Third World Happiness

We had bumped along a deserted red dust road for hours when the cattle truck we were filed into stopped. The 3 young men who had been driving jumped out of the truck and working tirelessly filed all our hiking packs into canoes. One boy I noticed carried a machete though he could not have been older than 20: skinny and lanky he looked as though he could be my younger brother.

Our first day of hiking along the river side unbeaten track took us through a path that ran deep through the jungle fresh with green leaves that lied so deep beneath the canopy that the path at times was impossible to see and the overgrown bushes ensured we had to use machetes to force our way through the dense forest walls. As we walked I noticed the young men leading our way were laughing and talking. Both were wearing shoes that had been so overused the soles were falling apart. The packs they were carrying were half the size of what I was carrying yet it seemed so much heavier. Through the last 3 weeks I had learnt that in this country people grew up fast. Women are sent to work in sweat factories as young as 14, Men are the head member of their family before they hit puberty. I glanced at the boys deep brown eyes and I knew he had seen more poverty and war then I will ever see in my life time.

At the end of the unbeaten track we came across a most beautiful sight. It had been a hot, sweaty and long day and the warm wind was starting to get to us all so the sight of a magnificent waterfall in the middle of the jungle was incredible. At the base of the waterfall the water swept into a small pool that at the bottom was covered in sand. The small area was surrounded by a rock formation that seemed to work as a gate keeper to the fall. At first glance the boys dropped all there stuff and flung themselves down to the pool to lie down on the rocks and let the water flow over their sweat ridden faces. I had come to learn here that you trust the locals so as we watched them running down to the pool I found myself following. As I watched the water flow down the rocks and splash into the pool I looked across at the boy and wondered how he looked so happy despite the poverty surrounding him. In the middle of a country torn from war and poverty there was such a majestical place. In the last few weeks I had learnt that even in the most depressing and dark ridden places, light can be found as long as you know how to look for it and the locals of Cambodia know exactly how to do that.