Sorry it has been so long since my last post. We have been busy during the week with surveys and entering data. Sometimes we don’t really have anything new to talk about. As Matt puts it, it can be a lot like ‘Groundhog Day’, with every day being exactly the same. On our days ‘off’ entering survey data we have time to go out into the city, but as of now we have really seen all there is to see and do all of the things to do. Thankfully this is our last week here. We are all looking forward to a change of scenery when we finish up this project and get to go to Angkor Wat this weekend.
This past week we finished up our surveys in Kandal Province, having to take the ferry two times. The one day we took the ferry across to Mekong Island. On board there were ladies selling all kinds of snacks for the short ride. One lady was selling fried insects that looked kind of like a grasshopper/cricket. Sinel, one of the NaVRI people we are working with eagerly bought a bag of them when I asked him about them. He showed us how to rip off the wings and the serrated lower parts of their legs used for ‘chirping’ before you eat them. They were crunchy and kind of salty, but didn’t taste bad. The only thing you need to get over is the fact you’re eating a bug…
One of the last villages we surveyed was one of the pockets of Muslim communities that exist in Cambodia. About 80% of the population is Buddhist and the other 20% is predominantly Muslim. Anyways, needless to say surveys went really fast as Muslim people do not own or keep dogs. So in the end, because there were no dogs, we were able to finish the surveys early, which was nice.
On the way back over from the island we ended up taking a larger ferry because the one we had taken was too small to handle crossing the now rough waters of the river. Some of the trucks that boarded the ferry were massive petrol trucks. Sinel explained to us that they were too heavy for the ferry but that they could just pay extra and the officials would look the other way…this seems to happen a lot here. It made us nervous, and the whole way across we were hoping that the ferry wouldn’t sink. When we made it safely to the other side we were relieved, but just as we were about to drive off, the bus started rolling backwards! We almost rolled right into the water (there were no barriers in the back), nearly hitting a farmer and his cow…
This week Matt and I also went for ‘blind massages’. The massage parlor we went to was called ‘Seeing Hands’ and all of the masseuses are blind. I lucked out and got a really nice lady and my own private room whereas Matt got this ‘huge dude’ (as he described them), who just ‘destroyed’ him, AND he was in a room with a bunch of people. We are going to go to get another massage this week, but Matt is requesting we try somewhere else…
This weekend we went to Sihanoukville to go to the beach. It was SO nice to get out of the city and it was just beautiful. We had a bungalow right on the beach with a nice huge deck and comfortable chairs overlooking the water. I got to do some kayaking and we did a lot of swimming and relaxing. For dinner we went to one of the many bars and restaurants that are right on the beach, with the tables and chairs sitting in the sand by the shore. We had a huge spread of seafood for dinner for only $5 a person! Beers were only 50 cents and some bars were offering free shots and drinks. It was so cheap!
Matt and I had considered staying an extra day, as today is our ‘day off’ for data entry. We would have gone on a cruise yesterday had we stayed, but when we got up in the morning it was overcast and looked like it was going to rain, so we decided against it. We made the right choice because it started raining shortly after the cruise left. So in the end we ended up taking the bus back to Phnom Penh.
Anyways, I think that’s about all for now. Will write again soon.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Cambodia III
Half way through this week we started taking shifts for our surveys. Matt and I go out together and Gill and Ryan go out together and we alternate days. The group that doesn't go out into the field stays around Phnom Penh and enters the data from completed surveys. It is much easier on us, as 12 hour days were getting to be a bit much. Earlier this week, Matt and I had the unfortunate luck of losing a coin toss and we had to go out on the day we had to survey the farthest away. It was a long, hot ride and quite far to say the least. We were nearly back in Vietnam!
One thing we have definitely noticed from our work is that most of the time in our day is spent waiting. In a 12 hour day we spend about 3 hours total doing surveys and the rest is spent waiting for permission from the district officials, then the commune and then trying to find the chief of the village. Oh, and travel time which averages about 2 hours out of the 12.
This weekend we went to the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh and the National Museum. The Royal Palace was massive and very beautiful. There were lots of Pagodas, the most famous being the Silver Pagoda. Naturally, lots of monks were around in their bright orange robes roaming around the grounds. You often see them around the city making their rounds to collect food and other items from households. This morning two monks were standing outside of our hotel waiting, shielding themselves from the sun with their matching orange umbrellas. It is a really interesting way of life. The National Museum was also nice, with lots of Buddha sculptures and other artifacts from the numerous time periods. Matt and I both agree that more information on the artifacts would have made it a lot nicer, as most of them just had a location where they were found and which century they are from...but it was still a worthwhile visit. Oh! I almost forgot, while we were waiting for the Palace to open (we discovered it closed for lunch at 10am and would reopen at 2) I got a pedicure for $3! I will have to have at least one more before we leave! Matt had a half hour foot massage for $2 to pass the time too, which he thoroughly enjoyed.
