http://www.luxurylink.com/community/blogs/claassenam/ en Tue, 21 May 2013 10:15:12 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.luxurylink.com/community/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.luxurylink.com/community/blogs/claassenam/ http://www.luxurylink.com/community/blogs/claassenam/giving-back-cambodia-1199/ Mon, 10 Mar 2008 01:34:59 GMT I've been mulling over what to post as a "Best Travel Experience Story" as we've had so many memorable trips, but this one day in Cambodia really stands out for me as it was one of the first times we took a bit of time to really give back (a little bit) to the community we were visiting, and it was so rewarding that my husband and I hope to do something similar on future journeys.

When I was making plans for a few days visit to Cambodia last August, a fellow Luxury Link contributor referred me to a wonderful local tourguide in Siem Reap and Angkor, Ponheary Ly. Ponheary is not only an excellent tourguide (her English is superb and she really knows her stuff!) she is incredibly devoted to helping out the local schools in her community. As a child Ponheary survived the horrible days of the Pol Pot regime, and she believes that if the younger generation of Cambodians are not properly educated to learn about the country's history they may easily fall into a similar fate. For that reason, she is devoted to her duties as a tourguide in order to solicit the help of visitors from around the world who can donate time and money to the local schools and really improve the facilities and provide supplies to the children.

I originally contacted Ponheary to secure her help as a tourguide but unfortunately she was already booked! She did however have a good friend who could guide us. I mentioned in my email to her that we'd love to do something to help her with the schools and she suggested that we host a lunch for the children at one of the more rural schools - apparently school was out of session for the summer and most of the children worked with their parents in the fields; they generally had much less food to eat during summertime than when they were in school (and when at least a decent lunch was provided for them daily). For what seemed to me to be a rather minimal fee, she would arrange for enough food - chicken soup, rice and drinks - to be prepared to serve all of the schoolchildren she could round up. From her rather casual attitude about the details of the meal, I was expecting maybe 30 local kids to come by for lunch that day.

The time for the trip arrived, and we had a wonderful couple days touring Siem Reap and Angkor with Ponheary's friend Sopheap. Because Ponheary herself was busy with her own clients, we didn't get to meet her until the day of the lunch, but we did speak with her a few times beforehand in order to finalize the details of the day. Finally the day came, and we drove with Sopheap to an area about an hour from Siem Reap proper and arrived at the school. Lo and behold, there were approximately 300 children there waiting for us (and, more so, for the food to be served), with all of their desks pulled out and neatly arranged in rows and all in their school uniforms. We were blown away!



We met Ponheary, who is truly a wonderful and warmhearted person, and she was busy with a dozen local villagers cooking huge vats of soup and rice in a makeshift lean-to kitchen in the back of the school. I was blown away by the amount of work that had gone into this day and I felt so honored to be a part of it, and so humbled that such a small amount of money had provided for it. Really the amount of work Ponheary and the villagers put into the day far exceeded the piddly amount of money we gave, and the reward was so much more.








We weren't the only visitors to the school; Ponheary and a couple other tourguides had brought their clients (all Americans and Europeans) to enjoy the lunch as well and to learn more about the school. She gave us a tour of the school, beginning with the tiny thatch-walled-and-dirt-floor hut that was the original schoolhouse, moving onto the more-substantial-but-now-condemned building that housed the second phase of the school and finishing with the brand-new nice looking and much more modern schoolhouse where the children now can attend school in a light, clean and appropriate space. Thanks to the donation of some of Ponheary's recent clients, water pumps (operated by bicycle) have even been installed that allow the toilets to have running water. Although she had the help of some relief organizations, Ponheary was very instrumental in bringing the school from the days of thatch and mud to the much nicer facility the school has today. She hosts lunches like the one we had that day once every couple months, and also spends a lot of time allocating the funds donated to her organization to bikes, uniforms, books and school supplies. She once even hosted an ice cream party - a huge hit with the kids! - but from her funny story about the melting ice cream I think the logistics of that event were a little overwhelming so that might not happen again.

