The weekend any dreams of Modern Pentathlon went out the window

This weekend we were away on our Youth Fellowship Weekend in Castelwellan. Our YF weekend has been in Castlwellan since time immemorial. My first one there was in Form 2 and I know there has been one around this time of year ever since. Of course I haven't been on them all. The first one I missed was to go to my first Autumn Soul in 1999, and then you might be aware that I lived abroad a couple of years (or have I not mentioned on here?) So with that and Castlwellan Holiday Week that makes a whole truck load of time (I may have made up that collective noun) I have spent there. Yet this year was the very first time I have ever been around the lake. I don't know why I've never walked around it before. But nope, never, not once.

When I started running at the end of the summer, I thought it might be a nice goal to try to kill two birds with one stone and run it sometime over our weekend there. I checked with Patrick N as to how long it was (knowing he runs it in the mornings at CHW sometimes). He said it was about 2.5 miles which is about what I usually run so I knew I wasn't setting myself an impossible goal or anything. And even though I was very late packing on Friday night (6.10pm when I had to be in the church carpark at 6.30pm) I made sure I had all my running stuff - iPod, earphones, track bottoms, trainers, etc. Of course in the packing (and subsequent visits to the house before leaving the 'head, I totally neglected to bring any other socks than the ones I was wearing and the ones for running. Mmmn mmmn.

It would have made much more sense to run on Sunday morning. Way more sense. The clocks went back on Saturday night so Sunday morning would be brighter and I would have had more sleep with the extra time in bed and the forecast was marginally better for Sunday morning. But I think I was scared of missing my chance or something. So when the alarm went off at 7.15am on Saturday I got up, got ready and thought nothing of the dark, cold and rain that would meet me when I got outside.

Safety first I texted an other leader when I left (and when I got back) and I even took my phone with me, which I never really do at home and off I set. Had I heard the rain in my room when the alarm went I might not have gone, but standing on the door step at 7.30am fully dressed and ready for a run, I pressed on ahead.

Now, like I said, I've never been around the lake before so I really didn't have a clue how I was doing. This didn't really matter because aside from the slight suggestion of the path, I couldn't really see anything. I kept waiting for the path to curve and it doesn't, not until the very end. As lakes go, this one is quite thin and narrow. You will probably know this already though. When I got up to the top end I was quite chuffed as it didn't really seem to take a whole lot out of me. I knew that, barring any accidents, I would make it all the way around. I took my phone out and took a quick photo.

Its likeness to Angkor Wat is uncanny.

The second side of the lake, I honestly felt like I was walking. It didn't feel hard at all. That must mean I'm getting good right?! I passed a sign pointing back the way I'd run saying 3km and I had to check Nike+ because I didn't believe it! I knew I'd start to see familiar things when I was getting close, goodness knows I wasn't going to see the Castle on a morning like that until I was about to fall into it. And sure enough, a few minutes of running later there was the hill that the water slide used to be on when the proper hill is closed off. I had such a smile of my face because I knew I had done it, even though there was a bit more to do to get back to the start.

This is me at the end. It was hard to get me and the Castle in the shot, plus it was raining. But I hope you will take this as proof that I did indeed do it.

The rest of the weekend went very well. The 'spiritual' parts of the weekend were good. We looked at having passion and not just going through the motions. And things seems to click with some people. Plus it's always nice to take a group away and become a little bit closer and get to know everyone a little bit better.

We were a pleased with our alternate Saturday plans. Normally we'd go into Newcastle and doss around in the afternoon but everyone was growing to hate Newcastle. So this year we went to do some adventure activities like laser clay pigeon shooting and archery.

It all looks so promising.

It was a good job I had got my sportiness in for the day already because I suck at hand-eye coordination. In archery we had five arrows to shoot. Yeah, so I got two on target for the massive score of 13. One of the other leaders told me the lowest, yes lowest score in his group was 28! In laser clay pigeon shooting, I hit one clay pigeon. One. I don't care, I'm good at other stuff. Plus by some sort of fluke, in the arrow off at the end of the archery, somehow my arrow managed to hit the target and be closest to the Fredo bar, so I won! Yee ha!

And a good time was had by all.

The rest of Cambodia

Hot on the heels of my apology to Mr. Moo, here is the second part of my Cambodia trip. Well, there's no point apologising if you're not going to change your actions.

