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14.
Pig Rabies
4th
December 2004
 Hello one and all,
I thought I'd drop you a note about my goings on. Just
finished a trip through Cambodia as per usual had an incident,
with a passenger being "mauled by a wild animal"
at the Angkor temples. I suppose I should rephrase that
and say bitten by a domestic pig but it really doesn't
sound the same does it? Little bit of a drama as rabies
was a bit of a concern.
Went
around the clinics in Siem reap (the one near Angkor Wat)
and then was phoning hospitals in Phnom Penh (the capital)
to see if they could fly some vaccine in. The result:
no vaccine available in Cambodia! So flew the passenger
to Bangkok so they could clean out the pig bite and make
sure he wouldn't start frothing at the mouth in the near
future!
Was
lucky that the trip was in Phnom Penh as the same time
as the water festival. The festival marks the time of
year when the Tonle Sap river reverses it course. For
three days there are dragon boat races up and down the
river and our hotel has a river view so we were able to
watch all the activity. Fireworks and river floats each
night.
Heaps
of people came in from the provinces so streets were marked
off so no traffic could get into town. Very very busy
but our local guide did say that numbers were down by
at least 50% on previous years because the harvest is
late and many farmers can't make the trip in.
All
the same being white and tall (for Cambodia) with light
hair really made you stand out in the crowd and we were
objects of curiosity for many of the local people who
would stare and touch our pale arms. They were very intrigued
by one of my passengers who was a rather big guy - happy
Buddha.
I
am really enjoying Cambodia at the moment, such friendly
people. One night after returning from dinner with the
group the staff from the hotel invited me out. I had no
idea where they were headed but that rarely stops me so
I piled on into the car and we drove down to the lake
(Tonle Sap) It seems it was the final day of a Buddhist
ceremony and everybody was heading to the temple for a
good blessing.
The
traffic jam was hilarious as it was 10pm at night and
motorbikes, bicycles, carts and the odd car not going
anywhere. We got out and walked the last few kms. Siem
reap being the small town it is meant we kept bumping
into people that I even knew - a few drivers, a few guides,
the cleaning ladies from floor 3.
We
eventually got to the temple where one of the girls bought
a small plastic bag full of fake flowers, a few cents,
a mirror, soap etc. Each item represented something like
health, beauty, love, work and serves as merit in the
next life. She gave it to a monk who then blessed her.
I was more intrigued by the other monks who were sitting
around untying all the little bags and putting the fake
flowers in one pile, the mirrors in another, the exercise
books in another and then counting the piles of cash that
were in all the little bowls. Obviously the fund raiser
for the year and a lot more interesting than a small fete
with some sponge cake for sale.
Massive
flooding in Vietnam and I was lucky I wasn't leading there
over the past week or so. Many trips had to make alternative
arrangements and a couple of groups got stranded; two
in the train, a few in Hue and Hoi An and the best was
the group that had to spend the night in the local post
office on top Hai Van pass. So enjoying an annual festival
was definitely a better trip to be leading at that time!
I
am currently in Bangkok and my Mum and Kevin arrive in
a few days. I am now off to the shopping centre. A friend
in Cambodia has asked for me to bring back some cocoa
butter moisturiser from the Body Shop as she is pregnant
and concerned about stretch marks, she is also craving
Hungry Jacks but I said I couldn't help her with that.
Also to buy myslef a birthday present - either a digital
camera, lap top or a scooter.
Marlo
About
the Author
Marlo Perry is a Group Leader for the Australian based
tour operator, Intrepid
Travel.
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