A wonderful day with a wonderful man.
Khemrin, I heart you.
I heart Cambodia too.
Don't be jealous NYC. I'll be back soon.
I arrived in Siem Reap after a funny-funny-haha (after the fact) travel experience and immediately dropped my bags and went out to explore. Walked around for the entire afternoon, went to see Angkor Wat at sunset and then it started raining so all the tourists disappeared! It was great! I came back into town and I had the entire night market all to myself to wander in and out of stalls and enjoy the quiet of the rain. It was my little walking meditation for the evening and I loved it.
The following morning I woke up at 4am to go see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. I was greeted downstairs by the kindest little man, Khemrin (think:Cameron). He is small in stature, but big in happiness. He took me on the best tour of the temples. He was patient, knowledgeable, friendly--and his quiet nature brought an extra sense of peace to the day.
Khemrin served for the army in Cambodia from 1988-1994 before watching a dear friend of his get sliced in half with a machete--he decided that day that it wasn't worth it anymore and fled with another friend. He loves quiet places and spaces, which is why I found it so odd that he is a tour guide! He's surrounded by the craziness of Angkor Wat daily (he's been on the job three years, six months and twenty days). But even though he's surrounded by crowds and crazy tourists, he manages to create a little bubble of serenity that I was lucky enough to be surrounded by during our time together.
He really provided a great deal of information about the history surrounding this world heritage site. He was like my favorite boyfriend: Didn't overload me with excessive and unnecessary information, walked beside me calmly and let me go at my own pace, waited for me patiently, led when I needed him to....I thoroughly enjoyed my day with him and hope that he continues to live a life that he loves. He shared so many stories with me, including this scary one.
When telling me about his favorite memory he nearly broke my heart. He was so open and honest with me. He told me the story of a girlfriend he loved very much. He had gone off to fight and she was left without him. She was working as a waitress in a cafe and a Norweigan man met her there and fell in love with her. Since Khemrin was fighting in the North, she ended up with this other man--they are now married and have two children in Norway. Khemrin says he spends a lot of time thinking about what would have happened between them if he would have stayed. Gollygeegus, how many of us have been in that same "what if" situation?
By the end of our time together, Khemrin was so grateful and couldn't stop thanking me. "For what?", I asked him. He said he loved my questions and loved talking with me. He says it's very difficult to find friends who will actually talk with you and want to know about you. He said in Cambodia, people just want to know what you do, how much money you make, where you live and if you are married. I told him it's the same way in NYC. He re-iterated how special he thought our time together was and I echoed his thoughts. He said it's so hard to find authentic people who want to talk about real things along with their feelings and emotions...totes Khemrin, totes.
Subject: In Khemrin, Male
Siem Reap, Cambodia
What do you spread of toast? Banana and sweet milk
What makes you happy? Spending time with friends and talking about the future and how we can make a positive impact on the world
What time to you wake up? 6am
What is your favorite place to be? anywhere quiet.
What is your favorite time of day? Time spent analyzing and thinking about life
What was your favorite age? 28 forward. That's when I started thinking about life; now at 37 I like it
How many jobs have you had? 2
What is your favorite quiet spot? I love riding my motorbike to the river to sit by myself
Where do you rendezvous with friends? Beer garden, out of town
How do you get around town? motorbike and walk
How many countries have you visited ? 2
How many brothers and sisters? 4 Brothers and 3 sisters
What is your favorite memory? A memory of love (then he told me his story of lost love).
What is your favorite food? cocoa soup, cucumber, eggplant, rice powder and chicken, cod
Important lesson this leg of the trip: No worries lady, be happy
thanks for this!
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