Picture day

These were all taken in Nha Trang, a beautiful beach town on Vietnam's coast. Spent a lot of time on the beach, eating ice-cream for breakfast, and riding bikes around the colourful city. We also took motorcycle taxis to the worlds highest gondola! Which then carried us to Vin Pearl Land for a day of waterslides, cheap rides and free popcorn.

I still haven't slept since our 24 hour train ride that dropped us off in Hanoi this morning at 5am. Time for sleep. Perhaps tomorrow I will write a real blogpost and share some stories. 

Found Paradise

The 12 hour bus ride from Siem Reap to Sihanouk ville was a painful journey. Our bus drivers were maniacs, honking their horns at everyone and swerving in and out of all the cars. The bus was uncomfortable, cold and smelled terrible from the mixture of weird foods people were eating. Like hard boiled eggs and fried bugs. The lady beside me was enjoying a bag of fried spiders that were each almost the size of my hand. She would break off the legs and eat them first, saving the body for last. It was disgusting.

We finally made it though! We layed on the sand for hours, fresh pineapple juice in hand. Listened to the waves crash on the beach and watched the locals walk around to each tourist, trying to sell fruit out of the baskets they carried on their heads. Occasionally dipping into the water to cool off. Except the water doesn't cool you off at all, its so warm here! I have never swam in an ocean as warm as this one.

Were living in paradise and I never want to leave!

You know you're a long way from home when the supermarkets here sell only 5 different types of cereal, and have two rows full of soya sauce and instant noodles.

Pineapples on sticks! You can buy anything on a stick around here.

Sitting, waiting...

Our bus is already 27 minutes late so I figured I would have time for a post.. There is no way I would be able to live here in Poipet permenantly. For one thing I hate showering. I only shower if I absolutely have to. But here you get so sweaty and covered in dirt you definitely need one every day. Also, they eat huge amounts of white rice with every meal. Every day. I'm sick of it! There aren't many options for food here. Another thing about this city I can't stand is how everyone seems to be atleast 45 minutes late for everything. There are some things I will miss about this place though, - mostly the kids from Safe Haven. yesterday we taught them how to play 'heads up 7up' it was so much fun. - the tacky tablecloths! - the peppery scrambled eggs - fresh watermelon and grape juices. They don't sound all that wonderful but they were shockingly delicious. - being taller then almost everyone. It was very strange but I enjoyed it. - The fruit muesli bowls that are packed with sweet bananas, apples, papayas and pineapples! I just finished my last one. - ill also really miss all the staff at cho. My favourite part was teaching them how to bake cookies and cupcakes to sell in the cafe. The cookies were a huge hit! At the moment we are relaxing on the front patio of our hotel, waiting for the bus to take us to Siem Reap. We're excited for every day to be different from now on. And cant wait to wear shorts and tank tops again. For the last week we have been living in the same outfit of one pair of baggy pants and only one Tshirt each. Gross!

CHO

After spending 5 hours hauling bricks by hand in 39 degree weather yesterday, and sweating non stop, I was really excited to spend today just hanging out with the kids at Safe Haven and helping teach them English. It was so much fun and the kids are always laughing. Oh, for those who dont know, we are volunteering for a week with CHO (http://www.cambodianhopeorganization.org/) an organization here in Poipet, Cambodia. So far it has been an amazing experience. Just connecting with the people is incredible, they are all so kind and welcoming and full of life and love. They're also extremely hard workers and we were fortunate enough to experience a little bit of the work they do every single day. I dont know how they do it!!! Especially with the little amount of equipment they have! Anyways, Ill try and post again soon and tell you more about what we do during the week we are here. I'll post pictures soon too! All I have for you now is a couple taken with my phone. This is the view from our hotel here.

And this is probably the best fried rice I have ever had, right before crossing the border into Cambodia.. Which was a complete nightmare.

Here is Sara teaching the kids the Story of Noah's Ark!