the world for more than it simply is

Cambodia, thus far, has many faces which I have come to understand in the few days which I have been here–be it tourist, commercial, impoverished, underdeveloped, or otherwise. To see every possible side of a place is impossible on just a single visit. This country has a heart which I plan to see again one day.

Today is my last full day here in Phnom Penh–around by bicycle is how I’ll go. Yesterday I visited the Royal Palace, Russian Market, S-21 Museum, and the Killing Fields. The most memorable of these, if that is the way to phrase it, were the museum and fields as these presented the visual and emotion knowledge of the genocide during the Khmer Rouge regime. These images, both graphic and brutal to the mind, show the vicious capacity which humanity can bring onto itself.

A few days prior I was in Siem Reap–by far the most tourist of cities I have been to in Cambodia up to this point. However, I was able to witness the remnants of both Buddhist and Hindu cultures in the Khmer past. These structures, which include Angkor Wat, provide an vivid example of human imagination. On the contemporary side of things, one is able to witness the labors of children assisting in the livelihoods of their families when barraged by children selling handicrafts at each of these sites.

Each place has its own peoples and histories which give it life.