Where people dress in black

Doing research for honeymoon planning, we’re going to Vietnam & Cambodia. Yes, we will in fact be having a Holiday In Cambodia. Dude, I thought Vietnam’s history was complex but Cambodia’s history is way more crazy. Kingdoms and empires and invasions and occupations and purges and dictators and god-kings it’s impossible to follow. I’m unsure whether to stick to the tropical paradise experience exclusively, or maybe include an afternoon to learn a little about the Khmer Rouge and the Killing Fields. On the one hand, it’s not the ideal honeymoon to see torture chambers and mass murder. On the other hand, to visit the country and not spend at least a few hours to witness and acknowledge the horrors the people have endured and emerged from seems…less than fully respectful. As guests in their country, I feel we should in some way recognize the trauma as well as marvel at the wonders. Of course I know I’m over-thinking this with the typical liberal western hand-wringing, what matters is we’re spending money in the most poverty-stricken country in Southeast Asia; ultimately the Cambodian sentiment is probably “We’re glad you’re here, Yankee, go wherever you want, just bring your dollars.”

And I totally wanna go to a firing range there and shoot some machine guns, and maybe an RPG. There are rumors that, for enough money, you can fire a rocket propelled grenade at a cow. I don’t think I’m gonna do that. I have a pretty dismissive attitude towards animal rights, but even I think that’s a little messed up.