As we awoke from our slumber the Temples were stoked to start fresh in a new country; however, spirits were slightly dimmed at the realisation we had to leave Laos and Joy. As we made our way to the airport in our beloved mini vans we saw the locals starting their day to day routine and the thriving culture through the temples and markets. Beyond that there was a significant view of ginormous mountains in the distance. After waiting a while at the mini airport we walked on to a cute little aeroplane that had propellers. While we were seated on the plane we looked out of the windows to say our final goodbyes to Laos. Whilst taking off we found it interesting to note that from the window mostly you could see large forests, mountains and small villages. Some of the mountains had a weave design. As the clouds rolled by we started to notice how there weren’t many big cities or towns but only small hill villages.
When we landed the second time from being on a plane in Siem Reap, we were delighted to hear our hotel had a nice refreshing pool that was waiting for us to dive in. After getting our luggage we were greeted by our new tour guide Youssa. He is very funny and loud. He taught us a few things about Cambodia and how to speak some of the language, Khmer (pronounced Khe-my).
Suosday – Hello
Akun jann – Thank you very much
Learning how to say these few words can really help with us being friendly towards the locals and embrace ourselves fully with the country and their culture.
As we arrived at the hotel Soma Devi, everyone was eager to jump in the pool fully clothed or bathers. We were briefed about the pool rule and as soon as we heard the words ‘you can now swim,’ everyone jumped in one after the other like little ducklings getting a wash after a long and bothered day. The pool is huge and some of us did laps while others just hung out near the steps. The students who sat poolside ordered refreshing drinks and some snacks. After more than an hour of being in the pool most people got out to dry off they before heading back up to their rooms to freshen up for our big night activity.
Finally we went back down to the lobby to set off in our tuk tuks for our Cambodian night life experience. Once we set off we drove to a Cambodian style food market where they sold many different types of fruit and bugs. The first animal we ate was a snake. It was really boney and tasted just like chicken! Up next was grass hoppers, grubs, frogs and crickets. YUM! Only a few people tried them as the rest were hidden far away from it petrified it would come back to life some how and hurt them. The market was very busy with many motorcycles and tuk tuk’s running through the middle and it was on a road. After we had a taste of bugs we headed off to a real restaurant near a street called Pub Street where there were many night clubs and back packers. We enjoyed the music that was bouncing off the walls from the near-by night life. Our dinner consisted of rice, ribs, beef stew and yummy kebabs. After dinner we all headed down the street to have a look at what Cambodia is when the lights are off. Most of the kids were distracted by the fish that ate your dead skin off your hand as it felt weird and exhilarating at the same time. Once everyone was over that we headed back to the hotel to head off to bed.
Tiana Abbott-Salmon, Harrison Lasky
