Action In Relaxation

Patient friends and family (who aren’t friends? why the distinction? who is being demoted? the unfriendly family or the non-blood friends?),


I am alive! and writing this post over a month late.  I have really good excuses though…like Bali…Thailand…and this blog you’re reading right now.  I hope it was worth the wait and sleepless nights worrying about my well-being.


Thinking back to Cambodia


Jason was there, Ryan was there, and I was there.  It was a blast.  We cruised through fast.


Ok I got it, I remember.  (Slow start to this one, been a while, I’m a little email blast rusty)


After Vietnam the 3 of us were plenty full of “interesting” (p.c.) food and ready to no longer be soaked with rain or sweat, so we bussed on over to Phnom Penh, Cambodia from Saigon.  Upon arrival we hit the usual ATM, only to find that not only do they drive on the right side of the road in Cambodia, they use dollars!  So with our pockets loaded with stacks and stacks of Washingtons we did what you do in PP, shoot high powered weapons, grenades, and a rocket launcher.  I experienced one of the most twilight-zone dichotomous days here (I’ll elaborate in a bit).


From Phnom Penh we bussed to Siem Reap where our incredible Tuk Tuk driver, Mr. Smalls, plugged us in with his buddy, Mr. Biggs (maybe), who toured us through some of Angkor Wat temples where we were filled with awe, energy, photo-ops, rule breaking antics (as usual), and connected with some really hilarious local people (which all started when we checked into our hotel and instantly hopped on their walky talkie system, which we utilized to negotiate an international cell phone purchase).  We shopped it up at the night market in Siem Reap and said our goodbyes to Jason after his little big night.


Jason – it was sad to see you go.  I couldn’t say it through all the tears but, I’ll miss you my friend.  I’m sending you the paperwork to finalize our travel divorce legally.  It’s just the process, no personal offense, ok?  Ryan and I will miss your guitar skills, circus skills, campervan driving skills, stag-do knee ruby skills, surfing/learning skills, paddling not-skills, bird-feeding skills, spidering skills, elephant bathing skills, bowling skills, bike-crashing skills, karaoke skills, grenading not skills, charm and general outlook on life.  I promised myself I wouldn’t cry, again, so I’m done.


Getting serious and sensitive about Cambodia.


Cambodia is the most unique place in Asia and is full of mystery, dichotomy, and a history I wish I was taught in my 8th grade world history class (I would’ve paid attention, maybe).  It’s history includes:


• Angkor Wat: built a long time ago (12th century), this place is a collection of temples that spans almost 6km and makes it very apparent what a superpower the Khmer people were in SE Asia.  They ran the show and it’s obvious and impressive.


• Developing: Phnom Penh has a national Olympic stadium that was built in 1964, show’s that they were ready and primed to enter the world stage. And then….boom!


• The Khmer Rouge: organized by a vaguely noteable history book name Pol Pot, the Khmer rouge were a communist party that imposed “social engineering” which lead to the auto-genocide (made up word: killing of one’s own people) of an estimated 2 million people *about 25% of their entire population.


Think about that. 1 in 4 people. Heavy.


Cambodia is now rebuilding itself and is full of opportunity that has been targeted by both humanitarian/missions oriented groups, and exploiting opportunist looking to make a quick buck.  If you’re wondering now, we bought the guns and shot them at a local Cambodian military base, not from an exploiting opportunist.


This leads me back to the twilight zone.  We three adventurers knew that shooting rocket launchers is the thing to do in PP.  So we set it up through our awesome tuk tuk driver, looked at the menu, and made it happen; with the remainder of our afternoon, still high on life and gunpowder, we planned and visited the Choeung Ek “Killing Fields”, a memorial grounds of the Khmer Rouge, where we got the full-on story with skulls, pictures, and preserved garment shards (think Guggenheim Holocaust Museum).  Bad idea.  Not because it bummed us out, it was just the biggest emotional irony swing I’ve ever experienced; from being over-awed at the awesome power that military grade weapons possess, to seeing the absolute destruction and result of their misuse.  Weirdest set of consecutive events in my life, no question.


I’m hoping this doesn’t taint the lighthearted fun and excitement in our pictures and video; but it’s the whole story and it’s the realness we experienced in Cambodia.


Long post, lots to say, love you all,


Tyler

Tuk Tuk Driving from Tyler Elick on Vimeo.


I asked every tuk tuk driver since we arrived in Bangkok if I could take the reins of his vehicle/business and finally got a “ok, i guess” in Phnom Penh from Mr. Smalls (who happens to have the best laugh ever)

Welborn’s Rocket Launcher (Phnom Penh, Cambodia) from Tyler Elick on Vimeo.


Boom!

Jason’s Grenade from Tyler Elick on Vimeo.


Listen for the little click when it leaves his hand…