Cambodia - around Siem Reap

After visiting the temples on Saturday, we headed into town for some shopping and dinner. We also went to the local market to buy some rice and fish to donate to some of the members of the church in need.

The kids always love shopping!

Fish spa - very popular around Asia. These unique fish eat the dead skin off your feet. The kids had fun trying it out.

At the end of each day there was always time for a dip in the pool at the hotel. The kids spent an hour or so each evening winding down in the pool.
Monday we went for a boat ride on Toh Sap Lake to see the floating villages. Much like the Mekong Delta in Vietnam (which flows into this lake), the people live right on the water.

The houses, yards, pig farms (no joke) - all floating on the water. We also saw floating markets, churches and schools - even a floating basketball court!

We picked up a few school supplies to donate to one of the floating schools that's also an orphanage - the one our boat driver had attended.

We had fun trying out lots of recommended restaurants. This one, the Red Piano, made famous by Angelina Jolie when she was filming Tomb Raider nearby - probably my favorite.
Then it was on to a silk farm to learn how silk is made. We saw the silk worms and then how their cocoons are used to make the silk threads - quite amazing.
We watched some of the artisans weaving and creating beautiful silk scarves and runners. Mom's highlight - the shopping afterward!
Tuesday morning we left the hotel at 5:30 am in Tuk Tuk's (main mode of transportation there) to go serve breakfast to some children in a school nearby (this pictures was taken when we got back - we left in the dark). The kids (and mom) are involved in a charity thru SAS called Caring for Cambodia. This is an impressive organization that has built and runs several schools in very poor areas around Siem Reap.
The children are fed two meals a day at the school - always some kids of rice porridge. Most don't have clocks (or electricity) so they just get up with the sun in the morning and head to school for breakfast.

The Cambodian children were all so polite and cute. The kids enjoyed some small interactions - helping the children practice a bit of English.

Caring for Cambodia is an amazing organization and it was neat to see one of their schools and see the difference it is making in Cambodian children's lives. Glad our kids got to participate in this small way - they will continue to participate in various ways thru SAS (their school).

Getting to interact with the people in Cambodia definitely made this trip unique and special. The faces of these Cambodia children - as well as many others - will be forever imprinted on our hearts.