We're being tourists for the next two days; sorry there will be no photos as the laptop is in Poipet and we're sitting in the hotel lobby in Siem Reap. We've just finished our day.
We went shopping in the Siem Reap market, and parted with a few dollars, though not as many as the market stall holders might have wanted. Geckos, t-shirts, elephants, place-mats, chopsticks, scarves, glove puppets - a lot of fun and some of you now know what you're getting for Christmas! Jim got some better bargains because Rotana was with him and having a Khmer friend helped!
Had a cup of coffee and a relaxing walk in the park, collecting images of the local culture and flowers that don't have an English name. Karen suggested that money grows on trees - we saw giant bats in the trees, bahts being the Thai currency we've been using in Poipet. Get it? (Karen was also the one who gave us all the 'm' words for the vegetables last night!)
This came at the end of the day which began in Poipet with breakfast and devotions led by the 3 young men who are the Transform team leaving tomorrow at the end of their 6-month work with CHO. They are impressive young men who have learned a lot and for whom this might well be a key moment in their spiritual journey.
Reatray piled us all into the CHO van and drove us the 150km to Siem Reap on the smoothest, straightest road you have ever seen. For anyone who had travelled this road before (as Jim did in 2005 when it took 5 hours to do the same journey on a road full of potholes) it took us 2 hours today. The only problem was squeezing 9 people into the back of this van. Rotana came with us - the management is having 2 days out! They are good fun to be with.
It's raining again, as it has done at about this time (5.45pm) most days. Still warm, but actually cooler than this morning.
Looking ahead, please pray for next week. We have a better impression of the pastors' conference 70 people are coming, some of whom are barely literate; it might be more basic and slower than we had originally imagined. The CHO staff are working on our schedule, although to say that "there is a plan'' is to be far too organised! The plan seems to change as the day goes on, never mind the week!
That's all for Friday; tomorrow we'll tell you about our trip to Angkor Wat.
