The most memorable moment, the one that always makes you think “that’s why we did this!”?

I’m happy to say I have a vast collection of those kinds of moments but there’s one that immediately comes to mind. It just happened that we were in Cambodia during their New Year (April), a time when everyone vacates the cities and heads to the countryside to be with their families and celebrate. It would’ve ended up non eventful for us had it not been for a few chance events that allowed us to reconnect with a tuk-tuk driver Adrian had befriended on his first trip to Battambang several years earlier.

After meeting up with Ket again, he invited us to join him and his family in the New Year’s festivities and we eagerly said yes! Ket’s wife cooked dinner on an open fire in the front yard kitchen, we played with the kids, smearing each other in layers of baby powder as is customary form, we toasted to the new year and feasted together like family.

Later that night we find ourselves at Ket’s cousins’ backyard karaoke party just down the dirt road. There are neighbors and family members congregated together, passing the microphone amongst each other and dancing ‘Cambodian style’, which consists of walking in a mass circle making small hand gestures to the beat. Everyone seems elated to have us there and although there are few words understood or exchanged between us, they let us know if many ways that we were welcome. If we attempted to sit down for even a moment we were quickly pulled back into the dance circle by one of  the locals and the night went on this way.

There was a specific moment where time seemed to stop. I was mid circle, my arm linked together with this lovely girl who had befriended me (even accompanied me to the outhouse as girls do). I looked at her and her eyes were locked on mine with the most genuine smile stretched across her face and all the days events seem to culminate into this one moment of pure connection and I was overcome. My immediate thought was there is no way anyone at home will ever understand this!

Thank you, Rob Ward. -Ashlie

Back to questions page