Well we're nearly at the end of a fantastic, busy and varied 3 weeks in Cambodia and Vietnam, and have been far too busy to stop and write blog entries! However, I thought up some blog entry titles, so here they are to give you an idea of what we've been up to, you will have to use your imagination... For more details, see a listed itinerary at the end (probably only of interest to immediate family!). 1. From Borei's rock 'n' roll tuk tuk to the Mekong Express Limousine bus (Siem Reap, Cambodia) 2. I'd like to get you on [View Full Entry]

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Pailin is famous for gem stones, land mines and being a haven for ex-Khmer Rouge members. In the west of Cambodia, near the Thai border, Pailin was a Khmer Rouge stronghold; selling gem stones kept them going financially, they planted a lot of land mines here to compensate for having a smaller army than opposing forces, and a number of high ranking Khmer Rouge members sought refuge in Pailin after they were finally defeated in the late nineties. I saw some gem stones (some really big rocks!), read signs about land mine clearances and saw some land mine victims, but fortunately [View Full Entry]

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On Saturday we had a day trip to Phnom Kulen, a sacred mountain which is a national park and also has some Temples and a waterfall. We got there by truck, a 2.5 hour journey! It was surprisingly comfortable, but then we weren't as packed in as you see the locals when they travel by truck. The drive on the winding road up the mountain was lovely, and it was nice to be in the shade of the forest / jungle. When we arrived Jaeck arranged for us to have a hut with some hammocks for the day. We went for [View Full Entry]

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We took a long weekend break to Battambang this weekend, a city in a province of the same name. Battambang (pronounced Battambong) is the second largest city in Cambodia after the capital Phnom Penh. Quick warning: I took over 100 photos at the weekend, so I will try my best to filter them but there will be a few... On Friday we got the boat from Siem Reap to Battambang. Upon seeing the boats, we realised we'd been told a couple of porkies at the travel agents, such as you will have an assigned seat (ha ha ha), and there is [View Full Entry]

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Last week was quite a strange one at school - some of the kids have left the street kids centre and gone back to live with their families, as the centre is closing in 3 weeks times. I was off sick when two of the girls left, and was really sad not to have said goodbye. Hak, the director of the street kids centre, offered to drive me to the village where they now live, so we went on Monday on Haks moto (I really loved riding on the moto!!!), and took them some school uniforms and books. The village is [View Full Entry]

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Note: I wanted to publish this as a Valentines day blog, but wasn't very well last week and didn't leave the house for a while, so here it is a few days later. I'm feeling much better now :-) I met Toma at the library last week and he wanted help pronouncing a whole load of fruit and vegetable names. After going through his list, we chatted about Toma and his dreams and ambitions. Toma is a 22 year old Cambodian man, currently studying English Literature at University in Siem Reap. He has eight brothers and sisters, but lives on his [View Full Entry]

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On Saturday we cycled to West Baraay; it's a man-made lake that's a few km long, and was made around 800 years ago I think, and there's a Temple in the middle of the lake on an island. The bike ride getting there was long and bumpy, and I was almost getting cranky (kept getting stuck in sand!) when we arrived. There's a small strip of beach, with some stalls and hammocks that you can rent. It's not a tourist place, it's where locals go to swim. We rented some hammocks and rubber rings for the water, and had snacks, some [View Full Entry]

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So it's nearly the end of week 2 of teaching, this week has flown by! Been settling into it more this week. In school we've been doing things in the classroom. The kids loved a word search!!! We've also had a couple of visitors (people who donate things to Krousar Thmey and come to visit) but they always seem to come at the worst times! On Monday night we had a Cambodian BBQ (see photos) - there's a metal basin with coals in, and a grated lid on; you cook the meat around the top and the veg in some broth [View Full Entry]

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Well, we've all really enjoyed our weekend after quite a tiring first week at school. Just thought I'd put up a few more photos while I'm here. School was fun last week, I think I know all 16 names now and me and the kids are getting used to each other. On Friday they just drew pictures, and we had a bit of a laugh together. It's funny the things you get used to very quickly - cold showers (we have cold water in the house) and the water cutting out fairly often, taking your shoes off before going into any [View Full Entry]

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Just a quick one to say Happy Birthday Pete! And Happy 4 year anniversary!!!!! I took a couple of photos for the event... :-) These are a few kids from the centre, will add some more photos of school later on... [View Full Entry]

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