't get hassled by the souvenir sellers as much as when you are just with Western people.



Sunset at Phnom Bakheng


We stopped for lunch at a small restaurant in the temple grounds. Things are so different and far more laid back here. After lunch we relaxed in some hamocks in the back of the restaurant, I fell asleep and was woken up a hour or so later by a chicken with its chicks walking past me!?

We went to watch the sunset near Angkor Wat at one of the temples called Phnom Bakheng which is on top of a big hill which, as you can see was fantastic. I'm still really liking Siem Reap im tempted to stay longer and think its a place I'd like to come back to.




Sunset at Phnom Bakheng


Ive booked an overnight bus from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville in the South of Cambodia for tomorrow evening. This will be my final stop before making my way to Vietnam via Phnom Penh on 17th July to get ready to start my CELTA on 25th July.

Angkor Wat and the Temples of Angkor



Angkor Wat


In the past two days since arriving in Siem Reap I've been going to visit Ankor Wat and the various other temples in the area. On the first day I got my own tuk tuk driver for the day. He was a nice local chap called Chives whose sister works at the guesthouse im staying in.

What I didn't realise is that besides Angkor Wat there are a large number of other temples all in the same surrounding area and these temples aren't like the ones ive been seeing to date... there huge!





Bayon Temple

 Naturally the first temple I went to was Angkor Wat. I have read that going in peak season can be quite stressful however as its off season I got lucky and there was not too many tourists there. As you can imagine the Angkor Wat is a very impressive place. The grounds are huge and the detailed carvings on the walls are great.

After this Chives took me to a place called Angkor Thom which is an area a few square miles in size that contained a number of other temples. The next one on the list was the Bayon temple which I think is my favourite one and in my opinion more impressive than Angkor Wat.



Faces on the Bayon temple


It looks like a pile of rocks from the distance but when you get up close there are hundreds of carved faces and other drawing. It also had a number of floors to the temple and you were allowed to go pretty much to the top.

After this I was take to a number of other temples including Preah Palilay, Phimeanakas and one other that was in the middle of a jungle. Since it was abandoned for a number of years it had been reclaimed and had trees growing all over it.

Temple in the Jungle

This particular temple was used in the Tomb Raider films and we were shoewn the very step where Angelina Jolie stood for the photo shoot which was used on all the posters.

One good thing about Cambodia is since the health and safety laws are pretty relaxed they let you climb all over the temples. I think this really adds to the experience even though it is a little dangerous. Some of the steps are so steep that you actually have to use your hand to climb up them.

On the second day I hired a bicycle and went to a handful of temples it was a 13k ride there but I missed the turning and must have cycled for another 10k before realising. It was pretty hot and by the time I got home I was pretty knackered. One of the temples I did see was called Preah Ko which was again huge.

On my ride home a local on a moped pulled up next to me and started chatting, he rode with me for the last 5k home but it turns out he works at the Orphanage which i remembered cycling past earlier . Conversation eventually turned to football and I told him about my refereeing, he invited me to come and referee a game for the kids at the orphanage in the next few day. Im not sure I'll be able to do it because im getting a bit pushed for time but Ive got his details and he asked me to call him if I could.



Preah Ko



I really like Siem Reap and Cambodia. The above is a great example of how friendly the people are. Ive been on a few nights out with a guy I met back in Pakse who happened to be here and we have always ended up chatting to lots of locals as and playing pool against them. Im going to stay in Siem Reap for a few more days before moving on. I want to get up and see the sunrise at Angkor Wat tomorrow but this means a 4:30am start. We will see!!

Phnom Penh - Siem Reap



Phnom Penh to Siem Reap


I've had my last day in Phnom Penh which was very enjoyable. I managed to get my Vietnam visa sorted and went to watch Transformers 3 at a cinema in Phnom Penh. This was quite an experience as during the film there was cheering at randon moments. There was also a brief clip which showed Angkor Wat at which point the cinema errupted with screaming and cheering, it was very strange.

Broken down again

However the time had come for me to go to Siem Reap to see the Angkor temples for myself, the journey was expected to take 5 hours. As usual I would have to take one of the buses where the journeys are always full of suprises. I was hoping that my luck would change as i'd had quite a string of bad journeys recently where the last bus had broke down. After completing my last journey I regreted afterwards not taking a picture of the bus being fixed as it would have been good for the blog. As fortune would have it, this bus broke down too. It looked like a similar problem to last time, something was wrong with the tyre.

Deep Fried Spiders and Deep Fried something else

This took about 40 minutes to fix but then we were on our way. After this point on came the Karoke on the TV which stayed on for the rest of the journey.

we stopped for lunch at a Cambodian service station which is where I took the next photo. There was a good selection of food available which included deep fried spiders and deep fried crickets. I waved my chance to have this and opted for the fresh pineapple on a plate next to these.