Last night we went out to a nice restaurant called 'Friends'. It was really expensive for what we got (by Southeast Asian standards, not North American) but the food was really good and all of the proceeds go to disadvantaged youth. After dinner we went to a night club called 'Pontoon' that is a huge boat converted into a bar. It was really cool, with all of these comfortable couches and tables with a huge dance floor. It was fun to go out, but also kind of disturbing as there are a lot of Western men with Cambodian prostitutes out and about at night...disappointing to say the least.
So today we spent the day just relaxing. We explored a bit in the morning but the heat became a bit unbearable in the afternoon, so we retreated to the comfort of our air conditioned room to relax a bit. In the morning we visited Wat Phnom, a temple not far from our hotel. There are a lot of open areas around it which serve as a local hang out with lots of vendors and even elephant rides around the grounds! When Gill and Ryan visited, a monkey outside of the Wat became fixated on Gill and wouldn't leave her alone...and not in a friendly way! He wanted to attack her! Luckily she was able to escape unscathed. When we today, we couldn't believe how many monkeys were just roaming around! Some of the babies were so cute...one climbed a light post and as I was trying to take a picture of it another adult grabbed my leg. It scared me so much that I screamed...I think I may have scared it more than it scared me. Haha.
Anyways, this week is full of more surveys and some translation and data entry. Matt and I get to go to Mekong Island tomorrow to do surveys in a village on it. We have to take a ferry to get across, which Matt is pretty excited for. We are finding that staying in one city is nice, as we get to unpack but it is also hard when you have constantly been on the move. We kind of feel like we have done a lot of the touristy things in and around Phnom Penh, and that there isn't much left for us to do (besides work). This weekend we are planning on going to Sihanoukville, the port city in west of Cambodia, about a 3.5 hour drive from Phnom Penh. We have heard some really nice things about it and are looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend away from the big bustling city.
Anyways, will write again soon.
One thing we have definitely noticed from our work is that most of the time in our day is spent waiting. In a 12 hour day we spend about 3 hours total doing surveys and the rest is spent waiting for permission from the district officials, then the commune and then trying to find the chief of the village. Oh, and travel time which averages about 2 hours out of the 12.
This weekend we went to the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh and the National Museum. The Royal Palace was massive and very beautiful. There were lots of Pagodas, the most famous being the Silver Pagoda. Naturally, lots of monks were around in their bright orange robes roaming around the grounds. You often see them around the city making their rounds to collect food and other items from households. This morning two monks were standing outside of our hotel waiting, shielding themselves from the sun with their matching orange umbrellas. It is a really interesting way of life. The National Museum was also nice, with lots of Buddha sculptures and other artifacts from the numerous time periods. Matt and I both agree that more information on the artifacts would have made it a lot nicer, as most of them just had a location where they were found and which century they are from...but it was still a worthwhile visit. Oh! I almost forgot, while we were waiting for the Palace to open (we discovered it closed for lunch at 10am and would reopen at 2) I got a pedicure for $3! I will have to have at least one more before we leave! Matt had a half hour foot massage for $2 to pass the time too, which he thoroughly enjoyed.
Last night we went out to a nice restaurant called 'Friends'. It was really expensive for what we got (by Southeast Asian standards, not North American) but the food was really good and all of the proceeds go to disadvantaged youth. After dinner we went to a night club called 'Pontoon' that is a huge boat converted into a bar. It was really cool, with all of these comfortable couches and tables with a huge dance floor. It was fun to go out, but also kind of disturbing as there are a lot of Western men with Cambodian prostitutes out and about at night...disappointing to say the least.
So today we spent the day just relaxing. We explored a bit in the morning but the heat became a bit unbearable in the afternoon, so we retreated to the comfort of our air conditioned room to relax a bit. In the morning we visited Wat Phnom, a temple not far from our hotel. There are a lot of open areas around it which serve as a local hang out with lots of vendors and even elephant rides around the grounds! When Gill and Ryan visited, a monkey outside of the Wat became fixated on Gill and wouldn't leave her alone...and not in a friendly way! He wanted to attack her! Luckily she was able to escape unscathed. When we today, we couldn't believe how many monkeys were just roaming around! Some of the babies were so cute...one climbed a light post and as I was trying to take a picture of it another adult grabbed my leg. It scared me so much that I screamed...I think I may have scared it more than it scared me. Haha.
