Cambodia: Place of Contrasts

We've been in Cambodia 5 days now. I'll be writing fuller descriptions with photos of our travels after we return home, but I wanted to at least say a few things while we're still on the road.

To sum up Cambodia, I have to say that it is a place of contrasts. Wealth and spendor (a bit) contrast with grueling poverty. Delicious food contrasts with trash on the roads. The kindness of the people we meet today constrasts with the brutal history they experienced in their immediate past. The vast number of tourists from all different countries here in Siem Riep (site of Angkor Wat) contrasts with our bus rides through the countryside to get here, during which we saw almost no foreign faces. The amazing beauty of Angkor Wat contrasts with the 100+ degree heat that you must move through to explore it.

We have really enjoyed our time here so far, in part because the examination of these contrasts is so fascinating. We have spent most of our time on the beaten path, but did have the opportunity to spend a few hours one evening with a friend from Peace Corps Thailand who has been living and working here for a year. She gave us more of the story behind the scenes that most tourists in Cambodia see. Hearing her real stories of life here, and contrasting those with our tourist experience, reminded me of what it was like to live full-time in Thailand and contrast our experience there with what was usually written in guidebooks and seen by visitors. There's a world of difference between visiting a place and living in it. I'm glad that we've gotten the chance to do both here in Southeast Asia.

Now, we're off to some more good Cambodian food and Angkor Beer!