Part 8: The Children of Cambodia

Part 1: When You Wake Up at 3 AM for a 6 AM Flight…
Part 2: Only 18 Hours to Go
Part 3: How to See Angkor Wat
Part 4: The Many Faces of Bayon
Part 5: Trees Galore!
Part 6: Cambodia’s Floating Villages
Part 7: View from the Top

If you go to Siem Reap, you’ll read about the children you’ll see around the temples hawking their wares and begging for a buck. But nothing quite prepares you for their insistence.

The children swarmed around us, offering anything from 10 postcards for a dollar to scarves to other random trinkets. When we said no thank you, they insisted on counting all 10 postcards in front of us, as if we didn’t believe them. We kept walking, and they kept walking with us. They were adorable, but also heartrending.

The Boyfriend was quite popular with the ladies…

The cutest moment happened on our second day, visiting some out of the way temples known as the Roluos Group. The lack of tourists meant the children had a captive audience. One of the girls noticed the cheap barrette in my hair, so I offered it to her. Suddenly, all the girls were begging for their own. Sadly, I only had one more and gladly handed it over. It was amazing to see how happy a simple hair clip made them. And they were more than happy to pose for pictures.