Cambodia

"You only live once. But if you do it right, once is enough."

This has been the motto of our Cambodia trip. We only live once, and the opportunity for the 6 of us to travel together may just come once in a lifetime. I am thankful and blessed that this trip happened, and I hope that one day, we will all travel together again.
You Only Live Once (YOLO)

Amidst the fun and laughter we share every moment of the travel, there are times when we saw the real Cambodia, behind the tourism and friendliness and good food.

Seeing Hands Massage
This is a massage center by the blinds. This place really tugged my heartstrings. My masseuse was a male in his late 20s. After the massage I asked him a couple of questions. How long have you been doing this; 7 years. How many people come to this place everyday; today about 10, normally about 4 to 5. Were you born blind; I was blind when I was 14. After this question, I saw him wipe a tear off this right eye. I stopped my questions, and he walked outside.

There is no words to describe what feeling we had after the massage. They earn US$7 from each massage. Although it doesn't sound like much, I believe it is considered ok in Cambodia. I really wish them my best.

Killing Field and S21
Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot and the Genocide. What is more shocking is that everything that we see is exactly what it was, not replicas or memorials. The buildings, the trees, the graves. To think that all these horrible things happened only 35 years ago. We saw the torture chambers, we saw the broken graves, we saw hair in the mud and we saw bones and skulls. May all rest in peace.

Landmine Museum
Aki Ra. The man who used to be a child soldier trained to lay mines, is now clearing thousands of mines that are still scattered around Cambodia. We saw actual landmine victims walking about. This isn't history that we are reading about. This is happening now.

The Food

Food in Cambodia is really full of surprises. Despite not looking appetizing on first sight, they usually taste good.

Blue Pumpkin. The ice cream is really good. So good, we had it almost every day. Cost US$1.75 per scoop with cone

These drinks are pricey but they are lifesavers from the sweltering heat

US$0.50 beers

Tom Yum soup. Don't expect them to be spicy like those from Thailand. They are pretty mild.

Fish Amok. It depends on where you have this. But generally  tasty.

Curry. Very flavorsome. Not spicy, as usual. 

Morning Glory. Very very good.

Prahok

Street food

Street food is everywhere and generally tasty. Be sure to ask what that is before buying. We have some sort of chicken insides(it was bad) which my friend thought was chicken satay.

Vendors are generally very friendly. Except for one who was pissed that I didn't end up buying a singlet from her.

Scenery
The best thing about Cambodia is probably the beautiful land.

Amazing temples. One wonders how they managed to build these  hundreds of years old without any machinery.

Paddy fields that stretch out for miles.

The sunrise view. Worth waking up at 5am for this? I think so. But you be the judge.

The friends
The trip would not have been the same without every single one of you who went on the trip together. It was simply fantastic. We laughed and we teared together. There wasn't one moment I didn't enjoy. So thank you all. I'm very blessed to have experienced Cambodia with you guys, and I sincerely hope that our lives will not drift apart and we will do this again some day.

We were blessed to meet so many kind hearted locals during the trip. Mr Lee was our driver throughout the Siem Reap leg of our trip. He doubles as our tour guide free of charge. We highly recommend him for your trip next time. Mail me if you want his contact.

This family opened up their home for us to take a look. They are absolutely beautiful. The meaning of a simple life. There was nothing in the house. No television, no beds, yet they were happy and friendly.

Our umbrella is bigger than yours.

Better than KFC fried chicken auntie.

'The journey is our treasure'