So after a full morning of temple watching, I went back to my hotel, had a cold shower, a change of clothes, lunch and went off out to Tonle Sap. A few people had said this is cool, seeing the floating villages. Well, ok, one person that I remember but I'm very trusting. And they were right, although it was not without some panic.

Vanna, my tuk-tuk driver drove me down to the banks of the lake (about 30 minutes ride from downtown Siem Reap) where the boats sit and wait for tourists to come along. There were loads of boats and a decent amount of tourists, including one group of about 6 who had just paid their money like I had. As I was led down the gangway to the boat I realised that they were no longer with me and that I was being led to the boat alone. It took a moment for me to realise just what was going on; it wasn't a group boat trip, it was a private hire of a boat.

Normally I'm alright travelling on my own and am up for some adventures. I'm sensible, I'm safe, I look like I know where I'm going even when I don't and I head back to the hotel before it's late. Heck, in Bali I even wore a fake wedding ring and pretended not to speak English so as not to get drawn in to conversations with strangers. But here I was getting on a boat with two men (one the driver (is there a driver on a boat?) and the other the guide. Aside from Vanna, no one in the world knew where I was and once I was on board sailing out even he wouldn't know. Oh. Dear. Goodness.

And then of course there was the boat itself. I mean, I'm no expert but I'd stick my neck out and say it wouldn't pass EU regulations on boat safety. Just a hunch I got from the sound of the motor and the age of the wood. But it was too late to do anything now. Plus I'd paid my money. Sure, I might never be seen again, but who wants to waste money? Not me.

We sailed out past the little floating huts and the guide told me what they were used for. There were shops, a school with floating basketball court and even something that looked like a florists. I was beginning to relax as we passed by other tourists on their own tours just as we made it out the narrow channel to the lake proper and then we stopped.

Like stopped.

As in the driver turned off the engine and we stopped. I looked around nervously for some sort of weapon I could use to protect myself for when the need arose. Talk of water snakes made the possibility of swimming an less likely option but I consoled myself with thoughts of my Silver Medallion and the fact my shorts and tank top wouldn't soak up as much water as jammies do.

Perhaps they sensed my inner panic and maybe even spotted me trying to think of ways I could use my chair in self defence, but after about ten minutes we were making our way back down the channel. My concern wasn't to end however, we were going to see the crocodiles. Oh good. Just then I could hear how the news story would sound at home 'A British tourist was mauled to death by crocodiles in Cambodia today. The authorities would fly her body home if there was anything left...'

Anyway, needless to say I am alive and well. My boat did not capsize, sink, I was not eaten by water snakes or crocodiles and my guide and driver were so lovely as to not kill me. I even tipped them for that.

My boat. This was once they'd dropped me off. I resisted the deep desire to kiss the little dock I was standing on. Well, at least til they had sailed out of view.

Even this little boat overtook us.

Your local boat battery store.

House proud or florists?

The little channel we sailed up. Look at the boy in the bottom right of the picture. He's floating in what can only be described as a big bowl.

In retrospect, I am really glad I went to Siem Reap first of all, even though there was more I wanted to do in Phnom Penh. That was just the way the airline flew, Singapore - Siem Reap - Phnom Penh - Singapore so it obviously made sense to do it that way. But it got me accustomed to the country in the safety of fellow tourists.

This was the view from the restaurant where I had dinner one night. See, touristy.

This is that dinner. Apparently it was a traditional Cambodian meal of chicken, vegetable and cashew nuts. Not wanting to offend Cambodian sensitivities but it was very like the Chicken and Cashew Nuts from our local Chinese.

This is the Cambodian King and Queen. Is it just me or does she look like our own HRH?! He looks nothing like Philip though which sadly rules out any summer fete work as lookalikies.

So after Siem Reap I was off to Phnom Penh. It was a lot less touristy and felt much more like real Cambodia.

They like their bikes in Phnom Penh.

I had this amazing meal in a restaurant run by former street children, called Friends. Should you ever find yourself in Phnom Penh, you should go there. Seeing and reading what they've done here filled me with hope.

This is Wat Phnom, a temple in Phnom Penh. I didn't go in, I was all templed out remember. But I did want to see the big clock. It's Cambodia's largest clock, don't you know.