Anyways, this week is full of more surveys and some translation and data entry. Matt and I get to go to Mekong Island tomorrow to do surveys in a village on it. We have to take a ferry to get across, which Matt is pretty excited for. We are finding that staying in one city is nice, as we get to unpack but it is also hard when you have constantly been on the move. We kind of feel like we have done a lot of the touristy things in and around Phnom Penh, and that there isn't much left for us to do (besides work). This weekend we are planning on going to Sihanoukville, the port city in west of Cambodia, about a 3.5 hour drive from Phnom Penh. We have heard some really nice things about it and are looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend away from the big bustling city.
Anyways, will write again soon.
Village Pictures from Kandal, Cambodia
Oxen pulling a cart down a main road leading to a village
The kitchen of one of the families we interviewed
Children riding their bikes home from school
A typical household in one of the villages
The main road in one of the villages
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Cambodia II
So I had wanted to write sooner, but these past few days have been around 12 hours each and I have been way too tired to write a post...
This past weekend we spent around Phnom Penh. On Saturday we went to the S21 Museum, which was a high school used for imprisonment and torture during Pol Pot's regime. It was really disturbing. There was still blood on the ceilings and floors from where people were barbarically tortured. We learned more about Pol Pot and what he and his regime did to Cambodia just 30 years ago. He essentially knocked this country back into the stone age with the hopes of transforming it into a strictly agrarian society. He abolished education, currency, religion, etc. and killed around 2 million Cambodians, most of them intellects. He forced people to move from the cities and into the country to become farmers, turning the major cities like Phnom Penh into ghost towns.
They had rows and rows of pictures taken by the prisoners hanging in the museum (when the prisoners arrived at the high school they had their picture taken), which included women, children and men. Some children even had the pin with their identification number on it through the skin in their neck. It was so upsetting, but it really helps put everything into context and gives us an idea what the people here went through.
The next day we went to the Cheung Ek Memorial, known as one of the many killing fields. It was also very disturbing and upsetting. The monument they have built there is full of thousands of human skulls. An estimated 20,000 prisoners were brought to this place and executed with bamboo sticks, as bullets were too expensive. Whole families were slaughtered. If one person was educated, the whole family died. They buried them in mass graves, some of which have been excavated. Walking along some of the paths you can see human bones sticking out of the dirt and the occasional piece of clothing too. It was just awful.
Anyways, on a lighter note, we got to explore more of Phnom Penh. It is a really interesting place with lots of French influence. You can see it in the architecture and in the large green gardens (that have monkeys running around in them) and huge boulevards. Unfortunately it is a very polluted and dirty city, and we are always covered in a layer of black/brown grime. Nonetheless, it is a really interesting place.
As I had mentioned, these past few days have been really busy for us as we have started our data collection. We do 10 surveys in the morning and 10 in the afternoon, leaving our guesthouse at around 7 and returning around dinner. The houses we go to range from these tiny wooden one to two room houses that are on stilts and have slatted floors with on average 5 people living in it to massively huge and elaborate homes with shiny new cars in the driveway. It is pretty crazy.
So anyways, today is the Queen's birthday which is a holiday, so we are taking the day off. We may go to visit the royal palace and a museum, or we may just take the day off for some much needed relaxation.
Will write again in a few days!
This past weekend we spent around Phnom Penh. On Saturday we went to the S21 Museum, which was a high school used for imprisonment and torture during Pol Pot's regime. It was really disturbing. There was still blood on the ceilings and floors from where people were barbarically tortured. We learned more about Pol Pot and what he and his regime did to Cambodia just 30 years ago. He essentially knocked this country back into the stone age with the hopes of transforming it into a strictly agrarian society. He abolished education, currency, religion, etc. and killed around 2 million Cambodians, most of them intellects. He forced people to move from the cities and into the country to become farmers, turning the major cities like Phnom Penh into ghost towns.
They had rows and rows of pictures taken by the prisoners hanging in the museum (when the prisoners arrived at the high school they had their picture taken), which included women, children and men. Some children even had the pin with their identification number on it through the skin in their neck. It was so upsetting, but it really helps put everything into context and gives us an idea what the people here went through.
The next day we went to the Cheung Ek Memorial, known as one of the many killing fields. It was also very disturbing and upsetting. The monument they have built there is full of thousands of human skulls. An estimated 20,000 prisoners were brought to this place and executed with bamboo sticks, as bullets were too expensive. Whole families were slaughtered. If one person was educated, the whole family died. They buried them in mass graves, some of which have been excavated. Walking along some of the paths you can see human bones sticking out of the dirt and the occasional piece of clothing too. It was just awful.
