the journey continues

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on monday i said good bye to cambodia. I really wasn't as sad as i should have been cause i alread know that i will be going back. i'm not sure when, why or how, but i know i will be back. by the end of the three months, the country just felt like my home. the people became so close to me and i will really miss them, not just the other volunteers (who i will miss incredibly and will also hopefully visit in austrailia, boston, paris, england!!!) but also the cambodian people, those that worked at the school, my students i taught, or even the people i met in random locations like yoga or the pool.

i has been the most memorable experience and i hold firm that people travel/volunteer to escape something. i am no exception, but i am now excited about going back to study and excited about carrying on with my life. things point you in the right direction, even if you dont look for them.

on the final day of teaching (friday) the students were amazing. my 6.30 class took me for breakfast and the museum, i had 4 tour guides! my 4.00 class brought spring rolls and we just talked and enchanged emails. In my 5.00 class we went to a supermarket and had swensons icecream! and then in my 6.00 class, vibol cooked the most amazing vegetarian dish for us all (nad brought chicken for the others! we had drinks and someone brought a guitar and we were sat in the classroom singing karaoke. my volunteering experience could not have ended more perfectly...until we went to an english karaoke bar with my fellow teachers 😊 i sang iris!!!!!! it made me realise how much i've changed over the space of 5 or 6 years!

the following few days were full of goodbyes and meals out, but the hardest person to say good bye to was soriya. i got the most beautiful card, and i will go abck because i know i will miss her. one day i want to bring her to england! i dont think she'll like the weather but i think it'd be a very interesting experience!!!

so after goodbyes my student had kindly volunteered to drive me to the airport! it was lovely to have three of my students wave me off after the initial disaster of leaving my passport as i headed towards the airport, rushing back just in time and then leaving again!!! the flight was delayed and i arrived late in KL, hopped on the bus and met a fellow traveller on the bus. we headed to my guesthouse, but it was full (i had pre-booked!!)

collapsed in bed and spent the first night on my own in 3months!! it was weird!!
on the tuesday i wandered around KL and it was fantastic, i had such a lovely time remembering all the sight of KL. however....i overdosed on tea tarrik (stretched tea with condensed milk). it is really lovely, but after 3mugs i was regretting it! by the time dinner came i felt really ill and met my friend from the bus that evening! in my entire time travelling i have been ill twice now, once for a day in PP and now today and yesterday!!! my eyes hate the aircon and humidity and my legs hate the mosquitoes that leached on to my leg i the city rainforest by KL central tower!!!

felt a bit better today so i ventured to the batu caves. they were smaller than i expected and very garish. it was a very weird experience, i wouldn't go abck but they were very impressive and should be seen. it only costs 4RM to get there on the bus. then wandered again around KL and had the most wonderful coffee, a nice (cheap meal) and now i'm going to callapse again in bed as tomorrow i will be chilling out in KL lake gardens to stare at the monument of the soldiers that are wearing the same uniform of my grandad. if i feel energetic a trip to the museum or planitarium might take place, but i have tuned into holiday mode and even though i'm not looking forward to the english weather, i am ready to go home (and so are my eyes!!)

on friday i keave for bali to meet steph and i really cant wait to see her!! volcanoes, bikes and beaches (and hopefully cheap beer!! i have gone teetotal after drinking (only one can most nights in cambodia, i'm not an alcoholic, but it was cheaper) alot in cambodia and the prices are triple in malaysia!!!!

the city and the food is such a shock to PP, they are two very very different cities and countries, humidity VS dry, a/c VS a fan, hot shower VS cold shower, heavy food VS lighter dishes and western and cultural diversity VS a huge rich/poor divide and a very backward country!!!!!

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