I had done a module in university on South East Asia and for my assignment had written an essay about the genocide of Pol Pot's regime in the 1970s. I had always wanted to see for myself the places I'd read and written about but never got the chance when I lived in Singapore. So this summer seemed like a good chance.

This is Tuol Sleng. It used to be a high school in Phnom Penh before the Khmer Rouge took it over and made a prison and torture centre out of it, S-21. They have the rooms more or less the way they were and photos of what was found there. An extra twist in the visit, which I didn't expect, was how like my school in Singapore it was - the layout of the buildings and the outside corridor. This brought added poignancy to the visit.

The Khmer Rouge took photos of everyone that came into S21 and these pictures take up many of the classrooms now. I don't think I'll forget how scared everyone looked.

The next day I went out to one of the killing field sites, Choeung-ek. It's a good way out of the city and into the countryside. It should be such a beautiful place, but its history just stops any feelings of warmth.

They built this memorial. It's filled with about hundreds of the skulls they found here.

All the skulls have the same tiny cracks showing where the people were beaten over the head.

Each one of the pits you can see here had hundreds of people buried here. They found nearly 9000 bodies here but no one is any doubt that there are more.

There was virtually no one the Khmer Rouge wouldn't kill. This tree was one of the hardest things to look at during my visit.

It's the tree they used to kill babies by beating them on it.

So there you have it. Lovely people, beautiful country, terrible history, but a hopeful future.

Dear Mr. Moo

I was saddened to learn of your disappointment in me for not giving you a full and proper retelling of my summer adventures sooner. I will try to do better for you (and indeed my other handful of readers as I'm sure you are not alone in your frustration). You have mentioned to me how much you enjoy hearing my tales of nothingness so I do hope you will understand that it was not my intention to deliberately keep my summer from you, it was just hard for me to get the time to say it. When I did have the time, then it became hard to know what exactly to say about it as it was a trip filled with mixed emotions, happiness at seeing so many familiar faces, but also sadness that so much had changed in the intervening months. But you are right, there should be no excuse for not blogging (goodness know I'm on t'internet often enough). If I were not as polite as I am, I might point out that I have blogged approximately twenty times since your previous post way back on June 18. But like I said, I far too polite to mention it. Instead I shall endeavour to make a better fist of blogging more often and sooner after big events like summer trips.

I hope you, Mrs. Moo, Master Moo and of course Little Moo are all doing well. I hope to see you in the very near future so as to catch up face to face as opposed to waiting for one or other of us to blog,

With kind regards and warm wishes,

Tina the Princess xxx

Temple watching

I'm admitting defeat tonight. I know, it's hard to believe that I would be a quitter. I'm so determined, so motivated, so eager. But tonight I've had it for working.

So instead I shall tell you about my trip to Cambodia. You might have seen my pictures on Facebook and know that I went but I didn't mention it on the last travel blog. On Saturday just passed my parents finally got the postcard I sent when I was there. I'd forgotten I'd sent it. My mum had 'forgotten' (morelike erased from her memory) that I went all lonely planet and adventurous in a developing country which had once been ravaged by war and genocide. Anyway, with the postcard now in my dad's special Tina section of his stamp collection (you know I'm not joking) I shall post a few pictures and what not.

I flew to Siem Reap and after some confusion at the airport regarding the US$20 you have to pay to get in the country (it was the immigration guy's fault, he didn't take it from me) I made my way outside where I was picked up with one of those airport signs with your name on it. This one was nice and professional, unlike the one I had in Singapore which told every arriving passenger before me about my lack of teeth brushing in the last 36 hours.

Riding in my tuk-tuk from the airport. The air con was great.

At hotel, which was very nice, I more or less headed straight out to the Angkor Wat area. I say 'more or less' but there were key things involving switching on the air con and fan, showering and changing. Apparently in this is what you do when you go to see the temples, you go to Phnom Bakheng to watch the sunset. It was impressive, but more for the sheer number of people.

Climbing, yes, actually climbing up the step to watch the sun set with the masses.

This became more impressive the next day (see below to understand why).

Hello fellow tourists.

Descending Bakheng. By the time I'd got back down to the bottom of the hill it was nearly completely dark.

So what do you do when you've seen the sun set over Phnom Bakheng? That's right, you see the sun rise over Angkor Wat. Please be aware, this is again with every tourist north of the Tonle Sap.

