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Published: June 12th 2010
Once again it is time to set off on yet another South East Asian adventure... where will I go and who will be my partner in crime... or should I say PARTNERS?!
This time I am travelling as a threesome (not in that way boys!!!) .. My first travel buddy is my good friend Jakki, a work mate who has lived in Australia for the past 18 months. Prior to arriving in Australia, Jakki was born and bred in Glasgow, Scotland... moving to Adelaide for work and luckily for her she found herself on my team! Having always wanted to travel to Thailand she jumped on that chance to become my travel partner in adventure and mayhem!
My second partner in adventure is my good friend Narelle, who most of you will know from my Brisvegas blogs. Narelle and I met on the internet back in 2007 while planning our 2008 trips to Thailand. We spent alot of time exchanging information and ideas and found that we would be in Thailand at the same time... plans were made to meet up and we had a lovely dinner with plenty of drinks in Bangkok back in March 2008. We
had plans to meet up later in the trip down South but Narelle's trip was cut short through illness and we never got the chance.... We stayed in contact and while Narelle was in Adelaide for business later that year we caught up for dinner and drinks. I eventually made it to Brisbane prior to heading off to Vietnam last October where I stayed with Narelle for a few days, partying and eating our way through Brisvegas.. the girl does a killer karioke!
The plan is that Jakki and I will fly over on July 1st and meet up with Narelle in Bangkok who will fly direct from Brisvegas! After getting settled for a day or so we are heading overland into Cambodia for approximately 8 days before heading back to Bangkok for some fun.. then heading down south to Ko Phangan and then onto Phuket for some rest/relaxation and partying... From Phuket we say farewell to Narelle who will be flying back to Bangkok while Jakki and I head up north to Chiang Mai then onto Bangkok ourselves... maybe... Originally we were due to fly home from Phuket but another Air Asia sale came up in April and
we were able to extend the holiday by 9 days for dirt cheap pricing... We jumped at the chance as we both really wanted to fit Chiang Mai into the trip, yet didnt have the time.. so we plan on spending approximately 5 days there... Due to Air Asia having cheap flights, we have bought more flights than necessary at rock bottom prices so that we can have some flexibility...
God how I miss South East Asia every time I leave... I can't wait to get back there... Visit some places and people that are dear to my heart... and take on a few small new adventures... in the process, I hope that I (we) can give something small back to this amazing continent!
Supporting The Locals In Cambodia
There are two purposes to this trip.... the first and most obvious is the whole rest/relaxation/getting away from it all component.... Secondly though is a visit back to Cambodia... Cambodia has remained in my heart since I visited back in 2007. I dont think you are ever quite the same after spending time here... I was originally going to spend more time there but its been
whittled down to 8 days. 2 days in Battambang, 4 in Siem Reap and just over a day in Phnom Penh (main purpose being for Jakki & Narelle to get a grasp on the history of Pol Pot and his regime).
The purpose of going to Battambang is to visit my little Foster boy, Kai who lives in the
Cambodian Childrens Trust . Some of you may have seen the amazing work that Tara Winkler has done since establishing the Orphanage but for those of you who missed it, and have half an hour to spare, it is really worth checking this out -
Children Of A Lesser God - Australian Story - I urge anyone who has a spare dollar or two to donate to this amazing Orphanage...
“He who opens a school door, closes a prison.” Victor Hugo
While in Siem Reap, we will be staying at an amazing little guesthouse called
Seven Candles while in Siem Reap which is run by a local lady Ponheary Ly and her family as well as an American lady called Lori Carlson. I met Lori through travel talk on the web back in 2008 and have stayed in loose contact ever since. Lori founded a small
Cambodian charity called the Ponheary Ly Foundation after visiting Cambodia as a tourist a few years back. The charity is named after Ponheary Ly, the same lady that runs Seven Candles.
Here is an excerpt from their website on what the charity is trying to achieve:
"Our goal is to locate and serve the many children in Cambodia who live in the poorest rural villages and do not attend school. School in Cambodia is "free" during primary school, in hopes that children will at least learn basic reading and writing and the literacy rate will be improved. The problem is that most impoverished children do not have the approximately $20 a year it costs to procure uniforms, shoes and their school supplies.
