Where do I begin...

9 weeks in Cambodia

80 hours on a motorcycle

120 hours teaching

1 funeral

1 wedding

126 cold showers

66 days in jandals

4 bottles insect repellant

2 bottles of sunscreen

190 bottles of water

and 9 weeks of unforgettable experiences.

Thank you to everyone who has supported my decision to volunteer and those of you who helped me through my challenges along the way (who know who you are) and thanks to everyone who has followed my blog. I hope that you have enjoyed the little snippets that I could share with you!

Well that's it from me in Cambodia.. see you soon xx

With the beautiful bride Channa!

For 10 days after the wedding, the groom must sleep on the floor next to his wife’s parents!!

The 2 day event started on Saturday. We caught a mini-van from Siem Reap and arrived at the wedding venue 3 hours later. We had lunch waiting for us while the house was set up for dinner later that night. Lunch and dinners consisted of rice and meat – dog, fish, beef, intestines and whatever else you can imagine. I was right in my element ;)

After lunch, Jane (the other volunteer at Helping Hands) and I went to watch the monks pray/bless the couple. This lasted for 45mins and we had no idea what was going on but we had a lot of flowers being thrown at us! Half way through a bunch of Cambodian men started laughing at me and then one of them hit me and pointed to my legs. I was sitting crossed legged which was a big no-no, so they quickly told me to put them to the side. They had a good giggle.

After the blessing we then had a chance to go back to the guest house to freshen up for the photos. The photos were taken in a beautiful golf-like park. Cambodian brides have roughly 8 wedding dresses and as you can see, they are stunning. Over the top Barbie dresses and the huge hair completes the look.

Day 2 started early with the groom and all the guests walking in a procession from his house to the brides house. The guests then delivered gifts of fruit, money and food to the couple. Breakfast was then served. The cutting of the hair then took place, where the bride and groom each cut each others hair as a sign of the past and shredding anything bad from their single lives.

After lunch we had the afternoon off, so Jane and I thought it might be fun to go and get our hair and makeup done ‘Cambodian style’. 4 hours and $4 later we looked like we had just stepped off a movie set. Huge hair that was as hard as a rock, false eyelashes, and a face with so much make up you felt like you were wearing a mask. The ladies at the salon, which by the way was situation in the middle of a meat market smelling of dead fish and cow, absolutely loved us. Being from a small town, they would have not seen many white foreigners, or blonde hair as bright as Jane's!

So, looking all dolled up we headed back to the wedding for the night celebrations to begin. When we arrived all the other 500 guests were there and everyone looked absolutely beautiful. Dinner and drinks took place, then the dancing begun. A stage was set at the front and a band played for 6 hours straight with 4 Cambodian dancers. All the music was Cambodian music – upbeat like salsa. The boys took every opportunity to dance and touch Jane and I, as if we weren’t real. It’s good luck for Cambodians to have foreigners at their weddings, so we were welcomed with open arms. They really do have the most amazing hospitality here, everywhere you go!

After about 4 hours of dancing and drenched in dirt and sand, we headed home for showers and bed. It took a very long time to get all the makeup off our faces. All in all, I feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to attend a wedding here. It is an amazing event that is so different to anything I have ever seen.

Wedding pics!

Channa and her husband

Praying/blessing with the monks

With Jane at the park

Goodbye party

My farewell party at school was great fun this morning. I received around 100 cards that all the students made and I got a few presents from some of the girls - hairbands, bracelets etc Below is a picture of the note that they left on the white board for me. I definitely had to hold back the tears when I read that! We played lot's of games including tug-of-war, sack races and musical animals. Was a lovely way to say goodbye. I will miss my kids dearly when I am gone, they all have such beautiful personalities and gave me a lot of happiness during my time here.

Final Countdown

Most of our group are leaving next Saturday, so this Friday night was our last night to have a few drinks altogether. Plus it was the other NZ Nicole's 30th birthday, so we headed to the main street for dinner and drinks. 2 for 1 cocktails as you see below!! Weekend in general has been a quiet one as everyone begins packing and enjoying the last few things they can afford before the end of the week.

I only have 2 days of teaching left and then a day off so my school can organise my farwell party. Friday will be my last day: a two hour party in the morning :) On Saturday I am travelling 3 hours away to attend a wedding and heading back to Siem Reap on the Monday. Unfortunately with all the new volunteers arriving I have to leave the house on Tuesday and spend my last night somewhere else - havn't organised that yet. And then I head home on Wednesday... crazy!

Will take some photos from my leaving party and the wedding and post those before I leave. Keep tuned for a week of celebrations - Cambodian style!!

Phnom Krum sunset

Beautiful way to see out the weekend was watching the sun set at Phnom Krum

Phnom Kulen

A group of us spent Saturday at Phnom Kulen National Park. It was an amazing day spent swimming in the water hole, jumping off giant rocks and climbing up behind the waterfalls. Photos dont do this place justice, it was so beautiful!

The good, the bad and the ugly!

