Back home to Cambodia - May 10-15, 2007

After a leisurely week in Laos, it was time to return to Cambodia so I reluctantly boarded a plane in Vientienne (I wanted to keep going north!) and flew back to Phnom Penh. As I drove from the airport to my favourite guesthouse in the centre of the city, I thought back to when I first landed in Phnom Penh almost two months earlier. Overwhelmed by the chaotic traffic and the relentless noise, I had felt completely disoriented by the city of my birth. By contrast, I was struck by how comforting it was to return to Phnom Penh after a short absence -- I calmly watched the hundreds of motos weaving their way around me and once again admired the wide boulevards with the tree-lined parks and the ornate French architecture whizzing by my window. Best of all, the family who runs my favourite guesthouse welcomed me back with warm smiles as if I had returned home.

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Shortly after I started work, I travelled with three tourism university students and some of the Cambodian CRDT staff to Koh Pdao, the village that I had visited a month earlier. The students were conducting a basic training session for the villagers about tourism (what is tourism? what services do tourists need? etc.) and I felt it would be good for me to attend even though it would be conducted in Khmer. One of the activities in particular was especially memorable - the 85 villagers were divided into three groups and asked to answer: "What services can Koh Pdao provide to tourists"? Even though I couldn't understand a word being said, I couldn't help but laugh and clap along with all of the villagers as they excitedly shouted out their answers. The group with the least number of answers had to get up and dance in front of the whole crowd! Later, two of the village elders sat next to me and as one peppered me with questions about Canada - what time is it there now? What's the temperature? -- the other clasped my hands, and told me how happy he was that I was visiting their village and to be sure to return in December for a big festival.

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As I drove back from the village, I gazed out of the window and marvelled at just how vividly green and lush the surrounding rice fields and swaying palm trees were now that the rainy season had started. I spotted a young boy - naked, covered in dirt - toddling around in front of his ramshackle home and my heart suddenly ached - for the breathtaking beauty of Cambodia and for its warm and friendly people who after 30 years of war are now stumbling their way to a new and uncertain future. It was that moment that I realized, like so many before me, I had fallen completely in love wih Cambodia.

My first taste of Laos -- May 2-5, 2007

Well, I made it into Laos. After a rather disorganized 8 hour journey by minibus, sangtheaw and rickety canoe, we finally got to the Cambodia-Lao border -- nothing more than two tiny bamboo shacks with Cambodian and Lao immigration officials extorting $1 each from the hordes of backpackers passing through. Oh well -- a dash of Cambodian-Lao corruption is part of the southeast Asian experience I guess!

As we passed over the imaginary line, the Lao countryside didn't seem all that different than the Cambodian - lots of brilliant green jungle, rice fields and the Mekong River snaking its way through. It was the attitude of the people, however, that was most striking. There is a saying about the people in the various southeast Asian countries:

In Vietnam, they grow the rice.
In Thailand, they sell the rice.
In Cambodia, they watch the rice grow.
In Laos, they listen to the rice grow.

Having spent the last few days in Laos, it's absolutely true! In Cambodia, as soon as you get off a bus, you are instantly surrounded by tuk-tuk drivers ("Tuk-tuk? Where you go?") and guesthouse touts ("You need guesthouse? Real cheap, come take a look!"). I step off the bus in southern Laos and the locals barely bat an eye at you!

Another example? The markets of Cambodia and Thailand can be quite crazy - shopkeepers beckoning to you, shoving various souvenirs and garments in front of you. In Lao, I wandered through one shopping centre and the proprieters were either asleep or too busy playing cards to glance at me when I wandered into their store.

But in my short time in Laos so far, I've fallen in love with both the people (adults and children waving, smiling and yelling "Sabaidy" as we walk by) and the countryside. I stayed for a few days on Don Det, a tiny island just across the border from Cambodia. Part of the 4000 Islands, it's surrounded by hundreds of tiny islets, a couple of impressive waterfalls -- best of all, despite the increasing number of travellers heading here and decades of wars, the locals have maintained their basic way of life for hundreds of years. On one memorable day, I rented a bike and toured the tiny paths, peddling slowly by postcard perfect views of the grand Mekong and waving to children as they ran to greet me.

A change of plans -- May 1, 2007

I've been slowly making my way up to the northeast corner of Cambodia with the intention of crossing the Lao border by early May. I would then spend a few months in Laos and then move on to Vietnam. However, life can some times throw opportunities into your path when you least expect them... in this case, it was my recent trip to see the rural village on the Mekong that opened up a new door for me.

The Cambodian Rural Development Team, the NGO who arranged my trip, has asked me to join them as a volunteer for the next 1-2 months to help them develop the communications and public relations for the Community Development Tour and contribute ideas on their overall tourism experience. I hemmed and hawed about it for a few days but in my heart, I knew this was a great opportunity to use my skills to help an organization that is making a real and visible difference for poor Cambodians.

I will be based in Kratie (about 6 hours north of Phnom Penh) and will work closely with the executive director as well as a Canadian guy who has been with the organization for 6 years. Anyone interested in knowing more about CRDT can check out their website (www.crdt.org.kh).

In the meantime, I will continue on to Laos as my Cambodian visa will run out in a few days, but will cut my trip short to return to Kratie by May 13 .