Being on the other side of the world had a strange effect on my sleep. Throughout the trip I was up and at it early. Every day my internal alarm would wake me between 5:30-6:00am. That is crazy for me because I am a night owl and don’t particularly love the early morning, but on this trip my body was in sync with sunrise and sunset, and I didn’t mind it at all. Weird.

While in the rural areas I stuck to the freeze dried food we brought and the rice. The lack of clean water made me feel a bit nervous about eating any food from the rural areas but once we got to a hotel I relaxed a little and ate some – carefully selecting what I chose. And its strange, eating a bowl of plain steamed rice actually satiated me all night – just goes to show you that we eat way to much food at home!
The lack of clean running water in the rural areas is pathetic, but the people are resourceful. They collect the water in big cisterns then boil and cool the water to drink. In one of the rural villages Uncle Vic introduced me to a lovely young wife who showed me her water “filtration system” in a make-shift, dirt floor kitchen. Dressed in pants and a bright pink shirt, she was clean and smart and her children were beautiful. She attempted the best way she could to demonstrate to me (she could not speak English) how she cooked in her kitchen for the other families in the village. It was a beautiful experience and made me feel that there could be hope for her and her family – with a little help. After our visit to the rural villages I asked myself how can this be? How can a people be so disempowered? Is it a corrupt government system? Lack of education? Ignorance? or despair that breeds this level of poverty?
The Cambodian country side is lush and green and beautiful – speckled with temples of gleaming gold and bright colors, some rice paddies, palm trees and colorful/ornamented houses. But poverty is the scar that runs across the landscape, you cannot miss it, it is everywhere. There are white cows standing in the fields that are so skinny they look like a cartoon. I asked Vic if they still produced milk, he said “yes, but they don’t use milk here”. I thought “what?! There could be an entire industry that could support these rural areas just from the milk and other products developed from the cows.
More to come!
Love and peace!
Sandy