Anyways, on a lighter note, we got to explore more of Phnom Penh. It is a really interesting place with lots of French influence. You can see it in the architecture and in the large green gardens (that have monkeys running around in them) and huge boulevards. Unfortunately it is a very polluted and dirty city, and we are always covered in a layer of black/brown grime. Nonetheless, it is a really interesting place.
As I had mentioned, these past few days have been really busy for us as we have started our data collection. We do 10 surveys in the morning and 10 in the afternoon, leaving our guesthouse at around 7 and returning around dinner. The houses we go to range from these tiny wooden one to two room houses that are on stilts and have slatted floors with on average 5 people living in it to massively huge and elaborate homes with shiny new cars in the driveway. It is pretty crazy.
So anyways, today is the Queen's birthday which is a holiday, so we are taking the day off. We may go to visit the royal palace and a museum, or we may just take the day off for some much needed relaxation.
Will write again in a few days!
Friday, June 12, 2009
Cambodia
Hello from Cambodia! Sorry I haven't written in a while, but I have been really busy since our arrival!
This past week has been packed full of work! We arrived on Monday and on Tuesday we started working on our second project. It is an ecology and behaviour study we are doing in Phnom Penh and the surrounding province of Kandal. We are hoping that our research will spark a project to help with rabies within the dog population, since nothing has been done up until this point.
Our first day was exceptionally long, trying to modify the survey we will be using and then having it properly translated into Khmer. Translation has proven to be a fairly large obstacle for us, as English is a language that has words with multiple meanings and Khmer is much more precise.
So after a lot of work on the survey, the next day we were ready to pilot test it in the province of Kandal. We went to the Department of Agriculture and got approval to enter into the villages within the province and picked a village that was not selected for our study to pilot the survey. We ran about 5 surveys per group with our translators (totaling 10). The pilot proved to be really useful in identifying any questions that were unclear and other questions that consumed too much time. The next day was spent making more revisions and we did some errands regarding the study (ie - getting small gifts to give to people who fill out the survey).
It was really interesting going into the village and to people's homes - places where tourists never, ever get to go. All of the people were so friendly despite the language barrier. One lady even brought us out some cold tea! I was a bit nervous about the water making me ill, but it is better to get sick than offend anyone, so I drank it.
So that pretty much brings me up to yesterday, which was our second pilot (of our revised version). It went a lot smoother and the time averaged in around 16-17minutes per survey, which is exactly what we needed to be able to hit our target of 250 surveys in 10 days. We made a few more revisions and we are ready to start the actual data collection on Monday.
Last night we went out for dinner to celebrate our first week. They had 'crispy tarantulas' on the menu for appetizers and we decided to order them! It was so weird to have 3 spiders on a plate...they were kind of a BBQ sauce brown colour, tasted like hickory and were really crunchy. I was only brave enough to eat the legs...and convinced Matt to try a piece. If you got past the idea of eating spiders they weren't actually that bad. Ryan ate one of the bodies and said it tasted really bad...he will eat anything!
So this weekend we are going to explore Phnom Penh.I like the city, from what I have seen so far. It is really busy and dirty, but it has a lot of French Influence. They have a lot of nice open squares with gardens and boulevards, which is kind of a strange but nice mix with the craziness. I am excited to actually explore it though. We are also probably going to see a museum and head out to the killing fields as a day trip. Shopping is also a must. We have to wear pants whenever we are working and I have been wearing my only pair for 3 weeks straight. I need to invest in 1 or 2 more pairs, and so does Matt.
Anyways, that's all for this update! Will write again soon. I am going to be making a post on the Vets Without Borders Blog I have as well with more in depth info on our project if anyone is interested! We have to make a post a week, so each of us working on this project will post at least once on that.
This past week has been packed full of work! We arrived on Monday and on Tuesday we started working on our second project. It is an ecology and behaviour study we are doing in Phnom Penh and the surrounding province of Kandal. We are hoping that our research will spark a project to help with rabies within the dog population, since nothing has been done up until this point.
Our first day was exceptionally long, trying to modify the survey we will be using and then having it properly translated into Khmer. Translation has proven to be a fairly large obstacle for us, as English is a language that has words with multiple meanings and Khmer is much more precise.
So after a lot of work on the survey, the next day we were ready to pilot test it in the province of Kandal. We went to the Department of Agriculture and got approval to enter into the villages within the province and picked a village that was not selected for our study to pilot the survey. We ran about 5 surveys per group with our translators (totaling 10). The pilot proved to be really useful in identifying any questions that were unclear and other questions that consumed too much time. The next day was spent making more revisions and we did some errands regarding the study (ie - getting small gifts to give to people who fill out the survey).
