Cambodia- SS

Cambodia- Notes from Sheila 

I hope you skip over this and go directly to Nanci's post on Cambodia.  I loved her thoughts.  I, on the other hand have not been able to get Cambodia out of my mind even though we arrived in Laos two days ago. 

So.....as we near the end of two months in Asia, I had this thought before arriving in Cambodia.

"Should I confess it?"

"Allright."

 I thought… “What’s another wat-what's the big deal?” OK, I am a little shallow at times..so are some of my friends for that matter."  That afternoon we took off for Angkor Wat.  It was raining cats and dogs, but the temperature was cool and for us….that is a perfect condition.

We jumped in our tuk-tuk, which I think is the coolest transportation, and along with our local guide we headed down a tree lined street that automatically invoked a mood of mystery…I felt like I was in a detective novel...."where's Angelina Jolie-Pitt?"

And then….there it was…. Angkor Wat.  I grabbed Nanci’s arm; she grabbed mine and we did a little dance to celebrate our delight; we threw our rain gear on and took off like bullets down the double lane entrance imaging we were in the 12th century. We touched the walls, rubbed our hands over the stone carvings...there were no tourist, not a one.  The rain drove them away.  There we were strolling the Wats all by ourselves.

The grandeur was astounding… and all so one man could immortalize his essence. I have read it written that people say AW, symbolizes the soul of the Khmer people.  In my mind, a soul is the essence of our greatness.  Perhaps once again I am wrong.

Three miles north, south, east and west of the temples looked pretty good to me.  But..go further out into Cambodia and we began to see the poverty that over time made me feel faint.

It was hot, really hot, and by 10:00 am it was over 100 degrees, maybe plus 40.

We visited a school.  We brought writting books for the children.  We walked in the class and they all stood and welcomed us..joyfully.  I felt so ashamed that I did not bring more and even more ashamed that after I delievered the books, I would hop on a boat and leave.  For the first time in a very long time, I felt useless, for awhile.

There is something about South East Asia; I couldn’t lay a hand on it at first.  It has something to do with their kindness, which hasn’t yet been murdered by poverty and corruption. Their smiles are more than mouths and a lip turning upward...it is a real reaction that comes from within...that forces a confidence that seems to be essential to moving spirits onward.

Is it the reinforcement of family that oils their spirit?

And so instead of being mad at the what a waste a wat seems, I accept that if nothing, it is bedrock that to say to even the hungriest child…that her family existed ten centuries ago and they still exist today….and that perhaps as tourist flood in… someone, someone might see they can be more.

My favorite image was six little boys  who were walking down a busy highway and one pointed to a puddle of water.  In a blink, they were striping down and running as fast as they could get butt naked and leaping into mid air and falling into a fresh cool swimming hole and a second later their ecstatic faces emerged hootin’ and hollering merrily. We all love a good swimming hole.

Blessing Cambodia…you truly need it.

  

We caught a raggedy-ass boat captained by a 12 year old to take us up the inlet to a water village.  Turns out when the engine went ka-put, the kid knew what he was doing. Check out the gears.  The steering wheel was a torn out of a car and had it's suspension enhanced by one old rope which pulled in the opposite directions for turning left and right.  That too worked pretty good.

We do what it takes don't we?