heading to the country side...

Well day two is in Phnom Penn and to be honest it is much better than we could have imagined. Spending time with Sophea and Lysa and their friends has been wonderful to say the least! We had dinner on Monday night at a friend's restaurant who also sponsors a school benefiting 28 kids who's parents are either not alive or cannot afford to send them to school. Proceeds from the restaurant and an amazing cookie shop are the main sources of income for the kids education...on Monday we were lucky enough to see the kids perform traditional Khmer dances! They were amazing and such a pleasure to watch and know that we were helping support them...the restaurant was packed and I am sure I can say that everyone there was impacted in a positive way by the experience. The food, well we have had 4 meals there already!

Last night was a night in cooking with Sophea and Lysa after a long day touring around the city including the National Museum...another attempt at visiting a royal palace turned out just like Bangkok...the girls were not 'properly' dressed so we were denied entry....I guess it is not to be....

This morning was a shopping experience in and of itself! We went to by food to take to Sophea's parents out in the country later this morning...I am sure there will be many things to say about spending time in the real country and Sophea has promised that we will learn about growing and harvesting rice. Do you really know where the rice comes from????

Any way, we needed fruit and veggies plus chicken for 'banana flower' soup as well as fish for a bbq...Well for those of you who have seen a real market, you can picture what we were in for....let me just say that if it could be cooked, we saw it...some of it alive and some not...Rae was not real sure about watching the woman chop the head off the chickens Sophea had picked out and then proceed to clean it up...she just kept looking at her pineapple and going to a happy place! :)

Lesson for the day: How to cross the street

Bangkok - don't attempt unless it is Khosan road, other than than hire a tuk tuk to take you across...

Siem Reap - pick a non moving point on the other side of the road, commit yourself and start walking. Do not hesitate and never stop. Believe it or not, everyone will drive around you...that is unless you stop walking...

Phnom Penn - look both ways, steel yourself for the experience and start walking slowly, stop for moving vehicles bigger than a tuk tuk....and be happy you have made it to the other side...

Side not about how many people can fit on a moto....three adults (Sophea, Rae and Jeff) plus one child...Lysa. It was an experience for sure....

So that is about it for today and hopefully more tomorrow after our last tours.....

Hope everyone is well....

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