GoMed Debrief

Whew!  The past few days were filled with work and activity.  To be honest, we are all a little sad to see the medical side of our trip come to a close.  It is now time for respite and debriefing.  Next stop:  Siem Reap!

Before leaving, we did a little shopping in the Phnom Penh market.  It's here that we found some new fruits to try...first up, the mangosteen.  It has a tough outer coating that you crack and then peel.  Inside is the white fruit that looks a little like grapes.  This was very good!  We then enjoyed the pomelo, Anissa and Jake call it the big orange.  It actually looks and tastes similar to a grapefruit without the stickiness.  

We made a quick stop to see Joel's house and all the work he has done on it.  This was a wise choice as it poured while we were inside.  This was where AnnaMaria finally made a dog friend!  The views were incredible, and his house is amazing!!  While we wanted to keep relaxing in his awesome chair, we had ground to cover!

Three hours later we reached the Angkor Paradise hotel!  With luggage stowed it was time to eat - At Elia.  You saw that right - we enjoyed authentic Greek food!  The day would not be complete without wandering the night market and enjoying some gelato!  It was here we taught our Khmer friends, Sina and David, to lick ice cream cones.

Angkor Wat Day!

We got to play tourists!  We went on a tour of Angkor Wat.  Our tour guide, Sameth, was terrific.  Angkor Wat is a temple complex that consists of 20 temples.  We only saw three of them and it took us over 6 hours!  The first temple was Angkor Wat itself, the largest temple for the Hindu gods.  This was built for Vishnu, the god of protection, along with his wife, the goddess of money.  Also included, were the gods Brahma and Shiva.  Later, it became a Buddhist temple, and is now shared between the Hindu and Buddhists. 

The next temple we saw was Angkor Tome, the big fortress, or the Bayon Temple.  Embedded in the temple towers were the four faces of buddha: representing compassion, charity, sympathy, and equality.  The temple was a fortress surrounding the king's palace, but the palace is no longer there.  This is also where they used to have elephant races.  

After a quick lunch we headed for the Angkor jungle temple, Ta Prohm Temple.  This is the temple where the Tomb Raider was filmed.  This was so cool because there were trees growing out of the ruins of the temple!  The trees and root systems were huge! We did see the window Angelina Jolie jumped through!

Let us tell you, this tour is not for the faint at heart.  We were all dripping with sweat and welcomed, showers or a dip in the pool.  Of course, the skies opened up while we were swimming.  Good thing we were already wet!!  Then it was off to the night market for some Italian food, gelato (again!) and souvenir shopping!  Jack tried to teach Colleen to haggle but it was no use.  She's a softy.  Some of the vendors wouldn't take no for an answer so we completed our lists and went back to the hotel.... well, some of us went off to get fabulous massages and the "kids" stayed up playing games.

It was time to say goodbye to our Preah Vihear friends. We piled into our van to travel back to Phenom Penh with a water buffalo escort along the way! It was here in Phenom Penh that we were able to eat and debrief with Pat and Jeannie Hartsfield then say goodbye to Cambodia and head to the airport. Pennsylvania here we come!

Thank you for enjoying our adventures!