Cambodiaaaaa - we made it

Phnom Phen
Day 1 and 2 - December 14 - 15


The view of Phnom Phen coming in from the river was regal. There were flags from almost every nation waving in the breeze on poles that lined the river walk promenade, green grassy park like areas and the Royal Palace, with it's bright yellow buildings, red roof tiles and gilded rooflines. I half expected to hear royal horns announce our arrival.

The Royal Palace in the background

We disembarked, grabbed our luggage, hopped a ride to our hotel to check in then ventured out for a late lunch/early dinner.

December 15
We hung out at the hotel in the morning so the boys could do school work. Looking for a place other than our rooms, we found a cool rooftop lounge that was quiet except the Lady Gaga album playing. This distracted the boys a bit and Cameron insisted on getting up and dancing after each math problem. Their teacher (me) wanted to send him to the principal's office and or serve detention but other creative disicipline had to be employed. Once sufficient work had been done we headed to the National Museum for our history lesson.

We chose to hire a guide to take us around the Museum. He was fascinating and shared he was part of an arcaeological dig in Cambodia a few years back that uncovered many Cambodian artifacts that are on display in the museum.

At one point something clicked for Ryan. He pieced together the history we have learned so far all the way to Cambodia and said "Wow, our history books are really lame." Techers and text book publishers don't get offended by this. What he is really saying is that there's so much history linking the all regions of the world like a giant puzzle and he just figured out he has the pieces to put it all together!

Later we walked to a cute cafe/boutique/spa called Daughters. It's run by an NGO that works on getting young girls out of the sex trade and establishing a life. The girls are trained to work at the cafe, boutique and spa. They also make jewelry and other handicrafts that are sold at the boutique. I fell in love with this place! We hung out for quite a while had lunch, shopped, made small talk with some of the girls and chatted with a woman from Canada who volunteers with the NGO and lives in Cambodia part of the year.

At times I couldn't even look at the girls without tears welling up in my eyes. My tears were full of gladness and sadness at the same time. So glad that they have a new hope in life. Yet, sad they had to enter the "trade" for one reason or another. I felt a passion for these young ladies I have never felt before.

For dinner we connected with a friend who is working for an NGO in Phnom Phen. She met us at our hotel and took us to a really beautiful Khmer restaurant. She is in Cambodia for one year working with children who are rescued from sex trafficing to help them establish a new life. We didn't get to hear too much since the boys were with us and that subject is not something their ears at their age so we used general terms to get the idea. It's hard to acknowledge that this business takes place in our world but it does and not just in Cambodia.