I Feel Very Privileged to Live in Cambodia

Today I rode my bike from Tuol Kork to Diamond Island. I have found this to be one of my favorite rides because of the road conditions (i.e. fewer potholes, dirt patches, and loose gravel areas), less traffic congestion than in other areas of Phnom Penh, and there are really nice views along the entire route. The ride is short (under 15 miles), but I can do enough laps and extra side trips to make it worth going out. When I got to Diamond Island today I saw a lot of military guards scattered throughout the island. I think that they must be using the island as a staging area because in one of the parking lots I saw hundreds of helmets, shields, batons, and facemasks all lined up on the ground.

It turns out that there are additional election protests scheduled for this week. Yesterday I saw about a dozen large flatbed trucks packed full of protesters going through the city – wearing colorful headbands, waving flags, and banging plastic buckets like they were drums.

Today, on my way back from the island, I rode along the riverfront over to Wat Phnom where it suddenly became very congested with thousands of protesters who are gathering in Wat Phnom for the protests. Whenever I have been around these protests I just become filled with excitement about being able to experience first-hand this burgeoning democratic revolution in Cambodia. It is such a privilege to live in a place where healthy economic reforms are beginning to birth, where government corruption is being exposed and people are standing up to say, “no more and no longer”, and where families are discovering the value of quality education for their children.  

Wat Phnom

 

Wat Phnom