Battambang

Arriving in Battambang we checked into the Golden Pagoda Hotel. It was also quite acceptable and familiar to our western senses.  I guess what I’m  talking about is the toilet – if it’s a raised commode with a seat and a flush tank, they are catering to us.  If it’s a depression in the floor with a drain hole to squat over, it’s what they are accustomed to. People are more flexible in the Asian world , there is no doubt about that.  We also had the Dark Night Restaurant next door for our meals.  I wasn’t too crazy about the name but it turned out to be insignificant. 

The highlight of our day was the visit to the Battambang Asia’s Hope campus, and it really is a campus. There were seven nice houses, one so new that it hadn’t been occupied yet.  They are nicely designed with big dorm rooms for the boys and girls, rooms for parents and helpers, kitchen and eating area  and a large central hall for congregating.  This hall is open to the outside most of the time but does have large sliding doors for bad weather and security.  Everywhere we have gone there are tile or stone floors that are really quite beautiful. I have yet to see a carpet anywhere and I can certainly see the sense in that. They also take off their sandals before going inside but are tolerant of us who forget to do it. 

This was dance night and we all had been looking forward to it.  Around dusk everyone got together outside one of the houses and the music started.  It was a dance much like one would see back in the states with modern music, modern moves, some line dances, lots of rhythm and probably the notable difference was that everyone participated.  They have a good idea about keeping everyone moving in the same direction around the middle of the area. It was fun and we needed the exercise after all the sitting.

It’s hard to get good pictures in the dark but I tried taking some when Trish passed out glow sticks to all the kids. In playback I was disappointed to see marks like water drops on the pictures, assuming it was dirt on outside of the lens.  Other people had the same thing happen with their pictures but I don’t think we were aware of it until the next morning.  We all went back to the hotel around 9:30 and tumbled into bed, not necessarily to sleep. Trish and Mike get massaged (nearly to death)at every opportunity – kind of a good thing and very kindly intentioned.  I would say there is an occasional bruise but most of it feels good, I think. 

 See the strange bubbles in the picture below.