And more..

The kids don't have many toys at the orphanage. No Lego, plush toys, toy soldiers or barbie dolls - I am amazed with their creativity in using whatever they can find in the yard to play and entertain themselves with! Twigs and fruits to play "5 stones", gunny sacks to hop around in - anything!
Reasey, Leak and Ratha
First 2 days i was at the orphanage, i must have drove the kids crazy making them repeat their names constantly - but now i've got them down pat!


No helmets.
Mr Hong - the very nice motor-driver who shuttled me to and from the orphanage every day without fail.

And Gionata - who is currently motor-biking around the world so check out his web page www.partireper.it for his adventures -even better if you can read Italian. He took over the volunteer teaching at CCPCR after i'd left.

More pictures

The kids of CCPCR (Cambodian Centre for the Protection of Children's Rights) all love having their photos taken. Each time i take out my camera, they get pretty hysterical and ham it up straightaway! This is cute little Srey Leak - she is only 6 and spends all her afternoons clambering around the older kids and playing while i'm trying to teach them English!!
Rathanak and Raksa - 2 of the 4 boys at the orphanage.


"Family photo" on my last day with some of the kids (Thank you Gionata - i love this picture!)

Last look at Cambodia .. for now

Haven't been able to get onto the internet until today - I made it to Laos on the 29th of June, and i'm now in the town of Pakse. Just trying to catch up with all my emails and picture-posting!

By my last week in Phnom Penh, I had started to get attached to the city. i had managed to learn enough Khmer to converse with the children at the orphanage. Actually, they don't exactly teach you phrases like "Stop talking & Sit down!" or "Put the books away" in the Lonely Planet Khmer phrasebook but no matter :-)

At the guesthouse where i stayed for 2.5 weeks, the staff, as well as the people who worked at the internet point, and the indian restaurant just round the corner all knew me as the "Tall Singaporean Girl Who Speaks Really Bad Khmer". i've grown a little attached to Phnom Penh now so i might just have to go back again!



Sunset in Stung Trieng - a remote little town in the northeast corner of Cambodia. Its the nearest town to the Laos Voen Kham border.

This is the ferry boat to go across the river from Stung Trieng so we can take a minivan to the Laos Border. There were these 3 motorbikes in the picture, and another 3 behind me. And loads more people! Check out th picture below - that was the front of the boat.

Duckies on a joyride

I caught sight of this while riding on a motorbike so i pulled out my camera to snap this - the ducks are still alive by the way, and probably on the way to the market!




I haven't been posting for awhile because this week has gone by so quickly!! i've spent most afternoons doing some volunteer teaching at the orphanage and it has been great. I really enjoyed interacting with them - what i've found is Cambodian kids can be so shy at first but once they warm up to you, there's no stopping them!! i will try to write/post more next week.

Lost lambs and Lexus

Seen at a street just round the corner from my guesthouse. These big cars are really popular here! i've seen so many of them in the city.

Lost in Translation -me no speak engrish!!

Today was my day off. I went to see a couple of films at the French Cultural Institute - there was a film festival and best of all, it was free! i also went to a bookshop trying to look for handicraft books -but look what i found!


I had a field day reading canned English-Khmer love letters (how very handy!) which seems to be geared towards writing to your husband/ boyfriend for money, or to visit in Chiang Mai - which is in Thailand, strangely enough. Thailand-Cambodia same same?


"My darling husband, how is life over there? i think you'll be surprised as i have never written to you before" (??!!) No matter, perhaps signing off with "Yours passionately"might just convince him wire me some cash?

This one has generous doses of exclamation marks to bring home the point that she reeeeallly loves you. and she reeeallly doesnt want to work again at the same pub in Patpong, which is , again in Thailand.

Ok and this one is by far my favourite -so i've put this as a big photo as a treat. I stood at this aisle for a really long time, giggling to myself the entire time! And because i was trying to photograph these without the staff knowing, i had to crouch down and do it really quietly.

Phnom Penh

So here i am in the Cambodian capital, ater spending 2 idyllic days floating in the Mekong delta. I made it to Phnom Penh yesterday afternoon on an express boat from the Vietnamese town of Chau Doc.

Everything went smoothly at the Mekong border control and the best part was, i didnt have to fork out US$22 for a visa! Free entry for Singaporeans -yayyyy! I took quite a few photos of 'kampung" life in the Mekong - visited floating markets, fish farms, fruit orchards, and some small villages that are accessible only by small canal boats.

The internet here is quite slow so i guess i'll post my pictures some other time.

Today was my first day at the orphanage where i will be spending my next 3 weeks - i got to meet the kids - they were really shy at first but we went crazy playing games by the afternoon! i am really looking forward to interacting with them and hopefully learning some Khmer.