Last day at Who Will came and went!

We said goodbye to the children and carers at Who Will on Thursday 18th March. It was not an easy thing to do- the children and every day spent at the orphanage have left a permanent mark- a joyful one that is! It was a physically and emotionally quite draining last month- Chris with his 3 week long diarrhoeal ordeal, the arrival of the hottest month of the year, the challenges presented us in handing handover to the local staff and the knowledge of the fact that we would be leaving the children which have gotten so fond of, behind.

We had a brilliant last day- we organised a sports day with sack, egg and spoon race (see justgiving.com/siljeandchris), we had face painting which took on a life of its own and ended up as full body painting (see new pictures), we snacked and drank fizzy drinks and finally we danced and boogied!!! It was a day to remember!!! I hope that with our teaching, our movie nights (46 children cramped in front of a laptop to watch Kung Fu Panda!!!), our sports and games, and the new sports field we have left something behind which the children will continue to benefit from and which they will continue to think of as happy times!

We're now back in Phnom Penh and we're all 'rucksacked' up again after travelling so lightly back and forth to the capital for our weekend breaks for 4 months! We're off to the coastal town of Kampot for a few days- where apparently you can sample the world's finest pepper- the Kampot pepper!

Monday the 29th March 2010 is an important day as it is the day when my father, Mr Hoyden and our friend, Mr Haines come out to join us for 10 days on a mini-tour around Kampuchea!!! After 8 months of living in each other's pockets and having only each other to rely on and converse with- this will be a welcome change! I know for a fact that Mr Dobson agrees with me on this one :-) !!!!! At the end of the 10 days we'll all be crossing into Thailand and Bangkok together and Chris and I will travel to the south of Thailand after they're gone.

The plan after Thailand is still not very clear- it all depends on money and time now that we are actually having to start planning our return!! We're hoping to be able to visit Nepal for some trekking in the Himalayas, in which case we need to cross over into Myanmar and India after we're finished in Thailand. After Nepal, we'll go back north into China to catch a train to the border of Kazakhstan. From there we'll get on a train that takes us all the way through Kazakhstan and into Moskva, Russia- back to where we started- amazing!!!!!!!! From Moscow we hope to visit St Petersburg, before we head home either by crossing into Norway or back the way we came through Belarus and Poland towards UK. It all depends on money!!!! Paying 8 pounds/ 80 kr (er det ikke det sann ca det koster na da?) for a beer if we decide to pass through Norway is going to feel pretty devastating!

So- there's the update! Sitting here at an internet cafe in Phnom Penh now- waiting for news on my niece which I believe is about to be born any minute now, Kathinka and Erlend will then be mum and dad of 3!!! Upstairs Chris is in his bed resting after a late night- our leaving drinks with a few friends in Cambodia! Lots of mixed emotions these days,- feeling a little heavy and sad from leaving Who Will, excited about seeing new countries without having any ties yet again, feeling home sick- at times very, and of course in between it all- this whole travel business just seems surreal- the way we keep drifting in and out of countries, cities, experiences etc... Sometimes I wake up in the morning or in the middle of the night and I have no idea where I am- a little disconcerting and confusing! I am not complaining of course.... I miss cheese a lot, good cheese like gorgonzola and stilton and mozzarella- at least dad is bringing with him home made Christmas pate and dark, dark rye bread for us!!!!

I think I've finished the rant now, and will try to upload some more photos. As always it's nice with a comment or two!

Lots of love to all there at home in the lovely snow and frost!

Silje and Chris