There are houses, stores, mechanics, numerous schools, hospitals, police departments, and recreational centers all floating on this body of water. On one side are Cambodians, and on the opposite side are Vietnamese people.
Young boys toured us around while women came up close to our boat hoping to sell us soda or snacks...
Dave and I asked our tourguides where their toilet waste goes, and the boy smiled and said, "into water." I looked to one side and saw a woman bathing, and the other side where I saw young boys swimming....MMMMM....yummm.
I cried my eyes out after seeing this place. Cried because many of these kids will never have the opportunity to make the most of themselves. I cried thinking about how those children might've persuded medicine to discover the cure for aids, studied politics to run their country better, countless ways that these kids could somehow make our world a better place, but we'll probably never know because they just don't have the chance to.
I wanted to take them all home, become Angelina Jolie without the publicity, give them a "better life," but Dave reminded me that they were really happy in this floating village and it was really presumptuous of me to assume that my life is better than theirs. They really did smile a lot, more than people smile when they're walking into starbucks, roaming around their college campuses and eating fast food.
Anyway, i'm sorry for depressing anyone, but this country just had such an impact on me. Overall, Cambodia is my new favorite country in the world.
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