Seeking Siam “Cambodia” (Sept 2019)

By Marla Laine Brown:

I admit we had reservations about visiting Cambodia, a country with a tragic past.  The Khmer Rouge 1975-1979 wasn’t that long ago and I felt sorrow with the realization that while I was in high school fretting over my inconsequential adolescent youth, the Cambodian people were being massacred and an entire culture destroyed.

Our local guide did not or could not dwell on the topic. He had lost family and like many Cambodians is still hopeful that maybe someday he’ll be reunited with his loved ones. Our guide then changed the subject and conveyed that the Cambodian people don’t dwell on the past but live in the present and look towards the future.