It was really interesting going into the village and to people's homes - places where tourists never, ever get to go. All of the people were so friendly despite the language barrier. One lady even brought us out some cold tea! I was a bit nervous about the water making me ill, but it is better to get sick than offend anyone, so I drank it.
So that pretty much brings me up to yesterday, which was our second pilot (of our revised version). It went a lot smoother and the time averaged in around 16-17minutes per survey, which is exactly what we needed to be able to hit our target of 250 surveys in 10 days. We made a few more revisions and we are ready to start the actual data collection on Monday.
Last night we went out for dinner to celebrate our first week. They had 'crispy tarantulas' on the menu for appetizers and we decided to order them! It was so weird to have 3 spiders on a plate...they were kind of a BBQ sauce brown colour, tasted like hickory and were really crunchy. I was only brave enough to eat the legs...and convinced Matt to try a piece. If you got past the idea of eating spiders they weren't actually that bad. Ryan ate one of the bodies and said it tasted really bad...he will eat anything!
So this weekend we are going to explore Phnom Penh.I like the city, from what I have seen so far. It is really busy and dirty, but it has a lot of French Influence. They have a lot of nice open squares with gardens and boulevards, which is kind of a strange but nice mix with the craziness. I am excited to actually explore it though. We are also probably going to see a museum and head out to the killing fields as a day trip. Shopping is also a must. We have to wear pants whenever we are working and I have been wearing my only pair for 3 weeks straight. I need to invest in 1 or 2 more pairs, and so does Matt.
Anyways, that's all for this update! Will write again soon. I am going to be making a post on the Vets Without Borders Blog I have as well with more in depth info on our project if anyone is interested! We have to make a post a week, so each of us working on this project will post at least once on that.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Indonesia V
Hi everyone -
Sorry I haven't written in a while but the last few days at CIVAS were really busy! One day we went to see a Native Chicken operation in an extremely remote location, and another was spent touring the University of Bogor. We got to see their teaching hospital and other large and small animal teaching facilities...including the surgery and anatomy labs they have. It was pretty similar to OVC and really cool to see! We had to give a presentation to a bunch of students on OVC and Global Vets too, which was kind of fun as well. Our last trip was to a dairy production place in Cikole, which was about a 4 hour drive from Bogor. It turned out to be around a 17 hour day...it was long, but really worth it!
Our last day at CIVAS we gave a presentation on what we had learned during our stay and gave some Canadian comparisons. We also made them some banana chocolate chip pancakes with some of Ryan's real Canadian maple syrup as a bit of a thank-you. They only had a wok to cook them in and the stove was an equivalent to a propane camping stove. It was quite the cooking experience to say the least! Everyone seemed to enjoy them, so I guess it all worked out in the end! That night we had our driver take us to the train station in Jakarta to catch our train to Yogjakarta. On the way we got caught in a traffic jam in a tunnel, we were barely moving and it was bumper to bumper. All of a sudden we saw this one kid pulling on the side mirror of the car in front of us...he managed to rip it off and made off with it! The people in the car did nothing, and not even a minute later this other guy made his way up to the car and used his fists to smash off the other mirror. Again the people in the car did nothing. It was shocking to see! Our driver didn't speak much English and just pointed and said 'rich' and then double checked to make sure the doors of our car were locked. The car that was robbed was really nice according to Indonesian standards - a Toyota which is kind of like our equivalent of a Lexus, so the 'rich' explanation made sense. Needless to say I was pretty rattled after seeing that, particularly because we are seen as being rich, being a Western 'boulais'. The train station was interesting too. Just packed with people and the trains that passed through would often have people (a few children) hanging off the back...Anyways, everything worked out though, and we arrived safe and sound around 5am in Yogjakarta.
Borobudur Temple
A Stupa of Borobudur
That morning we dropped our bags off and then figured our the public transport to take us to Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple in the world. It took about 1.5hrs on this crazy bus with open doors and a bad version of what looked like to be the Indonesian version of American Idol playing on repeat. It was well worth the long and cramped ride though...the temple was absolutely amazing! It is one of the man made wonders of the world...absolutely huge and made entirely out of volcanic stone (it is situated in between 3 volcanoes) and no cement. I really liked it, despite it being so busy. On a weekend 10,000 people will visit it. We had to pose about 50 times, because of all of the Indonesian tourists wanting their picture with the rare 'boulais'.
