It was so great to get back to Cambodia after a 2-year covid absence. Having never been to Siem Reap, my husband, Jim, and I decided it was time to finally go and see what all the fuss is about! We did the sunrise tour over Angkor Wat and were overwhelmed by the history and grandeur of this UNESCO world heritage site. Sadly, there was only a handful of tourists (whereas there used to be up eight thousand a day:) but things are slowly reopening. Apparently, Angelina Jolie also visited the site but missed us by a couple of days). We cycled around the area to visit other temples, went on river trips to watch the sunset, and visited one of Siem Reap’s Floating Villages – it really is incredible how these people live. 

From there we made our way to Phnom Penh, which we have been visiting frequently over our 11 years in Asia. I always feel I’m ‘coming home’ of sorts, as I’m addicted to this bustling, progressive city. Our priority was to visit and stay at Green Umbrella to spend time with Venerable Sokrath, Julia Alden (another Board Member who is coordinating the ECE program, and the GU staff.

We received the warmest of welcomes from the young school kids, teachers, and everyone working at the school. They have missed receiving international visitors and volunteers and are therefore looking forward to welcoming many more during 2022. When we were not working on training and projects with GU staff, we joined the kids’ classes, enjoyed the healthiest of locally grown organic food for lunch (thanks to the GU cook!), and visited other projects coordinated by Green Umbrella (for example, the new Health Center and Library).

A week certainly wasn’t enough at this wonderful NGO and before I knew it we were saying our goodbyes, or at least until next time. Thank you to all at GU for your warm hospitality and keep up the great work. We look forward to visiting again in the near future xxx