Frog & Toad into the wild

10/05/2026

Turkey was on both of our list so we planned a week stop in Istanbul. We both agree now that there is something special about spending time in a city without the pressure of ticking tourist attractions. Our way of immersing in a culture is through food, music and human connections. We realised that our most vivid and memorable moments are multisensory and emotional.
Like having lunch at the market while the muezzin calls for prayer.
We had a beautiful medley of this while of course also have had a chance to marvel other aspects of Turkey's rich history and architecture.
We also learned again that we can trust the little voice inside telling us- go down this alley, something wonderful awaits this way. This is how we made new friends on our last evening and were invited for dinner.
We will return yo Turkey for sure to see more of it's wonders.

22/03/2026

Vietnam is our next stop. We are turists for ten days with no mission other than sampling national dishes and sightseeing.

Ho Chi Minh city is about 2000 km2 with 14 million population. NZ is about 260000km2 with 5 million. This can give an idea of how busy this city is, looks and feels. The traffic is bonkers with plenty of grey areas in road rules. Red light/ green light ... same.
Most places there is no cross light for pedestrians, you just go and cross your fingers for making it safe to the other side. Drivers very skillfully dodge sticky situations.
In spite the khaos there is so much charm in this place.
Streetfood stalls with tiny plastic chairs, that are easy to pick up and run with when police come. Serious coffee culture and great live music scene. This is our impression of good old Saigon.

22/03/2026

Vietnam is our next stop. We are turists for ten days with no mission other than sampling national dishes and sightseeing.

Ho Chi Minh city is about 2000 km2 with 14 million population. NZ is about 260000km2 with 5 million. This can give an idea of how busy this city is, looks and feels. The traffic is bonkers with plenty of grey areas in road rules. Red light/ green light ... same.
Most places there is no cross light for pedestrians, you just go and cross your fingers for making it safe to the other side. Drivers very skillfully dodge sticky situations.
In spite of the khaos there is so much charm to this place.
Streetfood stalls with tiny plastic chairs, that are easy to pick up and run with when police come. Serious coffee culture and great live music scene. This is our impression of good old Saigon.

21/03/2026

Leaving Cambodia and our little village, Prey Thmey, after a month of stay was equally sad and timely. It thaught us again how comforting routine can be- even if uncomfortable.
A comfortable bed and running shower ( even if cold) stepped up on our value list and will never take these for granted ever again.
We said goodbye to the children and teachers knowing that our genuine compassion and caring did make at least a crumb of difference.
Walking or cycling through the village was the sweetest experience every day with love and countless smiles pouring at us.
We squeezed in one more sunset visit to Angkor Wat to say goodbye to the 8th wonder of the World.

Here are some more of our favourite photos.

04/03/2026

Angkor Wat, Ta Phrom(Tomb Raider temple) and Bayon Temple.
I remember when we were sitting in our cozy home in New Zealand planning our trip. We were making a list of places we wanted to go and things we wanted to see. Knowing we were starting our journey in South-East Asia, Ankor Wat was at the top of my list.
It is quite surreal now having been there and reflecting on it.
I won't bore you with a long history lesson(although I would recommend you do a dive down the rabbit hole because it is everything but boring) I will however give you a short version. The Khmer people trace their ancestors back to 5000 bc with a history that rivals that of the Greek and Romans. Mind you not in conquest but engineering.
Our tourguide was Mr Son, the director of the school, who is very knowledgable. Khmer people are very proud of their ancient history.
We got up at 4.30 to be there at Sunrise. The whole experience was remarkable.

22/02/2026

Please look at the website of the organisation, they are a registered charity - evey dollar is going directly to them.
The price of a coffee is already a big help for them.
Just to give an idea of costs, the yearly tuition fee for a student in University is 1200 USD.
If you feel this is a worthy cause and you can help, please do.

COSD Organization School

COSD, which stands for Cambodia Organization for Social Development, is a registered NGO; we believe education is the key to unlocking a world of opportunity, especially for underprivileged students in our community. We offer free English classes, empowering them with the language skills they need t...

22/02/2026

After completing our first week of volunteering in Cambodia it has been as much heart wrenching as it is inspiring. The ability of people(children) to overcome and succeed in the face of diversity is inspiring, the conditions in which they have to do it is heart wrenching.
We have to rely on building trust, rapport and ingenuity due to the make lack of resources to make learning fun and effective. It was an exhausting week with the mental work, heat, being physically way out of our confort zone but more rewarding than words can say.
The state education does not offer English or computer classes, essentials for succeeding in this world. Children come to our classes outside of their public school education. Some of them show up in the morning and then join the evening class as well. The students range from 7-18 years old, they have classes 6 days a week.
Imagine what they could achieve with a little help?

15/02/2026

We arrived to Siem Reap on the 12th of February. Spent 3 nights in town to become somewhat familiar with language, food and culture. ( plus the nice shower:) We did not know what to expect but we fell in love already on our way from the airport to town. Our driver gave us a good introduction to the Khmer hospitality and business sense as he took a detour for us to the fried chicken stand run by his wife. Khmer fried chicken was our first meal ,)
Siem Reap 's population is about 1.5 million, in 1999 it was only 10,000 and most of the city was rice fields. They rely heavily on tourism, which is hurting after the incident with Thailand and still recovering from covid years . The city is busy and vibrant, especially in the evenings but not overly. It feels completely safe.
Khmer food is just as delicious as thai food but less spicy.
We already mastered the two essential words in Khmer
Hello: Suo sdei
Thank you: Or Kun
Today morning we were picked up by Mr Son, the director of the program we are visiting. More to come!

14/02/2026

Phuket 2.
Next stop was a 10 days workaway in Panwa. We had great comfort and food provided by our host Michael in return for painting and cleaning work with a crew of 5. There was plenty of time for exploring the area after work.
It is cool and inspiring to meet and talk to people of different generations and places, yet on a similar journey.

14/02/2026

Phuket 1.
We had 3 days near Yanui beach, just being tourists. Scooter, beach and fooood...