After midnight, it’s pitch black. I am in a tuk tuk heading to the hotel, an anticipation welling up within.
The air smells of cooked potatoes and is humid.
As we near the city, the darkness is lit with the lights of nightlife. The reality begins to sink in; with that nightlife comes the nefarious sex industry. A good percentage of men I saw at the ariport have flown in just for that reason. It’s heartbreaking. My mind explodes with sensory overload, as we continue our drive. Beyond that, Cambodia is a country of wonder and amazing things to offer.
We pass fancy looking hotels with big gold stautes of some animal guarding tbe front. They stand out against the make-shift shacks lining the streets. Dogs, with ribs protruding, scavenge on the streets. There eyes dart back and forth as they seek some sort of sustenance to fill their empty stomachs.
The streets are bustling at 4am with life. Carts pulling goods to sell for the day; the streets begin to be crowded with mototaxis, motor bikes, tuk tuks, cars, and bicycles. It’s already hot. Sweat will not cease for the day.
Restaurants are not lacking and once you are seated, you will surely be bombarded with children trying to sell you something. Books, postcards, bracelets, etc. Often they have someone higher over them who profits most of the money. 
Their sweet eyes will watch people eat with a longing…. or maybe a reminder of the hunger within. This is the survival they know. Other kids dig through the trash bags on the street looking for plastics. They are a pro at feeling the outside of the bag and locating the goods.
Their sweet eyes will watch people eat with a longing…. or maybe a reminder of the hunger within. This is the survival they know. Other kids dig through the trash bags on the street looking for plastics. They are a pro at feeling the outside of the bag and locating the goods. Massage parlors, fish tanks to soak your feet in (they eat off the dead skin), fruit markets, men grilling random items on the side (snakes, fish, chicken, bugs, etc.), dress shops, tailors, stores carrying the same thing with every step, and much more. The streets are crammed with people of all ethnicity.
Angkor Wat, a temple built for a king 900 ago, beckons tourists from all over. The trees make you think you are in a Lord of the Rings movie.
The countryside shows a Cambodia that hasn’t changed in many years. Rice fields under swampy rivers of water, where people are playing or bathing. Oxen; pole houses made of mud, tin, or wood; children running naked; greenery stretching farther then the eye can see….. a beautiful sight.
A country full of life, a people no different then you and me. Humanity all has the same roots….. roots in need or healing and redemption. Our lives just play at different paces and on different sets. 
