Having the use of the bus in and around Phnom Penh was a bonus, particularly for people who had not had the benefit of arriving in Phnom Penh earlier, as we did. It was great having the use of the bus to visit various places of interest.

The hotels selected in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville, which I believe are used on a regular basis, were very good - friendly staff and of a standard which I think would suit the majority of house builders.

I had not done a lot of reading and research on Cambodia prior to our visit so it was with great interest we listened to the induction given at Tabitha Cambodia's headquarters in Phnom Penh. The brief history lesson and induction was frank and informative and provided every house builder with a good grounding for the coming days of building ahead.

The four-hour trip down to Sihanoukville in the bus was comfortable and enjoyable.

As for the "reason we were all there" - the house building - it went very well.

To be given information about the people we would be building for prior to arriving was a great idea, because it helped us put into context the type of people and community we would be building in.

Having the rather large group of people on this trip broken up into children and adults was an interesting exercise; it allowed the adults to get on with the task in hand and also allowed the children to come to the fore and show the Tabitha staff what great enthusiasm and life skills they possessed.

At the end of each day the dinner table (of whatever restaurant we were dining at) was filled with the chatter from children and adults about the major building works going on and there was much comparing of war wounds - i.e. how much skin was missing and where the bruises were from the day's activities.

The final handing over of the houses to the individual families was a camera-clicking experience that I think brought home why we had come to Cambodia.

In the end, a great trip was had by all, new friendships were made, and I know we felt very humble after the experience.

Khmer people, being predominantly Buddhist in most areas, with a smattering of various other religions, made them very friendly and warm to deal with wherever we went.

I suppose the only question left is: would we do it again? The answer is YES!