This is the day the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad in it. We did rejoice and praise God today because He is so awesome. We spent the night at the Relax motel. Our driver, Khorn, picked us up at 8 and we had to say goodbye to Solomon and Naomi. It was sad to leave them. They were headed to church at Christ Lutheran Church in Phnom Penh. Then Solomon would get dropped off at his host family as he attends Asian Hope International School in Phnom Penh. Naomi was going to meet up with Pat who will be visiting Stronghold, Pat is Education Curriculum Director for Mission of Christ Network. We began the 6 hour drive to Siem Reap.
Stopping for Snacks – Rejoice and Praise God
On the way we stopped at Skun Stop where Jesse bought fruit. The variety included pineapple, grapefruit, mango, banana, milk fruit, jack fruit, and palm fruit. All yummy, but check out the video of Julie and Pastor enjoying eating a grasshopper . They hung out with the tarantulas. At that point Anna scooted to safety. Our next stop was Cafe Amazon where once again a squatty potty was avoided by certain members of our feminine section of the crew. (NOTE: I’ll let everyone investigate “squatty potty” on their own … I think perhaps the Google search and this Cambodian reference are not the same thing ???)
Stopping for Lunch – Rejoice and Praise God
Back in the van for more driving. Actually the roads are paved and the traffic is lighter. We stopped for lunch at Prey Pos where we ate under a thatched roof by the lake. We dined on dogfish, ginger pork, beef lok lak, mango salad, Kampot pepper and lime juice. (Click here for interesting article on Cambodian Cuisine) A golden cat joined us and Julie snuck her a little fish treat. Everything was so tasty. The sign in the bathroom reminded us we could not stand on the toilet seat. Perhaps this is for those only familiar with the squatty potty?
The scenery changes now. Things are greener and the trees are bigger. We drive through villages where we see rice being dried on tarps in the front yard. It is wetter in this area so they can raise two crops of rice a year. There are a few houses made from cement, some from tin and some from whatever is available. The cement ones are two stories and painted green or blue or pink. Some homes are on stilts and living is done on the ground, while sleeping would be the second level.
We pass a few tents set up for Buddhist weddings. The decorations are beautiful. The groom pays for the wedding to show he will be able to provide for his bride. The wedding lasts two days and for a middle class wedding a groom must have $4,000 to $5,000. We pass many temples to Buddha and see many monks. A boy may go to become a monk at age 12.
Back in the City
Around 3:00, we arrive at Angkor Wat and look for the Lucky Angkor, our hotel. We were in awe and were able to swim in the pool. Julie had to put on a shirt as she was cool. You see, the temperature dropped to 86. We ate supper at the Red Piano. Lots of people from other countries are here now. We went shopping at the Night Market and were so proud of our “wheeling and dealing” after a little tutorial from Jesse.
Tonight was our first warm shower in over a week. So at the end of the day, we once again found reason to Rejoice and Praise God Today!
Submitted by MaryAnn Woods on Sunday, January 19, 2020
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