I was led to believe this would be a colourful affair. I was expectant and excited and that's what helped me drag my ass out of bed at silly time of 5.00am to get my tuk-tuk out to Angkor Wat for 5.30am to see the beautiful show mother nature would put on for me.

Putting this on the cover makes people 64% more likely to get up at stupid o'clock whilst on holiday in Siem Reap.

See, it was early.

Not to sound unappreciative, but is that is? This is what I got up for?

That said, getting up early did have the advantage of having Angkor Wat more or less to myself once the sun had risen. Everyone else must have head back for breakfast. Or bed. Either way, there weren't many people around once the sun was up. Another advantage I didn't realise until leaving, was the fact I had seen the main attraction the relative cool of early morning. Things were about to get sweaty.

The South Gate at Angkor Thom, which, don't you know isn't just one temple. Oh no, it's a collection of temples. The most famous of which is Bayon. Or the 'Faces Temple'.

This was a pretty lucky shot at Bayon. The tuk-tuk drivers know exactly what the tourists want to see and the order it should be done in. Vanna, my tuk-tuk driver would tell me where he'd be when I'd finished with the temple in hand. Except the time at Bayon when I walked on to the next temple, and the next, and then up and down and up and down again the Elephant Terrace (350m long) looking for Vanna. I reckon I walked about 2km just looking for Vanna. There were a lot of tuk-tuks, and a lot of people trying to sell me drinks, bananas and tourist books. I reckoned I sweated a full pint in the 30 minutes it took me to find him. Seeing an actual elephant was the only thing that put a smile on face during all that.

After a nice tuk-tuk ride, a few temples later we reached what would turn out to be my favourite, Ta Keo.

A surprising choice, given that it's a smaller, lesser known one. Also surprising because of the steepness of the climb up to the top. I needed a long sit down to recover and wipe my brow (and face, and neck, and brow, and face, and neck).

I'm at the top and you can see my shadow taking the shot. Steep eh?

After Ta Keo, there were just a few temples left, including another major one, Ta Prohm, or the 'Jungle Temple'. They left this one more or less the way they found it, with trees and jungle growing out from the walls of the temple itself. I've not seen it, but it's apparently where a lot of Tomb Raider was filmed.

It's a flat temple, rather than a raised one. Leaving the trees was a clever move, they really make it much more interesting. It had been a long day of temple watching, I was prepared to take any interesting feature going.

The trees and roots are massive. Seriously massive.

I saw a lot of temples that day. And I really hate to say this, but once I'd seen one (or maybe two, ok three), I'd really seen them all. They're all very impressive, but they all require some degree of walking and climbing and in a country that hot, it really tests your interest in history and religion to see what you're prepared to go through. Seriously, I hate to repeat it, but Cambodia is flipping hot. And I've been to some pretty hot countries in my life. Unfortunately my interest waned as the sun got hotter and the humidity reached 150% (oh maths puritans, I wouldn't have said it was possible either. But you go and then tell me it's not possible in Cambodia.) By the time it was about 11.30am I was about done with temples. I suppose that meant I had a good six hours of them by that point, which wasn't a bad effort.

I'd talked with my a pastor from my old church in Singapore before I left for Cambodia who'd had been to see the temples and he didn't seem that impressed with them. 'Temples just aren't my thing' and to be honest, I'm not sure they're my thing either. Don't get wrong, I'm really glad I went and saw them, they are impressive and I doubt I'll ever forget the experience. But I'm also glad I just got the one day pass (seriously seven days is just flogging it to death).

But much like when I was in Bali passing offerings on the street, I couldn't help but feel they had the wrong God.

Remembering the golden rules

I've been running again now for nearly two months. It definitely gets easier. Although what doesn't is the will to actually go out and start. Like today, I came home all intent on going out and instead got into bed and slept for two hours. Nice work Tina, that's like the exact opposite of going out for a run.

Anyway, while I've been running, especially because it's along a picturesque route like the lake which people like to walk, I have been reminded on the two golden rules of running.

1. When you pass people, smile. I find this tends to stop the pity looks in their tracks if they think you're not in pain. It's also why I wear my Paula Radcliffe-esque (fake) Oaklies, come rain or shine. If they can't see my eyes, they can't see my level of 'enjoyment'.

2. Always check behind you before you unpick your wedgy. Never makes for an impressive view.

Happy to help.