Cambodia is a unique country in that it is a baby to the world of development. Our Cambodia experience is a little different from the average visit to Cambodia. The hottest spot in Cambodia to travel to right now is Siem Reap, right next to the famous Angkor Wat temples.

Angkor Wat is an ancient vast city composed of over 1000 temples. The only word that comes to mind when you see the temples is magnificent. The main complex is still considered one of the largest religious monuments in the world.

Unfortunately doing a quick visit to Siem Reap and a couple of day trips to Angkor Wat will leave you with a skewed perception of the country. Although the temples are the largest tourist attraction, if you really want to see Cambodia you have to get out of the city, as with most countries.

We met up with a local running a dirt bike tour that takes you days into the Cambodian countryside. The company is run by Paul (Cambodian) and his girlfriend Sheila (Irish). We signed up for a 4 day trip traveling across the country, and at the time we had no idea what we were getting into.

The feeling as soon as you get out of the city is too difficult to put into words. To sum it up, you feel as if you have hopped on a time machine and traveled back into prehistoric times. Once the pavement ends and the dirt begins you enter into a more realistic view of Cambodia. Only a small percentage of the actual population lives in the city, so for most Cambodians life is spread out throughout the country. The dirt begins and so does a whole other world.

There were four of us altogether, ranging from novice to experienced on dirt bikes, or so we had stated on the release forms.

Early the first morning Sheila picked us up. We saddled up out back of their house in Siem Reap. We all sat on our 250 cc Baja dirt bikes, and right away we were itching to hit the road. After we had all of our gear strapped on we set off.

We were driving on a long stretch of pavement before we hit the dirt roads, which was just long enough to get everyone comfortable with the driving. Then, peering out from behind a few small houses was the first dirt road. It was like driving through a small warp. Things changed within seconds. The first thing we noticed was the housing. Most locals live in wood huts with thatch roofs. The dirt was gleaming red, with palm trees scattered throughout the fields and heat adding to the atmosphere. At this point we had been driving for a few hours, and we were all pretty thirsty from the dry hot air.

We arrived in the first village only to be over come with children. The kids all came out and gathered round. I’m not quite sure how many encounters they have had with foreigners in the past, however they were definitely intrigued by our entrance. They were all standing outside of their small dwellings just watching. They didn’t greet us, they just watched from a safe distance. The children were the first to make their moves slowly towards us. We did our best to display our openness by making faces and using three stooge like humor to help them warm up to us. Then eventually the kids were all around us playing and laughing. We took pictures of them with our digital cameras and showed them as they watched with amazement.

Now for me in particular this was the beginning of an awakening that grew more on me as we moved on in the days to come. The feeling started off as guilt. Thoughts kept going through my head like, “Instead of buying this flashy camera, I could have done something productive” or “we are so damn spoiled.”

Keep reading Cambodia Chronicles - Part Two - Part Three