Cambodia motobike tour - Day 7

Today was a straight shot down to Phnom Penh with a stop to visit Heang's family. We bought a Buddha statue carved from pink sandstone to give to his grandmother. His family is really kind. I wish that I'd had the energy to stay longer, but by that point I was so tired and ready to be in Phnom Penh. His mother had made a huge and tasty lunch for us. He's got so much family everywhere. That's what has helped people here to survive all that they have - even the extended family bonds out to 3rd and 4th cousins in strong. All along the way he'd say, "let's stop here and visit my mother's brother's wife's brother and his family".

This is an incredible country, and I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to make this trip. It was sort of random that I met Heang in the first place - he tried to deliver me to the guesthouse the night that we rolled in (he gets a dollar commission for bringing in tourists), and when I told the guesthouse that I wanted a guide, he's the one that they called. So many people come to Cambodia on package tours, and you can tell who they are. They fly into the airport, get picked up by a camry, and delivered to their 4 or 5 star hotel. Then they get into a tour bus to see the sites, often for just a day, whisked off to a fancy restaraunt, then off to their next destination. It's so sterile, and they never actually have to see the people, and see the country for what it really it. Heang says they're "wrapped in plastic". Even of the tourists who come here, most only ever go to Phnom Pehn and Siem Reap, which are wealthy cities by comparison to the majority of the country. And it's just not the same to see dusty faces staring back from the 2-dimensional glossy pages of a National Geographic sitting in a pile on your glass-topped coffee table. This is reality for the majority of the world's population, where they live in huts with palm leaf walls and grass roofs, no water or electricity, no bathroom or kitchen, no furniture, a family of 7-10 sleeping on the bamboo floor without even mosquito nets. Where they live amongst signs that remind them "Danger Mines", the main purpose of schools is to educate the children to be aware of the dangers of mines, and one of the few English words that just about every child knows is "bomb". So many young faces with so much potential, and they're surrounded by so much political corruption. If only given an honest opportunity they would flourish, and it's so hard to always hear "I want to move to American someday" and know that for most of them, it's just a dream. It makes you realize what great fortune we all have to be born somewhere that we have more of a chance. Because at our core, none of us are any different. Some of us just got extremely lucky. And we should never forget that. I've never been much of a "things" person, but I've decided that from now on for every birthday and Christmas, I'd much rather see those who care about me donate to charity in leu of giving me gifts. There's really nothing that I need all that much, and it would make me so much happier knowing that something kind and generous was done in my honor. I hope that you all with think about doing the same.