Last day
Our final day in Phnom Penh started with short a visit to the central market. This market was interesting as it was quite different in that it was a more authentic market experience and was more highly populated with locals instead of tourists. After the night market, the group went to a Thai restaurant for lunch, followed by some ice cream and our sad farewell to our tour guide, Hung. After lunch, the group took a visit to the royal palace where the King is currently living, and we also saw a room full of buddha’s and valuable jade statues which are very important culturally.
After visiting the Royal Palace, we drove through a slum area of Phnom Penh. We found out that the building were built over 60 years ago, and many of us never saw a structure set out to accommodate so many people in such a small place before. Our tour guide told us that only 40 years ago, it was the tallest structure in Phnom Penh, and it was only 3 stories tall. It felt quite cramped while we walked through this area, and some parts were quite confronting to many of our senses. After this we headed on the bus to the airport, for our connecting flight home.
It’s been an amazing experience, we’ve made stronger connections with friends we already have, we’ve made new friends, we’ve learnt more about South East Asian cultures, and can now understand them more.
We all can’t wait to get home and be able to see the people we’ve been missing for the past 3 weeks, get home and read the blogs!
We’re looking forward to seeing and hugging all of our families, petting our pets and playing our video games. (Some of us are looking forward to seeing our bed!).
See you (very) soon! Only 9 hours to go!
Alyssa and Alex
