Hey all im volunteering for 3 weeks in feb 2015 with this organisation which i'm very passionate about I have a week before hand to explore phnom penh and siem reap any suggestions for the 'must do' activities, first trip on my own so if anyone has any tips i'd be grateful, i'm pretty street savvy and i don't take stupid risks but any tips welcome :)
Female, 24
This is probably the ONLY volunteer activity I will support. Go for it. As for must do activities, hints and tips - seriously, just scan/search the forums. They are written about almost every day.
Have a good trip.
if your trip is at the end then it will be very easy as I am sure you will get a lot of help and tips from the project and have some familliarity by then with Cambodia. You will have no problem in meeting other travellers if you want company.
Just use usual common sense
Ok, here are 2 fairly common scams to watch out for, 1 in Phnom Penh and the other in Siem Reap:
1. Phnom Penh. You are approached by a friendly person who compliments you on something ("that's a nice hat, where did you get it"?). Usually ask where you're from and then surprise, surprise they have a relative living in the same area. The aim is to draw you into a card game that you won't win. Read more here: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/blackjack-scam-bust-tourists
2. Siem Reap. The milk scam. You're asked by a poor woman with a sick looking baby to help her by buying milk powder. You feel good but she takes the powder back to the shop and shares the money with the shop owner. Read more about it here. http://www.friends-international.org/blog/index.php/the-milk-of-human-kindness-the-siem-reap-baby-milk-scam/
The name is kind of wrong, they don't set any bears free, they keep them in cages at the zoo soth of PP.
The only reason for this is currently there aren't any completely protected areas to release to and the organisation itself is supported by the Cambodian government however in years to come that is the ultimate goal, they are raised to the point where they don't need to rely on human interaction and begin to actually be bears. Though as you said unfortunately they cannot safely be released until they have a protected national park that is has law abiding rangers to patrol it....they have a long way to go but it's a better life than spending 20+ years having bile extracted daily or paws cut off one by one awaiting your fate behind a restaurant in a cage.
:)