 wow, this is different |
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we made it to Phnom Penh, Cambodia yesterday afternoon....not the smoothest little flight from Bangkok due to high humidity causing some momentarily intense turbulence that freaked me out a bit...I did a bit of meditation/breathing/relaxation exercises in my sat, which Alicen later told me totally freaked out the girl sitting next to me as I was sitting straight up in my seat, eyes closed, breathing slowly and deeply....she probably thought I was about to puke, but it was very calming actually...
Anyway, we're here and this place is pretty intense immediately. I guess I expected it to be sort of like Thailand, which it is to some extent, but the level of poverty around us is astonishing. walking along the riverfront there are people of all sorts trying to sell trinkets or begging, anyone of them would be supremely happy with 1 dollar, which is just amazing to me....because of the Khmer Rouge, something like 80% of the population of Cambodia is under 25 years old....this isn't 100% accurate, but it is in the ballpark. the point is there are massive numbers of orphans from the genocide here and a lot of them have stumbled upon one of the thousands of undetonated landmines still buried in the countryside. seeing small children missing limbs begging for money on the street is something that hits pretty hard. after some research though it seems that most of these kids are being forced to beg by locals who send them out to beg then take the money, so handing cash over it actually quite harmful....like I said, this is intense....
speaking of intense, we're heading out to see The Killing Fields and the Khmer Rouge Genocide Museum now....should make for another interesting and sobering afternoon...
on the plus side, the food has been good, the weather is lovely, and we get to ride in Tuk-Tuks (like a motorcycle-pulled rickshaw, which are really fun....
probably, again, no pictures at this hostel as there is no wifi, just one lobby computer.
okay, off to see a massive pile of human skulls....wow, this place is intense....
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January 10th 2009 - Ged: ~
The lady next to you on the plane probably thought you were going to detonate a bomb strapped to your chest. As for all the beggars it reminded me of the movie Slumdog Millionaire, which definitely caused me to think about all the money I've given to children in developing countries.
One of the craziest things I remember from the killing fields is how easy it was to find bits of human bone and clothing in the dirt of the trails around those places. We could help but walk on it.
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