Tuk Tuk A Gogos Arrive in Cambodia!

Cambodia – Siem Reap – March 14^th – 19^th

“Do one thing every day that scares you” Eleanor Roosevelt

We arrived in Cambodia the evening of March 14^th after two flights & a lengthy process through immigration (make sure you have $20. U.S. & a proper passport photo with you when you come)!  We were met by a very cheery Tuk Tuk driver named Kosal (we had thought maybe a bus or van would be nice but they had heard we were Tuk Tuk gogos I’m guessing:) After proceeding through the congested, dusty streets of downtown Siem Reap for almost an hour we arrived at the Evergreen Hotel at 11p.m. & with a quick look around fell exhausted into bed!  It is a lovely little oasis in a rather rough neighbourhood that Stephen & Beth Lauer had recommended.

The next day Kosal was back to take us on a tour of Siem Reap which included the countryside and Tonle Sap Lake where a lot of the people live on the floating villages – an extremely poor area of Siem Reap.

Angkor Wat  was the main attraction in Siem Reap as it is the 7^th wonder of the world.  It was built in the first half of the 12^th century & first a Hindu, then subsequently a Buddhist temple complex and the largest religious monument in the world. It is a miniature replica of the universe in stone and represents an earthly model of the cosmic world.  Words can’t describe the magnificence of the structure we toured which was re-discovered by a missionary in the 1800’s overgrown by the jungles of Cambodia.  The various temples included a depiction of life at the time with incredible art work wall to wall in Khmer architectural style and Dravidian architecture.  We even toured the “Tomb Raider” movie setting!  We ended the day climbing a mountain Phnom Bakheng where we watched the sunset over Cambodia – a very long but rewarding day …and climb!

We were up bright and early on our journey by Giantbus for 7 hours where we arrived in Phnom Penh & warmly greeted by Stephen & Beth Lauer – again by our Tuk Tuk driver Jeer (or “moto kang bai” as it’s called here) and taken out for a green beer in honour of St. Patrick’s day & all the Irish heritage around the table! 

The last few days have been orientation & “settling in” to what we are to help with here – teaching English with some story writing & first aid.  We met with the lovely staff of Prison Fellowship Cambodia, had lunch with Rhotha, Beth & Vi at the Lauer apartment (where we heard about the “Centre” and the beautiful card-making project you can view & order from on Facebook), toured the Russian Market, and went through the Genocide Museum – very impactful & life changing to say the least…  hopefully our pictures say it all!  much love from afar…

“If you judge people you have no time to love them”  – Mother Teresa

Please pray that though we miss you all so much our love will be for each individual we meet and “wherever we are we will be ALL there” Jim Elliot