Today we went to the massive Hindu temple Prambanan. It was really cool too, but I liked Borobudur more. It's also made of volcanic stone, and held together without cement. Unfortunately earthquakes have really destroyed it over the years. They have reconstructed it though based on trial and error. They did a really good job though! We also stopped at this art gallery selling Batik style art...it is an art form made on cloth. They use wax and multiple dyes to make images on the cloth. It is kind of like the Indonesian version of silk screening. I bought some, and can't wait to take them home to be framed! They are perfect for travelling too because you can just fold them up because they are made of cloth!
Prambanan Temple
We took another train this afternoon and we are in Solo now just for the night. Tomorrow we catch our flight from Solo to Kuala Lumpur and then we fly to Cambodia! Indonesia was a really interesting place. I have enjoyed my time here, but it has really opened my eyes to a totally different way of living.
Will write again from Cambodia!
Sorry I haven't written in a while but the last few days at CIVAS were really busy! One day we went to see a Native Chicken operation in an extremely remote location, and another was spent touring the University of Bogor. We got to see their teaching hospital and other large and small animal teaching facilities...including the surgery and anatomy labs they have. It was pretty similar to OVC and really cool to see! We had to give a presentation to a bunch of students on OVC and Global Vets too, which was kind of fun as well. Our last trip was to a dairy production place in Cikole, which was about a 4 hour drive from Bogor. It turned out to be around a 17 hour day...it was long, but really worth it!
Our last day at CIVAS we gave a presentation on what we had learned during our stay and gave some Canadian comparisons. We also made them some banana chocolate chip pancakes with some of Ryan's real Canadian maple syrup as a bit of a thank-you. They only had a wok to cook them in and the stove was an equivalent to a propane camping stove. It was quite the cooking experience to say the least! Everyone seemed to enjoy them, so I guess it all worked out in the end! That night we had our driver take us to the train station in Jakarta to catch our train to Yogjakarta. On the way we got caught in a traffic jam in a tunnel, we were barely moving and it was bumper to bumper. All of a sudden we saw this one kid pulling on the side mirror of the car in front of us...he managed to rip it off and made off with it! The people in the car did nothing, and not even a minute later this other guy made his way up to the car and used his fists to smash off the other mirror. Again the people in the car did nothing. It was shocking to see! Our driver didn't speak much English and just pointed and said 'rich' and then double checked to make sure the doors of our car were locked. The car that was robbed was really nice according to Indonesian standards - a Toyota which is kind of like our equivalent of a Lexus, so the 'rich' explanation made sense. Needless to say I was pretty rattled after seeing that, particularly because we are seen as being rich, being a Western 'boulais'. The train station was interesting too. Just packed with people and the trains that passed through would often have people (a few children) hanging off the back...Anyways, everything worked out though, and we arrived safe and sound around 5am in Yogjakarta.
Borobudur Temple
A Stupa of Borobudur
That morning we dropped our bags off and then figured our the public transport to take us to Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple in the world. It took about 1.5hrs on this crazy bus with open doors and a bad version of what looked like to be the Indonesian version of American Idol playing on repeat. It was well worth the long and cramped ride though...the temple was absolutely amazing! It is one of the man made wonders of the world...absolutely huge and made entirely out of volcanic stone (it is situated in between 3 volcanoes) and no cement. I really liked it, despite it being so busy. On a weekend 10,000 people will visit it. We had to pose about 50 times, because of all of the Indonesian tourists wanting their picture with the rare 'boulais'.
Today we went to the massive Hindu temple Prambanan. It was really cool too, but I liked Borobudur more. It's also made of volcanic stone, and held together without cement. Unfortunately earthquakes have really destroyed it over the years. They have reconstructed it though based on trial and error. They did a really good job though! We also stopped at this art gallery selling Batik style art...it is an art form made on cloth. They use wax and multiple dyes to make images on the cloth. It is kind of like the Indonesian version of silk screening. I bought some, and can't wait to take them home to be framed! They are perfect for travelling too because you can just fold them up because they are made of cloth!
Prambanan Temple
We took another train this afternoon and we are in Solo now just for the night. Tomorrow we catch our flight from Solo to Kuala Lumpur and then we fly to Cambodia! Indonesia was a really interesting place. I have enjoyed my time here, but it has really opened my eyes to a totally different way of living.
Will write again from Cambodia!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Indonesia IV
Yesterday we went to see some duck farming operations. We learned about the different types (1,2 and 3) and got to see an example of each.
