No, I'm not talking about balancing my checkbook. I'm talking about taking another trip to Cambodia!
I leave this Sunday on the red eye. Technically speaking, I'm doing two red eyes back-to-back because I leave on Sunday night and I arrive on Tuesday night. This is one helluva long trip and I'm not looking forward to it but at least Korean Airlines has a good in-flight entertainment service. And their flight attendants are very attractive and helpful. Those are definite pluses when you are cramped into a stiff chair for a gazillion hours.
On the agenda:
The main reason for my travel is to meet with Savong to discuss the recent birth of The Savong Foundation. This is a non-profit organization (with the 501c3 status pending) that will benefit the Savong School, the Savong Orphan Center and the surrounding community of the Bakong district of northern Cambodia. We will discuss the various projects and see what directions we wish them to take. The push right now is to come up with ways to make money for the Foundation so that it can accomplish everything that we dream about. I am very excited to be a part of this charity and you can keep an eye on the updates on The Savong Foundation facebook page.
Besides the business stuff, I'll spend a lot of time with kids at the orphan center and hopefully I'll get a chance to see what's happening at the school. I'm sure that I'll be exploring the temples that I didn't get to see last time and for the first time, I hope to travel to Phnom Kulen which is the sacred Cambodian mountain known for its waterfalls.
I will be staying at the Seven Candles Guesthouse which is the best accommodation I know for $20 a night. I am very excited to see Ponheary Ly again who is the Big Mama of the house and was recently awarded the title of a CNN hero for her work with schoolchildren. The guesthouse is very centrally located and you really do feel as if you are part of the big family when you're there. I highly recommend it if you ever decide to take the trip to Siem Reap.
And of course, I'll try to see sunrise at Angkor Wat. And I'll visit the markets. And I'll walk down Pub Street in Siem Reap and hope to see a show at the Temple Bar this time around. I may even try a fish foot massage for $3 which includes a coke or a beer. Yes, I am a tourist at heart and I love to take pictures.
This is a good time to visit Cambodia for the weather; it will be cooler with less (wishful thinking here) rain. The weather has GOT to be better than it was in April which felt like I was running through hell wearing a fur coat. If it does rain, it doesn't tend to last and scrubs everything clean (including the sweat-soaked tourists).
It's a little tricky to post updates due to the exhaustion factor (I tend to go until I drop when I'm on vacation) but I'll do my best at letting you know that I'm still alive.
