Cambodia Top 11

i loved being able to teach English this month. We taught three classes, and it was great to get to know the students, talk to them about their lives, and be able to see the look on their face when a lesson clicked, and they became another step closer to being fluent in English.

One thing I’ve been surprised that I’ve really missed has been swimming. Just before leaving on the race I really got into swimming, and its definitely something I’m looking forward to picking up again. So it was great to be able to visit the Olympic Swimming Pool a couple of times that was within walking distance of our house.

Church this month was held in the English school, so every Sunday the worship was half in English and half in Khmer. I loved the mix of music, and hearing the worship come in two languages. It was especially cool when we sang the first verse in English and the second verse of a song in Khmer. Or hearing both languages at the same time.

Jeremy Pena’s Birthday was this month, and for his party we all went for pizza and karaoke. Of course, Jeremy got to pick the songs each of us sang. Which meant that Justing (also Canadian) and I got to sing “Born in the USA”. I haven’t done a lot of karaoke before, but this was a really fun night.

Brent’s birthday is actually in December, but on a race that is from January to November he wasn’t going to be able to have a World Race birthday. So our team surprised him with a surprise party in our last English class. We taught the kids to sing “Happy Birthday”, had a cake, played some games, and celebrated Brent’s birthday a little early.

I may not be the biggest fan of shopping in general, but I love markets! And Cambodian markets are among the best I’ve ever been to. THere were three in Phnom Penh and two in Siem Reap that I visited, and all of them were great. Good bargaining, cool stuff, fun atmosphere. Loved it!

The Mekong River runs through Phnom Penh, and along the riverfront is a cool area of restaurants, markets and temples. Our squad particularly fell in love with a cool restaurant called the Blue Pumpkin. This is also the street where we would see elephants walking down the middle of the road during rush hour. 

I almost forgot to include this because it seems so normal now, but I guess its not really. Instead of cars, this month our daily transportation was tuk tuks, which are little taxi type things. Its an open air thing that seats 4 comfortably (although we’ve fit 7 in one), and is pulled by a motorcycle. They’re really fun, especially since they seem to be exempt from the laws about what side of the road to drive on. 

or however that place is spelled…

Anyway, its a little beach town – one of the only in Cambodia. Some of us got the chance to head down there for a couple of days, and it was a nice break to sit on the beach, get some scuba diving in, and just relax. 

Probably the most beautiful archaeological site I’ve ever seen. One of the seven wonders of the world (depending on what list you follow), its a massive area filled with many, many temples. We watched the sunrise over the main Angkor Wat temple, then visited 2 other temples as well (including the one where Tomb Raider was filmed, which as some awesome trees growing through the walls of the temple!)

Can’t believe I am writing about final debrief – and already in the past tense! The squad gathered for the last time in Siem Reap. Dinners, worship, a surprise party for leaders, and lots of just hanging out. It was a great couple of days, and it is super hard to realize that in just a couple of days I have to say goodbye to my V-Squad family.

Cambodia was a really eventful month, and one of the most fun of the race. 

It was a great place to end this amazing year of adventure.