Siem Reap - Cambodia - Our Well and School

The gift of water is an amazing thing...

We have the privilege of turning on our faucet and water appearing ready for us to drink, we don't have to think twice about if it is clean and how to get it and when we will get it again. Our trip to Cambodia last April was eye opening: we visited a village that had a water well and we learned it was an extreme privilege to own one of these in Cambodia. We live in the 21st century and its mind boggling to think that there are still people without clean water to drink. When we left Siem Reap in April we both wanted to do something to help and after a lot of research and little results I contacted our guide, Pheng, to see if he knew any families we could help. His wife happens to be a school teacher in Siem Reap and therefore they knew of a family that needed a water well and they also knew of a handful of children who needed school uniforms and bikes to get to school. We were ecstatic and couldn't wait to make another trip back to Siem Reap to build a well and deliver uniforms and bikes!

I asked friends and family to help donate to the well and with everyone's donation we were able to raise over $500.00 for the well and uniforms and Pheng's new English school! Our guide had said that he was so inspired by our donation that he decided he wanted to something as well so he has started an after school English speaking program, where the local children can come for a few hours a day and practice their English.

Our first day when we arrived Pheng took us over to his house for lunch! We got to see where he lived and meet his wonderful family as his wife cooked us one of our best meals we have had in South East Asia. We also met Moi, the girl whose family we would be donating the well to.

This is Pheng's son Periack - he was so adorable!

This cute video of him saying our names and in the end he takes a bow:

I'm peeling a wintermelon vegetable that Pheng just cut out of his garden for us

Their stove

Our yummy lunch!

Pheng's lovely wife

Moi

After lunch some children came over to get measured for their new school uniforms. We donated 10 to begin with, however Pheng kept telling us through out our visit that his neighbors got word that he was giving out uniforms and one by one they kept coming to ask for them. In the end we were able to give him a little more of a donation to have more made.

Getting measured for school uniforms

When everyone was all measured up we all sat in the school Pheng had just made in his front yard and learned some games. Jason and I had to come up with something to teach them on the spot - Oy Vey! We racked our brains momentarily and Jason said, "Do you remember that fortune telling game we used to do as kids with the paper and numbers? I think that would be good but I can't remember how to make it..." I said, "Yes, that would be perfect and I remember how to make it!" So we taught them how to do it. The best part was a few days after we taught them we saw the kids out in their villages teaching the other kids the game! Success! Yes...

The next day we were off to Moi's village to build her family the well. It took all day long and luckily the rain held off just for that day while we (well actually the well builders) built, as we were there in the rainy not to mention mosquito season!

This little girl lived in their village and I snapped this photo on our way in with her and the cow - one of my favorites!

Pheng and the well builders were figuring out the best spot to put the well and then they drove his huge metal post into the ground.

Moi and her grandma getting excited for their well

This is the piping that is put into the ground to dig the well - they keep pushing it in as water is constantly flowing through the pipe. It went in 30 meters deep (that's 98 feet deep!) The water kept changing colors on the bottom as they went further and further down and they knew it was good when it was finally clear...amazing.

Jason helping out - who needs the gym, when you have well building!

Here is a video of Jason building:

After all 98 feet were inserted then they take that piping out and insert a plastic tube instead. They put it in the hole and then catapulted it right in quickly.

The first spout of water!

All the neighbors came to watch the well being built and set up chairs!

Then at the very end Pheng said he had a surprise for us. They had made a sign that would hang above the well so the family would know who donated it, I guess it is common to have above your well because most of them are donated. They were very excited to present us with the sign.

Our sign (minus an "e" but that's okay)

The family

A very happy grandma!

The next day Pheng took us to visit his wife's school. I got some fun photos of the kids learning or rather of them watching me and wondering where I came from. At recess they all rushed out and gathered around me to practice their English. They all asked where I was from, how old was I and my favorite food in between all the bashful giggles. They were truly charming and I almost fit a few in my suitcase on the way home!

They all leave their shoes outside the classroom to keep it clean.

Moi at school

The school bell

Boys being boys...

Video of all the kids around me:

After we visited the school we went back to Pheng's house to deliver the uniforms - they had to measure them and buy the right sizes and then the final day they got to take them home. They were all very excited to have new uniforms!

AND DRUM ROLL PLEASE...Pheng said he would like to give us something since we had given his people something - so he treated us to traditional Wedding Photos Cambodian style. We were dressed up and photographed and we even told our mothers we eloped and had photos to prove it. True story, well everything except for the last bit about eloping...

