At 4:30 a.m., we woke up to the humid morning air to make our way to the temple of Angkor Wat. People always say that watching the sunrise at Angkor Wat is a must-do, and I knew I couldn’t miss experiencing it. I knew the temples would be impressive. I knew there would be crowds. But what I didn’t realize is that one vendor inside the temple grounds would change my entire perspective on the country.
I saw him following us in his white shirt and what appeared to be a colored tote bag. He had books in his hand. Every step we’d climb, he’d be there at the top waiting. Every corner we would turn, there he was. It was like he was calling to me to buy a book from him. I don’t usually purchase guidebooks, and I don’t normally engage with vendors, but for some reason, I had an urge to buy something from him.
So I asked him how much for one of the guidebooks. He named the price and showed me the book, but it was in French. Unfortunately, the only few words I knew in the French language were “Bonjour” and “Merci,” so I politely refused and started to walk away. But then he called out and told me he had one book left written in English. It must have been my excitement to have a guidebook in English (even though I didn’t want one to begin with) that I said yes and purchased the book that would completely change my outlook on Cambodia.
The Book That Changed My Perspective
After I handed him the money and walked away, I looked at the book I had just purchased. First They Killed My Father it was called.
Not a guidebook, that’s for sure. I debated placing it down as I didn’t have much space to carry it, but decided I might as well hold on to it. Over the next few days in Cambodia, I read that book and every page opened up my eyes a bit more to the somber history of this beautiful country.
Before traveling to Cambodia, I’ll be honest; I didn’t know much about its history. Going there, I was more in awe of what we were going to see at Angkor Wat than I was with any history I knew. In school, I had learned about the Vietnam War, but I was not aware of the war going on to Vietnam’s neighbor to the west. This book walks you through a young girl’s life while experiencing the Khmer Rouge reign in Cambodia in 1975. It’s a true story and is very painful to read. Yet it’s eye-opening and impactful and helps paint a picture of what many families endured during that time. Many Cambodians still recount stories from the war, and it’s essential to understand the extreme hardships they faced.
That book deeply impacted me. I looked at the Cambodians in a completely different way. Every local I met, I wondered if their family had a similar experience to the family in the book, and I wanted to learn so much more about every person I encountered. The book gave me a whole new appreciation for what the Cambodians had gone through not that long ago.
A Discussion With A Local
One day we booked a tour to a local village and had an excellent tour guide accompany us along the way. He explained that at 12 years old, he had picked up an AK-47 for his first time. The look of pure fright on my children’s faces when he said that stopped my heart. They were 11 and 9 years old on that trip. Holding an AK-47 at such a young age is unimaginable. But it was imaginable for the Cambodians, and it was an unfortunate truth they endured.
I don’t think I would have truly understood the country’s history if I had not read that book. And my entire family might not have realized what the Cambodians endured if we hadn’t had that discussion with our tour guide.
How We Now Travel Deeper
Moving forward, we have approached traveling in a way that makes our travels deeper. I try to read either a non-fiction book or learn about a country’s history before traveling there. We always make a point to try to interact with the locals, but now we try to interact on a deeper level. We get to know them personally and share stories we might not have otherwise. Sometimes we have even shared a meal in their home. But above all, we listen. We listen to what they have to say about their country, the good and the bad. We listen to their stories; we hear them. Visiting a country is so much more than the temples and sites we might see, but it’s about the people, culture, and history that shape them into who they are today.
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