Sihanoukville with the orphanage

The trip to Sihanoukville with the kids was very good. I arrived at the ophanage at 5:30am and the kids were all ready to go. The bus arrived and got loaded up and we left at about 6:30am. We stopped a couple of hours later by a field and all got out of the bus and had a breakfast of rice and fish. There was a man who was harvesting syrup from the Sugar Palm tree. Some of the kids and I tried the syrup. It tasted warm and sweet. He must make a notch in one of the stocks of the leaves and then hangs a long, narrow plastic bucket from a rope under the cut. The tree basically bleeds its syrup into the bucket.



Stopped for breakfast



The man with the palm syrup



Tasting the palm syrup

 We arrived at our guesthouse at about 11:00am and checked into our rooms and got our swim suits. It was down to the beach from there. We played in the water for approximately 30min and then it was time to go. We went to another beach that had a covered sheltered picnic area where we could eat our lunch.



The first beach



Lunch at the second beach



After lunch we played in the water again until we were as wrinkled as raisons. We sat in the sheltered area until it was time to set up for dinner. Supper was a barbeque prepared right there. The older kids and staff barbequed fish, prawns, small river clams, squid and a little bit of pork. It was delicious and the kids kept cooking until we left at about 8:30pm. After supper, some of the kids and I danced to the music that was playing.


A barbeque feast


Back at the guesthouse I was to share my room with Mr. Sokhun's two nieces, but they ended up spending the night in another room with some of the girls from the orphanage. It was a nice room and I stayed up late watching TV in English. That was nice too!

In the morning I woke up early, but stayed in my room until about 7:00am. As I was coming out one of the guesthouse's staff was coming to my room to see if I was ready to check out. The kids were already lined up and getting ready to leave. Who knew we would be leaving so early. It really does pay to speak the language of the country you are in and then you could ask these questions.

We went and had breakfast at one of the local establishments and then headed for Mr. Robert's boat. He was taking us on a boat ride to an island where we would be able to swim and play. The boat was 3 levels and very nicely and comfortably set up for lots of people. We arrived at the island and some people had the opportunity to jump from the top of the boat into the water and swim to the island. I was going to do this, but by the time I got my swimsuit on, everyone had already left and I thought, "What if I hurt myself? There won't be anyone there to help me. Oh, forget it! I don't have to jump from the top", so I didn't.


Mr. Robert's boat



A swim to the beach


When we all got the the island, Mr. Robert took us on a bit of an adventure in the river. The riverbanks were covered in Mangroves. There was 3 different types of Mangroves that Mr. Robert pointed out to us. The water was a very dark and disgusting colour. It was between a dark brown and black colour with a tinge of red to it. Mr. Robert said that it was because of the Tea Trees that were also growing there that gave the river it's disgusting colour.


Some of the orphanage kids


We stayed and played at the island until just after 12:30 and then be headed back to the mainland. We were treated to lunch by Mr. Robert. There was crab, noodles that were like a goulash, fried rice, a lettuce wrap, amok with fish and some fruit for dessert. The trip back was a bit rough and almost as soon as the kids had finished their lunch their tummies started to turn and they were throwing up everywhere. They were not having any fun, anymore.

Back on dry land we all got on the bus and headed for home. We arrived back at the orphanage at 8:30pm. Theara, one of the staff  drove me back to my home. It was a very good weekend and the kids and I had a good time.