We are so grateful that we had this opportunity to go back to Siem Reap and give back a little to this amazing and enchanting city. We will forever hold in our hearts the people we met and the experience of giving clean water to a family. Pheng told us that this family would have never had this in their lifetime. Thank you to everyone who donated to this project and especially Pheng for finding a family for us to donate to and arranging everything. We hope we can go back again to see everyone and the especially the progress of Pheng's English school. I have a feeling this is the beginning of something wonderful...

Vietnam - Hanoi (Ha-noisy), Halong Bay (a slice of heaven), Sapa ("reaallyy" trekking with Mo)

When we first arrived into Hanoi it was hard to tell if there were more motorbikes or people surrounding the area. I think the final conclusion was motorbikes and the first thing we learned was that crossing the road is an art form! The key we found is to just keep moving - if you stop you will be dead meat - literally! We probably couldn't have spent more then a few days in Hanoi but the few we did spend there was incredibly stimulating on all levels - sounds, sights & smells. Its amazing how everywhere has such a distinct smell...
Side note: I was telling Jason the other day in Singapore that I could tell which MRT (subway) stop we were at by its smell. I think he thought I was nuts but I guess that's just what a heightened sense of smell will do to you.

Our friends Johnny and Litta from home came with us on this trip and our friend Quinn. I'm happy to report here is a video of us crossing the road successfully!

This lady had a good selling strategy...rope the tourists in by slinging bananas over them for photos and then they will buy your bananas from you...turns out they were the best bananas we had ever had, Jason thanked her and gave her hat back after paying. It was a pretty endearing experience...even if it was a tourist trap...

Obviously after all the traffic dodging we were hungry - we probably had one of our best meals at Green Tangerine a french influenced restaurant with a Vietnamese twist. Probably the best Pho I have ever had! We stayed one night at a cute little hotel, Conifer Boutique Hotel, in the french quarter before heading out to Halong Bay for our boating adventure.

On our way to the boat we stopped at an artists colony that supported people who were affected by Asian Orange. We bought this art piece - all hand stitched by this artist in the photo.

This was our junk (not really a junk just what they call the boats there) The Dragon's Pearl 3 was a beautiful ship and one of the newest on the waters. All booked through Handspan Tours and they did a great job on all accounts- there that was my plug for them...

Our room on the water :)

We frequently have the debate who has bigger muscles...

Life is rough.

Gorgeous sunset on the boat!

The next day we visited a floating village, Vung Vieng, and were paddled around by these sweet ladies, with probably bigger muscles then us, due to doing this everyday for tourists. They came up to the dock to greet us and even supplied the typical Vietnamese hats for us to wear.

After we said farewell to our two days in paradise we headed out to Sapa Vietnam, a busy little mountain town up north, on the overnight train. We spent the evening playing cards and drinking corn whisky (well not all of partook in that delicacy). We were rocked to sleep by the sounds of the clinking and clattering of the tracks, to arrive the next day at 5:20am in Sapa.

We were met in Sapa by our adorable yet witty tour guide, Mo, who stood no taller then 4'9 dressed in her traditional Hmong clothing other then her Adidas sneakers. She gave us some time when we first arrived to get breakfast and take a shower, unfortunately I think she left us just long enough to get food poisoning...bad news, but the good news is it didn't hit until the next day so I at least had one full day of trekking in Sapa.

On the overnight train!

I was able to stick around just long enough to see our hike to a local waterfall, encountering a few Hmong women trying to sell us various trinkets, a few goats, a few thousand rock steps and of course coming up with our favorite phrase of our trip "Reealllyy", which came from Mo. Every time we would say something she would say "realllyy?" Not sure which tourist taught her that along the way but it was particularly cute as she said it in her Vietnamese accent and of course the boys had a good laugh when they thought they could convince her of anything until she realized they were not as innocent as they appeared and fired back with a witty response, something along the lines of I'm not listening to you idiots anymore! She earned their respect :)

Here's Mo!

I had to buy something for this photo of this charming little lady

Hey look what I can do Mo!

The boys finished the morning trek with a cold swim.

In the afternoon we went on yet another trek up to the top of Ham Rong peak with a great view of Sapa! The photos look clear with blue skies here, but later that night it turned into a torrential downpour complete with thunder and crazy lightening.

Mo relaxing on the lawn, so cute!

The next day everyone went to Lao Cai & Ta Van village. I was in bed for this portion of the trip :( with that food poisoning that I spoke about earlier. But they had a great time hiking through the mud to the villages. They were joined by four little ladies that helped them through the hike in hopes of becoming enough of a friend in the end for them to buy some of their trinkets. They also visited a school in the village and had lunch at a local house/restaurant. I didn't get to experience this but I did get a very nice hand carved vase from my wonderful fiance!

Sapa had miles of terraces - beautiful!

One of my favorites Jason captured...

Group photo at the end with Mo!