Adventures in Asia

May 4th, 2012, Battambang Cambodia

I have been in Asia for less than 48 hours and there is already so much to write about.  It is currently 5:38 in the morning. I woke up a few minutes ago and though this is not an hour I typically wake up I am pleased to see have slept though the night. It is incredibly hot and humid here and I was afraid I would be too hot and jet lagged to sleep.

Traveling from Bangkok to Battambang turned out to be much easier than I expected. 5 years ago I did the same journey with 3 other girls and it was a scaring experience. The difference of 5 years of experience as well as having a man with you makes is enormous. Travel in Thailand was easy of course. Thailand has amazing public transportation. We were able to get a free shuttle bus from our hotel to the airport and then took a bus directly from the airport to the border for 187 Thai Bath, roughly $7 USD.

The Poipet border crossing is notorious for being the worst border crossing in Asia because of all the scams. We almost got had. As soon as our bus stopped at the border a man got on our bus who we assumed was with the bus company, (hindsight, I think not). He proceeded to be extremely helpful and lead us into a office which said consulate on the window. He handed us visa forms to fill out and asked us for our visa pictures, telling us that we had to purchase our visas before going to the border and then we would only have to get our passport stamped at the border. It seemed like he could have been telling the truth, especially because he was telling us the official price of $20 USD. I had done some reading on travel blogs which warned of many kinds of scams, so thought he mig be lying.. Poor Mandy had to experience Chris and having tension because he thought the guy was telling the truth. I understand why Chris wanted to believe him, it was VERY hot and a long walk to the border crossing. If I had been wrong then it would have been extremely annoying to have to walk back simply because I had a hunch that the place was not legit. Thankfully my hunch was right, it had been a scam. There were signs posted later about not believing scammers that said exactly what he did. That guy would have had our money and our visa pics. I kept thinking I shouldn't  to be mad at him because of course it's expected to get scammed but it took me some time to shake the feeling of being lied to. Thank you Lord for the discernment to not get ripped off. I'm also thankful for a husband who listens to me even when he thinks suspects I'm wrong:)

Being too hot to eat we just wanted to find a taxi and be on our way. Thankfully the first taxi driver offered a fair price and we were quickly on our way to meet the team. I would do the Poipet border crossing again but hopefully always with Chris as I felt much safer this time around.

We are staying at a beautiful rustic orphanage. There are 32 of the cutest most affectionate kids you've ever seen in your life. They made us a delicious dinner of sautéed veggies, beef, noodles and rice. With lychee fruit for dessert. After dinner we had a time of worship, prayer, testimony's and teaching from our DTS students as well as one of the girls who lives at the orphanage. Her story was very sad yet encouraging to hear her hope. Her father left her family when she was a small child and here mother became ill and eventually died leaving the responsibility of her care to her older siblings. Her siblings were given the opportunity to let her live at the orphanage and allow her to go to school. She accepted this as a major blessing. She shared her feelings about wondering why she didn't get to have a normal family and longing for that. However she shared about the hope and joy she has found in Christ. I found her testimony very humbling and encouraging.

Just being in Cambodia makes you realize just how fortunate you are. This is a beautiful country but lacks the basics most of us take for granted everyday, a.c., regular showers and paved roads to name a few. I'm wondering if there is blessing in that too. The children seem to be much better behaved than most in the west, they also have the ability to make just about anything into a toy or create a game in any setting. I am so blessed to be here. 


May 8th, 2012 Bangkok, Thailand

We have made it safely back to Bangkok, Thailand. We're in a
clean and air conditioned hotel room which I am extremely
thankful for. After taking bucket showers with river water
and getting pretty eaten up with jungle bugs we are thrilled
to get a real shower and sleep in a king size bed. Poor
Chris had to sleep on the floor, while I was on a bunk bed
with Mandy.

Even though it was not a very comfortable place to be we are
so happy we got to go there. It is an amazing orphanage with
32 kids. They were honestly some of the most affectionate
and cutest kids I have ever been around. I was ready to take
a few home but I didn't think I could get them through
customs. Chris and I were very pleased with how well our
team is doing there. We got the chance to meet with each
person individually and pray with them. I think our trip was
pretty refreshing for them, it was for us. Taking them out
to eat was pretty fun. We took them to a cute restaurant in
Battambang (a small city an hour by truck, the whole team
sitting in the back), where  we told them their budget
was $5 each. You would have thought we took them to a 5 star
restaurant by their response. It was a lot of fun and
everyone left well feed.

We had some extra DTS money we were able to donate to the
orphanage, $500, so that was pretty fun to do. We heard a
few of the teenagers give their testimony about how they
came to live at the orphanage, it was heart breaking but
also encouraging to hear how thankful they are for simple
things we take for granted like clothes, food and education.
I decided while I was watching the kids walk to school in
the morning in their uniforms that was soon as our nieces
and nephews are old enough I'm taking them on a missions
trip so that they will know how blessed they are.

We have about 24 hours to rest and relax at our hotel before
we head out to India. I'm going to do some laundry by hand,
read and book and go out for great Thai food tonight. I am
so happy to be doing this job and traveling the world with
my husband, Chris and I are a great team. It was fun to see
him in action in Cambodia, I got lots of great pics.