Kampong Thom

            This past weekend we traveled to Kampong Thom with our friend Phun for two nights and three days filled with adventure. We left Phnom Penh excited to meet our adopted brother’s family, but we didn’t realize how the time there would impact us.

            On Friday morning we hopped on a bus at Central Market. The trip took about 4 hours, because of heavy traffic due to the election weekend and road conditions. I slept most of the way to avoid feeling carsick, but overall it wasn’t too bad of a ride. Once we arrived to the city we stopped at our hotel to drop off our bags and eat some lunch. After a quick meal, we met up with our friends Phun, Meanrith, Samnang, and Smy to go on a hike. We traveled by way of motorbike down the dirt roads to Santuk Mountain. The climb up was a great workout, and by the time we reached the top of the 800some steps we were drenched in sweat. We stopped to enjoy the view and feed the wild monkeys (swa) some berries. We made our way up the “dangerous” staircase to find an amazing temple surrounded by trees. We also attempted to find some waterfalls, but took the wrong path and were unsuccessful. After our hike back down the mountain we headed to Samnang’s home where we enjoyed countless fresh coconuts (doung) and mangoes (svie) with her father and cousin. 

            The next day, we headed to our friend Phun’s home to meet his family and enjoy more coconuts while we played with his farm animals including chickens, dogs, cats, and ox. His family was so excited to meet us, and even though his parents couldn’t say how they were feeling, their eyes and smiles let us know that they were so pleased to have us. We felt so happy to have the opportunity to meet such a wonderful family. We even spoke to his sister on the phone (she’s a maid in Malaysia). We made another quick stop at Meanriths home to meet his mother, sisters, and brothers, as well as his cows, ducks, dogs, and kittens. I was in heaven with all of the sweet baby animals! From there we headed to Sambo Prey Kuk temples to see ancient ruins from the pre-Angkor period. The temples were only re-discovered in the early 2000’s. The road to the temples was pretty rough because of heavy rains the night before, but after a few short stalls we made it safely. Our next stop was about an hour away, far out in the country side where Samnang’s relatives live. We were greeted by warm smiles, more coconuts, and enough food to feed an army. Samnang’s village had never seen foreigners so they were quite intrigued by Keith and I. It was really funny to watch their expressions as we ate their traditional foods. It was by far, the most delicious meal we have eaten in Cambodia. Everything was so fresh and full of flavor. We took a trip across a nearby river and watched as Phun and Meanrith showed off their swimming skills. Again, everyone we met was so entertained by us and even commented that it was like watching a movie because we were so unusual. We said our goodbyes and made our way back to Phun’s home where we enjoyed yet another delicious meal consisting of farm fresh chickens (yep, the same one’s we were chasing earlier) rice, vegetables from the garden, and more coconut. I even named one of Phun’s new puppies “doung” because we had so many delicious coconuts during our visit.

 After saying farewell to another gracious family, we headed back to our hotel for a good night’s sleep and to prepare for our journey home the following morning. We recounted the experiences from the weekend and told our friends how much fun we had during our stay in Kampong Thom. We didn’t expect to be shown so much generosity from people who had so little. Most of the people lacked modern day essentials like electricity, water, and sanitation, yet had so much love and kindness to give. I think our hearts grew about 100 times bigger over the three days. After 10 months in Cambodia, we decided that this weekend was the most meaningful. We are so thankful to our new friends and family for allowing us into their homes and their hearts. We feel so truly blessed to know such amazing people and are forever greatful.