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FireFlyz | 33
Flying High For Kids
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year and it is possible to spend days just
looking at all the temples and exploring
the area.
After a meeting with UNICEF the
following day, I headed out to look at the
temples. I first visited Angkor Wat, then
Angkor Thom and a few smaller temples
including Ta Prohm, used as the set of the
movie, Tomb Raider. It was an enjoyable
afternoon exploring the many hidden
tunnels and learning about the history of
the temples.
The following day I visited a local
school and inflated the balloon for the
children. They looked in awe at the
balloon as most would never have seen a
balloon before. The school had a role of
around 400 students and there were up
to 50 children in each class. The principal
showed me with pride their new toilet
facilities which UNICEF had helped to
provide funding for. I talked to a couple
of the classes after the balloon inflation
and told them about what I was doing.
They made postcards for me and I gave
postcards to them, which children had
made from the schools I previously visited
in New Zealand and Australia. The school
really appreciatedmy visit and I felt happy
to bring smiles to the children’s faces.
Immediately after the school visit, I
made my way to Phnom Penh on one of
the worst main roads I’ve ever travelled
on, but that’s a story for the next issue.
D
one
with Bangkok,
it was time for me
to move on to Siem
Reap and I left early
in the afternoon for
Cambodia. A large
section of the road was
under construction on both the Thai and
Cambodia sides, which caused a massive
traffic jam about an hour out of Bangkok.
It turns out that heavy rain had caused the
road, to become a mud bowl and the cars
were going everywhere, trying to work
out which was the best way through it.
I got through the Thai-Cambodian
border without too much hassle and
was shocked to see on the Cambodian
side, a huge mass of people. I was
warned by others about how busy that
particular border crossing was, but I
wasn’t expecting it to be like that. Going
into Cambodia was like entering another
world. People were everywhere and there
wasn’t enough room to pass through the
crowd with my truck. Thankfully, the
police came to my rescue and efficiently
guided me through.
As it turned out the Thai military
led government had asked all illegal
Cambodianworkers to return to Thailand,
and I was there at the peak as tens of
thousands of workers were returning
to Cambodia. People were being loaded
onto army trucks and being transported
to their respective provinces. There was
a lot of yelling and ordering going on.
UNICEF was there to help co-ordinate
the distribution of food and drinks, and
made sure people got home safely. Some
people wouldn’t have had much to eat
for a few days as they travelled from all
corners of Thailand.
I was relieved to finally exit the border
town of Paoy Paet and head to SiemReap,
250km away. I was surprised at how good
the road was – it was in perfect condition
and there was hardly any traffic. The joy
was short lived though. After 100km, just
as it was getting dark, the road turned into
a big construction site for the remaining
150km. Black barrels were put in the
middle of the road marking where holes
were, which weren’t any good when it
was pitch black. Luckily the lights on my
truck are good and I didn’t run into any.
It certainly kept me awake and alert as I
drove into Siem Reap, arriving later that
night and found a hotel to stay.
Siem Reap is a relatively small tourist
town and I could walk to most places.
There is a wide range of hotels to choose
from and hotels are cheap, especially if
you are there during the off-peak season.
The area became popular with
travellers after the discovery of the famous
Angkor Wat temple and the many temples
surrounding it. Hundreds of thousands
of people visit this amazing temple each