Nov 25-Dec 24th, 2014
The month started with us participating in the wedding of our good friends Carla and Brian in the Philippines. Then the trip transitioned from heavy travel to a more stable day to day routine in Cambodia. In December we volunteered and each had our own English classes that we taught to children from poor backgrounds. It was such a great experience and very rewarding to be able to give back and were really impacted by the kids. It was also nice to be able to find a local gym in Phnom Penh that we joined which had a great pool to try and keep cool because it was extremely hot and humid the whole month. We also found rest and relaxation on the weekends by going to an island paradise in southern Cambodia which provided a nice change of pace from our busy weekdays. The month ended with Christmas eve where we had a great dinner with our volunteer house that made it feel for the first time all month like it was the Christmas season.
Month 4 Travel Stats
Countries Visited: Philippines and Cambodia
Cities Visited:
- Philippines – Manila, Coron island
- Cambodia – Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Koh Rong island
Transportation
# of Flights: 2 (Cebu airlines)
# of Bus trips: 8
# of Tuk-Tuk rides: 48
# of days worked out: 20
# of miles walked: hundreds!
Budget
Month 4= Under Budget, ThumbsUp!!
Our Most Expensive Country: Neither – they are both really cheap!
Our Cheapest Country: Cambodia
Our Cheapest City: Koh Rong island
Favorites
Favorite Foods: Coconut banana shake (Phnom Penh), Brooklyn Pizza (Phnom Penh), Sigi’s Thai Food (Koh Rong), homemade Thanksgiving dinner (Philippines)
Favorite Lodging: Tree house (Koh Rong Island, Cambodia)
Favorite Activities: Attending Brian and Carla’s wedding, Teaching the kids English in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap temple tour, Weekends on Koh Rong island swimming and relaxing
Best Nightlife: Relaxed beach bars on the beach in Koh Rong
Fun Facts
Most rewarding moment: Knowing that we made a difference by teaching the kids English
Best purchases for this month: On Koh Rong you can get oceanfront accommodations for under $20 USD and all beer on the island is only $1
Cambodian religion: 95% of Cambodians are Buddhists so they do not celebrate Christmas
Biggest Bummers:
- Typhoon in the Philippines which resulted in some of our friends stuff and wedding items at the bottom of the sea
- Marissa getting food poisoning in Cambodia and being stuck on a 5 hr bus ride with it (again……)
- Josh with weird stuck stomach pains from the Cambodian cuisine
- Craziest boat ride of our life getting back from Koh Rong on our second trip there
- Overnight bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh (bumpiest ride of life)
Biggest Wins:
- Finding our island paradise (Koh Rong) in Cambodia
- The view from our treehouse balcony overlooking the ocean
- Finding the pool at the gym in Phnom Penh
- Being able to pay $6/day to get air conditioning in our place in Phnom Penh
- Making new friends in our volunteer house
- Meeting our tuk-tuk driver in Siem Reap who was amazing and made our trip there special
Craziest thing seen:
Cambodia buses – they are quite the experience from the roads that are largely unpaved and filled with massive holes to the music that they blast as loud as possible to the fact that every bus we took in Cambodia was late and full of unexpected surprises.- Our tuk-tuk ride to school everyday in Cambodia– always interesting things such as people riding around on their motorbikes with 100 chickens (alive and dead) strapped to the sides
Current level of Candy Crush: 116 Splendid Days!
Books read (other than travel guides):
- Marissa: 1 (Voyager (Outlander 3)
- Josh: 1 (The Beach)
Health: Marissa food poisoning, Josh weird stomach flu
Coming Up…
Month 5 starts with Christmas day in Cambodia, sees us finish our English teaching adventure in Cambodia, travel through Vietnam with friends and finishes with another volunteer program in Bali, Indonesia!
Leave a Reply