Wanderlust

The Bare Necessities
A 500 riel ferry ride will sweep you away to Kdei Takoy village- only 10 minutes yet worlds away from the poignant center of Phnom Penh. The land is dry and deserted. A mere dirt road is lined with a single row of intimate wooden houses and a lone, white temple in the distance. Traffic is scarce; only a few motos don the road every half hour when the local ferry docked. Its' inhabitants gather on the porches of their homes, some selling petrol or food from their folding tables and kinder-sized plastic chairs near the road. Female neighbors gather to string the traditional pink and yellow taffeta wedding streamers across the entrance of an archway. A seven year-old beauty ushers me to join in, her beehive and blue eye shadow contrasted with the torn and weathered pajama dress that make up her daily ensemble. The uninterested teenage boys sprawl near the river, playing Angry Birds on an iphone. I recline with a graying village man, taking in the beauty of simplicity around me.
For the villagers, this is a routine Sunday. Yet this is the moment when I begin to appreciate 'less' and desire to experience more. Their smiles remind me that just because life can be slow, doesn’t mean it can’t be full. My yearning for the laid-back Khmer lifestyle and all of its simple treasures grow inside of me.
There’s something about Cambodia- it isn’t regal or majestic. It isn’t landscaped, organized, or comforting. It’s beautifully imperfect. It’s lined with character, hurt, healing, laughter, smiles, chaos, humble spirit, and genuine people. It’s the friendly nature of the children who run by screaming ‘Ello!’, and the inquisitive but caring glances of the older generation sitting at Friendly Coffee Shop. It’s the toothless smile of the oxcart man in the south of the city, and the gentle touches of my afternoon lunch hostess in Kdei Takoy. It is the Khmer people that make me want to nestle inside the Cambodian border forever.