My husband and I had decided beforehand to haul a big bag of toys, sports equipment and school supplies from the US for the children and the school. Although perhaps we would have been better off purchasing local products or giving the money paid for the supplies directly to the school itself, it was also so fun to share the frisbees, kites, bouncy balls, toothbrushes, pencils, etc. with the kids directly and to play with them throughout the afternoon. Although little English was spoken by the children, we had a lot of fun playing catch, frisbee and attempting to fly the little kites through the trees on a windless day! It was also wonderful to see how neatly they put everything away at the end of the day; all of the athletic equipment went right back to the teacher for safekeeping.








The kids seemed to really enjoy the delicious meal and the day, and they were very sweet and thanked everyone as they got on their bikes or began the walk back to their homes. Ponheary declared it a very successful day. And we left a little teary-eyed to have to say goodbye to everybody, thankful for Ponheary's enormous heart and also thankful for what we have here in the US.

Of course, what we gave and what happened that one day is by no means mind-blowing or life-changing for us or for the children. But it was so wonderful to have a little time with such an inspirational woman in Ponheary and to spend some time with the locals and get to know what life is like in that part of the world, away from all of the tourists and commercialism. If anybody is interested in learning more about Ponheary and her contributions, visit www.theplf.org. ]]> claassenam http://www.luxurylink.com/community/blogs/claassenam/giving-back-cambodia-1199/ http://www.luxurylink.com/community/blogs/claassenam/indian-tiger-safari-958/ Wed, 28 Mar 2007 20:55:35 GMT We spent a couple days of our 20-day tour of India recently at the Oberoi Vanyavilas, a tented safari camp in Sawai Madhopur, on the edge of... We spent a couple days of our 20-day tour of India recently at the Oberoi Vanyavilas, a tented safari camp in Sawai Madhopur, on the edge of Ranthambore National Park. Ranthambore is one of several notable national parks throughout India where tigers can be spotted, the other most famous parks being Jim Corbett and Bandavargh. We mainly chose to visit Ranthambore because of the close proximity to the "Golden Triangle" of Agra, Delhi and Jaipur, and the great reputation of the Oberoi Vanyavilas resort.




Vanyavilas lived up to its reputation. The resort is gorgeous, the individual tents huge and divinely decorated, and the service the best we ever had. We arrived by train from Delhi quite late, at about 2AM, and an ensemble of about ten staff were up waiting up for us, offering us fresh watermelon juice, escorting us to our room,etc. The chef waited up specifically to ask us if he could prepare us a late-night snack, and when we said we were famished he guessed perfectly and prepared some grilled ham-and-cheese sandwiches, pickles and french fries (our first "American" meal after days of eating curries and tikkas, perfect at that late hour!) Every minute we spent at Vanyavilas was heaven, even with the early start to the jeep safaris in the morning!

The perfect safari day: 6AM we waited in the lobby for our jeeps "gypsys" to arrive, where fresh squeezed juices, coffee and cookies were waiting to help us wake up. They packed us into 6-person open jeeps with blankets (with the wind blowing it can be quite cold until the sun comes out) and sent us on our way. It's about a 15 minute drive to the park entrance, where a collection of 6-person jeeps and much larger 20-person "canters" were lined up waiting to get in. They stagger the entrance to the park and break up the entire park into different regions, each gypsy or canter must stay in their designated region. Thus, some haggling can go on behind the scenes for the driver and guides to get the better regions where the most tigers have been seen. More tiger spottings = happier passengers = bigger tips for the driver! Well, we got lucky! After spotting some tracks and droppings, we tracked down two 8-month old tiger cubs within the first hour of the safari. One was waiting on the side of the road, posing quietly for us as if he knew we wanted his photo:

