Last few days in Cambodia were a bit of a disappointment. We ended up missing our bus either because the girls working in the guesthouse were clueless or the bus company is full of shit. At this point, it didn't really matter. The fact remained that we missed the bus and had to figure out how to get to Laos! Before all of that happened (after the post office, if you have read the last blog) Rachel and I were chillin at a near by park and this 26 year old Cambodian dude started talking to us and answering all of the questions we have had about the Cambodian culture: why do they laugh at us, is it because we are white and tall? To which he answered - it was probably because of our clothes because we look like we are dressed to go to bed (we were wearing a dress and shorts and tank top). Why do most people have a long PINKY nail? To which he answered - it was to scratch and pick at stuff on their face or in their hair. You know, basic questions like those...
At the end of the conversation he tells us about an orphanage and asks us for a donation - just when we thought we met a cool dude who talked to us for an hour and answered our questions - it all came down to $$$$. The Cambodians think we are the money tree. They are mischievious and make us feel sorry for them playing our consciousness to where we finally give up a $1 or $5. And it's not that I don't want to help, or donate (which I have), but the guilt trip really takes away from the acutal gift of giving and wanting to give.
Back to the bus story, so we ended up catching a bus to Kompong Cham where we stayed in a French guesthouse. We met an 18 year old deaf guy who we managed to hold a conversation with (because Rachel knew American sign language) and at the end it seemed like he was asking us for $ too, but I wasn't sure. So at this point I realize I'm jaded and all of the sudden the genuinity of meeting that kid was lost - unless of course I give him benefit of the doubt and the money money hand gesture didn't translate to me correctly.
After Kompong Cham we ended up in Stung Treng because we got screwed by the bus company and instead of taking us to the border of Laos, they said the border was already closed. So we got stuck in a town that smelled like the garbage that was all over it. But I told Rachel and indirectly to myself, you gota go thru the bad to get to the good. The next day we ended up in Laos or some may say paradise :).
At the end of the conversation he tells us about an orphanage and asks us for a donation - just when we thought we met a cool dude who talked to us for an hour and answered our questions - it all came down to $$$$. The Cambodians think we are the money tree. They are mischievious and make us feel sorry for them playing our consciousness to where we finally give up a $1 or $5. And it's not that I don't want to help, or donate (which I have), but the guilt trip really takes away from the acutal gift of giving and wanting to give.
Back to the bus story, so we ended up catching a bus to Kompong Cham where we stayed in a French guesthouse. We met an 18 year old deaf guy who we managed to hold a conversation with (because Rachel knew American sign language) and at the end it seemed like he was asking us for $ too, but I wasn't sure. So at this point I realize I'm jaded and all of the sudden the genuinity of meeting that kid was lost - unless of course I give him benefit of the doubt and the money money hand gesture didn't translate to me correctly.
After Kompong Cham we ended up in Stung Treng because we got screwed by the bus company and instead of taking us to the border of Laos, they said the border was already closed. So we got stuck in a town that smelled like the garbage that was all over it. But I told Rachel and indirectly to myself, you gota go thru the bad to get to the good. The next day we ended up in Laos or some may say paradise :).
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