Letter 1

Obviously we have arrived! And all is going well.



We are just back from the Cambodia pretrip and landed at our hotel in Bangkok as few minutes ago. So, seeing this available computer, thought I would write a bit.



one observation: too much time at airport and in flight. We landed at Bangkok, having been delayed a couple of hours right in Chicago, got to bed at 3:30 a.m., then up early for the air flight to Siem Reap. Jet lag did hit the second night out with awaking at about 2 a.m. and not getting back to sleep. Yet, for some reason, I am functioning quite well on the amount of sleep I did get the first two night. Mom does better, of course. She sleeps well on the plane and anywhere else. she's doing well, except for her knees which are slowing her down a bunch.



We began our tour of Siem Reap with a tour of a very typical market for the common folk. Enjoyed that experience. We then walked around a neighborhood of houses -- huts some of them -- along a river. The Cambodians seem to be an easy going people. Lots of traffic, but no craziness. They take their turns, don't push, and at the slower speeds the crazy driving they do doesn't get them in trouble. They just know that others will give way and make space for them, even when they drive down the road on the wrong side. Lots and lots of bikes, leg powered and motor powered.



We did make contact with some of the missionaries in Cambodia and had an interesting conversation at a Cambodian restaurant. The UMC wasn't here until about 7 - 8 years ago when Cambodians who fled the country for the US, became Methodists, and then wanted to return to spread their story. Cambodia is 95% Buddhist. There are now 57 UMC's her. At the restaurant, I had Amok, a good combination of chicken in a coconut milk sauce. Mom had chicken with lemon grass and basil.



Two persons who met us at the restaurant was a young [he's 19] couple, he from the US and she from Cambodia. Seems that he was on a VIM trip to Cambodia during high school and fell in love with the country. He returned right after graduating from high school and then I guess fell in love more specifically. As many young Cambodians, she's a cute gal. While she knows little English, he's mastered Kymer in less than a year. He already serves as a translator. And in the Thai tradition, he now has more family responsibilities -- and extended family of many of her family members.They all live together in what a take is a rather small place.



The main feature for coming to Cambodia is to visit Angkor Wat. In summary: it is just overwhelming. Really too much to absorb. The construction, the art work, the architecture, and just its massiveness is incredible.



Last night we attended a cultural show portraying traditional Cambodian dance. Beautifully done by that team. It was part of a buffet event we signed up for. It gave us a good chance to try a lot of different area food.



Today we had an oxcart ride through a somewhat primitive village and then stopped at one of the homes where our hosts showed us round the house and talked of the family. Interesting to get into a typical house of a common extended family of three generations plus some "sideways" family members.



Recent history of Cambodia has been grim as you probably know. Today we visited one of the killing fields and viewed a large glass structure with piles of human bones and skulls stacked high. Our guide here was part of that experience and lost many family members.



Today we also took a boat trip though large village on boats. The entire town moves shifting with employment needs and water availability. We also visited a school singing to each other in this third grade.



One bad thing, I'm burning up the film at too fast a pace to last until the end. And another bad thing, after serious negotiations with the Cambodian security system, made no headway in being to leave with country with not just one of two zaps of my film.