It is coming up so quickly! Next Wednesday, December 19th, I'll be on my way to Cambodia and then Thailand. In Cambodia I will be joining a volunteer group called The Pepy Ride to do some volunteer work. Here is their website if you want some info: http://www.pepyride.org/ I will be on the trip called The Rural Experiential Trip and Pre-Trip Phnom Penh Excursion.
They also sent us a detailed itinerary, so for those of you who are interested, I copied it below.
I will also be in Thailand from December 29th to January 4th. I do not have that planned out yet, and I thought I was traveling with someone on that trip, but it looks like I'll be on my own again. So wish me luck!
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Welcome to the PEPY December Rural Experiential Tour!
You made it! Welcome to Phnom Penh! Thank you for all of the hard work you have put into fundraising and promoting PEPY. Now is your chance to experience what we do here at PEPY, learn more about Cambodia, and have an amazing week with interesting people! Here are some of the things we have to look forward to this week!
December 20th
Today our trip officially begins! We will meet up in the lobby of the Indochine at 2:00 to begin our tour of the city. We will spend this afternoon roaming the famed Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda located on the shores of the Mekong. Inside the Palace walls are the Throne Hall, the Chan Chaya Pavilion used for performances of classical dance, the Napoleon III Pavilion, and the King and Queen's residential quarters. Next stop will be the Silver Pagoda, so named as its floor is made up 5,000 silver tiles! The Silver Pagoda is also known as the Pagoda of the Emerald Buddha as it houses a glittering array of Buddhist statues, the centre piece being a magnificent 17th century emerald Buddha statue made of baccarat crystal. The walls of the pagoda are lavishly decorated with colorful frescos depicting episodes from the Khmer version of the Ramayana. For dinner tonight we will eat at ‘Friends, a restaurant run by an NGO that trains former street children. Working in the restaurant gives these youngsters the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of the hospitality business, serving customers, taking orders, cooking and learning about hygiene in the workplace. Since opening the restaurant has succeeded in becoming wholly self-sufficient and all profits are reinvested into the Training Centre activities.
(D)
December 21st
This morning we will wake up looking forward to our first full day of the trip! Breakfast has been arranged to be served at the Indochine restaurant just on your left as you walk out the hotel doors. After breakfast we will spend the morning learning about the atrocity of the Khmer Rouge regime while visiting significant historical sites. First we will visit Toul Sleng Genocide Museum also known as S21, located in a quiet Phnom Penh suburb. This group of buildings was once a school but was turned into a prison and torture centre by the Khmer Rouge. Post-Khmer Rouge this disturbing site has been transformed into a museum to explain the crimes committed there. Once you have gained an initial understanding of the brutality of the Khmer Rouge regime you will be driven 15km from Phnom Penh to visit the ‘Killing Fields’ or Cheoung Ek. This is where Toul Sleng prisoners were forcibly marched and then executed; it is now a memorial site located in a tranquil setting. After this difficult morning we will eat lunch together back in Phnom Penh at NYEMO an NGO that assists marginalized women and victims of domestic violence. Their delicious restaurant also serves as a training facility for women to learn skills, giving their families a means of improving their livelihoods.
This afternoon is yours to explore the lively markets of the city, roam the riverside, or try a Khmer massage. Tonight we have the amazing opportunity to visit Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF). CCF is an orphanage, educational centre, vocational training centre and home to many children in Phnom Penh. Most of these children in the past were living and working in a garbage dump just outside of Phnom Penh picking plastics from the garbage all day in squalid conditions. Tonight we will meet these children, the people who work with CCF, and will see a performance by the children. Some of these performances might be traditional dances and music, and others might be reenactments from their own lives written by the performers themselves. Dinner will be on your own tonight. There are numerous options in Phnom Penh, from Italian or Indian to fabulous Thai and one-dollar Chinese dumplings.
(B, L)
December 22nd
This morning we will wake up, eat breakfast at Indochine and head outside of the city to RDIC, where we will meet up with Mickey Sampson and his team for a tour of RDIC’s facility and projects. Here, you will have the opportunity to learn more about RDIC and all the programs and initiatives they support such as water quality research, water pumps and filtration, health education through karaoke and television programs and more!
For lunch we will eat at Phnom Penh’s snazziest riverside location, the FCC (Foreign Correspondents Club). In the afternoon we have the opportunity to listen to a private performance by a Khmer music master from Cambodian Living Arts (CLA). CLA supports the revival of Cambodian traditional art forms by providing master teachers – some of the most highly respected musicians in the country – with jobs and a living wage. As well, CLA offers stipends to new students to continue their musical studies, ensuring that the arts community in Cambodia continues to grow. For our last dinner in Phnom Penh we will enjoy the tastes of Cambodia at Khmer Kitchen.