Good: I had an amazing weekend in Battambang with Ash... photos below :)

I also received a parcel from mum with Chocolate, Marmite and Coffee - a little peice of home to keep me going!

Bad: I had a tummy bug last week and had to stay in bed for 2 days.

To top it off when I was heading back from the post office, my long green dress got caught in my back wheel and in the middle of the street the whole thing ripped off. Everyone thought it was soooo funny seeing me bike half naked home!

Ugly: I witnessed a motobike accident on Tuesday... poor dude had a severe head injury and didn't make it :(

But to finish on a light note, a bit about Battambang. A 3 hour bus trip from Siem Reap, Ash and I found a lovely hotel for 2 nights were we didn't have to sleep in mosquito nets and had hot water - a luxury for us.
The day we arrived we went to aerobics on the river front. Described by Lonely Planet as 'the local hunk with a boom box', he wasn't my type of 'hunk', but I was certainly impressed by his large sound system!!

The next day we started off at the bamboo train. Much like a roller coaster without the loops, this was a lot of fun. The lines were insanely uneven and noisy and every time another carriage came from the opposite direction, someone had to get off and remove their carriage, let the others pass and then assemble it back on the track!

Ashleigh and I bought our train driver a $1 straw hat as he had a very hot head, and in return, the lovely lady's at the station made us flax grasshoppers and bracelets. They were very sweet.

After the train ride we headed to the killing caves. In the 1970's and 80's when the Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia, they killed thousands of people at the top of the caves and then threw their bodies down into the cave. It was a really hard walk down into the cave, as many bones still remained down there. Ash and I both had a few tears as it was extremely upsetting to learn what had happened and after having lived and worked with Cambodians for 6 weeks now, its hard to imagine what these people have been through over the past 40 years. None of it seems fair.

We donated a few dollars to the temples and received good luck bracelets to take home with us.

After the caves we headed home for some quiet time, a bit of local shopping  and finished the day with dinner and 'happy hour'.

Back to school on Tuesday... only 3 weeks to go!

A weekend in Battambang

Our hotel

Doing aerobics with the 'local hunk and his boombox'

On the bamboo train

It really was that exciting!



Ash with our driver - we bought him that hat :)



At the killing caves - 10,000 lived and were tortured in this room :(

Happy Hour - enough said!

Puppet Fundraiser

This weekend is the annual giant puppet parade. It is an opportunity for many students to design and build giant puppets and then come in to the city to raise funds for their schools. On Saturday night, Ashleigh and I went to some fundraising drinks to raise awareness for the event. We both bought raffle tickets but sadly didn't win anything. Can't wait for the parade this weekend!!

4 weeks down... 4 weeks to go!

'We can travel a long way and do many things, but our deepest happiness is not born from accumulating new experiences. it is born from letting go of what is unnecessary, and knowing ourselves to be always at home.'

This morning I sat down and thought of all the things that I have learnt in the past four weeks. Besides patience, the one thing that kept coming back to me was happiness.

Cambodian people are the happiest people that I have ever met. Most of them wake up every day not knowing if they can afford to eat. They live in huts where families of eight sleep side by side on the floor. Besides arranged marriages, relationships rarely exist and touching each other in public is seen as highly inappropriate. Every meal consists of rice, fish and vegetables, every single day. The working week is Monday to Sunday, there's no such thing as a weekend or holiday. So what is it that makes them so happy?

It isn't about having new experiences, big houses, or lots of money. Happiness is knowing that where ever you are, you are home. Once you stop trying to find happiness, you will realise that you've already got it.
Happiness isn't a thing, happiness is you.

Great week :)

The week gone has been a really good one :)

Teaching has been the biggest highlight, as the students have really begun opening up to me. This has made my lesson planning and teaching so much easier and much more enjoyable. When they aren't afraid to talk to you, you can really understand how much they do and dont know. And giving them the opportunity to have a conversation in English means their confidence grows more and more every day.

We had 7 new volunteers arrive this week, including another Kiwi. The house is now full and everyone seems so busy. It has been great to meet some new people and talk about all the different travel adventures they have been on.

We are having a big welcome party at the pool on Saturday with a live band and a bqq to entertain us, so that will be fun!!

Also most of you know now, but I was in a motorcycle accident my second week here. My teacher and I slipped down a bank and the bike crushed my ribs and shins. I went to the doctor last week to make sure I hadn't broken anything as I was in a lot of pain. However everything was ok, just bruised and swollen.

The pain has decreased a lot this week and I can finally sleep through the night now. So that has also made my week much more enjoyable :) 

Temperatures are continuing to increase here. When I arrived in January it was averaging around 30 degrees during the day. We are up to 38 degrees now and it doesnt drop below 20 at night. Cold showers before bed are a blessing and ice coffee, fruit shakes and lemonade are 50% of the daily diet.

So all up, week 4 has been a lot of fun and very rewarding. This weekend marks my halfway mark... only 4 more weeks to go!

Hope you have all had a good week too!! xx

The weekend

A nice relaxed weekend at the markets and going out for Charlotte's leaving dinner!