A little catch up...

So, on Sunday we finally arrived in Phnom Penh! It's a definitely a new experience for us being in a third world capital city- especially as there's so many more differences than we expected from Siem Reap... To catch up; on Thursday (in Siem Reap) we went to visit the Kulen Mountain/waterfall. We arrived in an old military jeep from the Vietnam war and immediately realised that this was going to be one of the most gorgeous locations we were ever going to be lucky enough to explore. To begin with, we visited the mountain top pagoda- today, it is still one of the holiest places for the Khmer people to go and practice their faith. (Both Buddhist and Hindu.) It is also home to a huge reclining stone Buddha carved out of the mountain. Then, we visited the river of 1000 Linguas which supposedly brings fertility to the Khmer people- carved by the first king of Cambodia into the river bed during the dry season. Finally, we visited the Kulen waterfall. It was absolutely beautiful, and with some difficulty, we managed to climb up behind it and sit to watch the water flow. It was magical. In the water surrounding the waterfall, there are hundreds of fish that happily ate Joel's feet! (I was far too scared!) Unfortunately, on Friday, we had to spend the day at the hospital because I am still sick.. Prayer for that will be very well appreciated! I have one more day of medication and if unsuccessful, I will have to revisit the hospital in Phnom Penh. On Saturday however, we had a much better day! We left our hotel at 4:30AM (YES, SERIOUSLY!!!) to go and watch the sunrise over Bayon temple, which is by far our favourite. It was such an incredible experience, and it is so much nicer to explore the temples when they are completely tourist free. That evening, we came into town to watch the puppet parade- most of them at least 10m tall/long and made by the school children of siem reap, not only to celebrate the arts, but also to raise awareness for several charities around the city. This was by far the BEST way to end our final night in siem reap. As well as the puppets, circus performers, marching bands and traditional Cambodian artists/musicians also participated in the parade. On Sunday, we travelled to Phnom Penh and begin to explore the city. Yesterday, we explored some more, making our way to the embassy and working out how to extend our visas. Today, we were given the opportunity to help a man in need- a firm believer in God WHICH WAS AWESOME. It is hard to tell here who is legitimately in need and who isn't, so I guess it's down to faith as to what you decide to believe.