(B, L, D)
December 23rd
This morning is your chance to check out the markets of Phnom Penh. You can head to the Russian Market to bargain over silk scarves, wooden carvings and Angkor paintings or you can head to Central Market to admire its impressive domed ceiling and array of gold and silver jewelry. You can grab lunch to-go lunch at the market or back near the hotel before we meet up to catch the bus to Siem Reap. This afternoon we will be on the bus to Siem Reap with the opportunity to see rural Cambodia passing by. This evening we are checking into Soria Moria in Siem Reap and eating dinner there, where we will meet with the rest of the team.
(B,D)
December 24th
Breakfast will be served at Soria Moria followed by our first day at The PEPY Ride School! You will get to meet Tolors, our incredible English teacher, Sokhoeung our newly hired computer teacher (who will be working with the XOs, aka $100 laptop) and Srey Touh our librarian in addition to the full Cambodian teaching staff. The school will have several work projects for us to get involved in, and you will have the opportunity to share your skills as well, sitting in on an English course, teaching yoga or origami, playing volleyball and practicing English with the kids. You will also have the opportunity to meet your “buddy”, a 4th grade student who will join us on our trip on the 27th to see the Angkor Wat temples.
Tonight we will join the PEPY Ride Team at Warehouse for dinner, and hear PEPY Founder Daniela Papi speak about where PEPY came from, our current accomplishments, our goals, and where YOU fit into the PEPY Picture.
(B,L,D)
December 25th
Merry Christmas! Today is a free day, with many options for you to celebrate the holidays by giving back. We will have a chance to visit to the Angkor Hospital for Children, giving small gifts to those children and families in their care. We can spend the morning at the market purchasing any last items we want to deliver or perhaps wrapping our gifts. In the afternoon you can visit the landmine museum, a compelling experience or perhaps donate blood at the Angkor Children’s Hospital, a very well funded and hygienic hospital near our hotel. Or explore the local markets and take a dip in the pool next door! In the evening we will celebrate Christmas with a group of PEPY volunteers at The Singing Tree restaurant. If you want, you can participate in the environmental gift exchange. Make something, bring something from your home town, write a poem, anything! We will do a “grab bag” type exchange. You can either make your gift or buy something small (about $5 value) that represents something about you. Get creative!
(B,D)
December 26th
Today we will head back to Chanleas Dai for our second day working at the school. We will be handing our new uniforms to all of the students, and continuing with the projects we started two days ago. Tonight, if you would like you have the opportunity to spend the night at the school. This gives you a few extra hours of time with the students, and the chance to sit in on an English class with 7th grade students who recently graduated from the PEPY Ride School.
Rural Cambodia is beautiful by day, but striking by night. Staying at the school gives you a real sense of what most of Cambodians experience on a daily basis….pumping and filtering your own water, listening to the sounds of roosters and pigs outside your door, sleeping with mosquito nets and without fans or air-conditioning and seeing thousands of stars on a clear night.
(B,L,D)
December 27th
You have done quite a lot in Cambodia already…but today we will finally get to see Angkor Wat! After breakfast at Soria Moria (or at the school) we will head to the temples to meet up with class 4A of the PEPY Ride School. Most of these 4th graders have never been to Angkor Wat even though they live less than two hours away and it is free for Cambodians! Today our focus is on making this experience the most powerful and educational possible for these students as well as being blown away by the magnitude and beauty of the temples. Dinner will be on your own tonight, a chance for you to explore the many restaurants and varieties of cuisine the Siem Reap as to offer. Your leaders can help you find the perfect restaurant to suit your tastes.
(B,L)
December 28th
Today we will enjoy a relaxing day on the Tonle Sap. Bring your bathing suit! We will have a chance to swim in the lake, pass floating villages and canoe through a flooded forest with local guides. There will be a few hours in the late afternoon free to make a final trip to the markets, to take a dip in the pool, or to relax with a sweet Khmer coffee. Tonight we will enjoy a farewell dinner at Sala Bai, a hotel and catering school in Siem Reap for disadvantaged young Cambodians. This school gives invaluable training to young men and women so they might benefit from the increases in tourism-related development in Cambodia. After dinner, those wanting to celebrate their last evening can head to Bar Street, for a few drinks and dancing.
(B,L,D)
December 29th
After breakfast at Soria Moria, we will arrange airport transfers, pack your warm fuzzies in your bag and say our goodbyes. Come back and see us again soon!
(B)
