So we’ve finally found the beauty we’ve been searching for in Cambodia!

Sihanoukville, a small beach town in the South, is lovely. Really lovely – white sandy beaches, clear turquoise seas and long vistas stretching out to horizons dotted with small islands… Really beautiful.

It’s been somewhat ravaged by the recent typhoon – parts of the beach were washed away terribly, and the structure of the beaches has changed completely, apparently – but it’s still by far the prettiest place we’ve seen in Cambodia.

We’ve spent the last couple of days swimming, snorkeling, eating barbeque on the beach, and lying in the hammock of our beach bungalow… It’s a hard life, I tell you! (Check out our Best Moments of the Day to share in it with us). But now it is Monday morning and, believe it or not, Monday mornings still mean something when you’re traveling the world and next to the Cambodian beach. We have a whole pile of work to do today, and we’re moving to a more work-conducive place to do it in (aircon, desk, not right next to the sea!)

I know I promised to speak more about the Killing Fields and the Genocide Museum, and to try and unpick how they made me feel, but I’m not too sure that I can, to be honest. I will say that I’m feeling a little down. I’m not sure if it’s hormonal, or the 5am low blood sugar I had this morning (which woke me up with my heart pounding, and which I can’t quite figure out) or if it’s the weight of this Cambodian conundrum that is still chasing our steps, or if it’s just a bit of travel fatigue. I’m not going to question it too much, I’m just going to go with it, and have an easy day of feeling a little less-than-chipper. Everyone has them.

I haven’t stopped thinking about the whole Cambodian situation, though. It’s impossible to, really, when you’re surrounded by evidence of it on all sides. And we’ve been talking about it a lot, to people who live and work here, to try and get to the bottom of it. I think I might be too empathetic for hectic political situations – I immediately go for the emotional response. For example, in my head (and heart) it makes complete sense that the reason we haven’t seen too many Cambodian success stories and the reason people don’t seem to take too much care with their properties and public spaces, is because a mere 30 years ago, anyone who was refined and looked after themselves and their properties, anyone who strove for something higher and better and more than they were given, was punished, in the worst possible way. They were executed. Now surely that must have a significant, lasting impression on the lives and minds of a country’s people?

Heavy thoughts for a Monday morning, I know! It’s interesting, though. From home I thought traveling was all one happy holiday – but when you’re really trying to connect with a country, it’s often a lot deeper and more troublesome than that.