July 7, 1981. Today, you were born. Child number eight—of what will end up totaling nine—to a couple of small village farmers. Luckily, the oppressive regime that’s been ruling Cambodia has just fallen but fighting continues in the area and as a result much of your childhood is spent hiding in safety tunnels.
By the time you manage to graduate high school, you’re thirsty for something more. The capital city sounds like good opportunity so you venture off. The next few years are burdened by 18-hour work days across multiple positions and industries. Your resume recites your accumulated titles: laborer, gas attendant, cleaner, sapphire-ruby worker, casino card dealer, and motorbike taxi driver. “And your bank account?” you ask. Good joke. You haven’t saved anything at all—you don’t get paid enough.
New job alert: you’re now a cashier at an Internet cafe. The wages are still low but this job is different. Foreigners keep walking in to access the web; what’re they saying?? It’s English, you learn. It must be useful to know if it allows all these people to pay for internet. You start listening to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and referencing other resources until you’ve taught yourself the basics of the language. You save enough to enroll in college and seek a degree in English. Day 1 exposes your limited knowledge of the language but the four-year program is non-refundable so you labor through the next eight years until at last that diploma is in your hands. In the blink of an eye you’re hired in Siem Reap as an ESL Teacher and the GM of a Honda motorcycle shop. You notice many of your students are guides looking to expand to English markets. Within a year you follow their lead and begin guiding an increasing number of tourists. Fast forward a decade and you’re now the proud owner of a four-story house and hotel, the mentor to over thirty nieces and nephews, the husband to a hard-working nurse, and the father to three young children. You are happy with what you’ve built but your entrepreneurial spirit seeks more. You’re not sure what’s on the path ahead but for now you have a job to do. And today, that means you have to go pick up a couple Americans from the airport.
Vuthy Theam
Siem Reap
Imagine an old ‘nam war movie or perhaps the early Call of Duty games if you were into that. Envision the palm trees, red dirt, rice fields, and houses sitting upon stilts. This was the landscape beneath me as I descended from the sky and onto the runway of Siem Reap International Airport. Country number twenty for me and I was excited to be introduced to our guide and host for the week: Vuthy Theam. From what I’d read and heard, he was an enthusiastic man with great passion for his country. And, as I would soon learn, his background filled the mold of an inspiring rags to riches story.
From the moment he picked us up at the airport until he dropped us off four days later at the bus station, Vuthy was all smiles and full of interesting stories from his improbable rise to success. He introduced us to his family and we all shared multiple meals both in restaurants as well as a few cooked at home. During the days we were led through some of the touristy must-dos (the Angkor Wat archaeological park, the Kompong Phluk commune and village, Tonle Sap, and local container markets) as well as to some off-the-beaten-path experiences—a meal in a small town villager’s home, making sugar from the sap of a sugar palm at a roadside family’s property, and a Cambodian wedding.
Khmer Wedding
It wasn’t even noon on our way to the Banteay Srei temple as we passed a sixth roadside wedding. Vuthy insisted that we would have to stop by one of them on our way back from the temple. I laughed at the idea but disregarded it as a joke: I’m wearing Lululemon athletic shorts, an old t-shirt from a 2014 CrossFit competition, and some CrossFit trainers—this would be incredibly inappropriate for a wedding.
Once we finished exploring the temple, we slowly made our way through the narrow village roads when suddenly Vuthy pulled up at a one of the weddings. “Let’s go check it out!” he suggested with his typical wide smile. My grandma and I apprehensively followed him along until we were approached by some of the guests that insisted we come join their table. Within minutes two tables were pulled together, beers were flowing, and courses of meals were presented to us. Every thirty seconds or so someone came up to cheers us and we’d clink glasses and then take swigs. About a six-pack later a gentleman dragged me out onto a nearly empty dance floor, which quickly filled with other guests. One of them, a sweet Cambodian girl about my age, asked me to dance and I accepted her invitation. The party went on until alas we decided it might be time to leave so we bid farewell to our new friends, took a picture with the bride and groom, and gave them a gift in gratitude. Then, just as we were about to walk to the car, the girl I had danced with ran up and asked for a photo. Say cheese! One, two, three—just before the picture was snapped she threw her arms around me.
As we drove away I wondered if maybe the bride and groom hadn’t appreciated our spontaneous attendance so I asked Vuthy. He reassured me that actually I was wrong; the family felt honored that foreigners had not only stopped to examine the wedding but also had taken the time to participate in some of the ceremonies. In fact, it was the parents of the bride and groom that insisted we take a picture with the newlywed couple before we left. Feeling relieved by Vuthy’s words, I sat the rest of the car ride reflecting on how amazing experience the was. Ultimately, my only regret was not connecting with that girl on social media or in some other capacity.
Phnom Penh
The day after the wedding we journeyed on to the capital city of Phnom Penh. Our one day there was spent in the more somber attractions of Choeung Ek and Tuol Sleng, which are remembrances of the fairly recent genocide by the oppressive Pol Pot regime in Cambodia. Following the history lessons and reflection of the day, we decided the trip to Laos might be a bit too much of a hassle and made a last-second alteration to our travel plan by booking a bus to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
The Wrap Up
While I ended my post last week noting that a lot could change in eight weeks, I didn’t predict it to occur so quickly! Instead of heading up to Laos and then traveling around northern Vietnam, I’ll be spending the next month exploring the Vietnamese scenery and culture from the bottom up, which I’m excited to experience and then share!
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post then drop a comment below or share it with a friend and as always, I encourage you to #gotravel!