As the sun sets over the Phnom Penh sky, so too does our honeymoon phase of relocating to Cambodia. It is now officially 3 months since we arrived at Pochentong Airport - this time not for a week stay - but for a 2 year stint working at the International School. With a multitude of reasons drawing us to Cambodia, we happily packed up after 2 great years living and working in the comfort of Singapore to come to a country and people that are recovering from decades of civil war and unrest.
As we’ve experienced in every trip to Cambodia, the locals are friendly, helpful, and despite the poverty for many, they are always smiling.
Since we were last here, there has been a significant development boom. In fact, we are living in a small two bedroom modern mid rise apartment- and at 11 storeys it is the tallest building in our city district (BKK1- also known as NGO land). Like many developing countries the rich and the poor live right next to each other and it is not without some guilt that we leave our apartment every morning, only to be greeted with smiles by the male tuk tuk drivers who have spent the night in their tuk tuks. On the riverfront there are chic, classy bars and restaurants and deeply impoverished women and children begging for money from tourists.
A tip about begging: It is the general consensus amongst informed NGOs that a tourist should never give to beggers- particularly children. When we give to children we teach them that begging is an alternative to education. Those cute, young children, however, will become teenagers whose begging does not pull on tourist heartstrings. These teenagers often turn to theft and prostitution- which is not surprising since they will not have obtained an education due to years of begging when young.
Fortunately in Cambodia there are many organizations reaching out to street children and informing tourists on how to act responsibly.
Some would even criticize that there are too many NGOs and that Cambodia is dangerously becoming dependent on aid. This is a reasonable criticism but as long as organizations like Tabitha exist, teaching people to fish rather than giving the needy fish to eat, we think the aid is productive.
This past weekend we got out of the city and went to the former capital, Udong, for a day trip. We enjoyed the fresh air and saw century old pagodas. After touring we enjoyed a meal with our friend, Craig, and driver, Pov. Pov ordered for us- at a VERY local restaurant- a fish, chicken and greens. Happily there were no bad bellies in the following 24 hours!
Speaking of food, Cambodia wins, hands down, in terms of culinary delights that tickle our taste buds- and at a great price too! We haven’t had a bad meal yet- and we haven't dared to eat the fried cockroaches, larvae, or the likes photographed above. Everything is fresh and we’ve enjoyed food ranging from Cambodian curries and fresh Thai spring rolls to Spanish tapas and authentic Italian pizza and pasta.
As for school…work is work no matter where you go (we’ve learned that now having worked in four countries!) but fortunately the students and staff at ISPP are great. We work with some very talented, good-hearted people and we’re teaching and learning from some super friendly, outgoing students.
There is so much to say…we look forward to sharing more stories about Cambodia when we’re home this Christmas.
We just got back from a week's holiday in Bali. Cambodia was celebrating Water Festival and the population of Phnom Penh doubled from 2 million to 4 million! It would have been great to share in the festival but the Global Citizens Conference in Bali presented an opportunity to holiday and acquire some PD so we made our way to Indonesia for the break. The pictures speak for themselves. We spent our first three nights in a place called "Temple Lodge" in Nusa Dua. 
It is owned by an Italian couple: she is a health conscious individual who cooked the most fabulous and nutritious meals (we also attended one of her morning yoga sessions) and he is a 60 year old surfer who loves to bring harmony and balance between nature and the lodge.
The school is almost entirely made out of bamboo and has virtually no ecological footprint. It was very cool indeed!
