Dylan & Helen’s Weblog

The day after our first visit to the Royal Rattanak Hospital we had a lie in before enjoying some western food and heading back to Takeo, everyone was there to greet us including some of the kids, who wanted to make sure “Daddy Dylan” was OK. Dylan then rested while I went over to the orphanage with Jo, we took some crafty stuff with us to make some pictures with the kids and got a great reception, as always, when we got there. Everyone was asking after Daddy Dylan and I kept assuring them that he was OK.

INFECTIONS!
We sat down and started with the pictures when I heard Yah, one of the younger boys, shouting me through the window of the boys bedroom, he was saying something about being hot and a fever, so I went in to check on him. When I got to the room I realised that there was nothing wrong with Yah it was one of the older boys Seban, he was lying in the corner, face down and dripping in sweat half asleep. The children and soaked his t-shirt and lay it over his back, this was boiling, poor Seban had a bad fever. While Jo went to get Neville I sat and tried to cool the poor guy down, the kids kept pointing to one of his legs, a cut had become infected. Neville arrived and with Jo they got him into the car and he went off to the hospital where he ended up staying a few days, we have since found out that he is now OK but it is amasing how ill these kids can get if something a simple as a small cut, if not treated and cleaned correctly, can become so serious in a couple of days, I was just releived that Yah had shouted me over, another day and who knows what state the poor guy would have been in, it looked like we had caught it just in time.

While Jo was at the hospital I stayed with the rest of the children and we enjoyed an afternoon getting messy with paper and glue making some pictures, the kids especially liked the pipe-cleaners, and when I had shown them how to make a simple butterfly with them they were off and I left the place covered in butterfly pipe cleaner necklaces and headbands they had made for me. I tried to ge the kids to keep some of them but they insisted on giving them to me as presents, they are all little sweeties.

FINALLY – A BBQ
That evening was quiet one but we did manage to have our first BBQ, hurray the thing was eventually finished and had been the cause of a lot of sweeat and blood (especially for Dylan who got ran over picking up the charcoal for it!!). Rob and Andre did a fine job of the cooking with masses of burgers, fresh fish (when they had picked these up from the market they were still swimming and the market vendor had asked if they wanted to kill the fish, they had politely declined and let the market vendor instead – you don’t get much fresher than that though), pork chops, beef steaks and some home made chips and crunchy salad prepared by Linda and Kayleigh – I mashed up some prok for Dylan so he managed to eat a little!. We all ate till we burst before heading upstairs to watch a couple of films before bed.

LAST DAY AT THE ORPHANAGE
The next day was our last full day there and I was determined to finish the Angkor Wat mural so headed to the orphanage early and with help from pretty much all the kids we managed to finish it by early afternoon, myself and the kids ere very proud and triumphant and so it was signed at the bottom “painted by Helen and all the kids at the NFO”. Dylan joined us later for a couple of hours and we spent time playing and running around for the last few hours, it was heartbreaking explaining to the kids that we were leaving the next day I didn’t want to say goodbye! It was Max’s last day too, most of the volunteers were heading to Sihanoukville in the morning for a New Years knees up and Max, like ourselves wasn’t coming back. The 3 of us had to be dragged away from the place, receiving thank yous and good lucks from everyone as we left. And of course there had to be one last picture taken with every one of the kids, we have a really good couple of group shots with most of the kids in which I love. Lumps in our throats we headed back to the house (I ended up promising I would go back in the morning to say one last goodbye) for our final home made Khmer meal, pork and fried ginger. They dont use ginger as a seasoning here, the fried ginger was the main ingredient with a bit of meat thrown in, very spicey.

The next morning was spent packing and then I headed off for one last visit at the orphanage with Linda. Another prolonged goodbye to the kids, some of the boys wanted to say goodbye to Dylan, Chai especially as he had missed him the afternoon before, so we agreed to walk them back to the house with us, stopping for some strawberry milk and biscuits as a treat on the way. We then jumped into a taxi after saying our goodbyes again and were off to Phnom Penh for a check up at the Royal Rattanak.

ANOTHER HOSPITAL VISIT
We managed to get out of the hospital at a decent time, they had wanted to do a CAT scan but we weren’t able to get the OK from the insurance at the time (without the insurance this would have cost about $250, so we had to wait for their OK), so promised to come back in tomorrow, to get the dressings changed and to see if the insurance had agreed to the CAT scan. The evening before New Years Eve and it was impossible to get any cheap rooms so we ended up, after a look about, with a pricey room but air con (a luxury we normally pass on because of the expense), we went out and treated ourselves to a nice meal and after some good chats and games with the kids selling their books headed back to the hotel.

Another stop at the hospital to get Dylans dressings changed (no OK for the CAT scan but there had been no dizzyness or sickness so he seemed OK) and we were off to Sihnoukville. We had heard from the gang who had booked a place for us, mabaged to get the last 2 seats on the last bus of the day, it left at 2.30pm and we were told only 4 hours to get there so we would get out in plenty of time. We forgot however about Camodian time, at 8pm we arrived at the hotel and a quick wash and change and we were out to meet everyone.

