We're here! After what seemed like an eternity traversing London by tube and the skies by plane we arrived in Phnom Penh last night, greeted at the airport by our Cambodian guiding hosts.
The journey began on Sunday, a day before flying out, when we met up at Kirsty's for last minute preparations: dividing up resources, triple-checking passports and repacking rucksacks. Monday afternoon we battled our way across London to Heathrow, taking over most of a tube carriage in the process. After dining at the airport we set off, flying Qatar Airways (excellent service) via Doha (unbelievably hot considering we arrived at 5am), with an unexpected pit-stop in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (a splendid hour spent with the cleaning crew on the plane).
We arrived on time in Phnom Penh, managed to acquire visas with no problems and were met by our wonderful hosts who took us to our accommodation for the next while - the Cambodian Guides Association HQ. Headquarters are great - a lovely building, a huge room for us to stay in, and even some cooling fans! We're feeling the heat - hopefully we'll acclimatise soon.
By midday on our first day in country here's what's happening:
Jenny, Libby and Heather headed out to the supermarket with one of the guiding volunteers to buy some lunch and dinner supplies as well as plenty of water. Our first ride on a tuk tuk - thrilling if a little terrifying!
Kirsty, Sarah and Becca met with some of the guiding staff to plan ahead for the coming week, discussing some training plans. Everything seems to be shaping up well.
So all's grand so far. We're really excited to finally be in Cambodia, and can't wait to meet the leaders we'll be working with and get started on some leadership trainings this week!
GOLD love from Phnom Penh :)
