What a great day. We took a cruise down the river and witnessed something completely unexpected; Floating poverty. That’s not what made the day great but it was completely out of the blue, seeing shacks and schools floating on the river, with beggars on boats pulling up with snakes around their necks, and little kids floating in pots just circling our boat asking for a dollar. We stopped at a crocodile farm and fed the crocodiles, which was a thrilling experience. More poverty, more begging, we were becoming a bit more jaded, and a little more immune to suffering. Good times!
I have now been on more boats than Steve Allen, which is a lot less impressive than it sounds.
Day 2
We woke up at daybreak to see the sunrise over the temple. There is nothing that I love more than being woken at 4:30 AM to see a sunrise over a temple, both of which I was content with just finding a Google image of. I was told it was breathtaking, after taking my sleep, taking my breath was just adding insult to injury. I was disappointed after all the hype, and vowed from now on to avoid all sunrises that happen before 9am.
We went out that day on ATV`s and visited an orphanage. Chris and I stocked up on boxes and bags of candy and drove the villages acting like Santa Claus. We were throwing candy to all the kids and they all ran out of the huts and followed us as if we were the Pied Piper. It was a great day, we decided to help out the orphanage, and had a spiritual experience that lasted till dinner.
The trip was sold as two trips. The second half starts in Vietnam and only half of us were continuing on to Vietnam. So we were losing 14 and gaining another 11. We were sad to say goodbye to all of our friends, and excited to meet the new people, especially since 9 of 11 were girls.