The Hong’s recently moved from Boston to Phnom Penh to work at a social venture start up. We had a wonderful 4 days with everyone - going to church (top left - on Eulshik's moto, bottom right), swimming at the local sports club to cool off (bottom middle), and visiting the Russian market (bottom left). While we were in different social circles during our overlapping years at our church, we felt a familiar connection through our common faith / values and had a good time sharing and encouraging one another during our trip.
We decided to add an impromptu stop to Angkor Wat – the 8th wonder of the world and largest single religious structure in the world, which is a few hours north of Phnom Penh.
On the morning of our first full day, we woke up at 4:30 AM - I know most people wouldn’t believe that this is possible for me – to watch the sunrise (top left) and spent the rest of the morning wandering through Angkor Wat (bottom right). We also visited several temples in the area, including Ta Phrom (2nd top left, top right), where Tomb Raider was filmed. I thought it was really cool to see how the jungle trees grow on top and throughout the temples. Each site had a different feel and we could easily envision ourselves in the middle of an Indiana Jones movie.
We tried several local Khmer dishes, including an excellent tom yum soup (bottom right) from Hagar Restaurant. This restaurant is part of an organization called Hagar www.hagarcambodia.org, which works to restore and empower women who are victims of human rights abuse. It’s been really great to actually visit so many of places, organizations, and people that we’ve heard about while in the States. There were also a few other food highlights – mango salad and stir-fried morning glory (bottom left). For the most part, it left us missing the food from their neighbor, Thailand…haha. However, the fruits in Cambodia were amazing, always fresh and delicious (top 3 pictures). We ate lots of mangoes, pineapples, and dragon fruit!
Leaving today for Hanoi, Vietnam.
Tentative remaining jet-setting schedule
Mar 10-13: Hanoi, Vietnam
Mar 13-16: Chiang Mai, Thailand
Mar 16-21: Chiang Rai, Thailand
Mar 21-26: Singapore & Malaysia
Mar 26-Apr 3: China
Apr 3-19: Taipei, Taiwan
yay i loved this update :) i love stir fried morning glory. did you eat mangosteen?? man i wish i was traveling right now. have fun and be safe!
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