A glimpse at our first experiences in Cambodia...

Wow. This place is amazing. I don’t even know where to begin. I mean, I could start by telling you all about how our adventure started off great and took a wrong turn when our first flight was delayed so that it landed in LA just in time for the flight to South Korea to take off, leaving us stranded in LAX for hours. And hours. And hours. Or I could tell you about how we finally got a flight out at midnight that night and that left us stranded at the airport in S. Korea for hours. And hours. And hours. Almost 14 hours, actually…

But I know you are much more interested in the actual information about Cambodia. Yes, after over 50 hours of entertaining kids with no sleep in airports and on planes, we finally arrived.

It was nearly midnight when we stepped off the plane. We were happy to see that at least a few of the signs were in English, and the employees at the airport, despite the language barrier, were extremely friendly and helpful. I mean, we had 4 full size carry-ons, a stroller, and 2 kids, so it was pretty clear we needed some help. They took us to the desk where we got our visas – a process we were told could take a very long time but went quickly and smoothly. After that we went to get our 8 suitcases… 2 per person… and guess what… they ALL made it! Yep, every single one. After all the crazy flight changes they still made it. God is so good.

We walked out of baggage claim to find two of the IJM employees waiting for us with big smiles and taking our picture, too! They greeted us with hugs and we felt at home already. We all walked to the two giant cars they brought to pick transport us and all our luggage and headed across Phnom Penh to the house. We are staying at one of the IJM attorney’s house as he is leaving with his family for vacation in the US in a couple days. That gives us a great place to stay AND extra time to find a place of our own! It works out great for all sides, and we are so thankful.

Anyway, we drove across town and my first impression was all about the traffic. It was midnight and there were motorcycles and mopeds (they call them all motos here) pulling out in front of us and all around us from every direction! Lights would change green or red or yellow but the people just drove anyway! Cars would drive on the right mostly but sometimes on the left side of the road, too. It was quite a sight. But that’s about all we saw that night. We were tired and it was late. We went to bed and saved exploring for the next day.

Here’s what we experienced the next day:

The sounds…
Before 6am sounds of hammers and construction woke us up. I guess they don’t have rules about noise disruption or anything here! That and honking horns, lots of honking horns, woke us up early. The city is a busy place that early!

The smell…
So, you’ll probably laugh at me for saying this but I kind of expected it to smell really tasty here… like a good Chinese buffet or something. Or if not tasty, then like fish or something. My thoughts were all about food. I know that sounds ridiculous, but if I’m being honest, that’s what I expected. Well, it doesn’t. Occasionally we get a whiff when strolling the streets of a good food but mostly it smells like gasoline. Motos are everywhere and the streets smell like gasoline and pollution. Me and my kids, however, we smell like bug spray. All the time. With DEET. Because mosquitos are very scary here! We spray the boys several times a day. I’m praying now for whatever effects this bug spray may have on their health in the future! Anyway, between the bug spray and the gasoline, it definitely does NOT smell like a Chinese buffet! : )

The taste…
Well, I can’t say much about this. On our first day out we found a place called “Lucky Burger.” It’s at the western style grocery store called Lucky. It’s supposed to be Cambodia’s version of McDonalds. It was surprisingly good. Funny thing is we had a chicken sandwich in the airport in Seoul called a “burger” and here they call the burger a “sandwich.” Anyway, for a burger, fries, and a coke it was less than $3. Totally affordable for the kids to have a little American food! It did not, however give me much to comment on about fresh new tastes here in a new place! I’ll get to that eventually and have plenty to talk about I’m sure! Here’s a picture of my “sandwich” at Lucky Burger.



The feel…
It’s hot. So so very hot. And muggy. I guess we’ll get used to it but I’m not sure. It stays hot all the time with 100% humidity most days. I find myself drinking a lot of water. And sitting in front of a fan whenever possible! Apparently electricity is super expensive so fans are cheaper than air conditioning to use. It's bearable for now. Apparently April is the hottest month... and also the cheapest time to fly here... go figure...


The sights…
These pretty much speak for themselves.

These are just random photos from the streets of Phnom Penh.

This is the central market inside here... haven't been in yet but can't wait to see and photograph it!

Toward the end of our exploring, we found a shopping mall, built by foreign investors that had a great view from the top. Here's us posing our first day in PP.



Here's a photo of Stephen and little man on the tuk tuk. They are having fun for sure! Every minute since we got off they've been asking when we can ride again. Oh, if they only knew how much we'll have to do this...

And that's about it for day one. It was a great first day. We were super tired but just pushed through the whole day and crashed early that night. I'll get more up on here when I can. We're looking forward to trying out a new church here Sunday. I can't wait! And the boys keep asking when they can make friends, so that sounds like a good place to start.

I can't believe we live here. Can you? Wow.

And I can't wait to share more!