Taking it in one day at a time

2 flights, 6 hours of crying babies, 3 mystery meals and 24 hours later, I’ve arrived in Phnom Penh. Saying I was happy to see a smiling friend on the other side of the gate would be an understatement. I got my bags and my visa without a hitch, then took a tuk-tuk to my hotel which gave me the chance to take it all in.

Exhausted but happy to have finally arrived

My nice quiet street

My hotel for the next month

There are various ways to get around the city. The most popular are the tuk-tuk and the moto. The rules of the road seem quite vague here. I am convinced that the only real rule is to try and not hit each other... Seriously. So far I’ve used a tuk-tuk, driven by the lovely Checko, and a moto driven by Gavin. (Sorry mom!)

You can get anywhere in the city for about $2 US

You can also hitch a moto ride for $1 or less

Gas for sale in pop bottles. 5000 riel ($1.25 US)

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t completely overwhelmed. Culture shock is a hard thing to explain unless you've experienced it but with each day I am feeling more like myself. With friends staying a few streets away, I'm thrilled to have some pros showing me the ropes. My first mini victory was walking to their apartment on my own. Even though it was a mere 5 minutes away, it felt like the first step in getting my "travel feet". 

Rain warriors

Vancouver is the third most rainy city in Canada, which means you learn to go about your daily routine unfazed and decked out in rain gear. Despite the gloomy weather, we have been keeping ourselves entertained with movies, yoga and coffee shops to name a few. On the couple occasions where the rain has let up for a couple hours we jumped on the opportunity.

The first stop was Jericho Tennis Club in the West side of the city where we took a couple of kayaks out. It felt so good to get outside plus we had an amazing view of downtown and West Van. The ridiculous waterfront houses on "The Golden Mile" were pretty fun to look at too.

Next up was the BCMC and Baden Powell trail. After a steep 35 minute incline up the mountain we turned off onto another trail and started zip zagging our way back down (otherwise I would have needed the dog to drag me up the rest of the way). We got a teeny bit lost and ended up on a new trail Sylvia had never been on. Little did I know, she admitted to freaking out on the inside because we were in prime bear territory but didn't want to say anything until we got to the parking lot. Probably a good idea.   

Another thing I was determined to fit in, rain or shine, was a bike around Stanley Park. This park is a 1000 acre public park that borders downtown Vancouver. You travel along the ocean and under the Golden Gate bridge which makes for some pretty great scenery as you travel around.

Let the adventure begin

The adventure begins in the beautiful city of Vancouver. I am lucky enough to have family who lives in the city and didn't mind having company for a couple weeks! This will be my first stop towards my final destination of Phnom Pehn, Cambodia. 

Several months ago while catching up with a good friend of mine from University we got talking about his organization The Lucky Iron Fish™. This organization is implementing a simple health innovation to alleviate iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia in Cambodia. This amazing little fish is helping improve the lives of Cambodians by simply putting the iron fish in your cooking pot when preparing food or sterilizing water. Check out the website at http://luckyironfish.com. 

Our regular catch up turned into a discussion about me coming to Cambodia to help out on the project and gain some valuable experience (not to mention an amazing opportunity to experience a completely different culture). I am also hoping to do some additional exploring within Southeast Asia however, I must admit I am flying by the seat of my pants a bit. 

My excitement is slowly creeping up as the hard part of leaving my friends and family at home is done and the first leg of the trip has started. There will be a lot to learn, see and do (oh and eat!) and I will do my best to post updates along the way.

Chum reap leah for now!