Our organization provides these "$20 bundles" so that the maximum number of children can attend primary and lower secondary school. These are already established government schools with Khmer teachers. We are not reinventing the wheel with our own schools, simply providing an opportunity for all children to attend.
The Foundation also supplies a nutritious breakfast and pays monthly stipends to teachers who only earn $20-40 a month from the government. We supply bicycles to students who live long distances from the schools and medical help when required. Your donations also supply the teachers with the supplies they need to properly teach and to special projects like gardens and clean drinking water.
Your donation dollars go directly into procurement. The Foundation members do not draw salaries, and we enjoy very little overhead because of the kind assistance of volunteers both on the ground in Cambodia and from international visitors."
The website is
Ponheary Ly Foundation and I urge all that read my blogs to take the time to go here and donate $20USD. I would really appreciate it. Its one week without your usual takeaway coffee in the morning! PLEASE! For those who are Facebook friends you would already know of my attempts at raising money through there for this charity and for those who generously donated a huge THANKYOU! Keep an eye out for the blog that will show you where this money has gone! At the time of publishing this blog I have raised almost $600aud and with more people pledged to donate before I leave! Its really great news and has moved me to tears once or twice!
For another travellers
view on Ponheary, Lori and their foundation have a read of
Leonards Trail Blog While there we are going to do a wonderful tour and again rather than try explain in my own words I have taken another excerpt from their website. Its sponsoring a field trip for school children to attend the temples:
"As amazing as it sounds, until we started this program, virtually none of the students at the rural schools has ever been inside the temples. Many of them sell trinkets to tourists outside the gates, but have no idea about the splendor just inside or the rich and glorious history that belongs to all Khmer people. The children are not taught history in primary school, so this is an excellent opportunity for the children to learn about their history up close and personal.
We hire a big Air Conditioned bus with a driver. There will also be an English-speaking guide for you and a Khmer speaking guide for the children. You will be picked up at the hotel in the morning and make the drive to the school to pick up the children. You will tour the temples with about 20 children and their teacher. Then a big lunch will be served either at Angkor Wat or in one of the eateries in town. Many of the children have never been to town either so bringing them to Siem Reap for lunch is a real treat. The total cost for the day’s outing is $400. (We also ask that you tip the licensed guides, depending on your satisfaction of their services)."
HOW amazing does that sound? We can't wait! Another exciting development in the Cambodian part of our trip is that a friend of mine, Randi from Singapore, has confirmed she is going to come to Cambodia at the same time as us, staying at the same guesthouse. Randi and I met on Trip Advisor back in 2006 and while Randi was travelling around Australia a few years back we caught up with another Trip Advisor regular, Cathy for dinner here in Adelaide. I am really excited to be catching up with Randi again... and she will be along with us on our field trip with the kiddies too!
Once we have had our fix of Siem Reap and its temples and people, we head up to Phnom Penh for a quick pitstop... then its back to Thailand!
Home Is Where The <3 Is
Watching the media in the lead up to our trip, there were a few hairy moments when we wondered if we would make it back to Bangkok, and worse still Thailand... but luckily things settled down fairly quickly and DFAT downgraded the 'Do Not Travel' warning! Phew! Close call! We head back to Bangkok to start, spending a few days doing the tourist thing before jumping on the notorious overnight train to head south.
Ko Phangan is the next stop, for 5 days lazing on the beach doing nothing but drinking cocktails and getting a tan! We are staying at a little resort on a beach I have never visited on previous trips and I am really looking forward to it ... the resort,
Mai Pen Rai has been on my radar since I first started researching Thailand back in 2006 and I cant wait! A $20 shack right on the beach, no electricity at night, no hot water EVER... deserted island kind of stuff!
Phuket is the next stop for shopping, sightseeing, tanning and partying... We will say goodbye to Narelle here before Jak and I head to Chiang Mai for 5 nights. Nothing on the agenda apart from the Elephant Nature Park again, the Sunday walking markets, cheap massages, cheap food and cheap shopping! We fly back to Bangkok with only 24 hours to spare before flying home... and hopefully will have a chance to catch up with Tong before heading home.....
Anyway that is our 5 week adventure summed up... until the next blog, stay safe and see you in Thailand!
Love to all
Reety xxxx
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Lynn
non-member comment
The Start of Something Big
All i'm going to say is HAVE FUN. Keep the blogs coming..i need a laugh xox