Due to a flight delay, I did not arrive in Cambodia until 2 in the morning. My first impression was driving from the airport to the hotel in Phnom Penh where I realized that the rules of the road were not actually rules, they were recommendations. This trend continued throughout the trip in Cambodia. Talking with some of our tour guides, it was explained that comparatively, Cambodian drivers were more patient and get less frustrated while driving than Americans, allowing them to easily weave in and out of traffic. So far, my favorite thing has been the temple Angkor Wat. Its sunrise was as amazing as advertised and we were lucky enough to be there during a year that not many tourists were visiting due to covid-19. We took many small excursions to different villages and Buddhist temples for the monks. I really enjoyed these excursions as it allowed us to see the lives of those who did not live in the city and the many jobs and activities that they did throughout the day. We didn’t have many meetings with locals that allowed us to really get to know them, but our tour guide, Saroun, we got to know very well. One of the excursions we took was to his home village, where we got to see the jewelry shop that his wife works at. Probably the most difficult thing to get used to is the language barrier. There is nothing that can be seen or heard to give any sort of connection to the English language. Their writing and alphabet have no similarities to ours, so we were completely reliant on our guide to tell us that the words say. As we prepare to return home, I don’t have that much to add to my bag. I got a couple new clothing pieces and that was it. I am not quite ready to leave, the two weeks has flown by. I can say everything has been fantastic, be it the food, daily excursions, meetings with Cambodian businesses, or learning about the history and culture of Cambodia.