Kicking everyone off the bus


The journey continued slowly until a few hours later, for no reason, the driver pulled over and started indicating for us all to get off. Fortunaly someone translated this for us so we knew what was going on. We were not given a reason for this but after about 30 minutes he changed his mind and let us all get back on again. This was all very strange and even the Cambodian people, who are all very chilled by nature were getting frustrated.

Eventually we did make it to Siem Reap. The 5 hour journey took 8 hours. These bus trips really are an experience. Ive found the best way is to just assume its going to take most of the day and go with it. I was sat next to an expat who is currently living in Phnom Penh who does these journeys regularly and was very grumpy, I did try my best to cheer her up but it didn't work. It also didn't help that she was only going for the day to see her boyfriend and would be returning to Phnom Penh tomorrow so would have to do the whole thing again.




One way of tranporting bikes

 
Siem Reap seems like a really nice town though and Im looking forward to seeing the Temples of Angkor tomorrow.

I took the final picture as it make me laugh. It says alot about how relaxed these countries are in South East Asia about pretty much anything.



Phnom Penh - Day 2, Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Museum

Today I went to both the Killing fields and Tuol Sleng Museum. I started at the Tuol Sleng Museum which is a converted school where in the late 1970s, when the Kymer Rouge took over control of the country, they used as a prison to torture and hold people. It was a very strange place to go.

Many of the rooms still had the iron beds and shackles in them and the barb wire was on a number of the buildings. There were thousands of photos on display of the prisoners who went to the prison which was the worst part. In the 3 years it was operating 20,000 people passed through here on their way to be executed, only 7 survived. There was all sorts of information on the stories that went on here which was pretty hard to read at times.



Photos of the Prisoners at Tuol Sleng

As you can imagine it was a sobering experience but good to understand this part of Cambodia's past which happened not that long ago. After this I went to the 'Killing Fields' which is where the prisoners were taken for execution. There is a morcelium there now which contains over 1,000 of the skulls and clothes that were dug up when a number of the plots were excavated in 1980. As the area is prone to flooding there is still parts of bone and clothing being washed to the surface around the site. Whilst walking around I saw a number of teeth and items of clothes which the victims were wearing at the time they were executed.

Morcelium at the Killing Fields

There was a great museum which had more information and a video about what happened. All in all it was a pretty depressing experience but very good to see and one that makes you appriciate how lucky you are.

I went to the National Stadium after this and I was in luck as they were showing a football match and I needed cheering up. I arrived 20 minutes into the match. The game was between Chhlam Samuth and Preah Khan Reach. Two teams from the Cambodian National League.

Football at the National Stadium

It was a very good game and finished 3-0 and only cost about 30p to watch too! When I left the stadium after the game there was alot going on around the ground. All the locals has come out to play football, volleyball and tennis. The facilities weren't great (some of the pitches had floodlights in the middle of them) but they just got on and enjoyed playing the games.

I also noticed that they have aerobics classes on the top of the football stadium which was interesting to see. You could see everyone was enjoying themselves and got a good feeling about what the locals get up to in the evening. No one seemed to be worried about a huge thunderstorm coming!!

Outside the Stadium

Overall it was a great day and I think I really like Phnom Penh. Tomorrow I'll be sorting out my Vietnam Visa, booking my ticket to Siem Reap and possibly going to watch Transformers 3 at the cinema they have here.

Ive added an album with the photos I took today, some of them were taken at the Prison and Killing Fields so are not pleasent but I hope you like them.

Phnom Penh - Day 1

4,000 Islands to Phnom Penn

I took a bus with a number of other travellers from the 4,000 Islands in Laos to Phnom Penn in Cambodia yesterday and was told it would be an 8 hour journey. We were also told it would be a VIP bus but as per usual we were lied to on both accounts. To make matters worse, as it envitably would when you take this many old buses.... it broke down. Fortunalty our driver also seems to have some expertise in fixing vehicles so when I went outside to see what was going on he had a tire off and was beating something with a spanner. The good new was this obviously did the job and after about an hour we were on our way. What made this situation worse was that whilst he was fixing the bus he tortured us by leaving the Laos Karoke on the telly. After about 30 minutes we all had a discussion and took the matter into our own hands and turned the TV off.

The Royal Palace

Anyway the journey turned out to be 13 hours but I arrived safely and made my way to a hostel. I had to use my negotiating skills, which have been forced to develop during this trip, to get a tuk tuk to take me at a reasonable price and I suceeded in getting him from $5 to $2!!!

The town is very busy but has a great feel to it. I've done all the major walking sites around town including the Royal Palace, which was very pretty inside but unfortunatly I couldn't take any pictures. I also went ot the national museum which has some good sculptures, a number of markets, Victory monument and took a explored the river front with all its bars.



The Phnom Penh traffic is nuts!


