Glimpse of Kampong Cham

Three days in Kampong Cham went by quite fast. Most of our time were spent having meetings at our Kampong Cham office, or in the communities we serve/work with. But whatever little time we had in between, Neeta and I made sure we get to see even a just a teeny weeny glimpse of this place.

Walking by the river early in the morning while waiting for our colleagues to pick us up

The Mekong river and the boat (barge?)  en-route to
Vietnam

We went to a traditional restaurant in one of our lunches. Most of the traditional restaurants are provided with hammocks.

Waiting for lunch!

We had the pleasure of meeting people and groups in the villages, who we had the opportunity to work with towards the attainment of children's rights, child protection and child participation (yes, they are much more than a development worker's jargon :-)  ).

Interaction with commune council members and parents. I was (desperately) relying on my interpreter. :)

Photo ops after our interaction with the Village Protection Network and members of Children's Group

Photo ops with the parents, village leaders and some Kampong Cham staff, who patiently accompanied us and translated for us.

It was likewise a please working with the wonderful sponsorship team of our Kampong Cham office. Hope to see everyone again sometime!

Neeta and myself with our all-male sponsorship team in Kampong Cham

Mekong Sunrise at Kampong Cham

My most recent travel is not in Siem Reap, as I have wished, but in Kampong Cham and Phnom Penh in Cambodia. And as it is a work-related travel, I could not complain (hrmph*).

After some introductions and a short orientation at our Phnom Penh office, we headed to Kampong Cham.  With my Nepali colleague and another Cambodian colleague, we travelled for more than 2 hours under the 37 degrees heat of the sun, since it was almost lunch when we started.

From Phnom Penh to Kampong Cham, I lost count of the many, many, many pagodas we have passed by.  They seem to appear everywhere: in the city,or town centers, in the middle of rice fields, on top of a hill, everywhere! Wherever they are, they all look regal.

One of the Pagodas in Phnom Penh. Monk walking towards the pagoda.

We spent 2 nights at the Mekong Hotel,which is opposite the Mekong River. The rate is good at 18-dollar a night for a single/double occupancy room , which does not come with breakfast but with free wifi. 

Breakfast (which means baguette + banana + coffee/tea- yes, everyday) is served at $2.50. But there are also several restaurants close to the hotel which offer better breakfast, such as the Mekong Crossing, which is just across the hotel.

The Mekong Hotel6 Samdach Pann Rd., Kampong Cham, Cambodia

The rooms are a bit ran down but it is spacious.  The corridors, surprisingly, look like big ball room. But whatever it lacked in amenities and/or aesthetics, the best thing this hotel could offer is the view of Mekong River.  And I just loved waking up to sunset by the river. Bliss. 

Sunrise by the Mekong River. Fishermen do start early, everyday.

The Birth

This attempt at blogging started Sunday, 23 February, 2013, while enjoying a cup of capuccino with my good friend, Carlo, at Espressamente in Shangrila mall in Manila. 

I was supposed to fly to Nepal on that day, but as luck have it, my passport got stucked at the UK embassy. Im not sure why I decided to file my visa application 10 days back , for my April travel when I still have time to file it after I'm back from Nepal. But I (stupidly) did. And I always believed that things happen for a (hopefully good) reason.

And since I do not really want to exert any effort looking for that reason, I decided to spend that Sunday to reconnect with a good friend from way, way back, instead.

We spent hours and hours talking about our funny and not so funny adventures the past year when he realized that I have actually a lot of good memories from the many work travels I had, and am having. Come to think of it, by now, I have actually travelled to 13 countries (most of them I visited the past 3 years because of my current work), and might be visiting some more in the coming years. So, why not have a blog, to have a memoir of these visits to other countries?  It would be good to be able to share them, but equally good so that I wont forget them, even when I start forgetting things when I start to grow old (dreadful!).

So, here goes. 

Oh by the way, this is my friend Carlo, as he thought of this *brilliant* idea:

"the thinker"-belle :-D