Excellent post, Nancy. Thank you for sharing this. I wish more people would venture out of their comfort zones to experience these things and learn from the past. Perhaps then, there would be more tolerance, understanding and peace in the world. -CW
Thank you for sharing yet another great post. I am reading this on Jan 6th here in the US and I can't help but think about the storming of our Capital building 4 years ago and how we will be certifying tRumps election "win" today. Such sadness in my heart for our nation. I can't help but think of how in the US, we have been watching the slow and more subtle destruction of an educated class. I fear that we may find ourselves, in short order, mirroring some of these kinds of horrors. It's a very slippery slope to unfreedom. I can only hope to manifest something better.
thank you, Nancy, for sharing this! I visited the Killing Fields around 10 years ago and was so shocked.. a lot of people have never heard about it and this part of Cambodia's history is absolutely shocking.
looking forward to reading more of your travel experiences!
Thank you ... we have cried at Gernika, Nagasaki, the War Museum in Ho Chi Minh, and various other similar places. Now more than ever, it is important to know about history. Will definitely add this one to our list of "difficult but necessary" experiences.
The dichotomy of the luxury cruise to the horror of the Killing Fields is unsettling. From my warm cocoon this morning, watching the snow fall in PA, I am immersed in thoughts of countless slaughters of humans by each other all over the globe since the beginning of time. (I, safe and warm with delicious food.) Then I think of my homeless friend, just one man's life in Santa Fe; I wonder if he is surviving the winter outdoors one more time at 7000 feet. How do we, as privileged white people, ever truly do anything to help? Or it it our task only to observe from behind a wall, protected by our money and ability to get away?
This is good though difficult reading. It is necessary reading. Years ago I was part of an organization— ‘Facing History and Ourselves’, founded by survivors of the Nazi regime, which served to educate and inform about holocausts- Germany, Pol Pot and the Turkish genocide are three which come to mind.
My Dad was a WW2 vet, and assisted in the liberation of, I was led to believe, a concentration camp in Austria. Dad shared very very little of his wartime experiences, and absolutely nothing about Austria and the camp.
Night after night (or so it seemed to me, a kid!) - this is through the 1960s- my brother and I were told horrific and terrifying stories of Nazi ladies who created lampshades from human skin; of torturous and barbaric physical ‘experiments’ on prisoners, and much more. My brother and I were ‘informed’, to say the least, about man’s inhumanity to man, as well as the present and future danger of human evil.
My point being, really, that some of us-esp of a certain age- live with this…knowledge. But so many have no such knowledge or awareness. If I focus too much on this, I can be in tears of sorrow for humankind.
The venal cruelties of Trump and MAGA come to mind. The mainstreaming acceptance and normalizing of it. I’m ranting-I know…sorry, I’ve touched my own nerve!
Thanks, Nancy, for another excellent post. LIke someone else commented, the juxtaposition of luxury accommodations with the trip to the killing field is very stark. I can understand how you cried with Nin during the tour. He must be an incredibly brave person to do what he's doing. The description of how babies were killed brought tears to my eyes. That's an image I can't unimagine.
Thank you for sharing this Nancy. I think so many people forget-willfully or otherwise-that genocide and horror exist and occurred around the world. It’s not restricted to any class, any country, any race, or any gender. I hope humanity can soon move past this type of horror it inflicts on itself.
Thank you for the information on Uni world. I’ve done a couple of river cruises and always gone on Viking, which is very also nice and sounds similar to Uniworld , but is expensive.
The visit to Cambodia sounds heart wrenching. So difficult to try and wrap your head around what we humans do to each other.
Excellent post, Nancy. Thank you for sharing this. I wish more people would venture out of their comfort zones to experience these things and learn from the past. Perhaps then, there would be more tolerance, understanding and peace in the world. -CW
Thank you for sharing yet another great post. I am reading this on Jan 6th here in the US and I can't help but think about the storming of our Capital building 4 years ago and how we will be certifying tRumps election "win" today. Such sadness in my heart for our nation. I can't help but think of how in the US, we have been watching the slow and more subtle destruction of an educated class. I fear that we may find ourselves, in short order, mirroring some of these kinds of horrors. It's a very slippery slope to unfreedom. I can only hope to manifest something better.
thank you, Nancy, for sharing this! I visited the Killing Fields around 10 years ago and was so shocked.. a lot of people have never heard about it and this part of Cambodia's history is absolutely shocking.
looking forward to reading more of your travel experiences!
Thank you ... we have cried at Gernika, Nagasaki, the War Museum in Ho Chi Minh, and various other similar places. Now more than ever, it is important to know about history. Will definitely add this one to our list of "difficult but necessary" experiences.
The dichotomy of the luxury cruise to the horror of the Killing Fields is unsettling. From my warm cocoon this morning, watching the snow fall in PA, I am immersed in thoughts of countless slaughters of humans by each other all over the globe since the beginning of time. (I, safe and warm with delicious food.) Then I think of my homeless friend, just one man's life in Santa Fe; I wonder if he is surviving the winter outdoors one more time at 7000 feet. How do we, as privileged white people, ever truly do anything to help? Or it it our task only to observe from behind a wall, protected by our money and ability to get away?
Absolutely your best article to date. Thank you for this lesson.
thanks for this post. and the info on the boat company. look forward to hearing more about your trip. happy new year!
This is good though difficult reading. It is necessary reading. Years ago I was part of an organization— ‘Facing History and Ourselves’, founded by survivors of the Nazi regime, which served to educate and inform about holocausts- Germany, Pol Pot and the Turkish genocide are three which come to mind.
My Dad was a WW2 vet, and assisted in the liberation of, I was led to believe, a concentration camp in Austria. Dad shared very very little of his wartime experiences, and absolutely nothing about Austria and the camp.
Night after night (or so it seemed to me, a kid!) - this is through the 1960s- my brother and I were told horrific and terrifying stories of Nazi ladies who created lampshades from human skin; of torturous and barbaric physical ‘experiments’ on prisoners, and much more. My brother and I were ‘informed’, to say the least, about man’s inhumanity to man, as well as the present and future danger of human evil.
My point being, really, that some of us-esp of a certain age- live with this…knowledge. But so many have no such knowledge or awareness. If I focus too much on this, I can be in tears of sorrow for humankind.
The venal cruelties of Trump and MAGA come to mind. The mainstreaming acceptance and normalizing of it. I’m ranting-I know…sorry, I’ve touched my own nerve!
Peace ✌️ no more war 🕊️
Thanks, Nancy, for another excellent post. LIke someone else commented, the juxtaposition of luxury accommodations with the trip to the killing field is very stark. I can understand how you cried with Nin during the tour. He must be an incredibly brave person to do what he's doing. The description of how babies were killed brought tears to my eyes. That's an image I can't unimagine.
That was beautiful!!! You have had wonderful travels, but this post was a real gem. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing this Nancy. I think so many people forget-willfully or otherwise-that genocide and horror exist and occurred around the world. It’s not restricted to any class, any country, any race, or any gender. I hope humanity can soon move past this type of horror it inflicts on itself.
Wow!!
Thank you for the information on Uni world. I’ve done a couple of river cruises and always gone on Viking, which is very also nice and sounds similar to Uniworld , but is expensive.
The visit to Cambodia sounds heart wrenching. So difficult to try and wrap your head around what we humans do to each other.
We did this cruise with AMA Waterways a few years ago. It is impactful. AMA does a great job and is an excellent product, as is Uniworld.
Wow - what a great trip!💕🤗🤗