This picture was taken on the grounds of the king's palace. Everything about it was beautiful. We couldn't take pictures inside the palace however, which was too bad since the gold gild, crystal chandlers, and silver floor were magnificent.
One of the most interesting and fun things we did on our trip was go to the Prasat Bayon ruins. It was amazing to us that we could crawl all over and explore them to our hearts content. It made us feel like Indiana Jones! Budist prayer alters are everywhere in Cambodia, including all the ruins.
The country has over 3,700 Budist temples. This picture of a temple was taken from a boat ride on the Mekong River. I also took some pictures of the houses along the river.
My camera broke while we were at Angkor Wat, so I missed getting pictures of the countryside where we saw oxen pulling carts of wood, and all the hundreds of houses on stilts made from palm leaves. When we got to Phenom Pen, Danny and I had a little adventure going out to find a camera to buy. We ended up getting a little lost along the way, thanks in part to a tuk-tuk driver who didn't know where our hotel really was, and thanks in part to Danny who thought HE did!
The traffic of Cambodia made crossing a street an adventure in it's self! Altho there are lanes, they really don't stay in them, and they don't really care about staying in any kind of orderly lines or anything. Everyone just drives their bikes, motor cycles and occasional cars around each other, and around the push carts as well!
Most people drive small motor cycles. It's not unusual to see 3 or 4 people riding one! Here is a picture of a family of 5 on one !
Altho we saw alot of beauty and interesting things, we also saw many sad things. The next few pictures are of those things...
The poverty is very sad. The first picture is of one of many many families camping out across the street from the hospital, waiting for their children to be seen and get shots. They will wait there for many many days before their number is called. The 2nd picture is of children begging for money. One of our guides used to be a begging child growing up and was so very grateful for the people who helped him along the way when he walked away from his family at the age of 12 and got away from the begging lifestyle he grew up with. Some of the children would sell things and beg for you to buy from them. I did give in and buy some postcards once. Our first encounter with a child begging was after dinner one night while getting back onto the bus. The boy only had one leg. In a latter discussion with our guide, we learned that there are still millions of land mines in the fields of Northern Cambodia, not too far from where we had been. Every day people (mostly children who are playing) are killed and maimed. He explained that altho it only took about 1 dollar to set out those land mines during wars, it now costs aproxamatly $1000 to remove each mine. It will take a minumum of 50 years to clear them at the rate it is going presently.
One of the biggest problems of Cambodia is its lack of sanitation services. People must pay the government individually for any services, and because of the poverty of the people, it doesn't get done. The sidewalks, roads, fields, fronts of homes, and any empty lots, are overwhelmingly littered with garbage that never gets cleaned up and rarely gets burned. On top of that, people often sell their food, and cook their meals on the sidewalks as well.
Another sad part of the trip was going to see the Prison Camp, and the memorial to the Killing Fields where Pol Pot and his regime killed thousands. One of the Moms that was with us had grown up in Cambodia and had lost a cousin to the evil. The first recruits of Pol Pot were the same age as Canyon and his friends, and Pol Pot himself was still alive when all the kids were born. It was a hard place to visit, but left a lasting impression of exactly what evil has done even in recent times. One interesting thing that happened was that we learned that night that the Kemer Rouge prison commander had gone on trial for crimes against humanity just that day. He is the first to go on trial in 30 years. Our guide told us that the government leaders have always just written it off as "Pol Pot's thing" and don't take any personal responsibility, even though many in government now were part of his regiem. But the people of the Country want the story to be told. That is why they have such a shocking memorial with the skulls of the victims shown.
As I mentioned in the last blog, we took great encouragement in the fact that we were representing hope to the people we met. From our guides to the merchants to the teachers, and the students at the schools we visited, people thanked us over and over for coming. I had a merchant at the bazaar actually hug me for spending six dollars on her beautiful silks. She told me that I had "made her day".
I had a teenager come up to me at one of the schools and say "I'm just so happy!" as if he had just been to a rock concert! Here are some admirers of Canyon and Brooke!
The kids at the schools were always so proud of their performances as well as excited to see ours. They were excellent! Here are pictures of Canyon playing, Brooke showing a baton that she ended up giving to the school, and one of the performances.
It was a wonderful, insightful, meaningful, beautiful trip.
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