At the present moment, I’m on my way to Siem Reap; a town located in the Northwest territory of Cambodia. A crickity, but air conditioned and comfortable bus is bringing me on an 8 hour journey from Phnom Penh to visit the temples at Angkor Wat. It’s the first time since my arrival in Cambodia where exhaustion and a million sounds have not clouded my concentration. It’s my first journey out of the city and what I’m seeing is hard to put in to words.
I feel like I’m in a time warp, the Twilight Zone; the saddest analogy to describe the human conditions of a “third world country.”
The “real” Cambodia, you could say.
Heat, dust, and poverty.
I have witnessed all three in the city but there is a vibe to Phnom Penh that quickly distracts you and brings you somewhere familiar in your mind.
The countryside is different.
No hotels, no “girlie bars”, no loud music or tuk tuk drivers in sight hassling to give you a ride.
There is only the occasional patch of green grass, and hundreds of dilapidated shacks sitting on stilts, built from decaying wood and rusted sheet metal with cloths for doors.
There are naked, barefooted children walking around everywhere, people lying in hammocks trying to sleep off the heat, and women sitting outside just watching us go by.
This is the shit you see in those UNICEF commercials during the holidays.
It’s real, people; and it’s all around me.
It’s absolutely heartbreaking and so unfair.
But so beautiful in the truest form.
They have nothing to the Western eye, but their daily struggle for basic life necessities that has just slapped me in the face encourages me and definitely puts some things into perspective.
Family is number one.
Help your neighbor.
Work hard every day but take time to just sit back and relax.
Breathe deep and love everyone.
Your text messages are fake and your television is giving you cancer.
That shiny car is nothing but a misinterpretation of what really matters.
If this experience has taught me anything so far, it is that you can search high and low for “happiness”, “success”, “wealth”, “status”, “security”, or what have you, but the fact that you can sit in your air conditioned room, reading my story from your iPhone, and never felt a hunger for more than a few hours is the biggest indication that you were already born with more than you ever needed.
Do not confuse luxury with necessity.
These people have zero materialistic value. They have each other. They are surviving, but they are happy.
The most beautiful people and I am so blessed to meet them and to see it all with my own two eyes.
Thank you, Cambodia.
I’m listening; and my life will never be the same.
Bridging the Gap 