Phnom Penh

We’ve been in Phnom Penh for only 2 days, but I look like I’ve been here for longer because the back of my neck and my arms are black! To be brief here’s a quick time-line of what’s been going on the past two days.

Day 1

• Picked up from the airport, transportation? A tuk tuk!
• Went to CMS hostel and had our first Cambodian meal.
• Picked up Emily from the bus station.
• Went to see Khmer Life – the shop run by CMS selling handicrafts, met Esther.
• Went to Tuol Sleng Museum which is just next to the shop, it was a Khmer Rouge centre for torture, interrogation and imprisonment.
• Had dinner in a local restaurant.
• Went back to the hostel and set up our mosquito nets and mats for bed.

Day 2

• Visited the Royal Palace
• Visited Central Market
• Visited the Russian Market
• Went back to the hostel after lunch
• Emily and I drove the tuk tuk round the courtyard, and Emily learnt to ride a motorbike as well…sort of.
• Sent Emily off to the airport.
• Learning Khmer from one of the students – Kum He.
• Chilling out with the peeps in the hostel, holding impromptu English and Khmer lessons.

Day 3:

• Went for a walk around the local area
• Learnt how to sew with the sewing machines – made a phone case and a toiletry bag.
• Dinner in the hostel, spent the night hanging out playing cards – taught them snap and they had to count in english!

So yeah, it’s been a pretty packed couple of days. Currently we feel more like tourists than people on a mission trip.

It’s been nice staying in the hostel as we’ve gotten to know some of the students staying here. We have our own little room with a bathroom attached and western style toilet, so it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. We’re getting used to the cold showers, and eating rice at every meal, but our Cambodian style beds i.e. mat on the floor is a little harder to adapt to. Alvin is all achy and my back is really stiff as well. I think we’re gona see what Baray is like and then possibly invest in a mattress if we want to be well rested.

The students have been great at teaching us Khmer, they are all really eager to tell us what things are. We were trying to learn part of the Khmer alphabet, so the lot of them sung it to us. Kind of like how we sing ABC, but all their letters sound the same. We’ve managed to learn quite a bit in just two days, and give the students much to laugh about as our Khmer pronunciation is terrible!

Tonight we are joining a boat cruise for a team of Australian short term missions. Not sure what they’re doing in PP. But we’re going to be waiters for the night and helping the chef, think we’re supposed to be chatting with the team as well but we’re not quite sure what we’re required to do. We will be in Phnom Penh until Friday morning, when we will make our way up to the village of Baray. Will see what internet connection there is like.

God Bless