Cambodia

If you are a Facebook friend, you probably saw that we recently took a last-minute trip to Cambodia. We only had about a week to plan our trip, but we scrambled and managed to procure all the proper visas and vaccinations just in time. We had an amazing time. The weather was perfect -- nary a drop of rain, cool and comfortable from dusk to dawn, and great swimming pool weather all afternoon. We saw pagodas and temples, we rode in tuk-tuks and braved the craziest of traffic, ate curries and noodles, saw exotic animals, met wonderful people, and made plenty of time for sunbathing splashing poolside. We did the tourist thing through-and-through, and loved it.

But we experienced a lot more than that, too, things that are harder to capture with a facebook album of vacation photos. We visited the killing fields of Choeng Elk, saw kids digging through heaps of trash looking for something to sell or something to eat, encountered people missing limbs from landmines and suffering the consequences of vaccine-preventable diseases. As a tourist, I didn't feel right shooting photos of naked children or disabled and disfigured people begging, but even without pictures that is what I will remember the most from our trip. It was really humbling to witness firsthand the kind of lifestyle that people all over the world are living. Cambodia is a gorgeous country, and an amazing place to visit, but they are without a doubt still a developing country in the recovery stages from a violent and tragic recent past.

A rural gas station

One of the most sobering things we did was visit the killing fields at Choeng Elk just outside of the capital. It's a memorial for the people who were executed during the Khmer Rouge genocide in 1975. The killing fields were previously an orchard, and are still covered with beautiful fruit trees and vibrant flowers; there were chickens peacefully pecking around, and no noise but the sounds of birds and the wind. The juxtaposition of the natural beauty of the scenery with the human bones and teeth that are being unearthed is impossible to reconcile. The site has not been fully excavated, so when it rains more remains are continually uncovered. As we walked along, we had to be careful not to step on bones and pieces of clothing that were naturally emerging from the ground. It feels too recent to call it "history," and it was not an easy place to visit.

Despite the sadness and tragedy of recent events, it was encouraging to see the recovery the country is making. As part of the the Khmer Rouge's mission to create an agrarian utopia, they abolished schools and medicine, and executed all professionals and educated members of society. Without engineers to rebuild destroyed infrastructure, politicians to rebuild a government, doctors and nurses to treat the dying, or teachers to instruct the children, recovery was all but impossible without outside help. Fortunately, it is receiving just that: it has the second highest number of active relief organizations in the world, behind Rwanda. It was wonderful to see so many local and international NGOs in action, familiar ones like World Vision and local ones we'd never heard of; and despite the tragedies of its recent past, Cambodia felt like a hopeful place.

This kid and his sisters were cleaning up the mess left by some park visitors, but he got distracted playing a game of hide and seek with Avery and me.

If you are up for some more scrolling, here's a look at our itinerary:

 First, lots of traveling! Other than being scared during take off and landing, Avery did great! She learned the word "scary" right away, and when she was feeling nervous, she always said, "Avery little scary. Sit on daddy's lap?" He didn't mind that at all, of course. We were super lucky, too, that most of our flights were not full. We didn't buy Avery her own seat, and on 5 of the 6 flights we took, we ended up with plenty of extra space to spread out.

We had an overnight layover in Taipei. We got a hotel close to the airport and let Avery stretch her legs at a park (while Paul and I chugged coffee to stay warm and awake) before another full day of traveling.

 After our night in Taipei, we made it to Phnom Penh without incident. Avery snoozed on the plane, so she was ready for some site seeing as soon as we dropped our bags at the hotel. We walked along the river to the Royal Palace, which was stunning.

As beautiful as the Palace is, however, it is not indicative of the state of the rest of Phnom Pehn. There is a small area where the Palace, embassies, universities, and banking district are, and it appears that a disproportionate amount of government money goes into that area's upkeep. The rest of the city looks a lot more like the background in the picture below, with a lot of heaps of trash rotting in the sun, stray dogs, cows, and chickens to complement the scenery.

PS: How Avery managed to fall asleep on this rickety, loud tuk-tuk, I will never know. But I do know that my back was killing me for days after.

We set aside our second day in Phnom Penh to visit the Phnom Tamao wildlife rescue center. They are staffed with local and international veterinarians, zookeepers, conservationists, and all sorts of volunteers. They rescue injured and illegally traded animals (elephants in particular get attacked frequently for damaging crops, and some become victims of landmines), and are working on rehabilitating and releasing hundreds of species back into the wild, as well as educating people on how to live side by side (safely) with animals.

On the way there, we stopped at a local market to pick up some fruit to feed the animals and some water to keep us hydrated.

We bought water from this store; these kids were helping their mom on their day off from school and were so sweet! The only English they knew was, "bye bye," so they said it to us about 3,000 times.

As much as Avery loved feeding the elephant, her real love was the monkeys! The little one sticking his head out of the fence (below on the right) was just a few days away from being released into the jungle with his mom and family; he kept escaping through the fence to explore, but always returned when his mom yelled at him. Avery loved to hear the "monkeys talkin'." 

Playing with the monkeys was really fun, but they were anything but gentle! They jumped onto us from 15 feet up, pulled on our ears, stole my hat, and went through all our pockets. We didn't feel comfortable letting Avery in to get tackled by them, but they happily let her pet them through the fence. The babies liked touching her hands, and Avery talked for days about the monkeys giving her high fives and giving the monkey a back rub.

Clearly, she was totally wiped out at the end of the day! 

On our third day in Phnom Penh, we just had a few hours in the morning before our flight, so we visited the Choeng Elk killing fields and then headed to the airport for our 45 minute flight up to Siem Reap, the home of the Angkor Archeological Complex.

We bought a 3-day temple pass, which allowed us to see about 10% of the 400 square kilometer complex of gorgeous jungle temples. Our strategy was to get up early, eat a quick breakfast, and see the temples before too many tourists got there and before it got too hot.

We then made our way back to the hotel so the toddler could nap; afternoons were divided between the swimming pool and exploring the town.

Avery was a ridiculously easy target for vendors at the markets! Outside of bedtime negotiations, this kid doesn't know how to haggle and happily accepted everything she was handed and then asked me for "money, please!" 

They had free wi-fi, but the dishes were washed in two tubs of water on the sidewalk.

We all have our favorites from the trip. I really enjoyed seeing contemporary Cambodian life and learning about their history and recovery. I also loved the unrestored jungle temples that were inseparable from the trees and flowers. Paul liked the large, grand temples with the advanced architecture, and the cheap beer. Avery loved the monkeys, elephants, and swimming pool. 

....and this Christmas tree. She wanted to open the presents, and was unhappy she couldn't. Sometimes it is hard to be a toddler.