we have been anticipating a cambodia trip for a long time. we were supposed to go last summer with visiting friends, but cancelled because of a virus outbreak. nate's siblings were on board for a cambodia adventure, so to cambodia we went.
we began in the capitol city of phnom penh.
it is incredibly dirty and incredibly hot. nate and i had just finished reading the rent collector by camron wright, and it was eye-opening to see what we'd read about.
we stayed in a lovely little hotel tucked away from the street, the white mansion boutique, and ate french food whenever we could. the perk of cambodia's history of french colonization is a plethora of french restaurants for a fraction of the "normal" price.
we began our day at the tuol sleng genocide museum. it was once a highschool that was turned into a torture and holding facility during the cambodian genocide. the stifling heat, dirt, dust, and raw emotion left us all feeling pretty somber (and sweaty).
it was interesting to see this with an almost two year-old. she would happily pose as i raised my camera to document what we were seeing, but she seemed to understand that this place was sacred, or rather, respected. she whispered, "mama" to get my attention and carefully walked through the classrooms-turned-genocide-memorial with me.
we drove a bit outside of the city to the killing fields. the quiet remains of something so atrocious were eery, and yet peaceful. we each wandered at our own pace with an audio guide, trying to understand what happened here...and not that long ago.
i wept openly at this tree. i don't understand the reasons for a lot of things that have happened in this world.
we were quiet in the car on our way to the next stop...a visit to the CICFO cambodian orphanage.
i went from feeling helpless in a world where horrible, terrible acts of inhumanity scar whole countries, to feeling hope and joy at the smiling faces that raced out to our car in the street to meet us. we had barely opened the van door when these sweet children threw their arms around us with a chorus of "hi!"
and probably because i was feeling so raw, i cried again. i cried all throughout the traditional khmer dances they performed proudly for us, and again when they sang "i am a child of god" and "a child's prayer".
i love this woman. she embraced me as if we were old friends and scooped sage up from my arms. she is botevy, who survived life in a labor camp under pol pot's regime for four years. she has picked up the pieces of tragedy in her country and dedicated herself to those beautiful children who live at CICFO.
i wish we'd taken a better photo of everyone, but this is all i got right as we were leaving.
the next morning brought a quick trip to the royal palace...
...and attending a church service with the local khmer people (including botevy and all the children).
we piled into another van (bless you, air conditioning) and drove about 6 hours to siem reap
we stopped for lunch at this restaurant on stilts over the water. i was crossing my fingers we wouldn't get sick from the food.
a "gas station" on the side of the rode. see all those coke bottles filled with gasoline? those are for the motos.
and then we finally arrived in siem reap.
