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Hope Cambodia - Day 2 Thursday, August 2 2007	Back to Home Page
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We spent the first night in Phnom Penh, then headed out for 5 days in "the province" (which was a way of saying, "the country.") We went to a province & city, both called Kampong Cham. The people we met there were truly amazing. On this page you'll see our trip to the province, some excitement we had along the drive, our experiences giving out handbills in the city center, and visiting the sites of the upcoming Leadership Conference & Festival.

	Jonathan, excited to get started on the trip.
Just part of the mountain of luggage that followed us everywhere. (With the exception of the 3 bags that remained in Los Angeles!)


The first of many interesting things seen on the 2 1/2 hour drive.	The countryside was beautiful.

The cities were not so beautiful, but interesting.



Just one of the many looks we saw of the attitude toward safety in Cambodia.	Here we are at a rest stop where many of us could not bring ourselves to use the facilities. These girls are selling fried tarantulas.


We thought this doggie was so cute until we saw the one-legged ex-soldier beating him for putting the bucket down. It was so sad.	Another look at the spider treats. They were 8 for $1 or something like that. There were so many! That's what freaked me out - they must be everywhere.


Shelby munching a spider leg.	Brahk ate a bunch of them. Jason did too but I didn't get a pic.


This was as close as I could get to the things.	Girl selling fruit.

Fruit stand at the rest area.
	The mean soldier who owned the dog.
Gretchen snapped this shot with almost no warning as we drove down the road. I thought it turned out great.

More random things we saw on the road...

Our hotel in the Province -home for the next 5 nights.	Here we are unloading near the Karaoke VIP entrance, how convenient!
We were issued two rolls of toilet paper per room and given a few bottles of water, then we went to throw our stuff in our rooms.
	Chom, Lin, John, and Stephanie - Checking out the view from the balcony.

This could be seen out one of the hotel windows - cool!!
	A shot of the bathroom - it had that "all in one" convenience! The shower head is attached to the white tubing directly above the toilet. You had to move the T.P. far away before showering. Many people had hot water there, but Eric and I were not among them.


This shows the "bidet" attachment next to the toilet. It's the same kind of spray nozzle that's on the kitchen sink of half the homes in America. Icky!	In Phnom Penh, the power to the room was connected to your room key, so you could not leave the A/C on when you were away. This room had a master power switch which could be left on, so that was nice. The room key was a large, old-fashioned metal key.


During our week in Kampong Cham, many people had visitors in their room such as geckos, mice, and rats. As soon as we walked in the room, Eric started stuffing toilet paper into all the holes in the room. Maybe that's why we didn't receive any of those unwanted visitors. Above you can see the pink T.P. in a large hole right beside the head of the bed.	In the fancy Phnom Penh hotel, they left two pair of nice slippers for your use around the hotel. Not to be outdone, our hotel in the country offered a similar service.


I did not stage this shot - these were the toiletries that we found upon first entering the restroom. An unpackaged toothbrush and a dirty scrub brush.	A closer look at the scrub brush. We hope it is intended for use on your shoes. I kept putting it in the floor and the maid kept putting it back on the tray above the sink.


The first of MANY hallway meetings we had in the hotel. Lunch was "grab some of your snacks" and we hit the road almost immediately.
Our first official duty - handing out handbills to advertise the upcoming festival. Here we are getting our instructions.
	This was the market area where we started, and apparently the spot for dumping trash as well.

	Here Suja gives a handbill to a fruit seller.
This lady had that baby really going in the hammock, it was precious. Eric is in the background giving out a handbill.


Just some of the many bizarre fruits they had there.

People in their boat on the Mekong river.
	Suja and Lin and one of our festival posters on the tree where this one-eyed monkey lived. It was strange.


We didn't want to get too close to the monkey, he looked a little agressive!	These guys were playing some kind of card game in the middle of the day on a Thursday. Also, it was hot but no one wears shorts.
	Anyone hungry for a snack? Gretchen took this shot of some of the food options available to us.

Another boat we saw on the Mekong.
	Handing out handbills on the waterfront.


Our handbill team: Suja, Lin, Lauren, Eric, and me.	We made friends with this man Simon, a Brit who owned this restaurant.
This was right in the city center - trash and cows and random empty lots. It was strange.

Here Pastor David checks in with us.	The kids were thrilled with the handbills even though they didn't know what they were. White people were such an oddity that we were treated like a celebrity everywhere we went.

	Gretchen took this shot of Andrew & Sam giving out handbills. We tried to leave no home ignored!



Another handbill team, meeting up with us at the end of the afternoon.	Now we're back at the hotel preparing to go visit the sites of the Leadership Conference and the 3-night Festival we'll be putting on.


Ly (pronounced Lee) and Lin - two of our great interpreters.	The theater where our Leadership Conference was held.


The site of our big festival - set up was underway. It was really just a soccer field that the local volunteers and people Harvest hired had converted into a concert area - it was great!	Donuts anyone? They have hardly any fly larvae on them at all.

	There were two security guards on duty. I don't think I would have bothered them.


Chom, Lin, Sarah, and Sam
	Eric & the sky, both brooding

While we were doing these things, another team was painting one of the orphanages. Church of the Harvest raised funds to build 3 and Joyce Meyer Ministries will pay to staff & run them for 20 years. Great deal!

This shows the sophisticated equipment they worked with. Everyone was thankful for Andrew, who had the sense to bring duct tape & a leatherman.	They built this scaffolding and do not kid yourself, it was NOT secure! Josiah is still having flashbacks.



Cambodia, where it's always "Safety First!"	Karli helped entertain the orphans while their new home was being prepared for them.






Shelby did a lot of the detail work.	The kids were so sweet and they really bonded with our team.


Our first meal in the restaurant next door to the hotel. We were thrilled that the food tasted like fairly typical Chinese food from back home. However, we were not quite as thrilled when we continued to eat almost exactly the same meal for lunch and dinner for the next 5 days. But at least it tasted good, right?!!	Gretchen, enjoying one of the tiny bananas they served.

	Catina with a giant bowl of my favorite dish in front of her - the chicken curry. Also that's soy milk beside the bowl, in case that's your beverage of choice with dinner.


Here our worship team practices in the room late in the evening.


A view of the balcony of our hotel at night.	We had to sleep under a mosquito net. Here I was reading under ours. It was strange and inconvenient, but worth it. Malaria is no fun!
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