Journeys of L

We made it to Cambodia! Getting here worked out quite seamlessly, no problems at all. We spent out last day in Phuket on Patong beach which actually turned out to be really nice. We had breakfast at this cute little restaurant by our hotel and then headed to the beach. We rented jet skis which were ridiculously over-priced but we didn't know what else we were going to do and it looked fun so.. why not. We each got our own and off we went into the ocean! It was slightly terrifying and I just about bucked myself off a few times but it was pretty fun. After that we went back to the hotel and got cleaned up and then headed back to the beach. It was only about a 5 minute walk from our hotel so that worked out nicely. We hung out there all afternoon, then took the round about way back to our hotel and looked at more shops that we hadn't seen yet. Once we got back we just packed and went to bed for our flight the next day. I woke up the next morning at 5:45 to get a run in before our flight. On our walk the night before we had asked a taxi driver how much it was to the airport and he gave us a better price than the hotel so we just agreed to meet him in the lobby the next morning at 8. We came down to check out at 8:02 and there he was waiting for us. We got to the airport in good time, got checked in, and waited for our flight. It's only about an hour and a half from Phuket to Bangkok so the flight wasn't bad. We got to Bangkok about 12:00 and our flight out to Phnom Penh wasn't until 5:30 so we just hung out at the airport. Our flight into Cambodia was super short too, only about an hour and a half. We found our bags and went out to find our driver. There were a million people out there with a million signs but we found ours right away. They loaded our stuff into the tuk tuk and we headed to the volunteer hostel. I really couldn't believe what I saw on the way here. Having been in Africa and India I have seen poverty but for some reason this seemed different. Homeless people cover the streets, and the homes we did see were tiny little holes in the wall, literally. Everything is falling apart, kids run in the streets, like tiny little kids just wandering around alone... how anyone survives childhood here is beyond me. We were driving through this little shanty neighborhood in the heart of the ghetto when our driver stops and says we had arrived at our hostel. We were less than thrilled but what could we do? We got up to our room and as soon as they closed the door we just busted up. What had we gotten ourselves into! We looked around the room and our bathroom which is more than humble... but the best part is.. no air conditioning. Just a little fan that blows the hot air around. I had a little bit of an inner freak out but that passed and now all is well. We finally fell asleep, and I woke up probably every hour trying to get comfortable in the heat. We woke up early and did a P90X cardio which I brought with me and by the end of it there was literally a puddle of sweat on the floor. We got ready in our tiny little shower, which has no hot water (not that we would need it anyway) and went upstairs to the roof for orientation. They went over all the basic rules, history of Cambodia, and then we had a Khmer language lesson. Elle and I are naturals, and we now speak Thai and Khmer fluently. We had lunch with the group which was really good, rice and lots of veggies so I can skip the meat option. After lunch we loaded into a giant van/bus and they took us on a tour of the city. It's so crazy, just like 10 minutes away the city is beautiful, it sits on the Mekong River and it's clean and so green, you would never know you were in the same place. They took us to the Khmer Rouge genocide museum which was really interesting. The tour was a little long, and of course really hot but it was really interesting to learn about. They took us to a prison where 20,000 people were killed and only 7 survived. 2 of the survivors were actually there and we got to meet them and take pictures (and buy their books). After that they took us to the Russian Market and it was AMAZING!! I was in heaven. They had such good stuff for ridiculous prices. For example, I bought a victorias secret sweater with the tag still on it ($46.50 in the states) and I got it for 5 bucks. I got two more shirts for $2 each. I also found the exact pair of pants I bought at the Gap 2 weeks ago. The exact pair! We will definitely be going back, and I guess there is another market that is even better with cheaper prices. I also got a giant bottle of water and 2 diet cokes for $1.50. I love this place! The people are so nice, and don't hound you down like they did in Thailand. And the best part, they will actually bargain with you! In Thailand they all had set prices and would just let you walk away instead of coming down on the price. After shopping, we came back to the hostel and hung out for a bit until the welcome BBQ. The food was SO good! Again, a ton of veggie dishes so I don't have to worry about that. Tomorrow we finish orientation in the morning and then we go to our placements in the afternoon. Should be interesting!