Orphanges And Floating Pigs

---

Yesterday Steph and I went to an orphanage with some other people that we had met. I was totally unsure of how we would be received by the orphans, but the Khmer have not let me down yet! Our tuk-tuk had not even stopped before kids were grabbing us left and right. All these kids want is some attention and affection. We brought a bag of candy and were swarmed... by the cutest, most polite kids you have ever seen. Steph and I gave them our cameras and they took some great shots. They had a ton of fun and took pictures until my battery died. We got a private dance performance by the kids who were practicing for the show they put on every night of traditional Apsara dancing. The kids are absolutely amazing. You have never seen such happy kids. Steph and I are planning on coming back here in January to help at the orphanage for a few weeks. We fell completely in love with the kids and I have no idea how you could go to an orphanage and leave with only one kid. If anyone ever wants to volunteer at a great place or donate much needed supplies (everything from cleaning supplies and rice to a school bus) I can give you the name of this great organization that always can use a helping hand. If nothing else, if you're in Cambodia stop by and give the kids a hug - that's what they want and need most!

Today we went to the "Floating Village"and the "Flooded Forest." We also met our first rude Cambodians when we refused to be ripped off (they wanted to charge $100 for the boat trip, Lonely Planet says $30 - And it's an August 2008 edition). We finally organized a boat trip for a reasonable amount and took off to see these unique things. The floating village is home to 540 families (or so we are told) and during the wet season they are cut off completely by road. All of their houses are built on stilts about 3 - 5 meters tall as during the wet season they are basically marooned. Just past the village is the flooded forest. It indeed fits that description. Our tuk-tuk driver was telling us that the water was 10 meters deep where we were and it goes down to about 5m during the dry season. I have no idea if these are accurate measurements, but it's weird to be on a boat sailing past the tops of trees. Oh, and one of our favorite parts?!? Floating pigs. Seriously. These people are more or less living in the middle of a lake, but that doesn't me you can't have farm animals. They just put them on rafts. We also went to a school and got swarmed by kids so we bought them notebooks and pencils.

---

Photos

The twins...
They were 8 years old but they are the size of 5 year olds back home.

The youngest...
at 4 years old.