Wonders of the world

Goodbyes

Tuesday was our last full day at A Greater Hope Orphanage. And what a great day it turned out to be! We played games and had a dance party that Ream let go a little past their bedtime.



On Wednesday we went to school as usual and had our last and largest clinic with more than 50 people in the span of three hours. It may not seem like a lot, but for two caretakers and one translator, it was exhausting. But then the new team from Hawaii came to the clinic and helped with greeting patients as they were waiting and praying for them as they left.

By then, it was time to leave. The goodbyes were slow and hard. Most of the kids cried, most of our team cried and we left with so many bracelets that the kids had been making for us. The ride to Phnom Penh that night was pretty quiet as the reality sunk in that our time there was over. In the city we met Ream's brother, Ra, at the hotel and he and his girlfriend Anna (a YWAMer from England) took us to a nice (yet cheap) restaurant. Their company was a blessing to us because both of them are hilarious and took our minds off leaving the kids for a bit.

Siem Reap and Angkor Wat

On Thursday, we made it to Siem Reap, which is about a six hour bus ride north from Phnom Penh. Once we got there, we shopped, explored and relaxed. All of sudden we became tourists after living in the village. It was a weird transition, seeing all the foreigners and more diverse foods and souvenirs everywhere. Fortunately, Rylee is an expert heckler and knows how to get the good bargains.

View from Rylee and Laura's hotel room in Siem Reap.



Siem Reap is the city next to Angkor Wat and the temple system there (yes, Tomb Raider was filmed here AND a portion of the most recent Transformers). The buildings are hundreds of years old, huge, beautiful and a lot of fun to climb. This is just a small sampling of the wonders we saw. See more on our Facebook album.

Every wall had intricate designs on it. Amazing to think of the design, time and talent it took to build these temples.

Trees grew in, around and through this temple.





Friday was when we explored Angkor Wat, but otherwise, we've been relaxing, winding down from a long yet exciting couple of weeks, gearing up for cold weather and the start of a new semester next week.

What's next

On Saturday, we'll head back to Phnom Penh for some shopping and more city life before we catch our plane on Sunday night. Because of the time change, we'll be arriving in Missouri on Monday afternoon. Stay tuned for one more blog post and thanks for keeping up with us.