Andrew's Updates

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Greetings from Slovenia! Well, I see it has been a full month since I last wrote so here is the latest update. After I last wrote I spent the week doing computer training in Kompong Thmal. I spent time helping most of the ADRA project staff learn how to type, although I also spent some time on specific programs (Access, Outlook, etc) with a few of the more advanced users. Some of the staff had never really used a computer before so they have plenty to learn and practice. On Sabbath we had potluck, which was good as usual, and on Saturday night we played some games, although this time we went to Bryan and Penny's house which is a few miles north of Phnom Penh. On Sunday I spent most of the day at the Phnom Penh water park with some friends. The water park is geared towards kids, but it was still fun to play on the slides and in the pools. It was also nice to be wet, and hence relatively cool for a change. The park opened this year and has a wave pool, lazy river, giant waterbed covered in water and several slides. On the way back from the water park we went out to eat at a pizza place which I hadn't been to before, and it was very good. After spending a short week in Kompong Thmal, I traveled by taxi to Phnom Penh on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 23. In the evening I got a haircut and took care of everything I needed to get done before leaving Cambodia for a month. Thursday morning I got up at about 6:00 am and caught a moto taxi to the taxi stand. I had arranged for a share taxi seat the night before, which was supposedly leaving at 7:00 am and actually left at 7:45 or so. The taxi was headed for Koh Kong which is a town on the Cambodia-Thailand border. The first half of the ride was on a very good paved road, but the second half was on a dirt road that was quite rutted in places. Much of the road wound through hilly, unpopulated jungle areas with plenty of beautiful scenery (we actually passed through at least one national park). We also used four car ferries along the way and had to wait about 2.5 hours in a tiny village because the road was closed for repairs. I had planned enough travel time so that I would be okay spending the night at the border if needed, but we ended up making it to the border about 10 minutes before it closed at 5 pm. After a little hassle with the taxi driver I walked across the border and got right on an air-conditioned mini bus headed for the town of Trat in Thailand. As we sped along the smooth, paved coastal highway I enjoyed watching the sun set between a couple of islands. Public transport in Thailand was quite luxurious compared to the Toyota Corolla taxis in Cambodia (with four in front and four in the back usually). In Trat I bought a bus ticket (AC with a movie dubbed in Thai) to Bangkok. I had 30 minutes before the bus left so I got to enjoy my first Thai food in Thailand, which was wonderful. I finally arrived in Bangkok at 11 pm, although by the time I found my way to the ADRA building (via a combination of local buses and a taxi) it was 1 am and I was glad to get a hot shower and some rest.

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