After breakfast each morning, we load into the back of the truck and head off down the road to the orphanage. The gears would grind and sometimes it felt like it was going to roll over, but riding in it was fun.
Tap water in Cambodia is not fit for drinking, so everyday we'd stop in town for ice, drinking water and water to use in the clinic. Usually The Cricket Lady would try and get us to buy some of her delicious snacks. We did the first day, however, none of us was brave enough to eat them*.
When I arrived in Phnom Penh on my first day, I noticed most people out in public wore face masks. I thought, Are all these people germ phobic? Is there some disease running rampant that they are all trying to avoid? How come nobody warned me about it?
In addition to bad water, the air quality there is very poor. It is SO polluted. Most times I wore a face mask, too. When I didn't have one available, I got really good at shallow breathing.
Weird, risky food...bad water...dirty air...Why would anyone in the world want to go there? I don't know why I loved it so much.
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*All the travel literature warns you not to eat anything from the market or roadside stands. None of us wanted to take our chances. Spending 3 days in the hotel room curled up in the fetal position on the bathroom floor just didn't sound fun to any of us.
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