On the way to the farms we passed through a lot of small villages with canals running through them. They (the canals) were between 5-10 feet wide and ran on either side of the street, carrying water to the people in the villages and rice paddies. We saw lots of make-shift toilets hanging over the canals. It looked exactly like in the movie Slum Dog Millionaire. Several meters downstream from the toilets there would be mothers doing their laundry, children swimming and the odd group of ducks swimming about. It was a pretty eye-opening thing to see.
The first farm we stopped at was type 3, which means that all of the ducks are confined at all times. There are probably around 50 or so ducks to a pen. They are mainly used for egg production as duck eggs are eaten quite often in Indonesia. Once their laying days are over they are eaten for meat. It was really interesting to see, but it was incredibly hot. I would say it is the hottest it has been yet...so hot I felt a bit sun stroked/ill.
The next farm we visited was a type 2. This is where the ducks are kept confined but also allowed out into the harvested rice paddies to clean up the field. They eat any left over grain, snails, bugs, etc. and also fertilize the land. The people there were really friendly, and a lady brought out some 'treats' and 'coffee'. They were both very interesting. The treats were these blobs of sticky dough made of rice and rice flour with palm sugar. They were a tan-orange colour and had the consistency of cookie dough...it didn't taste bad, but also didn't taste good. The coffee was also very interesting. They just mix the ground coffee into hot water and serve. The grounds eventually settle to the bottom of the clear drinking glass they serve it in, but you still end up with specks in your teeth. The whole time I was drinking it I was just hoping that the water didn't come from the canals...
We also had the opportunity to stop at a pig farm, which is very uncommon for a Muslim country. The farmers were Chinese and welcomed us to their farm. It was hot and stinky, and the pile of rotting vegetables meant as feed almost made me throw up. I'm glad we went though.
The last duck operation we visited was a type 1, where the ducks are always on the rice paddies and the farmer is always with them. He herds them in at night (which is when they lay their eggs) and camps with them all of the time. The farmer will move them from one field to another once every 1 or 2 months. It was really cool to see since nothing like that exists in Canada. A lot of kids followed us into the rice paddies, some yelling 'Boulais' and others playing shy. A pushing match broke out and 4 kids ended up in the paddie water and crying...kids are kids wherever you go!
For lunch we stopped at a roadside restaurant for BBQ chicken. In a lot of the restaurants (who am I kidding? in ALL of the restaurants) they cook all of the food first and have it on display in the window for however long it is around for. No refrigeration. The lady took our chicken from the window and put it on the grill to heat it up. Before the chicken was ready, Matt noticed that his 'Sambal' (which is a spicy chili mix served on the side that you can add to your food) was moving. It was full of worms...we all decided not to eat ours, except Ryan...
I decided to be adventurous and ate the heart of my chicken. It didn't taste bad, but also didn't taste great. I probably wouldn't eat it again. When you get chicken here it is often quartered and has the kidneys, heart and lungs still attached as they are considered delicacies.
It was an interesting day overall. Very long though! We were completely exhausted in the end.
Today we went to visit a native chicken producer. The native chickens here are much more expensive than your typical broiler chickens and take longer to grow. I guess you could say it is considered a niche market here, and it is something that has really expanded over the past few years. Supposedly they (the native chickens) taste quite a bit better than regular broilers, however I don't taste a difference!
The farm we visited was way up in the mountains. It was a long trek! Most of the day was spent driving. The road was so incredibly bumpy going up to the farm. I was a bit worried we were going to blow a tire!!! The farm was interesting and the farmers were really friendly. They showed us their hatchery, their breeding barn and the birds they were growing...
They cooked us some native chicken for lunch some fried (like most of the food here) and some was in a soup with chicken organs floating in it. We all sat on the floor and ate with our hands. Authentic Indonesian style! They had delicious 'Sambal' for us to mix into our rice, and a salted fish sambal with peanuts too. I mixed the soup broth into my rice with some sambal...it was delicious!
On the way back to CIVAS we stopped at a place that had ram fighting. The man who owned the place was an Indonesian millionaire involved in the oil industry. He had a massive absolutely beautiful house made of wood and stone. It almost looked like a skiing lodge. The grounds around his house consisted of ponds filled with hundreds of Koi fish (which are around $1500 US a fish) and really modern and clean housing for his 150 fighting rams. He brought out two to show us how they fight and explained a bit about judging the fights and more about this Indonesian tradition. I was surprised with the control that each person had over their ram. They would simply clap and the rams would stop charging at each other. It was very interesting, however I doubt it fly in Canada due to the animal welfare issues surrounding it...
Anyways, today was another long day but it was not as hot. What a nice change!
I think that's all for now!
