placeswithfeelings - Tumblr blog

[placeswithfeelings]

This is so beautiful, too see things remain the same. To see that being present in life is still possible. Cambodia is so full of opportunity and potential. It overwhelms me how hardworking and loyal Khmer people are. I want to see more Khmer culture in the world, so much. 

(This is their breed, so be so thin) 

Sitting here writing my reflection blog, i want to be back here with my friends reliving all of these life changing moments. 

Those moments you love when your there, and love even more once it’s passed. - Marla 

[placeswithfeelings]

Me and my beautiful friend Manu. 

This was a day started with anxiety, but turned into an amazing day or adventures and love. I love how special this photo is as i was wearing my favorite clothes and surrounded by love and happy people. We went to a temple where Khmer people gathered and prayed to Buddha, and was so insightful to see how religion can bring so much hope and prosperity to people. 

I hope you and i can have so much passion and love for someone one day. 

- Marla 

[placeswithfeelings]

My most beloved photo i’ve ever captured. 

I was walking back from this palace with Ravy and this man was sitting here smoking so relaxed, so pure, so peaceful and content how could i resist. 

Although he spoke no English, i felt a spiritual connection, so compelled to capture his beauty forever. It;s one of those photos you take then cannot contain how happy and excited you are about actually taking it, as if nothing would be the same if you’d kept walking oblivious. 

- Marla 

[placeswithfeelings]

WOAHHH. 

This photo was on my bucket list. 

I never wanted to leave Cambodia without a photo of a monk. 

How cool are monks. Honestly cannot comprehend how spiritual and religious they are. 

So many blessings. I love how they were so down to earth and pure with humanity. 

Here at Angkor wot, he was doing blessings for tourists.. may my little monk friend give me blessings spiritually. 

I hope love, happiness and peace reaches this boy. He saved my life mentally.

- Marla 

[placeswithfeelings]

Sipping on coconut water. 

Cannot describe how delicious coconut water is. Especially if it is straight from fresh coconuts hand picked for you!! How lovely to be greeted by Cambodian villagers with coconut water and traditional Khmer food. 

I never want to leave this moment. 

I love and crave the feeling you get when you’re totally immersed in another culture, all that stress and responsibilities at home, just disappears. 

I want that feeling forever. - Marla 

[placeswithfeelings]

So so cool. 

This little girl is forever my guardian angel. 

The whole gett-up is rocking my life. So 2000s. 

So much beauty in Cambodian people, its too overwhelming. 

- Marla 

[placeswithfeelings]

Just a very splendid photo of pretty lily pads flooding this little lake. Here a few moments away a group of little Cambodian kids were playing in the water before school started. How refreshing it was to see kids playing instead of being on technology. Nature is such a blessing, and i appreciated it so so much more in Bodes. Bodes has my heart forever and ever. 

[placeswithfeelings]

This photo was taken shortly after the quick mini mart run to get 2 packets of oreos and a packet of peanut butter oreos (highly recommend) How cool to think Oreos are a global treat!! I saw this from a distance before i stepped on to the bus and had to take a film pic. How colourful, alive and cultured does this look? I love how it captures Cambodia, peoples little businesses of selling fruit, water, beverages and food in little bamboo shelters on the side of the road while bicycles fly past with 2 adults and 2 babies crammed on. Truly a sight you would never see in Australia. I stood here for 2 minutes after soaking up how cool this moment was - Marla

[placeswithfeelings]

All this picture shows is emotion. 

Sadness. 

Brokenness. 

Cruelty. 

This is at S21 where they took the Khmer people who were seen as elites or suspicious of working for the government as spy's. How heartbreaking to think people can hurt other people so much it creates history. I was really nervous to take this photo as its personal to these victims of torture, these people endured pain that they didn’t deserve and we will never comprehend. But i took it, as some of the most hardest photos to take are those worth taking the most. Although this photo still brings me to tears, it is still so important that more people are aware of the immense issues that still exist in the world, but somehow manage to slide under the rug! A thing i learnt from this, was the fact how skewed the world has become thinking the smallest issues are more important then mass genocides. - Marla 

[placeswithfeelings]

