Cambodia

These photos are from my trip to Cambodia with Dan's family this Christmas.

We started with a trip to a remote fishing village.  From there we went trekking for 2 days in the jungles of the Cardamom Mountains.

We returned to Phnom Penh to meet Dan's family.  On Christmas day we all took a Cambodian cooking class together where we learned to make a local specialty-fish amok.  It is very similar to yellow fish curry.

Then we headed to Siem Reap to visit the temples of Angkor Wat.

Boating into the eco-tourism village of Chi Phat.

Eating leechees on the boat.

Sleeping on the boat.

Swimming at the rapids in the village.

An early morning boat ride to start our hiking trip.

Typical home on the river.

Dan has fallen asleep…again.

Pitcher plants on our trek.

Hiking in the Cardamom Mountains, really just hills.

Touring the market with our cooking class.

Joyce working hard at our Cambodian cooking class.

Making curry paste by pounding spices and lemongrass. 

Making banana leaf bowls to hold our curry while it's cooking.

All the bowls in the steamer where they'll be cooked.

Eating our cooking-a traditional Cambodian fish amok-delicious!

Yum.

Christmas day at the Pavilion in Phnom Penh

In a tuk-tuk...

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat

Family photo on our bike trip.

Lots of overgrown trees at the temples.

Travelling in a tuk-tuk

Temple with lots of trees

Just after sunrise.

Sunrise at Angkor Wat.

Home Update

I finally finished unpacking all of our boxes today.  Our sea shipment arrived 2 weeks ago.  There are not many closets or shelves in the apartment.  I put a couple of pictures on the walls, so it's starting to feel like home.  It turns out that hammering nails into concrete walls tends to cause large chunks of concrete to fall off, not really the expected consequence...

Finding space for everything in the kitchen was very difficult.  There are almost no shelves in the cupboards.

Making Christmas cookies!

Rearranged the living room to make it more inviting.  Now if only there was a way to make it less beige... 

Children's Cancer Conference at BSMMU

Last week I participated in a children's cancer conference at BSMMU.  It was a big success with several doctors and nurses from both London, England and Vancouver coming to speak and provide training.  Heather Cruden, the Canadian High Commissioner (Ambassador) was chief guest which helped to raise the profile of the event.  There were 450 paediatricians in attendance!

At the NTV studio, getting interviewed for "Lifesource" program!

Heather giving a speech.

Heather meeting some children who have completed their cancer therapy.

Visiting the ward with Heather.

During the opening ceremony; lots of speeches…not that exciting 

Final Thailand Post

Orchids everywhere!

Delicious chicken from this street vendor!

Secluded beach in the national park

perfect waves and sky

Some type of fruit?

At a 'floating market'

Roses at the flower market

More orchids.

Bird of paradise flowers.

More roses

On a night bike tour of Bangkok.  Slightly terrifying due to the crazy traffic, but also really interesting.

Cooking Class in Bangkok

Eels!  One jumped out of the tank as we were walking past.

Some type of insect which our leader is explaining is edible!

Chilis!

Leeche and oranges

Also, apparently edible.

Crabs

More crabs

Ko Yao Yoi

This was the most spectacular spot on our trip.  We had a cabin right on the beach with a view of the bay.

The pool and beach at dusk

View from the beach

Enjoying the view from our porch

This is the life.

Early morning swim

View from our cabin.

Large lizard who climbed out of the sea and onto the rocks while we were hiking.

Hiking through a national park to a deserted beach.

Perfect sandy beach in the park