Phnom Penh, travel mate, and 85 degree weather

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January 16th, 2010

2:15pm Wednesday was the scheduled departure time for the flight from Beijing to Guanjou and then to Phnom Penh. While sitting in the boarding area I struck up a conversation with a young lady on her way from Beijing to Phenom Penh as well. We acquainted ourselves with each other the entire journey. Lucy is originally from Beijing and currently (last ten years or so) lives in Toronto, Ontario Canada. Her main reason for going to Cambodia was to assist at a school teaching English and getting a sense of how productive the school is. George and Tien are friends of Lucy from Toronto who started this wonderful school. Action to end Exploitation educates young Cambodian children. Lucy planned a trip to visit her family in Beijing and added the Cambodia section a week or so ago. She did much more research on what to see in Phnom Penh than I did.

My friends, Ronit, Craig, and Shai who are working for the US government in Cambodia, picked us up when our plane landed a little after 8pm Wednesday. We dropped Lucy at her hotel and the four us us went back to the temporary residence that the US government is putting Ronit, Craig, and young Shai up in.

Thursday morning I rood a tuk tuk to Lucy’s hotel where we went to the school together on motor bikes.

We didn’t know any better and we made it safely. It was $1 each for the 15 minute ride. Thursday morning was spent visiting with Ty, the school administrator and speaking English with the kids. It appears that they are all very eager to learn English. The kids were all so gracious. At 12:30 we got out and about. The afternoon consisted of a few tuk tuk rides, a stroll along the river, a very un-exciting meal at a touristy restaurant, a lovely visit with a gentleman from New Zealand, and stroll to Lucy’s new hotel, and dinner with the Gerards.

Day two in Cambodia consisted of a second morning at the school, a tuk tuk to the Killing Fields, lunch, a visit to an old prison, and a swim in Lucy’s private swimming pool. It was Friday evening so I went back for a lovely Shabbat dinner with Ronit, Craig, and Shai. After dinner we enjoyed some Swenson’s ice cream. The next day, Saturday, Lucy took a four hour bus ride to Angkor Wat for a day and a half of sightseeing. I went out and about in Phnom Penh by myself to enjoy some street food and buy a pair of pants. I love getting a sense of the “local life.”

Saturday night The Gerards took me for a lovely dinner at a new restaurant and a stroll through a lively night market. There were lots of tourists, vendors, and even a live band. I made it to bed early in anticipation of my 8am Sunday flight back to Beijing.

On the flight over, Lucy and I visited with two gentlemen from Brooklyn who were going to Cambodia to find some containers full of clothing. They were on my flight back to China. That was a treat!

My plane landed in Beijing on Sunday around 4:30pm. My journey back to my residence lasted less than an hour and consisted of three different train rides and a 10 minute walk.

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