CAMBODIA - A Dance of Danger & Beauty

As we were walking down a corridor in Angkor Wat we were approached by a young armed guard. He was very friendly and we struck up a conversation with him. He was interested in American culture and he was helpful in guiding us through some of the history of the temples. A few more minutes in to the conversation, he began to talk about his past and his personal involvement with the Khmer Rouge. He explained that he learned to use weapons at a very young age (about six) and part of his childhood was spent planting landmines in the juggle. He spoke of the death of a close friend in a very detached and matter of fact manner. His casual attitude and his discussion of more violent topics made us very uneasy. We started to feel the danger of our environment come to life through what started as a harmless chat. We left as soon as we felt we could appropriately do so, and the rest of our stay in Cambodia was marked by the same uneasy feeling we has felt from the moment we landed.

Our visit to Cambodia was marked by both incredible beauty and history, but all veiled in a very real, very unsettling feeling of danger.

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