Day 8, 9 and 10

---

We apologise for not updating you sooner but here is a summary of the past three days of our world Challenge adventure.

Day 8

On sunday we made the decision as a group that we needed an extra day of resting at the same hotel in Siem Reap before our long bus trip to the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. This put us a day behind schedule according to our itinerary and therefore we cut our trek down to three days. We spent Sunday adjusting our itinerary and getting the rest we needed after five long working days in the heat at the orphanage.

Day 9

Monday we were up nice and early to catch a bus to Phnom
Penh. The bus trip took six hours and we arrived at our new accomodation called the Longlin Hotel at around 2:30pm. We ate dinner at the hotel which was really nice although the rooms here are very basic and hot. Again, we were all a bit exhausted and stayed in last night to prepare for today!

Day 10

Today was incredibly sad but also intresting. We went to the Genocide museum called S-21 and then to the killing fields. It was a very confronting experience but we all learnt a lot about the devastating Cambodian history which sadly happened not too long ago. We found ourselves standing at the very same places where thousands of innocent people had been tortured, interogated and murdered in mass graves. Seeing the effects of the genocide stimulated some deep conversations among us which showed great progress in our teamwork. There is so much poverty and begging in Cambodia but i have to say the most confronting people are the ones with obvious illnesses and deformities. However as a group we have become much strong and helpful to eachother which overall allows us to stay positive and keep having a great time! Another bus trip tomorrow across the border and into Vietnam. We are all extremely excited for the Trek in Dalat which starts in two days. Try our best to update everyone soon.

Love from challengers xo

---

Comments

[Ian van velsen]

Dalat trek
Hope you have a great time on your trek!

[Mr Burns]

Tough Going
I will never forget the feeling of emptiness when I saw those places...especially those haunting black and white photographs at S21 and those disgusting brick 'stand only' cells. Yet the sight of the kids smiling and dancing and running around cheekily asking for 1 dollar coins to pose for photos was a reminder that even the darkest of days pass and life goes on. Would have been a very harrowing experience for all of you, but again, character building. Look after yourselves. Pep each other up, stay positive and keep having fun!