You know those places where you always see other people visiting? Well, this was kind of like that. When we went for a walk in the rain on our first day in a rural village called ‘Chambok’, i stood here looking at these mountains sheltered by white low lying clouds, thinking how could anything ever compare to a sight like this. Truly crazy how you can be in one place so dry, so urban, so overwhelmed by infrastructure and cities, to be standing in a place so green, so alive, so raw and beautiful. I think it is crazy how any life you can ever imagine living, somebody is out there living it.. - Marla

[placeswithfeelings]

This was a day i was sooo anxious and stressing about. I had just rolled my ankle two days before, and this day we were going for a long bike ride, and was worried i couldn’t do it. But i swallowed the fear and did it anyways, and it was the best day of the entire trip. We rode from the city out to this rural village on a lake. When i was riding along the dry, gravel road that went for several km’s in a straight line in the middle of this incredibly huge river, i felt complete contentment. 

so unreal. 

so serene. 

so unimaginable. 

It felt like i was in a dream. To this day it was my favourite place on Earth, like every tree, every person, every shack and every bird was correctly places in order to create a moment of pure euphoria. 

I hope you find that. - Marla 

[placeswithfeelings]

Another post, another beautiful memory! Ran, what a happy soul. Still so strange to think you can get so much from someone who cant even speak your language. One night in Chambok village, me and my friends were about to have a shower, when we hung our towels and clothes on a low-hanging power line. Our translator came over to us shortly after and said Ran said we shouldn't hang our clothes there as we might get electrocuted, electrocuted!! We had a giggle, and felt a little stupid and oblivious to that obvious danger, but Ran came over and hung a rope up for us, no words. Just actions. How friendly and kind one person can be. - Marla 

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Manu!!! This is my gorgeous friend Manuella. A number 1 tip for travelling will always, always, always be to go with good, down-to-earth, up for anything friends! People are aspects of live which can make or break the moment. Its a decision worth making, and worth making wisely. I’m so glad and thankful that i was with a group of relaxed, laid back and non-judgmental people. It truly pays off to surround yourself with people who support your breath, grow you, bring positivity to the table and bring out the best, most comfortable you. Always ask yourself, are the people around me contributing to my growth, and if not, then how will you be 100% immersed in your life. - Marla

[placeswithfeelings]

This is a famous statue that we visited in Battambang, Cambodia. So big, so significant to Khmer culture. Crazy enough, we had the exact statue outline printed on our trip tee shirts. All i can say is - CONNECTEDNESS, The world was colliding and making this moment of realization ‘meant to be’.Just acknowledge how powerful the universe is when making even the smallest things mean a lot more then you originally thought. - Marla

[placeswithfeelings]

You cant assume people from developing countries are uneducated, spatially unaware or hopeless, because it’s a misconception. As this was my first time travelling to a whole other country, i was anxious and hesitant about putting myself in another culture and gaining the trust from the local kids. Rith, one of our beautiful tour guides, so determined and intelligent it threw me. As i said, how can you believe the stereotypes of people living in developing countries, it unfair. And, unfortunately i did. But since, i feel so much more knowledgeable on the simple fact that people despite their race, sex, religion or culture, they’re  human. Rith created a non-government organisation Ptea Tuk Dong, aimed to promote education in Battambang, Cambodia. Isn’t it whack? How people who have grown up in 1st world countries, who have had access to all the resources needed to fulfill their lives and help others, still don’t do anything with it. And isn’t it inspiring? How people like Rith who have grown up in vulnerable and difficult circumstances, in a country that is hindered and to grow up to create hope in communities to strive for better, and to give children the opportunity to be their best. Sometimes there is too much contrast in this world, such as immense determination and immense wasted potential it is overwhelming. You have a choice to do one or the other. - Marla 

[placeswithfeelings]

Isn't it strange? How you can think all the beautiful places and people you’ll meet have been met or visited, and then it hits you. You’re standing in a new place, thousands of miles away from where you had always existed, and you see this whole new world of beauty and eutopia. You think, how could i ever think all the worlds beauty has already been see by me? Silly. Here i was, waiting outside this small, and destined to be successful school.. waiting. And then i see these three beautiful Cambodian girls innocently and so purely standing just watching, not judging but watching me and the people i was with. Its one of those moments where it’s too special and meaningful to let it pass you, so i took a photo in which i’ll look back on with joy. - Marla