Hello and welcome to my blog. I will attempt to share and relate my adventures in the northeastern mountains of Cambodia, living with and teaching the Bunong, a hill tribe people of Cambodia.
Why am I going there?
Good question. I love to travel and find that travelling to developing countries is a much different experience than travelling to the developed countries. I have found people in developing countries are more concerned about day to day life, happier in general, and love to share stories much more than people of developed countries. Perhaps the hustle and bustle of the "rat race" has changed many of us westerners and we no longer enjoy the simple things of life and take time to slow down and enjoy ourselves.
I have travelled to India and Nepal before. I have also been to Thailand and Cambodia (only 4 days in Cambodia previously) and Vietnam - although those trips were as part of a guided tour. I have found southeast Asia to be a fantastic experience. The people are incredible, the food delicious and/or weird, daily life is nothing like what we have here in the United States, and the history is something I know almost nothing about. Ask yourself, what do you know about Cambodia? Honestly, outside of the ruins of Angkor Wat, the US bombing of Cambodia and the Lon Nol government, and Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge - what do you really know about the country? If you are like me - I knew of nothing else. For that matter I know nothing about Laos, Thailand or Vietnam except a few bullet points - seems southeast Asian history isn't really taught here in the States.
Another reason to travel there is the climate. I hate the cold! I would rather go somewhere hot, I mean ungodly hot to visit than to a cold climate for an extended period. On my first trip to India it was the second hottest day of the century the day I landed in Delhi, 121 degrees! The heat also keeps away many tourists - again another plus! With a hot location, you also need much less clothes to pack but you spend much more money on bottled water. Either way I'm going to the coldest part of Cambodia, where I'm told it should be around 75 - 85 degrees during the day and 50 - 60 at night. Not bad at all.
I searched the internet looking for a decent program to join up with. I found Globalteer, an English company, that has several programs around the world. I chose my program because it was working with older children (high school aged) and also allows me to work with the community center and go on tours/treks to see native villages, animal treks, elephant rides, etc. - a varied list of things that I am most looking forward to. A chance to see the countryside and mountain villages of the Bunong hill tribe and the jungles and the many wild animals that are said to still exist there. That was actually the main part of this placement that interested me. Hopefully it is as good as it sounds from the website and the emails I have exchanged with them. Only time will tell...
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