The Smiling Country

I am in love with the people of Cambodia. They are incredibly friendly, always smiling (hence the country's nickname and title of this post!) and so helpful. I landed in Phnom Penh on Sunday afternoon. I shared a tuk-tuk to the city center with the guy sitting next to me on the plane. Gilbert (he goes by Gil) is from the NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana). His job since Katrina hit is playing online poker. Apparently he isn't so good at poker because he freely shared that he was $20K in debt. He also mentioned no less than three times how upset he was that his peanut butter had been confiscated from the Thai airport security. It takes all kinds to make this world go around. May you get a full house or at least a flush Gil!

Didn't do too much but walk around the city center after settling into my room. It is quite a strange feeling to actually have a bed all to myself again...I've kind of gotten used to having someone around over the last two and a half months! Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, is a nice city. It's obvious that I'm inching closer to China though, as the markets here sell all sorts of bugs, dog, frogs, birds and such. On the other hand, due to the French colonization, the city was planned with wide boulevards, lots of parks and green space and a really nice boardwalk area next to the Mekong River. Makes for good people watching!

I ventured out on Monday to Wat Phnom, the temple of which the city is named for. It was a-okay as temples go, lots of cats, kittens and an elephant. With all due respect to my Buddhist brothers and sisters, I have seen enough Buddhist temples to last a lifetime, so this one didn't stand out in any particular way to me. The only real highlight was a man who forgot to say his prayers to himself and was literally shouting to the point that he drew a crowd around him. Of course I joined in to watch the spectacle unfold, although I had no idea what the poor guy was praying for because I don't speak Khmer! That evening, I was again reminded of how much closer I'm getting to China by the fact that at 5 PM sharp, the largest park turned into an outdoor aerobics and dance studio. It was awesome. One group that I watched for a really long time had about 100 people jazzercising in the park...hilarious! Mom, you would have fit in perfectly! There was another group of 5 guys dancing...Cambodia's up and coming version of N Sync. It made my day watching these guys try to dance all together. Smiles all around.

On Tuesday, I headed to the killing fields and to the now Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (aka S-21), the former high school where torture and interrogation was conducted during the Khmer Rouge regime. Pol Pot and his followers were brutal and merciless. It was very sobering to be walk among the fields where over 9,000 were buried in mass graves. The field I visited is only one of 380 killing fields in Cambodia...a total of over 19,400 mass graves in all. The estimated 2 million, or 25% of the Cambodian population, that perished during the genocide is unthinkable to imagine having happened less than 32 years ago. It was a very reflective, quiet day after that. What strikes me more than anything is how the Cambodian people have rebounded, how they are today...happy, peaceful and friendly...to go through something like their country did and to be so positive after is truly inspiring.

Wednesday I hung out in my room, having come down with a nasty little stomach virus. Shockingly, my room had a TV with HBO. Has anyone seen United States of Tara? It's hilarious and makes me wish that I had multiple personalities too. Today, Thursday, I'm feeling slightly better. I had enough energy to survive a 6 hour bus north to Siem Reap. The Cambodian girl next to me works at a bank, so we chatted about that and had a nice ride up. She fell asleep and rested her head on my shoulder for the last two hours of the ride...very cute. The next 3 days I'll be touring Angkor Wat. Very excited to see these temples...very likely the last on this trip, so at least I'm saving the best for last!