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I am like a month behind in my blogging if you haven't already noticed. Internet was a commodity in Thailand so I did more drinking than writing...totally acceptable when they serve drinks by the buckets and not the glass. Regardless, I celebrated Christmas in traditional Thai style with some amazing curry and pad thai followed by a foot massage and of course excessive holiday drinking...Here's snap of me and a friend in action!

X-Mas shopping Gone Wild!

Life on Water

A couple hours outside Siem Riep is a village that literally lives on water. As most of Thailand has an aquatic lifestyle I wasn't surprised when I saw the bamboo structures atop the river. It is fascinating to me that people can completely sustain their lifestyle by way of the river. Everything from transport to labor to purchases is all done on water. It was interesting to note how independent the children were even paddling their own long boats!

 

Tomb Raiding

The temples of Siem Riep are magical. These ruins, some only recently discovered amongst the natural overgrowth, has become one with manmade structures. Through the roots of the trees lies temples that are thousands of years old and have intriguing stories about their creation and use. One temple in particular was the set of a scene in Tomb Raider starring the one and only ass-kicking Angelina Jolie. This is where she actually fell for her first adopted son Pax as more than half of the Cambodian population is under the age of 18 with a high rate of orphanage. These vibrant children always my favorite photo subjects call these ancient wonders their quintessential treehouse. 

Butterfly Effect

I went hiking on this beautiful mountain in Cambodia getting some much needed outdoor exercise. It was nice to escape the chaos that is every Southeast Asian city.

During my trek I came across an area that could be described as a butterfly sanctuary. Fluttering all around the delicate beings land on your nose and extremities leaving you in awe.

 

Angkor Wat

Another fascinating piece of history where I watched the sun rise at 3 stages...

I had to do the lame jumping photo.

The Fields

After my visit to S-21 I thought my day couldn’t get any more depressing until I arrived at the Killing Fields – the gravesites of prisoners. If you weren’t murdered prior to arrival this was the last place they would ever see. Under that very soil were the remains of nearly half of Cambodia’s population during the war. All at the hands of one evil man who’s namesake was Pol. Pot (political potential) – in actuality the potential for hell on earth. As I saw the remains of bones, skulls, and tattered clothing I was sick to my stomach and had a moment of terror in a paralytic state while a rush of painful chill ran through my veins.

If you have been to any site of genocide it is something you will never forget. Even in our most hopeless state of misery all it takes is one reflection on an experience like that to bring us back to clarity. 

S-21

Cambodia is a country that has faced major conflict and only recently has come to a point of functionality. Prone to military uprisings and its history as a pawn in many war conflicts the nation and its people have experienced major atrocities we as Westerners have never experienced.

Phnom Penh is known as the center of conflict in the past few decades and only in the last decade has become a symbol of Cambodia’s new beginning. The S-21 war prison, a former primary school converted into a death camp, exhibits the savagery of the country's past. Here is a glimpse into my experience while visiting this death camp.

I’m cringing as I hear the words of a Cambodian man, the brutality of genocide, imprisonment, torture, and death. Beads of sweat fall down my face joining my watery eyes forming tears of empathy. Only 20 years prior innocent human beings were tortured and murdered in the space before me. We cannot comprehend the horrors these people faced. As I left the room sick to stomach, I could not get the blood stained cement and iron shackles out of my mind. My heart ached even more as I heart his last mention of small children being murdered...