Well, I'm a bit delayed on my updates, and I'm not giving you any pictures today, either. Not because I don't want to, or because I don't have great ones to share, but because I don't have wifi at the moment so I'm writing from an internet cafe and the pictures are currently on my laptop.
Since I last wrote, I arrived in, enjoyed, and left Saigon. I spent just 2 days there, as I'll be back there for my flight home and can finish up then. I actually enjoyed Saigon. I arrived a little suspicious, as I expected a repeat of Hanoi, or worse. Instead I was pleasantly surprised to find a lovely city. Saigon is definitely still crazy but much calmer than Hanoi, in my opinion. While there, I toured the War museum, which documents the Vietnam War (or American War, as they call it) from the Vietnamese perspective. I could go into more detail about experiencing that, but it would hard. Suffice it to say, it was a hard day for me.
On Wednesday I started a 3 day tour of the Mekong Delta. In typical Vietnamese fashion, a good majority of it was cheap and touristy, but the third day more than made up for the first two. The third day was entirely transport up the Mekong River by slow boat to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The trip took the entire day and included about 8 hours on the boat. It was one of the best days I've had in quite a while. There are villages and farms all along the shores of this fantastic river, and all of the people seem to enjoy seeing the boats go by. Both children and adults alike come to the shores to shout hello and wave when they see us. It was an amazing opportunity to see what life is really like there, from their houses to their clothes (or lack thereof), to their farming and fishing practices.
At one point we were switched from the Vietnamese boat to a Cambodian one that would take us the rest of the way. This is when the trip really got good. Our captain had no problem allowing us to travel on the roof of the boat, so that is exactly where a bunch of us planted ourselves. We plugged an ipod into a speaker, got some good music going, and spent the next 3 hours waving to the beautiful children on the shorelines. Please, don't get me wrong. It was sobering to see the way some of these people live, but their exuberance was just so wonderful that you couldn't help but wave and call back.
I've now been in Phnom Penh for two full days. I can already say that I really like Cambodia and find it refreshing in comparison to some parts of Vietnam. This is a beautiful city full of beautiful people. The locals here are fantastically friendly and helpful and always seem to be smiling. This is amazing, considering what they've been through in the past 35 years. After the mass genocide of Pol Pot, Cambodia was left in ruins. Today, around 40% of the population is under 15. The Killing Fields, which I visited yesterday, stand testimony to the atrocities that occurred here. No words can really express the flood of emotion that occurs when viewing a tower filled with thousands of skulls, or the mass graves of women and babies. Yet with all this, the Cambodian people seem to have picked themselves up, dusted off, and bravely continued on with the business of life. You can't help but admire that.
Of course, not all is smiles. Poverty is a huge issue here. I saw this firsthand this morning, when I joined a group of volunteers and headed out to help the families and children who live at the local dump. Yes, the dump. Although the dump is now closed, the small community of scavengers that developed while it was open is still there. They have nothing, no jobs, no money, no education, and often no food. We bought 165 dollars worth of food, including 400 loaves of bread, apples, pineapples, sweet potatoes, and bananas, and handed it out. We also went with a medic and offered basic treatment to those in need.
I couldn't believe the filth. I couldn't believe the squalor. I also couldn't believe the smiles on these beautiful children who instantly reached out to hold my hand, ask me where I was from, and just be my new friend. They were often half or entirely naked, mostly walking around the garbage heaps with no shoes, and they seemed so happy to see us. I worked with the medic, helping to treat minor open wounds and address simple issues like scabies. Basic medicine, such as tetanus shots and multivitamins, mean so much to these people, yet only come in the form of the volunteers.
Nothing we did was complicated or expensive, but we left knowing that we'd made a big difference, at least for today, in the lives of those people, those children. I think it was that knowledge that has made me decide to stay in Phnom Pen for a bit. I'll be helping out with other organizations, just lending a hand where I can. I don't know with who or what yet, but I'll keep you posted. I feel like my trip has just found the purpose it was looking for, even if it did come just 2 weeks before I head home.
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