Day 1 and 2 in Thailand and Cambodia

: Hotel Lobby the first night we stayed in Thailand…very nice!

Well, we made it to Thailand and Cambodia!! Very early yesterday morning…1am to be exact, we arrived at our Thailand hotel. It was very nice, much nicer than what I expected it would be. The Thailand airport in Bangkok is one of the largest and architecturally impressive airports I have ever seen. It was absolutely spectacular! The people are very nice, but the language is definitely a barrier. The next morning some of my team and I went exploring down the street from the hotel. It was quite interesting. Here are some pictures:

Then it was off to the airport to catch a flight for Phenom Phen, Cambodia. We are spending our first week in Cambodia. Phenom Phen is a very large city. It has a population of 2 million and once again, I was surprised with how developed this city was for being a third world country. It remined me of Port au Prince, Haiti, accept the roads were nice and the buildings were better constructed. They had stop lights and it was very clean. Our first night we stayed in the Smiley Hotel near the soccer stadium in the city. Phenom Phen even has skyscrapers roughly 30 stories high!

View outside our Hotel in Phenom Phen Cambodia

I had an hour foot massage for only $7 U.S.. I fell asleep for half of it…I felt like I was in Heaven! I ate pad thai at a very nice restaurant…delicious! We took these taxis that were like something a horse would pull except it was a motorcycle pulling them and they were called a Tuc Tuc. Now that is how to view the city, except we felt like we were going to get hit or hit someone the entire drive around the city…somewhat scary, but I am used to scary driving from my experiences in Haiti. It prepared me for this adventure for sure.

Well, today is my first day to see what Destiny Rescue is doing in Cambodia. Please pray that God leads me to interview the right staff. In Phenom Phen, Destiny Rescue’s primary goal is creating prevention programs so that families have alternatives to placing their kids in prostituation! This country is very poor and many families can’t survive without alternative income sources. They feel like they have no choice but to put there kids in this horrific industry…my heart breaks.

We will also be visiting one of the poorest communities outside the city of Phenom Phen. It is a place where many families rely on collecting trash to make ends meat and many have resorted to the sex trade industry for more income.

Our team will also be visiting the Killing Fields where a ruthless dictator Pol Pot killed untold numbers of Cambodians. It was like a genocide that severely effected the country and caused it to spiral down hill for many years to come. Vietnam helped the Cambodian people over throw the Khmer Rouge and the country is now on the up.

Well, I have to run and start the day, but I will keep you posted on my conversations and experiences later tonight.