Siem Reap

Memory that will last. As James describes in his blog entries - Cambodia is such a complex country. Poverty with incredible history and beauty. Siem Reap is where one goes to experience the Cambodian history and its beauty still present in the incredible ruins of Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and others. It was really, really wonderful to walk through these magnificent structures. Sunrise, sunsets, hundreds of pictures - we spend 3 full days before we were close to "ruined out." Super strong sun, lots of walking, vendors everywhere, dust in the air and so much history - it is not so easy to be a competent tourist. (check out our anti-sun gear and transportation)

Here is some ruins but much more will be posted later on Snapfish.

Besides ruins another moving place we spent an afternoon at in Siem Reap was a Land Mine Museum. It is a make shift place where an ex-mine layer turned into mine excavator (see more at http://www.talesofasia.com/cambodia-akira.htm) shows the different kinds of mines used all across the country. His addopted children, all of which were either orphaned or injured by landmines explain how each of the mines works. It is so sad to hear their personal stories - it really touched me. I have never realized that there are still so many mines buried around the world. Worse yet- they are still being laid by some countries. Sadly the US is included.

We felt good about being travelers in Cambodia. We stayed at a hotel which was actually a school for underprivileged kids to learn the hotel industry, bought plenty of postcards from kids on the streets (sadly - many of them are the providers for their families), got massages from the local trained blind masseuses, went to children hospitals charity concert, where earlier we gave blood. The region is still fighting a hemorragic dengue fever outbreak and blood is needed. It was shocking to find the facts about the health state of Cambodia. Some 3/4 of the population have some signs of tuberculosis. HIV is on the rise. Malaria is easy to get. With immune systems already weak from hard work and malnutrition - those poor people have to fight their diseases with very little organized health care. Even the NGOs, placed there to help, often provide outdated medicine that in the past have shown to do more harm than good. It is all so sad. The children's hospital we visited is a huge success story as it provides free care for all children and exists solely on the support of donations from all around the world. If you would like to support a good charity I feel confident that this hospital support is a very worthy cause. Check out more at http://www.beatocello.com/. With only 5% of the money going to administrative expenses - 95% of your money goes straight to the Cambodian kids care and fairly paid local medical stuff.

On a lighter note - I learned that my B+ blood is very popular among Asians. If blood indicates anything of intelligence - I have a potential to be smart - the kids around here are just amazing.