Cambodia…the Land of Amazement…home to 14 million people most of whom are under thirty years of age..country whose people can expect to live 62 years and whose infant mortality rate is 5.5%. Some other things you may not know about Cambodia? See answers at the end of this post…
- How many monks are in Cambodia?
- How many psychiatrists make their home in Cambodia?
- How many bombs were dropped on Cambodia in the Vietnam War?
Today, with my friend Sian, I make another trek to this most interesting locale. It is hard to describe in words a place that is so different from what one is used to, however I will try. Last year I blogged about the Aogaah Foundation school and about Pol Pot and the Killing Fields. You may have read my stories about eating bugs (my friends did this, I did not) and about Angkor Wat and about a family in Phnom Pen that I adopted.
This year, some of the themes will continue and some will be new. With a traveling companion along like Dr. Proctor, you never know what kind of stories and images will emerge.
We will start in Phnom Penh then head west to the Cardamom Mountains and then to Thailand. From there we reenter Cambodia and head for Angkor Wat then back to Phnom Penh. Three weeks with a busy schedule will fly by and we have scheduled many adventures along the way.
Our bags are packed and they are huge. Mine weighs in at about 60 pounds and Sian’s at about 50. Filled to the rim with donated school supplies for Aogaah and gifts for the teachers and for my adopted family there, we are crossing our fingers that both bags arrive safely with all items in one piece.
Our travel itinerary is not bad. We fly out of LAX at 1 am tomorrow morning and make our way to Taipei, Taiwan. Our choice to upgrade to Business class will make this leg of the trip more enjoyable. From Taiwan, we fly directly to Phnom Penh, Cambodia and arrive on their Saturday around noon.
Answers to the questions above:
- 60,000 monks
- 26 psychiatrists (maybe because of all the monks?)
- 539,000 tons (Funny…since we weren’t at war with Cambodia)
Stats gleaned from Lonely Planet Guide to Cambodia, 2010, pg. 12.
My answers would be:
…a friggin’ lot
…who cares, hopefully not many, it’s wa western thing
…a friggin’ hell of a lot
Have fun. Cambodia is awesome.
John