Cambodia is stunning. Every street corner is scattered with beggars and pan handlers yet I have never felt so much hope in one place. The children are quieter than in Vietnam, only a soft smile here and there, but their smiles speak novels. When the Khmer Rouge came to Cambodia and killed around 2 million people, they wiped out about a third of the entire population, and almost an entire generation of people. You can still see the struggle to rebuild from such a huge genocidal attack ending less than thirty years ago. But you also see the hope that these people have that they can rebuild. The people here are so beautiful with light chocolate skin and huge, dark eyes. Their pain makes me ache every time I am reminded of the true horrors they have witnessed. Seeing the skulls of the women and children killed, walking over piles of clothing once worn by the victims, seeing the tips of their bones extending up from the weeds; these are the images that will never leave my memory.
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