Make lemonade out of lemons and we did. Today we set off at 7 am to visit the high school student that we support in the village of Skun. One hour into the drive we found out that she was in fact unavailable today because she was taking an exam. Not to waste good company – Juli, Jean-Claude, Kimna, Lanie and Panha – and a van ride, we decided to tour the old capital of Oudong, located about 37 km from Phnom Penh. I enjoyed the ride, sitting in back with Panha and talking about what she has learned about human resources while completing her degree in management at her university.
There are only a few shrines left from the 248 years Oudong served as the capital. We climbed the 509 steps to the top of the tall hill where the new chedi has been built. Then we visited the nearby Vipassana Dhura Buddhist Center, the largest meditation center in Cambodia, with its gleaming new campus. The largest temple had a beautiful large jade Buddha. We learned that the monks, dignitaries and other people present were there to honor the most venerable Sam Bunthoem, a monk who was shot in Wat Langka in 2003 by people angry that he was encouraging monks to vote in the National Assembly elections. It was a great way to spend the morning!
