May 4th, 2008

Hey All,
Emma and I are sitting in the Bangkok Airways lounge, in Bangkok, full of tasty treats waiting for our flight to Koh Samui. I know it has been a while since I have last written, so here is a little recap of where we have been... On April 16th we took a 3 day trip over to Luang Prabong, Lao. The first day we drove to Chiang Khong, Th; the second day we got packed onto a boat made for 40 people which was actually carrying 150 + for a 7 hour slow boat trip down the Mekong river. That night we stayed in a little village in the middle of nowhere which was put on the map by the slow boats and in my eyes has been ruined by tourism. The next day with took the same sort of boat ride for another 7.5 hours to Luang Prabong. The trip was incredibly long and i would never do it again but it was definitely an experience and the Mekong river is gorgeous. Emma and I spent 4 days in Luang Prabong visiting gorgeous waterfalls, getting attacked by leaches, mountain biking through the country side and exploring the french colonial city that is Luang Prabong. We then caught a bus to Vang Vien and spent a day floating down the Mekong in tubes with 2 Chileans we met along the way. The next day we headed down to Vientiane and toured around for 2 days. On the third day we caught a local bus to an ecolodge (Ban Pako) outside the city. At Ban Pako, we herbal sauna-ed, walked through the jungle and hung around on hammocks. There, we also met a french couple who warmly welcomed us to stay with them back in Vientiane at a beautiful house they were baby sitting. It was quite glorious. From Vientiane we caught a plane to Siem Reap, Cambodia, and this is where my story begins...

This morning we left Siem Reap after 4 days of touring the city and Angkor National Park, along with spending lots of time with the Ly family. A little background on our connection to the Ly family... Four years ago the Chenchilds (My uncle Joseph, my aunt Terry and my cousins Alissa and Daniella) visited Angkor national park and by luck, met Pon Heary Ly, who owns a guest house in Siem Reap and also runs a tour agency. A few years ago Pon Heary started a foundation dedicated to providing essentials ( uniforms, food, school supplies, new school houses, extra pay for teachers, etc...) to schools in the Siem reap area. As of now, she works with six schools and with the help of an American has officially created the Pon Heary Ly Foundation ( http://www.theplf.org/). My family has been involved with this foundation since the chenchilds first visit and in February I got to visit Pon Heary for the first time with my parents. When Emma and I first walked off the plane in Siem Reap we got to visit one of the six schools Pon Heary is involved with. The next day Emma and I got to go to a school with Pon Heary to distribute new uniforms to the students. There were many cute smiling faces and it was really great to see, first hand, where our donations have gone.

Emma and I stayed in Pon heary's guest house which is filled with her extended family. They were extremely welcoming, nice and they took us under their wings as if we were their own. There were also three of the most adorable children living in the guest house ( Pon Heary's nieces, Alice and YaYa, and nephew, Fee Fee). Emma and I spent a lot of time hanging out with them and rediscovering the small child within us. It was quite lovely.

Emma and i spent a good amount of time talking with Pon Heary about her experience growing up under the Khmer Rouge. She has an incredible story and history and her strength amazes me. Emma and I have had many conversations on this trip about the Khmer Rouge and the secret CIA led war in Lao. I'm appalled by the fact that I was taught about none of this in either elementary or high school, especially considering the US had such a large involvement in both the raise of the Khmer rouge and the war in Lao. I grew up in a family that talked a lot about the holocaust, my Babby has also written a handful of books on this issue, and I spent a lot of time at both my Shule and Camp Kinderland discussing the holocaust. We always say we will never let this happen again yet we ignore that genocide and thoughtless killing has occurred and continues to occur and we do very little to stop it. Many Americans do not know that 3 million people were killed during the Khmer Rouge (or that people involved in the Khmer rouge still hold office in the new government) and that Lao is the most heavily bombed country in the world (one bomb dropped every 8 minutes for 9 years). When speaking with Pon heary she told us that it is important to never forget what happened, to continue talking about it and to allow everyone to tell their story. I believe this is very true and I cant help but feel angry at the US for silencing the discussion of what happened during the Khmer Rouge and the CIA led war in Lao in our public school system. Visiting both Lao and Cambodia has been quite an intense experience but it has also sparked many important conversations. I feel very lucky to have had the ability to visit both countries and i hope some of you will be able to do the same in the near future.

Emma will be leaving Thailand on May 15th but before she leaves we will be spending sometime in southern Thailand exploring Koh Samui and Koh Phangyan. I will keep you all updated as we continue to travel and i promise to post pictures either before i leave Thailand or when i get back to the US. Much love.