Pictures: Siem Reap and Angkor Wat

24/05/2013: Angkor Wat and Siem Reap

After interesting taxi journey to Phnom Penh and a 6 hour bus journey we were very glad to arrive safely in our cute hotel in Siem Reap. We were greeted by some very friendly faces and a welcome drinks (flashpackers, I know). Even though we spent the whole day on our bums we were exhausted so painted our nails and went to bed early ready for our 4am wake up call to see Angkor Wat at sunrise. 

Sitting on the river bank and seeing this ancient temple was one of the most beautiful and priceless sights even with the very early morning and our slightly dodgy tummies (it would seem Cambodian ice doesn't agree with us). We spent the whole morning looking round the various temples but I must say after a few of them we were rather "templed out". Along with Angkor Wat our favourites were; Angkor Thom and Ta Prom (of tomb raider fame). 

That evening a friendly Cambodian guy who worked at our hotel took us for a traditional khmer meal which was really good and we would never have found this place on our own! We then had a few drinks and day 1 was done! 

Day 2, we went to the old market which is a lovely maze of silk cushions, silver jewellery, placemats, tablecloths, scarves, various clothes and much more! We picked up a few bargain souvenirs using our best haggling skills! And then had lunch in a great cafe called "blue pumpkin" where we lay on beds and had pasta and a croque Monsieur, yum! That evening we headed to the night market for some khmer food and another browse taking full advantage of the cooler temperatures! Our time in Siem reap was lovely, a place we'd both love to take our families. 

Xxx

19/05/2013: Last few days in Angta Soam/Angkor Som/No one really knows how to spell it.

We have been teaching English at the local business school in the village for around a week now and it has gone so quick! We teach three classes a day; Beginners, Advanced Beginners, and an evening class of teenagers who worryingly probably speak better English than us.
The children pay $5 a month to attend the school, which is a massive amount of money for them, so they do really want to learn.
However this is not to say it hasn't been a challenge. Every lesson we are greeted with a 'teacher nooooooo teacher' as we countdown the time to stop writing. Or 'teacher sing a song', 'play a gaaaame teacher'. We recently put on a performance of the whole of Justin Bieber - Baby.. Not sure how they felt about that.
The experience has been rewarding and has definitely put us in good stead for our next project; teaching English for 6 weeks in Thailand.
We have one day left at the school before leaving for amazing Siem Reap!

Pictures: Weekend in Sihnoukville

12/05/2013: Cambodia so far

We've been in Cambodia for just about a week now and it is truly a beautiful country. It's unimaginable to think about the turmoil that the Cambodian people have faced but in all honesty they are some of the most friendly and kind people we have ever met. In other countries this friendly attitude is a way of getting money from you and although I can't speak for everyone this just doesn't seem the case here! We have been teaching 3 English classes a day and the kids are so lovely and keen to learn. There is no doubt that at the end of every lesson they go away knowing more than what they came with, and that's very rewarding. 

This weekend is the Kings birthday so there's no school until Thursday so we, along with the other volunteers decided to head down to sihanoukville which is a beachy Provence of Cambodia. We are on serendipity for a couple of nights- which is the party part (think malia but with Cambodians) and then we're heading over to otreas beach for two more nights which is meant to be much more chilled! We're very excited to get out tan on! Although you do get bombarded by children with bracelets every time you try and relax and sunbathe! 

More updates soon! 

 

Much love xxxx

04/05/13: We're in Bangkok! (Well.. Near enough...)

So we made it to Bangkok! We're staying at a hotel around an hour out of the city, but since we're only here for 3 days it's nice to just be able to relax.

Our hotel is really lovely and everyone is super friendly and helpful so it's really the best place to chill before all of the sightseeing and volunteering commences!

Not much else to say, more updates in Cambodia!

30/04/2013: Blog blog blog

Hello and welcome to our blog! :)

Our names are Lizzy and Vicki and we are currently taking a gap year before heading to university in September.

We are travelling around Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam for the next 3 and a half months and plan to keep a diary of our travels to keep friends and family updated on our whereabouts. We are taking part in various volunteering projects which we found out about through a charity called PoD (Personal Overseas Development), as well as some lone travelling together! We leave on 2nd May for Bangkok, Thailand, where we will be staying for 3 days in a hotel before leaving for our first project; volunteering for two weeks in an orphanage in Cambodia.

Xxx