Two year celebration

The other weekend, we packed our bags and headed off to the nearby province of Kampong Cham to meet up with our fellow September 2010 group to celebrate two years in Cambodia (and yet another bank holiday weekend).  There are nine of us left, although only seven could make it.  It was a great weekend filled with nostalgia and lots of catching up as the others traveled from various parts of the country. 

 The first night was spent in style at the lovely Smile restaurant which supports the local community to learn cooking and other restaurant management skills

The next day we hired bikes in an attempt to re-live the interesting bike ride from our month spent in Kampong Cham learning Khmer this time two years ago.   You can read about that adventurous trip here but this time there were no mishaps. 

Wat Nakor which is thought to be as old as the Temples of Angkor in Siem Reap and was also very beautiful.

The inside is particularly stunning with a mix of old and new.

Sam wanted his picture next to this humungous pig but she didn't want to oblige and kept running away.

The whole gang - 2010-2012 survivors!

Two years has gone so incredibly fast and now I find myself in my last month of work.  There are so many things I will miss about living and working here but there are also so many things to look forward to in the next stage of our lives.  As part of our weekend, we all sat in Kath's air-conditioned room drinking gin and tonics (it was like being at Uni again) and reflected on our time here. We had to share two things we will miss and one thing we won't miss at all!  Here they are:

Sam: Will miss: time with me (awwww) and regular daylight hours (i.e. no SAD). Won't miss: mosquitoes and everything that goes with them (DEET, nets, bites etc)
Gilly: Will miss: outdoor living and knowing all the people in the market, on our street, and in Kratie generally! Won't miss: not being able to say what I really think for fear of offending people who are higher up than me (aka EVERYBODY!)

Here's to our last three months!