Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 16

Questions Answered

         This is going to be long, but you’ve askedme lots of questions, so hopefully this answers them all.

What am I actually going to be doing onthis trip to Cambodia? Is it another volunteer trip? Or just vacation? When am I going and when will I be back? And why Cambodia of all places?

This is a cultural immersion trip foradults over age 50. (We’ll see how it goes, and maybe the next crazy trip Itake should be for adults with bodies that feel over 70 years old.)

So, what does “cultural immersion” mean?Instead of just seeing the sites, we will learn more about them and in between,learn about the culture, history, and religion of the country. One day, we’reeven having a cooking class.

Our itinerary looks something like this:

Day1: Orientation and acclimation to our surroundings, a short tour of the capitalcity of Phnom Penh, which will be our base for the trip

Day2: More orientation, visit a local market, visit our first Buddhist temple WatPhnom, watch the movie “The Killing Fields”

Day3: Visit the Killing Fields and S-21 Prison Museum (this will be our most heart-wrenchingday, but a necessary day to understand the culture)

Day4: Visit a pepper farm, salt farm, and durian farm (yes, the world’s moststinky food), visit the beach on the Gulf of Thailand

Day5: Bokor Mountain, waterfalls, sunset cruise for dinner and to see fireflies

Day6 and 7: Travel back to Phnom Penh, rest up, then travel to Siem Reap the nextday

Day8 and 9: Explore the vast Angkor Wat temple complex (the whole reason I wantedto take this trip in the first place)

Day10: Visit floating village and the Landmine Museum, dance show during dinner

Day11: Travel to Battambang, ride the bamboo train

Day12: Visit grape farm, a couple more temples, a cave and watch bats leave thecave at sunset

Day13: Travel back to Phnom Penh, rest

Day14: Visit a silk farm, pack to leave the next day

         

Sounds exhausting, doesn’t it? But soworth it!

We fly out of Chicago this Friday morningat 12:30! And arrive in Phnom Penh, Cambodia at 11:15 Saturday morning (that’s11:15 Friday night for you at home, I think). We leave Phnom Penh on Sundayafternoon on September 29 and get back home to Chicago Sunday night. It’s timetravel. I can never put my brain around it.

One more question you may have – whatorganization are you going with? ProjectsAbroad is the world’s largest provider of international volunteering,internships, and meaningful travel experiences. They’ve been running for over30 years and have been trusted by over 130,000 participants who’ve joined theiraward-winning trips.

They run projects on four continents,including countries ranging from Botswana, South Africa, Mongolia, Philippines,Romania, Argentina, Galapagos Islands, and Fiji. If I were younger, I’d love totry some of their other trips, but most of them sound even more strenuous thanthis one to Cambodia. Please click this link to their website, though, to readmore.

Click this link to find out more about thespecific trip we will be taking. Oh, and when I say “we”, I mean me and mytravel partner Denise. She is a fellow retired CMA from the eastern part of ourstate and has been to Kenya with me a few times. There is another woman whowill be joining us, also, but I don’t know anything about her yet except thatshe’s from Great Britian.

How did I find out about Projects Abroad?As you may remember, I’ve wanted to go to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat since Iwas in 6th grade. Feeling that I’m getting too old for many morelong trips, back in January of 2020, I did a Google search of volunteer tripsto Cambodia and this one came up first. After doing more research, I askedDenise if she was game to join me. She said, “yes”, and we signed up. Then afew weeks later, COVID-19 bowled us all over and grounded us for the next twoyears. Last year, my back pain and immobility caused me to cancel a third trip.But here we are, finally doing it.

Hope that answers all of your questions. 😊

Me and Denise in Kenya in 2015

Less than a week to go

Oh,boy. In one week, I will be starting my lifelong dream of visiting Cambodia. Weland in Phnom Penh at 11:15 Saturday morning, which will be 11:15 Friday nightWisconsin time. It’s a fifteen-hour flight from Chicago to Taiwan and, after a three-and-a-half-hourlayover, it’s another three and a half hours fly time from Taipei to Phnom Penh.

Ican’t think about that long flight too much, though. It freaks me out. How cana plane stay airborne that long? How is that possible?

Onall the other long-haul flights I’ve been on, after six hours or so, I’m nearlyhaving a panic attack, just wanting to get off that plane. Instead of sleeping,I pace up and down the aisle, looking with jealousy at all the other sleepingpassengers.

Whyam I doing this again? Oh, yes, the temples at Angkor Wat.

Oh,but now that I’ve researched the country at length, there is so much else tosee and experience. The beach at Kampot. Bokor Mountain. The bamboo railroad.Waterfalls, caves, and a sunset river cruise!

Sorry,no pictures yet! But go ahead and Google all that I’ve talked about and thenwait patiently for me to post pictures on Facebook.

