CambodiaSep 15, 2009
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Sept. 15th/09
Today we travelled from Trat, Thailand to Sihanoukville, Cambodia. We left Trat at 5 in the morning on a mini bus that was more like a freezer than a bus. It was sooo damn cold in there, but we arrived at the border at 6:30 am and had REAL COFFEE!!! (for the first time in a month) it tasted ammaazing and woke me up after 4 hours of sleep. Oh yeah, forgot about the night before. Pablo and I went to a reggae bar in Trat, where we smoked out of the sheesha pipe and drank a bottle of Samsung and a couple changs (elephant beers according to the Thai guy). It was definately one of my best nights in Thailand, where we just chilled out with some really nice thai people They also ran a tattoo shop two so we got to see a bunch of cool pictures, listened to some really mellow music, had a couple drinks and generally chilled out. Anyways, back to the amazing coffee. The border to Thailand and Cambodia doesn't open up until 7 so we just hung out for a bit and when the border opened we got into the "que" for the border, if you could call it that. Everyone just basically pushed there way up to the window, and us out of the way. Well we finally got our passport stamped for going out of thailand then about a 200 m walk to get into Cambodia, where they basically stamp your passport 5 times, give you a visa (which looks really cool) for 1200 THB and send you on your way. Then we got a cab to the bus station and hoped on a bus to Sihanoukville. 7 hrs later... lol We checked into this really cool guesthouse called Monkey Republic, which was run by 4 english guys. Everyone was soo friendly, and when you bought food/drinks/travel tickets/rooms they just put it on a tab for you. It was pretty awesome. We walked down to the beach at about 4, and got followed for about 15 minutes by 3 little "beach children" trying to sell us bracelletes, fruit anything basically. There english was perfect and I heard the phrase 'open your heart, open your wallet' about 5 times. It really was depressing to see that some people have to do such things just to make a living. Cambodia is so different from home. It really is like a third world country, the way people live. People begging, living on the streets filled with garbage. It really breaks your heart seeing such things, but as horrible a way of life they seem to have.. I'm always seeing them smile. Words can't explain what a beautiful thing that is.,. to come from so little, but still be happy with what you have. I wish more western people could appreciate how lucky we all really are, and how inconsequencial our problems and differences really are. I've been thinking a lot about experiences lately. I've come to realize there are 2 ways of dealing with things. The first one, although hard to think about and even harder to do is to move on, accept what has happened and become a stronger person. The 2nd, and the one I find most people back home do is hold a grudge, not accept that fact that things usually change for a reason and don't grow at all from the experience. I am eternally grateful to have had such an amazing experience so far, and I'm only a 1/4 into it. I am so lucky that this trip actually happened, and that my family and friends have supported me in all of my endevors so far. Not many 19 year olds can say they've travelled the world and I am escatic to see what else the world has to offer me! If the world is an oyster, I can't wait to see what else there is. Life is beautiful. I'm sitting on my bed, in Phenom Penh which is actually a very nice city, maybe a little dirty but so different and I like it. I feel like a real traveller. Enjoying life, and going out for dinner with Nat and Thomas in a few minutes. :) -- Carleigh <3
Sept. 17th/ 09
I can understand love, love between husband and wife. Love between a child and mother. But I will never understand hate.
Today, we went to the Killing Fields in Phenom Penh and then to S21 (the cambodia genocide museum). Wow. I don't think I will ever understand humans, why are we the only species on that planet that kill for something other than survival? I can't believe that only 35 years ago this happened. Violence solves nothing, and honestly.. I still don't even see a reason/found a reason why this happened. No one should have their life taken from them. Little children, babies for godsakes were taken from there parents and to save on bullets they were killed by being bashed up against a tree. That is absolute insanity. What is wrong with people? How can you take someones life from them... it's not even theirs to begin with. There's somethings I guess I will never understand. Hatred is one of them. How can you feel so much hatred that you have to kill someone else? and not even just one person.. MASS GRAVES OF PEOPLE. What about their families? It broke my heart to see photos of these people who were basically a number once they were taken. We are so absolutely lucky to have the lives we live. I'm not religious in whatever way, but thank whatever we have protecting us, and how lucky we have been to live the life we lead. Live the life you love, and love the life you lead. xx
