What a Difference a Year Makes

We arrived in Phnom Penh in the late afternoon. We were picked up by Annemieke, Zoe, Jean-Louise, Ilana and Sammy. We took tuk-tuks back to the apartments we are renting for the trip, near Wat Phenom. It is amazing how much things change here every year. The change from when I was here just 1 year ago is drastic. The roads are cleaner and smoother. There are many more traffic lights and there are now even a few pedestrian crossings. The last time I was here, I only saw one gas station, petrol was bought by the liter in soda bottles, this time I found a few new gas stations complete with mini-marts. The biggest surprise was that all of a sudden people are wearing helmets.

We arrived at the apartment, which is beautiful. The guard rolled back the gate and we walked into a gorgeous courtyard with tall new buildings. We walked past the gym, sauna and pool to get to our two floor apartment. It is serviced which means it is cleaned every other day and comes fully furnished. This is a huge change from last year's accommodations. We have two 3-bedroom apartments with large kitchen, dining room, living room and two bathrooms. What is really great about this place is that it they managed to get it for $9 per night.

I met the rest of the team today. This year we have a much smaller group than usual. The people in this group are amazing. They are already very accomplished and well traveled. They will be an interesting group to work with.