We flew to the brand new airport in Cambodia built by China. China is putting in massive infrastructure to support their investments in these developing countries. Connie and Jeff had a different hotel than me, so we took 2 different taxis into the hour drive to Siem Reap. We drove down the long chinese built road through the cashew trees on both sides into the town. My driver was adorable and when I asked for music, he gave me his phone to control. The first familiar song was Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect”. We cranked it and he sang it at the top of his lungs! He offered a cooler of beer and we were off to explore another town. The hotel was stunning, the staff incredibly welcoming.

Guest blogger, Connie describes the next part of our trip. She was very good at understanding the sometimes broken english of our sweet guide:

Visiting Siem Reap, Cambodia means visiting Angkor Wat. This temple complex was dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu in the 12^th century CE by the Khmer King Suryavarman II. It is among the largest religious buildings ever created. Today it is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Unlike most temples, Angkor Wat was built facing the west in deference to Vishnu and one of the most powerful times to view the central towers is at sunrise.

Our guide and the driver arrived to pick us up at 4:30 am to begin our day long tour through the 420 acre Angkor Wat temple complex as well as the ancient city of Angkor Thom.  Our guide led us through the dark from the Angkor Wat parking area to a field facing that temple.  A hush fell over the crowd of visitors from all over the world as we witnessed the sun rising behind the five towers.

Our guide provided us with so much information on the history and symbolism of Angkor Wat as well as Angkor Thom.  However, the most unexpected experience was the information that he shared with us about his life and Cambodia’s tragic history.

In 1975 a communist regime known as the Khmer Rouge conquered the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. From 1975 to 1979 the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, set in motion a campaign of genocide that claimed the lives of up to two million people. One in four Cambodians were killed during this period.

Our tour guide was born in a small village in Cambodia.  He believes it was in the early 1960’s, but he can’t be completely sure because any record of his birth was destroyed.  His family was displaced from their village by the Khmer Rouge and were forced to work on a collective farm. His father died of starvation and his mother of disease.  Our guide had to bury his father in a shallow grave that he dug by hand when he was only 12 years old.  His little sister was struck down and killed for stopping work in a field to eat a cricket. Following that tragedy, our guide ran away from the farm and lived in the jungle on his own for two years. Then at the age of 16 he became a soldier fighting against the Khmer Rouge.  This man had been through truly horrific experiences in his life, a true mirror of the history of Cambodia.

As we toured the temples he exchanged greetings with many of the other tour guides and security guards.  It was clear that he was a well liked and respected man in that community.

We were completely shocked by our guides candor and openness.  We were so touched that he felt comfortable sharing his personal reminisces with us. He was so kind, generous, and I didn’t mention before, pretty funny. We will never forget those moments that we spent with this man and how he took the time to educate us. How incredibly lucky we are to have the opportunity to travel and meet this most awesome person.

Connie is correct. Our guide was so open and vulnerable and at times we had the biggest lump in our throats trying to understand what he had been through. He was just a little older than us. Imagining the difference of his childhood and my childhood was humbling and hard to imagine. The US just stood by as this was happening. And yet, the man has a beautiful family with grandchildren and he had just won a new IPHONE!

We did run into a band of monkeys near one temple. Our guide had warned us to not have food in our pockets. We witnessed small children getting assaulted by monkeys to get their bags of candy. It was kind of funny, kind of alarming. We walked past a line of scooters and one monkey opened up the compartment on the scooter, grabbed a bottled water and started guzzling.

Siem Reap is a pretty happening town and the infamous Pub Street reminded me a little of what we are going for at The Plant. Very active, lots of lights, tourists and great food.

Our time was coming to an end. The super bowl happened. Connie and Jeff found a bar that was open at 7am to watch the game. I hung by my pool and took advantage of the spa. We packed up our stuff and had to get back to Vietnam to make the long journey home. Jeff who is a great problem solver and mechanical engineer designed the trip so we had an extra day to chill in Vietnam (just in case). Well, I call him MVP of the trip because I got turned away at the airport due to an expired Vietnam visa. They don’t mess around there. I’m not sure what happened, but I was not allowed back into Vietnam. There was some panic on my part and Jeff and Connie stepped in to help. We started working on emergency visas but I had to turn around and go back to Siem Reap while they flew out. I had an extra day in Cambodia until I could sort out the visa situation. My dear cousin called to talk me out of a tree and make me laugh. I had fear I would never get to leave Cambodia and the smoke from the burning of the rice fields was getting to me. But never fear, it all worked out. Was a pretty expensive mistake, but I flew out a day later and an agent met me in Vietnam to make sure I had the correct paperwork stamped.

I jumped in a van with some germans to head into Ha Noi around 9pm (and needed to get back to the airport at 5am next day). The van drove into Ha Noi which was celebrating the last day of Tet (Vietnam New Years). The streets were packed with revelers and the van was driving through massive scooters and people sitting outside eating at these low tables and chairs. I couldn’t believe we didn’t run over anyone. He just pushed through beeping the whole time. We were driving through what felt like a parade on the way to the Golden Silk Hotel. Connie and Jeff were celebrating with Jeff’s vietnamese co-workers and I arrived to a party, lots of beers and cheers and dinner. Never been so happy to see these faces!

Some travel tips I learned about Asia:

Take US dollars that are brand new. Most places would not accept money that had any type of blemish, or tear.

Toilet paper was not abundant. I ended up with a stash in my bag because some places had NONE.

Good shoes and being in pretty good shape is important. We climbed steep stairs with shaky railings a lot.

We are privileged as the US dollar is accepted widely and the common language besides the native one is english.

Water is of course one of the most precious resources and I didn’t take it for granted.

People are so great.

Grateful to be home and on to the next adventure! Staying home!

Thanks for reading! It was life changing.
Until next time, tami