Different strokes for different folks

As I sat silently on the rickety and frankly, unstable old chair in a tippy boat in the heart of Tonle Sap lake, it was not a sense of fascination or peace that I felt. Surrounded by poverty stricken huts that reminisce the inhuman Pol Pot era and mothers offering their infant children to tourists for a mere dollar, who could take in the sights wont of all care or worries? The times we fret about seemingly significant matters now pale into insignificance when compared to the troubled lives that these slum ravaged youths have to live. Here, it is as if I was transported to a completely different world that was alien to my culture. In fact, I bet top dollar that I would've felt more at home in the states or any other western country rather than my southeast Asian comrades. And it is this disparity that makes me question about the obscurity of life and what it brings.

Next on the itinerary was the majestic and ethereal Angkor Wat that boasts of astounding architectural miracles and stunning design detail. The view from the summit of Angkor Wat was so amazingly breathtaking that it actually made the trudge through the treacharous heat worthwhile. As I stood on one of the ancient seven wonders of the world, the feeling was so surreal that I could hardly believe it myself. To think that approximately thousand years ago, man was 'uncivilized' in a sense of the word, yet managed to build an engineering wonder out of bricks and sheer manpower. I'd like to say I felt even a tiny bit spiritually enlightened surrounded by the buddha motifs and long forgotten Hindu-Buddha culture but I didn't. Sure, it felt that time just slowed itself down for me for those few special moments but to gain a deeper sense of religious understanding? I highly doubt it but of course it's all a matter of personal beliefs and perception. What I took back with me from Cambodia was not a sore throat from the dryness in the air or the myraid of souvenirs from the Old Market or even the nightlife experience at vibrant Pub Street, rather I bore witness to the impoverished underbelly of Cambodia;brimming underneath it's lucrative tourist trade. From the Khmer Rouge era to it's current slum situation, this war torn country showed me things some people take a hundred years to learn. As iconic musician John Lennon says "Happiness is a warm gun."