Cambodia photos and the holiday blues!

Forgive me for not writing sooner to give you an update on my trip! Things have been all over the place this week....mainly because 2 days after I got back I slumped into the holiday blues! Seriously, really down about it! That's how much of an impact my trip had on me.

So where to start?

I arrived in Cambodia and my friend met me at the airport! It was wonderful to finally meet him after 3 years of emails/facebook. Most of you can understand how you can feel about a person you have met online and then finally get to meet them.....the anticipation was incredible and the meeting was a highlight. I don't think we shut up for the whole 9 days. We certainly have alot in common and he is going to be a fabulous friend (and for those that have questioned it or wondering, it is only friends :))

We chilled out for 3 days in Phnom Penh, getting to know each other, scouring the wet markets for local delicacies (he is a huge foodie like me and loves to cook too!), visiting the Palace, beers at sunset every night overlooking the Tonle Sap and generally enjoying a break.

We then headed down to where he lives (about 3 hours south of the capital) and I spent the most glorious wonderful 5 days in the jungle. A true slice of paradise, with views over looking the Vietnamese Islands. It's a sleepy little town, known for its crab dishes and other fresh seafood...

Thankfully I had a big unfill before leaving, because the food was absolutely amazing and I ate huge amounts (luckily the scales hasn't shown to much damage!) of food.

I feel in love with the town, the locals and the laid back lifestyle of jungle living...my friend is doing some amazing stuff down there and I want to do something too. I realised, after many conversations with him, that my decision about going home and settling down and laying roots is not for me at the moment. It's blown me out of the water, because for the past year I really thought that is what I wanted.

Another thing happened on that jungle track, which has certainly put a new light on things. I learnt to ride a motor bike, something that I have always wanted to do. My friend taught me (well showed me the basics!), I did really well for about 30 minutes and through some unfortunate events, I somehow managed to drop the bike over a 5 metre cliff and managed to come off it before I went over with it. Miraclously, I was not injured....and one extremely lucky girl....needless to say I am buying my friend a new scooter! Small price to pay when it could have cost me my life. So some life altering events occurred on my trip!

Saying goodbye to Cambodia and my friend was extremely hard. I have certianly left a big chunk of my heart there....so here is my plan....I go home in 6 weeks. I am going to do a course to teach English and then I am going to head back in August (the end of the wet season) and hang out for 2-3 months, teach some english classes and asborb it all in. Plus this week I have started to learn Khmer....it's going to be difficult but something I want to do.

Cambodia had the same effect on my 4 years ago when I first visited the country. The feelings were much stronger this time around and I cannot ignore the pull towards returning.....

So the next few months has become more exciting than I originally thought. I am excited about going home and spending time with my family....I am happy to be leaving the desert and will close the doors on this chapter of my life.....

On band related news, I went back to have a fill this week. My doc had taken out 2.5ml, but only put back in 2.25ml. I thought it would make a difference, but it hasn't so I am going back today to have the other .25ml put in. Hopefully I can kick start my weight loss again as I haven't lost in 2 months....and haven't lost any cm's either.....it's time to kick it up a gear.

I will leave you with some photos.......

Fishing on the Tonle Sap

Monks in Phnom Penh

Local Temples

My view from my bungalow in the jungle

The view from Verandah overlooking the Vietnam Islands

Sunsets

Crab in Kampot Pepper Sauce (local speciality)