"You want to buy postcard....FOR YOU BOYFRIEND?"I can't help but give a weird look followed by a laugh after hearing this come from a 10 year old boy who I said no thank you to in Khmer when he asked if i'd buy his postcards while eating my last lunch in Siem Reap with Lynn. I couldn't figure out if I should hit him across the back of the head or give him a dollar for giving me a nice laugh. Siem Reap has been amazing, such a welcome and pleasant change from big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. It has been amazing seeing some of the temples and pagodas that are still intact here, Angkor Wat is absolutely amazing at sunrise, and the temples like Bayon, Ta Prohm and Bantey Srei are beautifully decorated. Ta Prohm is that beautiful temple you would remember from tomb raider, but its amazing to see these awesome tree roots, kind of like ficus trees, that just sprawl out over entrances and doorways and grow down and around the huge blocks. Definitely amazing to see, and a great comparison to seeing Macchu Pichu in July of this past year.
Siem Reap has also had amazing people and just an amazingly welcoming feeling the entire time. Our tour guide, also 26, named Ny, pronounced like "Knee" , was awesome. We would chit chat about local life and he had a great understanding of religions and histories of the temples. He also was inquisitive about life of Americans, so we had a great time, he even taught me pick up lines that he had me use on waitresses. I got some great reception from things like "hey beautiful, you have beautiful arms...I love you."
So all in all, things have been really nice in Cambodia. Great people, a few new friends, helping the Ny set up some small websites for his tourism, and hopefully will contact him later about using him for my non profit. Seeing this country, it definitely has inspired a bit of my non profit life as well. Seeing small tiny projects, like single point water access in some of the areas donated by individuals, or a small water wheel used to pump water to a few households, has me believing more and more that I need to do small things with great devotion, compassion and love, because that is what kind of difference I can make. So now with Cambodia coming to an end, Lynn and I head today to Phnom Penh, the capitol of Cambodia via bus this afternoon, get there early in the night, and spend one night where we might try to check out the local night bazaar and market. Then tomorrow morning starts a new adventure, Lynn heads home and I travel solo to Northern Thailand, where I have some great treks, some climbing, and a little adventure in Laos to look forward to soon. Definitely up for it and hoping for some good travel stories soon. Hope all is well at home and everyone is ready for some really funny souvenirs pretty soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment