Greetings from Siem Reap!

Tuesday 1st February: Arrival

After a long journey from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur (arriving 3.20am and leaving 11am), I finally made it to beautiful Siem Reap, Cambodia. The sun was out, the air was balmy and the airport looked more like a modern temple than a place for planes to land - it looked very welcoming as it stood nestled amongst palm trees, with its ornate pointy rooves, peaceful little water lily ponds and flowery gardens. I picked up my $20US visa then stepped out through the arrivals gate in search of the person who would be meeting me (I've always dreamed of landing at an airport and having a person waiting there holding a sign with my name on it). I saw a Cambodian lady holding a sign for Globalteer (the charity I am volunteering with for the next month), which read "Welcome Pete and Ros from Brisbane!" When I went up and introduced myself, I realised they thought I was arriving the following day (needless to say, we were both as surprised at each other). Thankfully, Pete and Ros arrived 5 minutes after I did and we were all very relieved that it worked out.

Just as I was wondering what our transport would be, I saw my first tuk tuk, which is a motorised rickshaw. A slim, smiley man was seated on his motorbike wearing a helmet which read "LUCKY" (quite appropriate I thought, since he proceeded to drive us to our accommodation with our suitcases piled up precariously on the back of his motorbike). That was also the first time I was introduced to Cambodian traffic - where people drive on the right side of the street, unless they find it more convenient to drive on the left. The roads are shared by trucks, tuk tuks, bicycles, motorbikes, giant tour buses and brave pedestrians. I also noticed the absence of traffic lights - people seem to just go for it and it works out somehow.

Orientation

After my initial orientation at the Globalteer house, one of the volunteers took us downtown. That is when I was introduced to supermarkets that sell pink eggs; "pedicure pools" (fish tanks where you dip your feet in and have squillions of tiny fish nibble at your toes); street food where you can get $1 meals; and pubs that sell beer for 50 cents (pity I don't like the stuff).

When I got back to the house, I finally got to be reunited with my Irish puppeteer friend Emma after 2 years. Despite my jetlag, we managed to chat for at least 2 hours! She is also going to be working on the puppet project like me, and we can't wait!