OurNewZealandAdventure: Cambodia and Vietnam Trip-Part 1

We were excited preparing for our Southeast Asia trip, having heard wonderful things about visiting Cambodia and Vietnam, but also a bit apprehensive. Vietnam doesn’t exactly evoke pleasant thoughts for any of us, and Jim’s last “visit” certainly wouldn’t be described as “wonderful”. In fact, he recalls bullets coming at him!

The conference was excellent, as were the tours and tour guides. One of my favorite activities was a four hour bike ride through the countryside, visiting a village market, a Buddhist temple and school, and seeing the local people in their market and homes. The children always came running to greet us, and we waved and said hello at least fifty times.

We read about the gentle Cambodian people, and we found that to be true during our short stay. Despite the poverty, past atrocities, and current hard life, we saw much hope in and around Siem Reap.

One of the hopeful places is the Angkor Children’s Hospital. Ron Ablow, a pediatric radiologist who spends one month each year at the hospital and is a big part of the success of the facility, gave a tour to a small group of “guests” (spouse, friend, partner, child,etc) of the conference. They see five hundred children a day, educate the moms in cooking, hygiene, medical care, basically “public health” that is not available elsewhere. And it is all free. Satellite clinics are being started in outlying areas so the children can get care closer to their homes before they become so ill. A team of doctors from California had been there a short time before to perform about a week of heart surgeries. It is truly a remarkable place.

Another success in Siem Reap is Artisans d’Angkor, a school for young people to learn the old Cambodian skills of silk weaving, stone carving, lacquering, and other crafts. The students become self-supporting with their crafts, many returning to their villages and others staying on as teachers.