We finally landed in Cambodia Tuesday 11/20 around 12:40pm. After 23 hours of flying and 13 hours of layovers it is nice to be on the the ground for more than a few hours. Our driver from the hotel picked us up by tuk-tuk (a moped with a small cart attached to the back of it). Normally, I like to use tuk-tuks for transportation around Siem Reap but it was a bit humorous and uncomfortable to put all our suitcases, carry-ons and Shannon and I in a cart. We are staying in a newer hotel in the downtown area called The River Gardens. It is a very nice, quaint hotel with only nine rooms. The hotel is not really located in the tourist area of Siem Reap and donates a portion of the hotel costs back to an organization that is trying to provide clean water filters for the Cambodia citizens... very cool!
Tuesday late afternoon I met with Lourm Voeng. Lourm is the lady who helped us last year with part of our program by finding children in the village area to work with. She will be assisting us again this year by providing translation for the Tonle Sap project. We have mapped out an area we would like to concentrate on. We will be working in a city called Korm Pong Pluck. This city is in the Tonle Sap region and is home to 100% Cambodians. I am learning that Tonle Sap is slowly becoming home to many Vietnamese and is causing feuds between the Cambodian citizens and the Vietnamese. Lourm suggested this area as it is off the tourism radar and will be more acceptable to working with us as it only Cambodian Citizenship.
Tuesday evening we headed out to the Wat Athvea Pagoda for our first night at the Angkor Photography Festival. The Pagoda is home to a small temple, an orphanage and a school for the orphans. The title of Tuesday night's exhibit was "International Children's Rights"and EWOW was one of the exhibitors. It was a perfect location for our work to be projected. We had a very good crowd and a lot of children on hand for the nights festivities.
Wednesday morning started very early, 5:45am to be exact. While meeting with Lourm on Tuesday she had mentioned her brother Vanna Voeng would be getting married on Wednesday and would like
for us to attend. We were very excited to be asked to be a part of a traditional Cambodian wedding and couldn't turn it down. A typical Cambodian wedding last 2 days and begins very early in the morning hence the reason we were up. Lourm and Soeng picked us up outside our hotel and we were off to Lourm's grandparents house for the beginning ceremonies. What we didn't know is Shannon was going to be a part of the ceremony and would be wearing traditional Cambodian clothing and makeup. Yes, I have pictures. I on the other hand was permitted to photograph the ceremony. This was a great privilege and I felt very honored to be a part of my friend's family wedding. We spent all of the morning at the ceremony and broke away around 12pm so we could catch up on some email and I could update everyone with our tip thus far.
Tonight we will be back at the festival for more projected exhibits at the Carnet D' Asie. I hope to have some pictures posted to the blog in the next few days. I am having some technical difficulties... Cambodia. T., I am sure you understand what I mean.
Take care everyone,
Ty and Shannon
Tuesday late afternoon I met with Lourm Voeng. Lourm is the lady who helped us last year with part of our program by finding children in the village area to work with. She will be assisting us again this year by providing translation for the Tonle Sap project. We have mapped out an area we would like to concentrate on. We will be working in a city called Korm Pong Pluck. This city is in the Tonle Sap region and is home to 100% Cambodians. I am learning that Tonle Sap is slowly becoming home to many Vietnamese and is causing feuds between the Cambodian citizens and the Vietnamese. Lourm suggested this area as it is off the tourism radar and will be more acceptable to working with us as it only Cambodian Citizenship.
Tuesday evening we headed out to the Wat Athvea Pagoda for our first night at the Angkor Photography Festival. The Pagoda is home to a small temple, an orphanage and a school for the orphans. The title of Tuesday night's exhibit was "International Children's Rights"and EWOW was one of the exhibitors. It was a perfect location for our work to be projected. We had a very good crowd and a lot of children on hand for the nights festivities.
Wednesday morning started very early, 5:45am to be exact. While meeting with Lourm on Tuesday she had mentioned her brother Vanna Voeng would be getting married on Wednesday and would like
for us to attend. We were very excited to be asked to be a part of a traditional Cambodian wedding and couldn't turn it down. A typical Cambodian wedding last 2 days and begins very early in the morning hence the reason we were up. Lourm and Soeng picked us up outside our hotel and we were off to Lourm's grandparents house for the beginning ceremonies. What we didn't know is Shannon was going to be a part of the ceremony and would be wearing traditional Cambodian clothing and makeup. Yes, I have pictures. I on the other hand was permitted to photograph the ceremony. This was a great privilege and I felt very honored to be a part of my friend's family wedding. We spent all of the morning at the ceremony and broke away around 12pm so we could catch up on some email and I could update everyone with our tip thus far.Tonight we will be back at the festival for more projected exhibits at the Carnet D' Asie. I hope to have some pictures posted to the blog in the next few days. I am having some technical difficulties... Cambodia. T., I am sure you understand what I mean.
Take care everyone,
Ty and Shannon
2 comments:
Thank you so much for the update. I'm praying for success and safety. God is with you all. We truly love you and care about your mission. You make us proud. Continue on!
Glad to hear things are going well and you got there safe and sound. Looking forward to hearing more about your adventures.
Take care.
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