|
|
> TDMLIFE Home Page
> Help Fund the Adventure
> Updated Journal Entries
> About Todd & Maggie
> Our Getaway Itinerary
> Where are They Now...?
> Contributors & Sponsors
> Photography (Buy Option)
|
|
|
|
Featured Sponsor
|
|
 |
06.26.2005 -- SIEM REAP - CAMBODIA --
Cambodia: Taking it to the Temples, and Visiting Working Mines...
|
|
|
After Tadfane, Laos; we headed to Siem Reap, Cambodia. There we met and hung out with Craig and Jessica from San Francisco. We shared a ride from the airport to keep costs down and then our taxi driver sold the 4 of us on a drive up to Angkor for the sunset. And then sold us again for a full day of temples. The four of us had a driver and car with a/c for the entire day for $20. Wan Thai, our driver had the car going and the a/c on every time we were ready to go to the next location. Talk about being pampered.
Cambodia (Siem Reap and Angkor) brings out a slew of different thoughts and emotions. We went to the temples for certain as they are one of the world's man-made wonders. We could attempt to describe it, but there are probably websites and books that do a much better job.
As you might know, Cambodia has been devastated by war as recently as 1999. The UN was working on removing landmines at the temples of Angkor in the early 1990's. They estimate that there are still over 3 million landmines remaining in the countryside of Cambodia - the US is still manufacturing these sleeping time bombs and has about 10 MM of them stored in warehouses. The number of people we saw (men, women and children) that were missing an arm or both arms or a leg or both legs was disturbing - not to mention the children that beg for food and truly want food to eat. And to think that the people responsible for killing over 25% of the population still hold positions of power there. It is very difficult to be there and understand what has happened and why.
We went to the landmine museum as we heard from other travelers that it was a moving experience and it was. Aki Ra, the guy that started the museum, was 5 years old when both of his parents were murdered by the Khmer Rouge. First he fought for the Khmer Rouge and actually planted landmines. Then he was captured and fought for the Vietnamese. When they withdrew, he fought for the Cambodian government. Eventually, the UN hired him to clear landmines. He is around 35 years old, but he doesn't know for sure. He opened the museum to share his story and educate the world about the horror of landmines. His museum runs on donations and he takes in children that have been injured by landmines - which happen every day in Cambodia. They have about 20 children under their care right now. We could go on and on about this experience, but will leave it at this.
We also went to the children’s hospital to attend a cello concert by a doc that started the hospital. Unfortunately, it was cancelled that evening. Before we left Siem Reap, we returned and gave blood there - they needed blood donations. Kind of concerning giving blood in Cambodia, but this place was not concerning. It was staffed by locals but funded and supplied by the western countries. The hospital has over 600,000 children visits per year and it is free to them - most of the families cannot afford to pay.
-- Todd & Maggie
############
|
|
|
|
|
