Today's itinerary was not heavy on sights to see, but is was emotionally difficult. We started the day at the site of one of the notorious "killing fields" of the Khmer Rouge. On this site, our guide shared his very personal story of how his parents were separated, his father (a noted general of the army under Khmer White command) was killed and where he was deported to work in a labor camp.

His story is too personal to try to re-tell, but he made it clear that the politics of the time were extremely confusing as the king (Siamouk) and his generals (including Pol Pot) switched sides often to play the Americans, Russians, Chinese and Viet Cong off of one another. He made the tragedies of the genocide real and shocked everyone by telling us that children don't learn about this horrific event until they go to college. Therefore, many (if not most) will never know the history of it and be able to comprehend the disaster.

From there, we proceeded to the tomb of the unknown soldier. We continued the discussion of the genocide and learned more about Pol Pot and the rule of killing in error was okay, but releasing someone in error was not. It is one of the most brutal things I have ever heard.

The mood lightened significantly when we visited the temple of Wat Pho. It is a beautiful work with painted pictures telling the story of Ramachadran. Behind the main buddha are a collection of small and medium sized buddhas that came from Angkor Wat. It was not the building that raised our spirits as much as the gaily decorated tents and other trappings celebrating the regional top monk's birthday. We met him and paid our respects on his 66th birthday. He has a serene calmness to him and we watched as he received other well wishers who brought him gifts. He received many bouquets of flowers and even some prune juice! I enjoyed his presence and was touched by the gentle way he dealt with everyone who came to see him.

Lunch was possibly the highlight of the day. At the Angkor Artisans village, our guide took some orders and arranged lunch at a restaurant run by a family. While we saw how soapstone is carved and buddhas emerge from blocks of wood, the family was hard at work on our meal. We wrapped up our visit to the artisans with some shopping and then were off to a simple and flavorful lunch. It competed with Pho 2000 for the best lunch and was easily the best meal in Cambodia.

After lunch, two-thirds of the group opted for an excursion by boat on Tonle Sap. Technically it is a river, but due to it's length and depth here, it is refereed to as a lake. By boat it is about 5 hours (by fast boat) to Phnom Penh. The real thrill is seeing the people who live in floating houses on the fringes and canals of the lake. Most of these folks are fisherman venturing out onto the lake year round for their catch. The floating towns have all the common needs met by other floating houses - church, mosque, general store, engine repair, school are all bobbing along in the community. These are not necessarily poop people as their catch is very valuable at market. Many are Vietnamese immigrants who are intermarrying with the Khmer.

These floating communities really mirror land based ones, right down to the kids running to boats between their houses. It was a fascinating place to visit and before we left, we handed out toiletries that we collected from our various hotel rooms to some thrilled children.

Our final event was a cultural show at night with traditional dancing. Three of the dances were done at palaces while two others were more for commoners. The Apsaras looked exactly like Angkor Wat. It was an interesting event to see and we really noticed a strong Indian influence in the music and dances.