On the way to the farms we passed through a lot of small villages with canals running through them. They (the canals) were between 5-10 feet wide and ran on either side of the street, carrying water to the people in the villages and rice paddies. We saw lots of make-shift toilets hanging over the canals. It looked exactly like in the movie Slum Dog Millionaire. Several meters downstream from the toilets there would be mothers doing their laundry, children swimming and the odd group of ducks swimming about. It was a pretty eye-opening thing to see.
The first farm we stopped at was type 3, which means that all of the ducks are confined at all times. There are probably around 50 or so ducks to a pen. They are mainly used for egg production as duck eggs are eaten quite often in Indonesia. Once their laying days are over they are eaten for meat. It was really interesting to see, but it was incredibly hot. I would say it is the hottest it has been yet...so hot I felt a bit sun stroked/ill.
The next farm we visited was a type 2. This is where the ducks are kept confined but also allowed out into the harvested rice paddies to clean up the field. They eat any left over grain, snails, bugs, etc. and also fertilize the land. The people there were really friendly, and a lady brought out some 'treats' and 'coffee'. They were both very interesting. The treats were these blobs of sticky dough made of rice and rice flour with palm sugar. They were a tan-orange colour and had the consistency of cookie dough...it didn't taste bad, but also didn't taste good. The coffee was also very interesting. They just mix the ground coffee into hot water and serve. The grounds eventually settle to the bottom of the clear drinking glass they serve it in, but you still end up with specks in your teeth. The whole time I was drinking it I was just hoping that the water didn't come from the canals...
We also had the opportunity to stop at a pig farm, which is very uncommon for a Muslim country. The farmers were Chinese and welcomed us to their farm. It was hot and stinky, and the pile of rotting vegetables meant as feed almost made me throw up. I'm glad we went though.
The last duck operation we visited was a type 1, where the ducks are always on the rice paddies and the farmer is always with them. He herds them in at night (which is when they lay their eggs) and camps with them all of the time. The farmer will move them from one field to another once every 1 or 2 months. It was really cool to see since nothing like that exists in Canada. A lot of kids followed us into the rice paddies, some yelling 'Boulais' and others playing shy. A pushing match broke out and 4 kids ended up in the paddie water and crying...kids are kids wherever you go!
For lunch we stopped at a roadside restaurant for BBQ chicken. In a lot of the restaurants (who am I kidding? in ALL of the restaurants) they cook all of the food first and have it on display in the window for however long it is around for. No refrigeration. The lady took our chicken from the window and put it on the grill to heat it up. Before the chicken was ready, Matt noticed that his 'Sambal' (which is a spicy chili mix served on the side that you can add to your food) was moving. It was full of worms...we all decided not to eat ours, except Ryan...
I decided to be adventurous and ate the heart of my chicken. It didn't taste bad, but also didn't taste great. I probably wouldn't eat it again. When you get chicken here it is often quartered and has the kidneys, heart and lungs still attached as they are considered delicacies.
It was an interesting day overall. Very long though! We were completely exhausted in the end.
Today we went to visit a native chicken producer. The native chickens here are much more expensive than your typical broiler chickens and take longer to grow. I guess you could say it is considered a niche market here, and it is something that has really expanded over the past few years. Supposedly they (the native chickens) taste quite a bit better than regular broilers, however I don't taste a difference!
The farm we visited was way up in the mountains. It was a long trek! Most of the day was spent driving. The road was so incredibly bumpy going up to the farm. I was a bit worried we were going to blow a tire!!! The farm was interesting and the farmers were really friendly. They showed us their hatchery, their breeding barn and the birds they were growing...
They cooked us some native chicken for lunch some fried (like most of the food here) and some was in a soup with chicken organs floating in it. We all sat on the floor and ate with our hands. Authentic Indonesian style! They had delicious 'Sambal' for us to mix into our rice, and a salted fish sambal with peanuts too. I mixed the soup broth into my rice with some sambal...it was delicious!
On the way back to CIVAS we stopped at a place that had ram fighting. The man who owned the place was an Indonesian millionaire involved in the oil industry. He had a massive absolutely beautiful house made of wood and stone. It almost looked like a skiing lodge. The grounds around his house consisted of ponds filled with hundreds of Koi fish (which are around $1500 US a fish) and really modern and clean housing for his 150 fighting rams. He brought out two to show us how they fight and explained a bit about judging the fights and more about this Indonesian tradition. I was surprised with the control that each person had over their ram. They would simply clap and the rams would stop charging at each other. It was very interesting, however I doubt it fly in Canada due to the animal welfare issues surrounding it...
Anyways, today was another long day but it was not as hot. What a nice change!
I think that's all for now!
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