He and his sibling showed off for us for a while, wrestling and playing in the trees a bit. We went off and explored a bit more of the park but kept returning to spy on these two amazing cubs. They ultimately were hiding back behind a bunch of bushes, and the 6 of us in the jeep kept having to essentially play "Where's Waldo" trying to spot the cubs in the brush. Regardless of the chance of spotting one of the 32 current tigers and cubs at Ranthambore, the park itself is gorgeous, with some lakes, some old ruins of castles and hunting lodges strewn throughout. The huge crumbling Ranthambore fort still hovers high above on a peak and hindu ceremonies are still held in a temple in the same area. There is a wide assortment of other wildlife including elk, parrots, monkeys, several types of deer, peacocks, crocodiles, wild boars, etc. Even without a tiger spotting, the trip is worthwhile. Of course, the drivers are incredibly focused on finding a tiger for their passengers to photograph, so it really becomes a game of cat-and-mouse!

After our three hours in the park were up, we drove back to Vanyavilas to have breakfast, swap stories of tiger spottings (or lack thereof, as the case may be) with other guests, and relax until the afternoon safari. The breakfast there is fabulous, served if you like in their outdoor courtyard surrounding a big bonfire pit. A well-deserved meal after all that driving around!

1PM and back out for drive number two! I have to admit my husband and I were still on a high from seeing the first two cubs. Only about half of the guests we spoke with saw anything during their first drive, and spotting a cub earns you extra bragging rights! We didn't necessarily have high expectations for the second drive and doubted that anything could top the sightings of the first. And for the first couple hours we were correct. We drove to a new, more open and more beautiful area of the park where the biggest lake is located. Literally hundreds of animals were feeding and hanging around in the marshy areas around the lake. Our driver thought there was a chance the famous tiger "Lady of the Lake" (the world's most photographed tiger) would appear, but after a couple hours of lingering around the same areas we were ready to give up. My husband and I weren't disappointed - we had had an excellent morning sighting and could leave for the day happy - but the driver was determined. Finally, just before we were ready to leave, we went back to the same spot we had been lurking all afternoon. We knew something was up when we saw several other jeeps circled around. There she was, the "Lady of the Lake" acting the diva in a little mud puddle, splashing around and posing for all of the paparazzi! She was huge and gorgeous, and gave my husband some amazing photos:



Then, just as she was getting up and beginning to leave the area, our driver began leaving also. He seemed to know what he was doing, so we dared not protest! Amazingly, "Lady"


was not far behind. Our driver knew that she was circling around the lake and he took a back way to catch up. Little did we know that what he suspected would happen was about to come true: "Lady" was circling to pick up her 3 3-month old cubs, who had never before been seen by visitors! The four of them crossed directly in front of our jeep and then walked on down the road. We were speechless. They were amazing.




After all of this excitement, we were thrilled and exhausted! We were happy to retreat back to our lovely tent for a well-needed nap. And after resting and revisiting our new hundreds of photos, we returned to the Vanyavilas dining room for an amazing alfresco dinner, this time with a full bonfire and live musical accompaniment. Thankfully all of the Vanyavilas guests had had at least one tiger spotting during the day. Several had joined us in the spotting of "Lady of the Lake". Spirits were very high! I can't recommend Vanyavilas and a visit to Ranthambore National Park enough. It really was the highlight of our entire trip to India, which was in itself filled with wonderful days. Vanyavilas was superb. Besides the safari excursions, it is a wonderful relaxing place to unwind after days of dealing with the craziness of the Indian cities. The service is exceptional without being suffocating. There are other activities to be had, such as a spa treatment or yoga class. We decided our second day to skip the jeep tours (the first day had been so good, we didn't think it could get any better!) and had a private yoga class in their outdoor yoga pavilion, which is serene and lovely. There were even wild peacocks walking around in the distance as we did our down dogs and sun salutations! It was a lovely couple days and I wouldn't have changed it. Hopefully Luxury Link will add some of these Oberoi hotels to the portfolio as they would fit the criteria perfectly.







Message Edited by claassenam on 04-09-200710:15 AM ]]> claassenam http://www.luxurylink.com/community/blogs/claassenam/indian-tiger-safari-958/