We have arrived in Phnom Penh! It has been one hot, fantastic day! After settling into our hotel, we walked down the street to a cafe for lunch that had amazingly good food– pumpkin soup (the group favorite), lime soda, and pizza for those of us who needed a little break from Asian cuisine! We seemed to cool off a bit during lunch, but once we reached the market all bets were off. There is more stuff crammed into a teeny tiny space than I thought humanly possible. Mrs. Taplin knows many of the dealers, though, so we got the best quality and lowest price. Needless to say, we became shopaholics (well… I was a shopaholic)… Most of us walked home with armfuls of merchandise, some for ourselves and some for you at home! 🙂
Our mode of transportation to and from the market was by tuk tuk, a small motorcycle with a buggy hooked to the back. Not only did we experience Cambodian culture by riding in a tuk tuk, we experienced the whirlwind of a dozen tuk tuk drivers waiting outside our hotel to let them drive us. They practically came running at us! We only needed two, so it was a tough choice. From every angle we heard, “Hey lady, tuk tuk?” We were glad to give business to the chosen ones!

We ate another fabulous meal also right down the street from our hotel for dinner, where we saw gecko’s on the walls and the lights went out for about sixty seconds. Despite that, we had a great dinner! We were finally able to try our teacher’s favorite dessert, mango sticky rice. It was surprisingly delicious! We ended the night with foot and back massages, all very cheap of course! Tomorrow we will begin our time at the Sianhouk Center of Hope. Pray for endless healing! We are having an amazing trip so far and we are so glad to be settled in Phnom Penh! We send lots of love!
Stephanie Brooks