Good-bye Phnom Penh

We leave Phnom Penh tomorrow, head up the river to Siem Reap, where Angkor Wat is, and spend our final days as a group playing tourists. A welcome change.

Traveling with a group is always challenging but this one is the most challenging yet. There is a clear clash of personalities and I'm actually looking forward to be on my way home (that never happens, though I guess if I knew I had time to travel on my own I wouldn't be so excited). Unfortunately its gotten in the way for some people, but groups are groups. They can suck sometimes. Which is why I try and avoid them as a general rule.

Cambodia has been amazing though, it has the best and the worst of the world and I have to say the scales tip towards the worst. The social problems, corruption, health concerns, and the unwillingness to deal with the incredibly powerful legacy of the KR. Its so much to process in fact, that I'll have to deal with it at home. There's just too much in a day here, meetings in the mornings, after lunch, until 6pm. You meet so many incredibly amazing, inspiring people dealing with such difficult issues in an even more difficult settings, its so inspiring but so overwhelming.

I'm really a fan of Phnom Penh, though I don't know if I could be here more than a few months at a time. I'd like to come and volunteer for a while, I have a running list of organizations and there are two here that I'm particularly interested in, DC-Cam and Cambodia Center for Human Rights.

Ok I'm tired but will update from Siem Reap. Today was a very long day and I still have to finish some homework and pack. We met with some returnees and it was incredibly depressing but I'll write about that another day.

We leave tomorrow at 6am on a boat and head up river for a few hours. I really hope that we don't get stuck in the mud.