Day 2 - LaValla orientation day

Apologies for not posting last night. We got back late and bed beckoned!

So what happened yesterday?

We all woke up early as our body locks still insisted that AEST was the preferred timezone. After a lovely breakfast in the courtyard restaurant we prepared for our first trip to LaValla.

Mr Cornwall undertook a briefing session and we covered ourselves in sunscreen and DEET before jumping on our tuk tuks. Our drivers - Monin, Map and <Mr Cornwall forgot the new drivers name!> weaved us through the chaos of Phnom Penh traffic to arrive at LaValla at 9am - an hours trip at that time of the day.

LaValla was beautiful and confronting. Well over half the students were ready to great us with a range of greetings from cuddles, to tentative smiles to outright fear and trepidation. We were also introduced to Br Terry Henriech (our host), Br Tony another resident Marist brother, Fr Kevin Corigan our own neck of the woods, and Sam a horticulturalist from Australia helping the school plan its land development with a new acquisition.

After a half our of playing and chatting to the children who gave us the guided tour, Br Terry sat us down with Sambal and Visal, the two Khmer men who run the operations of the school. Visal spoke passionately about how much of a privilege it was to provide these opportunities to young people in Cambodia, and both of them outlined the enormous challenges for those with physical disabilities in Cambodia.

We then had lunch with the students - a true Khmer lunch rich with flavours (something I had been looking forward to!). After lunch we chatted and played before saying our farewells and promising - earnestly and innumerable times - that we would return on Monday.

From here we went to the Central Markets for a shop. The students disappeared among the crowds while I - having only taken one pair of clothes - set on extending my wardrobe.

After the markets we went back to the hotel for a freshen up which extended to a quick swim for some.

After that our drivers dropped us at Wat Phnom where we explored the spirital heart of this city. Then we had a hard march to and along the riverfront to eventually settle for some mocktails on the roof-top bar of the FCC Phnom Penh. We relaxed and took in the river as the sun descended.

Once the sun went down we forged back up Sisowath Quay to our dinner destination. On a Saturday night this is a vibrant place and it wasn't long before Mr Cornwall was invested in a 1:1 soccer game with a supposed national soccer representative (he won ... says a lot!). The whole group then got into some dancercise - imagine line dancing to Cambodian dance music - and we chatted and laughed our way up the beautiful foreshore eventually arriving at Bopha Titanic resturant where we were provided with possible the best spot in town for a feed (think Scratchley's for all those Newcastle people out there).

After dinner we attacked the night markets but it was very quiet so we headed back to the hotel. A swim and a briefing later and most people were ready for bed.

Tomorrow (today) we are heading off on the tourist circuit - sure to be a challenging day from royal pageantry to genocide. Everyone seems well and in good spirits - actually the best spirits of any trip I've been on. What a great bunch!