But maybe not any pictures of airplanes or airports, huh? 

A Really Quick Trip to Calumet

Last Wednesday, I shared a short two-day trip I had made witha friend in July. Today, I’ll tell you really quick about a trip Hubby and I took last month to Michigan’s UP. Our favorite place. But unfortunately, only for overnight.

 

After checking into our Airbnb in Calumet, our first stopwas the Cooper Country Firefighters Museum.

Next was the Calumet Theater right across the street.

After we hit The Hut restaurant for dinner, I took a walk aroundtown. This is the old depot. 

What a shame it has fallen into such disrepair. From whatI could see through the windows, it’s still filled with character. 

Next morning, I took an early morning walk. Hate seeing a“do not enter” sign on a church, even if it is for the adjacent one-way street.

Such beautiful old buildings in and around downtown Calumet. 

But this was what we really went up north for – the jams andcookies at The Jampot.

And also, this, my favorite park. Esrey Park. It stilltakes me back to the many trips I made to the UP as a kid.

Of course, no trip to upper Michigan would be complete without a trip to this park. The sign might say that this is Calumet Waterworks Park, but for Hubby and I, it will always be Dino’s Park. 
I'm sure he's still playing fetch and swimming in Lake Superior, without ever getting tired, living his best life in doggie heaven. 

Prayer for Peace

 Lord,make us instruments of your peace.

Wherethere is hatred, let us sow love;

wherethere is injury, pardon;

wherethere is doubt, faith;

wherethere is despair, hope;

wherethere is darkness, light;

wherethere is sadness, joy.

ODivine Master,

grantthat we may not so much seek to be consoled asto console,

tobe understood as to understand;

tobe loved as to love.

Forit is in giving that we receive,

itis in pardoning that we are pardoned

andit is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

 

There is nothing moreI can add to that. 

Death, and more Death. Sorry for the Downer

 

We'veall heard of The Holocaust - the genocide of European Jews between 1941 and1945 by Hitler's Nazis. Six million Jews across German-occupied Europe, aroundtwo-thirds of Europe's Jewish population, were systemically murdered. It isconsidered the single largest genocide in history.

Also,during those years, over another million Russians, Serbs, Romas, Muslims,Croats, Poles, and a variety of other groups were killed. The eighty yearssince then have seen a long list of other mass killings and "ethniccleansings".

Mostof us have heard of the Rwandan genocide, perhaps only from seeing the movie,"Hotel Rwanda." Over a half-million members of the Tutsi minorityethnic group were slaughtered by armed Hutu militias in only one hundred daysin 1994. That was within most of our lifetimes.

Ihad never even heard of the Darfur genocide until my daughter did a paper on itfor school. Considered the first genocide of the 21st century, this event sawaround 200,000 people killed between 2003 and 2005.

Ialso just learned about the Civil War in Myanmar, which began in 2017. Calledthe Rohingya genocide, it involves ongoing persecution and killings of theMuslim Rohingya people by the military of Myanmar.  

WhenI volunteered in Peru for a week in 2009, I was introduced to the Shining Pathterrorist group. Beginning in 1980, the Shining Path, led by founder AbimaelGuzman, inflicted havoc on the countryside, killing over 24,000 innocentpeople. Because these acts of violence weren't against any particular group,it's not considered a genocide. But I was horrified hearing first-hand storiesfrom survivors. 

Youcan look anywhere in the world and witness the senseless death of anypopulation of people. Look at the modern Middle East. Look at the Old Testamentbooks of the Bible, where God commissioned the Israelites to wipe out entirecities.

Ibring this all up now, not only because all this violence makes my heart sick,but because I am traveling once again to a country that has experienced morethan its share of death.

Between1975 and 1979, the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, carried out the systematicpersecution, torture, and killing of Cambodian citizens. As many as threemillion men, women, children, and babies died by horrific means. That wasnearly 30% of the total population at the time. You've maybe heard of the"Killing Fields" or seen the movie.

WhenI'm in Cambodia two weeks from now, besides seeing the spectacular Angkor Wattemple complex, I'll visit the real Killing Fields. Odd how I first learnedabout the country in 1974, one year before those atrocities began. And so sad.

I'llkeep you posted.  

(The first picture above was taken by one of my kid's when they were in Germany at one of the concentration camps. The other two pictures I took at the Museo de la Memoria in Ayacucho, Peru.) 

Quickie Post of Alma

Last week, I finished finally telling youabout the nine-day trip Hubby and I took to the Dakotas in June. The middle ofJuly, I spent two nights in Alma, Wisconsin, with a friend. And even though Itook over three hundred pictures in that short period of time, I am going tokeep pictures from that trip to just this one post.        