SIHNOUKVILLE NEW YEARS EVE
We found then in a casino, Rob, Kayleigh, Max, Aundre, Alana, Caroline, Peter and Yael were all participating in a little gambling. They had found this place the evening before and good news, the drinks and snacks were free, the bad news was that Max had managed in 2 evenings to lose $80, the drinks didn’t feel too cheap to him! We had a couple of games of Black Jack and managed to stay even for the hour we were there, I made the most of the free drinks while poor Dylan had a few Cokes and a snack. Unfortunately the staff decided that we weren’t losing enough money but were drinking too much alcohol so stopped serving us, what a travisty. This didn’t dampen our spirits though we just quickly headed down to the beach where the proper party was going on.

The beach front was great, the music was blaring, bonfires were lit, fireworks going off everywhere and fire dancers parading around the beach. We grabbed some seats and all ordered our Mekon buckets (whiskey – lots of!, coke and Redbull). The rain came so we headed for shelter (Dylan couldn’t get his bandages wet), the rain didn’t dampen everyone elses spirits and the dancing around the bonfire continued with everyone wet but warm and loving it!! We had a few drinks (Dylans was water) and after a few drinking games and laughs, saw New Year in. We then headed back while the party continued into the night.

The next couple of days were a mixture of hospital visits (Dylan had had a few nose bleeds which were worrying, but the doctor OK’d him, he also found out from the doctors, after one night where he ran out of Asprin and was in extreme pain, that the painkillers he was taking were in fact anti-flamitaries!!! He had been perscibed nothing for pain relief, what a trooper!) and trips to the bars at the beach front, Sessions being our favourite. We spent many an hour there on buckets, buying braceletes from the kids, being fleeced by them when challanged to a game of noughts and crosses, and having a laugh with the rest of the gang. I don’t want to go into the details but there was many a drunken fun laugh had by all.

The guys all left on the 3rd but because Dylan couldn’t get up to much with all his dressings, and he needed them changing daily to avoid infections, we decided to stay for an extra couple of days and just chill by the beach. It was great chilling out on a lounger and dipping into the sea when a little warm. The sea is nothing like I have been in before, there is no chill to it at all, it is still nice and refreshing but lovely and warm. In the evenings we would grab a comfy chair at a bar and watch the sun go down over the ocean, the setting was great and the sunsets too have been magnificant. The last couple of evenings there Dylan had finished his antibiotics so was able to drink and appreciate the wonder of a Meekon Bucket, he even tried fire dancing one night (keep an eye out for the video coming soon!!!) but after a few days it was time to move on so after a day of buses and ferries we arrived back in Thailand at Ko Chang Island.

KO CHANG
The first evening we found a little bungalow just off the beach and headed out for some food, it was great to be back and appreciate some good Thai food. Our only full day was spent on a little scooter exploring the island, we found a great market, all the huts were on stilts and actually over the sea, there were people sat fishing next to some of the restraunts ready for the next customer, although we didn’t buy anything it was a great place just to walk around. The beaches were many and we found a little bar next to one called Kai Bae Beach, where we sat and enjoyed some noodles for lunch. We went through a small fishing village in the south of the Island and also visited the Thanmayom Waterfall. This is the most famous waterfall on Koh Chang because King Rama V and King RamaVI both visited it and inscribed their names at the top of the cliff! It was a nice short walk up to the waterfall and Dylan was extremely amused when I panicked when all the little fishes started eating my feet!!

We got back to our beach, White Sand Beach, just in time for the sunset and enjoyed a quiet drink while the sun went down, another spectacular sun set. We then had some more great Thai food before I went to bed, not feeling too well. Dylan decided to stay out for a few more beers and popped to a small bar next to our bungalow, where he enjoyed a couple of drinks with some locals. He was offered a lady for the evening under the pretence of a massage but gracefully declined and when asked if his wife was a “Thai Wife” corrected the vendor stating he actually had a “proper wife”.

OFF TO BANGKOK
The next day we were up early for another long day of travelling, yet more buses and ferries, we left Koh Chang at 7.30am to arrive in Bangkok (our final destination in South East Asia) at around 6pm. We were dropped off at Khao San Road and decided to stay at the same hotel as before, getting a nice cheap room. We then re-booked our Thai Cabaret, they had given us the wrong time for the show last time but where happy to give us replacement tickets without any hassle or money, and headed to the bar. We did a lot of people watching, Dylan enjoyed a very nice mixed sea food noodles with Thai gravy, when I say mixed seafood that doesn’t mean a few prawns and some tuna, he had a mass of fresh squid, octupus, shrimp and fish, there was actually more seafood than noodles!! After a while we ended up talking to a guy called Daniel from London who has been away for a month, getting a lot of places squeezed into his short visit. He was off to Koh Chang in the morning so we gave him as many tips as we could and told him if he could to get some diving or snorlking in while he was there. A few more drinks and again I headed back to the room as I’ve had a dodgy stomach for a few days (not nice for long bus journeys I can assure you!) – leaving Dylan to enjoy a couple of extra drinks.

AND AUSTRALIA NEXT…
This brings us up to date, today is our last full day in Bangkok so after a visit to the hospital for Dylan to get the OK to fly it’s shopping in Kao San Road, some good food and then off to watch the He-She’s in the Cabaret act in the Asia Hotel. Flying to Aus tomorrow, looking forward to seeing everyone while we are there – Kat only a week to go!!!!