Finding our feet again in Cambodia

After arriving in Cambodia last night following a 3hr flight delay in Kuala Lumpur (cheers Air Asia!) we were exhausted!!! Jimmy picked us up from Siem Reap airport with a van to accomodate the 50+ kg of chaibles we brought with us for the mobile school!!! We then had a quick dinner with Jimmy and also our lovely supporter Marika who happened to be in Cambodia at the same time as us and who generously brought over some chaibles also!! She arrived on Saturday, successfully bringing over the first package of chaibles :)

Today we spent some time in the morning checking out the local market to fill our fridge with delicious local fruits and vegetables. We dripped with sweat through the humid market stalls and went home with a decent spread. It's so nice being able to choose from so many tropical fruits!!!!

Following our market trip we met up with Jimmy to begin discussions for our plan to purchase the mobile school vehicle. It was decided that we are going to travel to Phnom Penh with a local mechanic in our company to choose from a wider variety of options and hopefully good prices too. The truck selection here in Siem Reap is somewhat limited, we were told. We met up with the recommended mechanic at a local street stand and made plans to travel together to Phnom Penh this wednesday night. 

Then, after running some errands around town such as getting a local sim card, exchanging money, etc we headed to Jimmy's Village School (still currently located at his mum's house until the house sells) to reunite with the students. They are such a happy, incredibly amazing bunch. One young boy Chimminh - inspired us dearly when he spoke of his dream to be a clothes designer in the future, and that in his recent spare time he purchased some second hand clothing from a local market and made a bag! Unbelievable! He also spoke of wanting to design things that used the plastic waste that is unfortunately so prevalent here in Cambodia - showing us his knowledge and care for the environment. What a legend.

We topped the night off with a delicious dinner of local cuisine with another familiar face - the lovely Michelle from Miko Massage Therapy (Melbourne) who has been supporting HKC for quite some time! Michelle coincidently happened to be travelling through Siem Reap and we were able to catch her for a quick JVS school visit and a meal before she heads to Battambang tomorrow. Marika also joined us for dinner, making for a lovely evening!!!