Cambodia: Departing

The blinding reflection of a foot of new snow horrified us. When we came back from Fiji after New Year's we landed in the midst of the biggest snowstorm Korea had experienced in over 100 years. The trip from the airport to our apartment took nearly five hours- half the time it took to fly the 5,000 miles back from the archipelago in the South Pacific to the peninsula we call home. It was a nightmare of frozen subway rails and pushy Asians, but we had survived. Would we be so lucky this time?

We decided to take no chances and left a solid 7 hours in advance of our scheduled flight. We trudged the half mile to the subway station and made it to the airport in an hour and a half. This left a good five and a half hours to kill.

It was Sami's idea to use a week of vacation time to experience Cambodia. During one of her Global Studies classes, she taught a lesson on genocide and had been fascinated by the Khmer Rouge.

Tuol Sleng- the school turned torture chamber, the killing fields and most of the other brutal reminders of Pol Pot's regime are located around Phnom Penh, but for a variety of reasons (chiefly cost), we were headed to Siem Reap to see the vaunted Angkor Wat.

Although I initially played the role of eager tag-along, more than pleased to simply experience a few days of sufficient sunshine anywhere away from the biting Siberian winds- It wouldn't take long for me to find myself drowning in a dusty, sorrowful land of mystery and wonder.

Remember the feeling you had as a kid when you finally stopped crying, past even the point when you were faking it? It felt kind of good didn't it? That is what Cambodia felt like for me. Not once during our trip was I able to swallow that lump in my throat. I was just so darned happy to be in each moment.

For me, Cambodia is a place that I will always go back to when I need to clear my head of complications. For the next few days, or however long it takes, I will attempt to recapture some of the feelings I experienced during our trip. I doubt I will be successful, but it sure will be a lot of fun to try.

Coming in Part Two: Incheon Airport fun and the landing