On the way back to my guest house I could see a huge thunderstorm coming in quick so I spotted inside a sports bar, I has a good chat to the owner who was Australian who has been running the bar for 7 years... He had some great stories. There was a quiz on a 9pm and I managed to get chatting to a small gorup of people - who happened to be English teachers in Phnom Penh and joined their team. Iwasagreat evening and good to chat to some teacher whoare doing what I'm going to do. They all love it and really love Phnom Penn.

Victory Monument

The city does have a really nice feel to it and after one day I can see why they like it. The locals are friendly and there is alot to do. I must however have politely said 'no' to at least 150 tuk tuk and moto drivers today. There is so much traffic here and when you cross the street you take your life into your own hands. You have to just walk into the road and the bikes go around you. Although its a 100 times busier than anywhere in the UK the people just take things a bit slower and are more accepting of people breaking the traffic laws which I think people only really see as guidelines.


I'm off to see the killing fields and Tuol Sleng Museum tomorrow which isgoing to be tough but interesting. Also ive added some more pictures which I took today around town.

4,000 Islands, Laos

Vientiane to 4,000 Islands

After leaving Vientiane 6 days ago and travelling about 28 hours broken up with a number of stops, ive finally arrived in my final Laos destination which is the 4,000 Islands. This is basically a group of Islands in a wide part of the Mekong River in the southern tip of Laos. The River at this point is several kilometers wide and depending on the river hight there are approx imately 4,000 Islands. I personally think this is a big of exageration. I'd say there is a few hundred but not 4,000. It would be like calling Poole Habour '200 Islands'. Perhaps this would be a good idea to boost tourism.

Laid back Don Det

I spent my first night on the biggest Island called Don Khong. It was very quiet being low season but I hired a bicycle to explore the Island. About 5k into my bike ride I got a puncture so had to walk back to the shop. Id not past anything except fields on the way so this took along time. Some on the local children found it hilarious and stopped to point and laugh at my misfortune.I got a new bike and decided to go the other route around the Island. As this Island is in the Mekong river there are no beaches and it was mainly paddy fields and small wooden huts along the dusty roads.




Li Phi Falls

 On the second day I moved to another Island called Don Det. Again I hired a bicycle to explore the Island. Don Det is far more scenic than Don Khong and the ride took me the length of the Island along the river front. There was a bridge to a second Island and a place called Li Phi falls which is an area of the Mekong River where the river is rapid. Locals believe bad spirits get trapped at this place but I didn't see any whilst I was there.

This is my last evening in Laos and I will be catching a 9 hour coach to Phnom Penh in Cambodia tomorrow. I'm looking forward to moving on and going to a city after the quiet past week coming down through the south of Laos.

Another Big Buddha on a hill

View from Don Det

Southern Laos

Mekong River with clouds on the hills

In the 5 days since leaving Vientiane I’ve been slowly making my way further south in Laos. I caught an overnight bus from Vientiane to a place called Savannakhet which was a nice chilled town with lots of nice French postcolonial buildings. I then moved to a place called Pakse which is slightly bigger town but still very small when compared to places in the UK and I’m now in a village called Champasak which is a good base to see Wat Phu Champasak which is Laos’s oldest and most famous Temple ruin which I did this morning.

Small town near Champasak

It’s been nice to see some proper towns that are not full of tourists but at the same time this usually means there is not that much to do. However it has still been really good to just see people going about their daily business and I’ve always been lucky enough to meet good people at the hostels to chat with and have dinner and drinks with. I’ve also been able to catch the tennis which works out quite well as it’s on in the evenings here.

Every place I seem to go I feel like I’m in the middle of nowhere however after a few hours I realise that’s not the case but today in Champasak, I think this really is as close as I’m going to get.

Fishermen on the Mekong River near Champasak

After taking a combination of bus, boat and tuk tuk I arrived at my destination and booked into a hostel. The town is literally a dirt track and a row of houses along the Mekong River, it was pretty deserted and I didn’t see any other western people. I hired a bicycle and cycled to Wat Phu Champasak . It took about 40 minutes but you have to dodge chickens, dogs, goats, pigs, cats, cows and water buffalo that all roam free along the roads (or mud tracks) Also all the locals look at you like your from another planet as they probably don’t see many Western people. It really is a strange but enjoyable experience and like something out of a film.

Wat Phu Champasak

I’m off to my final stop in Lao tomorrow for two nights in a place called 4,000 Islands. After this I will be crossing the border into Cambodia for my final two weeks before going to Vietnam to start my teaching course. Can’t believe how quickly the 6 weeks have gone so far!!! Also monsoon season is in full swing. We get very impressive rain storms on a twice daily basis and when we were in Vientiane it rained big time for two full days.

I’ve added an album of random photos from the past 5 days. They’re not very exciting as there’s not been much to take pictures of (compared to the places I have been previously) but it gives you an idea of what Laos is like.