Cambodian Village Life

I left Canada right as the temperature dropped this winter. There was about a 60 degree improvement when I arrived in Cambodia so it felt pretty nice to replace my sweater and shoes for tanks and sandals.

My first stop was Hariharalaya, which is a 6 day yoga and meditation retreat just outside of Siem Reap. This place is pretty special as it is integrated into a Cambodian village, which meant we had traditional foods (made vegan style) and experience with Cambodian culture, dances, and music (some better than others… there was a wedding nearby that blasted really bad dance music 24 hours per day for 5 (!!!) days). The retreat was similar to others that I have done, with a set program of daily yoga, meditation, and spiritual teachings. Where it stood above was in the options for ‘free time activities’: a zen garden for rock stacking, a little gym to practice slack lining and hula hooping, bikes to use to explore the village, an art room with instructions for mandala rock painting, and an extensive library, to name a few. This was, I think in part to make up for the strict digital detox for the 6 days. Even though I don’t believe I’m addicted to my phone, this sure helped me to see patterns of turning to electronics when ‘bored’.

My open air room:

I felt great during the retreat and am happy that I chose to start this 6 month vacation with a ‘reboot’ to living a simple, more mindful life. Some highlights:

– connections with new friends around the world (with more places to visit!!)

– getting closer to my bucket list goal of being able to hula hoop for 2 minutes straight. I did a twice daily training regime and got up to 15-25 seconds (inconsistently, but great progress nonetheless)

– feeling comfortable with integrating a daily practice now and when I get back to real life

Following the retreat I headed west of Siem Reap to stay at a real Cambodian homestay I found on Air BnB. My room is VERY basic but has the necessities (mosquito net) plus a great little porch with a hammock. This is the 2nd place I’ve stayed here where the sink drain isn’t connected to anything underneath (ie. my feet get wet when brushing my teeth), but it’s got a western toilet and a ‘refreshing’ bucket shower.

I was going to wait until I left the homestay to publish this blog, but today I had an incredible experience that I wanted to share. After a delicious Cambodian breakfast I decided to walk to the little village nearby to explore. I wandered the tiny market, then was standing near a watermelon stand watching life unfold. The family who owns the stand invited me to sit with them in the shade. I sat for a long time observing the women cross stitching, children riding home from school (often 3 per bicycle), the ice truck delivering huge blocks of ice to each home, families Jenga-ing a week’s worth of groceries and 4 people onto a scooter. I found that because I slowed down to experience the moments, I was able to see so many intricacies of Cambodian life.

The watermelon stand family then did charades to indicate that they wanted to share their freshly made lunch with me. They served small bowls first to their religious altar, then a large bowl to me. The mom stood and watched me eat the (delicious if I didn’t think about it) fish head lettuce wraps and huge portion of rice. I was humbled that these people who don’t have much were so generous and welcoming to me.

I’m looking forward to a couple more days of village life before I meet RobO in Siem Reap on the weekend.