Angkor Wat, Kids, and 12hr Bus Rides

Wow, the last four days were amazing! Taking 43 kids to Siem Reap was a wonderful thing to be able to be a part of. The trip had its ups and downs, just like any trip, but luckily we are all still in one piece and didn't loose anyone! We departed on Thursday at 8am on our 12 hr bus ride. We had 14 volunteers plus a few extra people so we didn't have enough seats for everyone - kids had to triple/quadruple up. Jo and I, at one point, each had a kid on our lap. We gave each kid a travel sickness pill after breakfast. For someone reasons locals can't handle the bus rides! I don't understand. No kids threw up on the bus which was wonderful. This was the first time a lot of the kids had been out of S.ville, let alone stayed at a guesthouse, so they were loving sharing a room and having a tv and bathroom. Plus all of the kids were dressed in their Sunday's best - most of the time the kids aren't very clean and some even smell like wee.

Day two started with feeding the kids noodles and heading for Angkor Wat. Emma, another volunteer, and I shared a group of 6 teenage girls. Talk about not a very fun group to hang out with. One or two of the girls had been before and didn't want to look around while the others were doing okay. It was a very fast look at everything. We found monkeys and treats to eat a long the way. I'm not sure what I was expecting of Angkor Wat but it didn't match what I thought it should. After lunch we went to Bayon. Bayon was my favorite. You could walk around it and have it towering over you in a way that I didn't feel at Angkor Wat. The kids had fun exploring while Emma and I tried to find our kids. Part of our group had fun disappearing while we had our backs turned. It was a hot, hot day - in the 90s and we all were wilting by the end of the day. After dinner we left the kids with baby sitters while we went into town for dinner. The first day was a very big success!

At the bar of the restaurant we went to, there was a photograph of Angkor Wat with a person in it... I looked at it and had this moment of knowing exactly where the photographer had stood to take that picture and I was amazed because I had been there and seen that shot. Seeing everything was amazing. However going with kids made it all quick trip and I look forward to going back with my parents so I can take my time and see everything properly.

Day three we started with breakfast and got on the bus to Ta Prohm. This is the one that has the tree roots everywhere. Only two of the kids wanted to go in so we set the rest of our group on a bench and went exploring. It was amazing to see these huge trees with their root growing over the temple but I was expecting more of them. I think everything is a little smaller than I thought it would be. We took the kids to the market to eat while the volunteers went elsewhere - we were getting sick of Khmer food. The afternoon was spent at another NGO where we had a little cake and movie time.

Day four was the bus ride back. We were planning on leaving at 7am with breakfast at 6am but it just didn't work. Jo (who is one of the main people) and I got up at 5:45 to go to the market to find bananas and bread for breakfast while the rest of the slightly hung-over volunteers got everyone up. Everything took longer than it should have yesterday. We had one volunteer who was sick and couldn't get on a bus without a bathroom - we waited that out to see if the meds would kick in. I wasn't feeling the best and one of the other volunteers had an herbal supplement that would calm your stomach down. Well, I took that only to start having an allergic reaction to in an hour into our bus ride. With antihistamine in my system and my epi-pen ready I didn't need to stop at a hospital. This was neither the time nor place I really would have liked to have something happen. We were still 5hrs away from Phnom Penh. We had one volunteer who was puking most of the ride from too much alcohol the night before. Our lunch stop was at a restaurant with vendors outside that sold fried tarantulas! When I saw a live one I went running in the other direction and when I heard there was a large live one of the bus I was almost ready to pass out. So yesterday wasn't a great day for me but the kids did great on our drive back.

Overall, I think the CCPP has been the project that I have liked the most and felt that I have had the most influence at. I’m sad to be leaving and hope that I can come back at some point. I can’t believe that my four months of volunteering is up! October feels like it was forever ago. I am now onto Part V of my trip, I will meet up with my parents in Hanoi and our 3 weeks will go very quickly. In a way I’m not ready to come back to Seattle. Being here is like being in Lala Land – the outside world doesn’t seem to exist and I haven’t had to worry about what will happen when I come home. Tomorrow I leave for Saigon and then on Thursday I will fly to Hanoi.