While exploring ancient temples packed with tourists around Siem Reap, we tried to imagine what these places looked like thousands of years ago. We imagined the intricate and enormous temples empty of tourists and full of orange robed monks and majestic elephants. We gawked at the sheer enormity of the temples that were now being taken over by huge silver tinted trees, moss, and loud tourists. We can’t change the past but these temples remind us how to see the beauty in it. Cambodia’s past is filled with inescapable but not insurmountable pain. Our visit to through Cambodia has shown us how a country is learning and taking the beauty of its past
We have experienced this culture through its mesmerizing pagodas, intricate carvings, busy roads, and the warm hospitality of Cambodia’s people.
Cambodia has taught us to learn from the past in order to live in the moment. It taught us how to mix concrete and use a squatttie potty; how to bargain with street vendors and learn to love (or at least tolerate) spiders. It taught us how to genuinely connect with and understand people in 30 days. Cambodia taught us how compassion can be shown through simple hand gestures. It taught us to be thankful for our rights and education. And above all, Cambodia taught us to show love, be compassionate, and connect with local and global communities.
Thank you, Cambodia.