Our Trip To Cambodia

We were picked up by curious and excited faces who had not  seen in a while. The kids welcomed us to hot and beautiful Cambodia. They were all a lot older then last time we saw them. Whilst we were in Siem Reap it was Khmer new year and they were off for two weeks from school. This meant that we could take them out to go on day outings and have parties. They continued to talk and play volleyball, and included us to their activities. Of course at the start everyone was a bit shy towards us, but after we settled in, it felt like we were a part of them.

One day we took them to a beautiful national park with waterfalls,  Phnom Kulen. All of us (apart from a few older ones who went by motorbike) just fitted in the Imagine van. It was a long ride to get there with everyone cramped together. We stopped to get drinks and fruit. Riding up the mountain was really fun. It was very bumpy but the view from up there was so cool. Finally once we arrived, we all helped unload the stuff from the van and settled in a comfortable area. There we had lunch. After we all finished eating and drinking, we headed down to the waterfall. We walked past a river, a mini waterfall and then there was a huge waterfall! It looked so pretty. There were big rocks to sit on. We all swam to the waterfall and helped each other get on the rocks that were directly under the waterfall. Once I got on I could feel the water on my back, it was so heavy! Everyone helped each other get down as well. The smaller kids stayed in the shallow end with Sa-voun. Then when we finally got out of the water we walked around for a little to look at the tem-ples. It was a really fun day! When we were all tired we made our way back, most of the kids fell asleep. Especially Savoun’s two children, Kitya and Saktya, fell asleep. We weren’t surprised that they fell asleep, after a big day climbing and battling the water falls and looking at the temples.

On the last day we organized a party and we bought lots of delicious pizzas, really big drinks, bags with ice, and massive speakers for music and karaoke. Everyone was so excited! The party started as soon as the music started, it was soo000 loud that I could guess that you could hear it from five blocks away. However this music was fun and different music than what we listen to. While Eng and a few adults were setting up,  the rest of us dug into a mountain of the freshly made pizzas, they were all gone very quick. Chenn was choosing the music and pumped up the volume. Every-one started to dance to the thumping music, and having a fun and fantastic time with each other. We had some visitors from the neighborhood joining in the fun and scoring some soft drinks. Of course most the older boys didn’t want to dance, however they enjoyed talking to each other, lis-tening to the music and watching. Chenn and Smith were the only boys to dance and sing. They loved it, everyone did. The girls were swinging like crazy, Srey Mom was leading the pack, she’s a fantastic dancer. That night was the last day for our trip to Cambodia and it was a very special one. We already have decided that we are definitely going back again.

By Cindy and Francis Jacobs