jyon-sensei: September 2007

Beer Pong on the Mekong

There was only a brief pause between being picked up at Phnom Penh International airport and being whisked off to a boat party on the Mekong river. Beer in hand I was introduced to the assembled and an offer of Beer Pong on the back of the boat was accepted.
It had been a good 5 years since my last and only beer pong match but the jet-lag and alcohol were working just fine ...

Three balls in the river later I lost.

But that's not what brought me back to Cambodia. I'm back here for a six month stint as an unpaid intern for PEPY. A not-for-profit organisation started by a friend from Japan a few years ago. They are running a number of programmes designed to improve education and literacy in rural Cambodia. And they ROCK!

I'll be doing all their design work (see, I knew that degree would come in handy!) and a LOT of cycling. PEPY runs tours to raise the money for its programmes, many of which are cycling-adventure tours. They take small groups and involve them directly with the projects that their money goes to support. I'm going to be doing all the preliminary riding to make routes, and establish new connections with existing NGO groups working in these areas.

Shady-noukville

Had a three day weekend at the end of week one, so I headed down to the south coast with the other new intern Michael to explore the beach resort of Sihanoukville. The beach was incredible, sunsets outstanding, and the 25 cent beer on offer ten feet from the shoreline just capped it off as a delightful place to be.
Met up with some locals who live in Phonm Penh and help out PEPY sometimes too. Headed to a place called the Snake Pit, and even though it had Go-go dancers on the bar, it was still the classiest place in Sihanoukville!