Elephants, Lewis & Angkor Hospital

Lewis at the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) Phnom Penh

Thank you for all your concerns about my ankle.  It is a boring subject, but to clear up the inquiries, I fell in a hole on 2 ave in NYC, five days before leaving on this trip.  I got a bone contusion and tendonitis in two tendons.  Needless to say, it was very painful.  I left from JFK in a wheelchair, moved to two crutches upon arrival in Thailand, moved to one crutch in Laos, and then to just an air cast on the first day in Cambodia.  I’m managing with the air cast, icing, anti inflammatory drugs and some great massage.  I still travel with a crutch, as sometimes I need it.  It has been sobering, humbling and a challenge making photographs.  Maybe it was time to slow down from my normal high speed pace…..

Phnom Penh is a very different city than when we were there in 1998 to adopt Lewis.  Not only is it much larger, but the infrastructure (although still very much a third world city) is markedly better than it was then.  Many main roads are paved, there is at least one wonderful hotel, many more necessities of life are available, and to go along with that, millions of more people!  The traffic is horrendous!  The good thing about it being the rainy season, is that it is not so hot and dusty, just hot and rainy, which I much prefer!

The Palm Tree kids are crazy about Lewis and he is loving being surrounded by kids that look just like him.

Thailand Elephant riding

Since I can’t stop thinking about elephants, and everyone seems to enjoy hearing about them, I wanted to share a bit more about our Thailand experience.

It is a fantastic experience to ride an elephant directly on their back (really, in front of their shoulders, behind their head), rather than the  more common way of being inside a basket.  They move slowly with so much control of their “being”.  Initially, being up so high, takes some getting used to, but the elephant actually makes you feel safe.  We trekked up and down some steep terrain, and never felt like we were going to fall off.  My elephant, Phet, even spun around once, when she felt nervous about another elephant that was free in the jungle/forest, that we had to pass, and the whole thing felt like slow motion.  They could walk up on you in a group, and they are so quiet, you might never even hear them, until they nuzzled you with their soft trunks, that they so inquisitively like to do.  The preserves have been set up to rescue elephants that were captured and taken to Bangkok, and elsewhere, to be used for begging.  Unfortunately, people seem more likely to give money to someone begging with an elephant, than without one.  The elephants were often starving and being beaten.  Heartbreaking to think about.  The other problem for these big, majestic creatures, is they can destroy a field of crops in a heartbeat, so farmers tend to hate them, and will often shoot them, to protect their crops.  Like so many creatures and people in the world, elephants need our help to protect them, so they can live the life they deserve to.

This might seem like a random subject, but we visited an Opium Museum in the Golden Triangle, which did not allow photography, but was a fascinating and educational experience, that we all enjoyed.  It is a big step that the Thai people have made the growing of opium illegal.  There is a huge effort to educate about the dangers of drug addictions.  The King’s Mother was very involved in helping villages create alternative ways of supporting themselves, and was also very responsible for the creation of the Opium Museum.  It was interesting to learn about how opium growing/trading/use shaped so much of history for centuries!  This is a fascinating part of history, including two opium wars that took place between England and China.  It was the reason that England took over Hong Kong!  I don’t think this is part of World History in the USA, although it was a huge influence on this part of the world.

down pour

Teaching nurses at the hospital

Paruth's baby girl

After being involved with the support of Friends without a Border, since its beginnings in 1998, I was thrilled to finally get to visit/tour the Angkor Hospital for Children today.  No one is turned away, regardless of whether or not they can pay for treatment.  So much progress has been made in terms of the facility, the staff, and the care provided.  There is even a large garden where parents are educated in nutritional needs for their kids.  Malnutrition is one of the main reasons kids are brought to the hospital.   Poor families who have traveled a great distance to bring their sick kids, are given a place to stay over, as well as  food that they can cook in the communal kitchen.  I could write volumes about this wonderful facility and the amazing people/doctors/nurses who work there, but I fear I am verging on the saturation level.  I would like to invite those who are interested,  to check out the FWB web site, and if you are interested in their work, let me know, so I can put you on our guest list, for the table Curt and I  always get for their annual NYC fund raising gala–which is always a fun and inspiring evening.

Time for a good night’s sleep, as we are rising at 4:30am for Dawn Patrol at Angkor Wat.  I hope it won’t be raining…..