Main Street, Alma. So many cool, historic buildings. 
Inside our AirBnb

The railroad tracks through town, the Mississippi River Lock on the right. And way over on the left you can see our AirBnb with the red second story and my blue car out front.  Merrick State Park, where an entire section of the campground had flooded recently. So sad.  Kinstone Sculpture Park, which I had visited the year before,  
so as much as I would like to share all those pictures again, 
I'll just share these few. Still a fascinating place to me. 
Next Prairie Moon Gardens and 
the only selfie I took of my friend and me. 
View from on the bluffs at Buena Vista Park, overlooking Alma. 
So many beautiful old homes in that little town. 
Just down the road is Pepin 
And next is Stockholm. 
Hope you can read the sentiment someone painted on their house and posted on their railing below. 

    Idid pretty good keeping this short, didn’t I? 

Take Heart and Start Climbing

 

“The door to heaven isnarrow. Try hard to enter it. Many people will want to enter there, but theywill not be able to go in.” (Luke 13:24, Easy-to-Read Version)

This past week, Hubby and I took a drive up to Michigan’sUP for a quick visit. We stopped along Lake Superior at my favorite little roadsidepark before heading back home.

I climbed up these stairs, fearful that I would fall.I made it and the view was worth it, even though it was the same view that I’veseen countless times throughout my life.

This time the words “climbing the stairway to heaven”popped into my head. I think a lot of people believe, once you turn your lifeover to God and accept Jesus as your Savior, that getting to heaven is a pieceof cake. Maybe not even as hard as climbing an even staircase, with a secure handrail; maybe you think you’ll ride an escalator to heaven.

More likely, the stairs you need to take to get toheaven look like these. Not only is the door to heaven narrow, but the stairscan be precarious. But start climbing, for Jesus said, “here on earth you willhave many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome theworld.” (John16:33)

Never Give Up On Your Dreams

 Inthe Fall of 1973, I entered sixth grade. My teacher was new to our school,fresh out of college. I was in a smaller classroom with fewer students—twentyof us. Our entire class was one of the largest ever for our town, so we were spreadthrough five classrooms on the third floor of Washington School, with more ofus attending the Catholic parochial school.

I’veforgotten when that school year it happened or why, but one day, our teachertold us about an ancient Buddhist temple in Cambodia, Angkor Wat. I saw apicture of it; I don’t remember if it was in a textbook or projected on ascreen. I was fascinated and enthralled. I vowed I would someday, somehow, gothere.

Flashforward fifty years. Holy cow, fifty years!?!

Andhere we are. Three weeks from now (as I post this), I will be in that plane fora fifteen-hour flight over the United States and the Pacific Ocean, Godwilling. This is the fourth time my friend and I have scheduled this trip sincejust weeks before COVID-19 descended on us.

Iwould appreciate it if you would keep me and this trip in your prayers. Andnever give up on your dreams.

This picture is of Angkor Wat. I borrowed it off of the internet. 
The other picture is me and my classmates that fated year. 
It looks like most of us were only dreaming of a better hair day or at least less hideous clothes. 

Earth and Sky – Dakota Vacation blog post #22

 Earth and Sky – an appropriate ending to our trip to the Dakotas in June. Yes, this is the final post. Aren’t you relieved?

Ata rest stop off of I-90 outside of Chamberlain, South Dakota, we took in ourlast tourist attraction of the trip.

This sculpture, named Dignity of Earth and Sky, sits on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River. The 50-foot-high stainless-steel statue shows a woman in native dress holding a star quilt. She honors the culture of the Lakota and Dakota peoples who are indigenous to South Dakota.

Also, at this rest area are displays of various Native American artifacts and items telling the story of the western expansion.  

 There are even some friends for the kids to meet.

All in all, it was a very good trip. I’m so thankful that my wonderful husband agreed to it, that he did most of the driving, and that he made me laugh every day, even when the ride was long and my body was aching. Himey, you are my soul mate, and without you, I don’t know how I’d get through the day. 

Stinky Alley Art – Dakota Vacation blog post #21

“There are those who are pure in their owneyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth. (Proverbs 30:11, NewInternational Version) 

Whileplanning our trip to the Dakotas in June, I ran across a place in Rapid Citycalled Art Alley. 

Artists– or probably anybody with a spray can – can put their mark on the brick walls,wooden stairs, and any other surface along this alley between Main Street andSt Joseph Street.

Someof the art looked pretty nice. Other? Not so much. But if people are encouragedto express themselves here, it’s no one’s place to judge.

Thething I noticed, though, was that no amount of spray paint could cover up thestench emanating from all the dumpsters.

Kindareminded me of people who put on airs, dress nice, and show off their money,but inside, they are not very pretty. I think we all need to clean up ourinsides and get rid of the sin in our lives before we bother with ourappearance.