Jungle Adventures in the countries of the world.
When we hear the word “traitor” we think of someone stealing state secrets on military weapons design, or some classified aircraft part. In Cambodia, under the Khmer Rouge a traitor was anyone who stole from “Ongka”. Ongka was what the Khmer Rouge called themselves. It is a word which just means “organization”. Everything, literally, was…
Automatically, when we hear the words “A savior is born” we think about Jesus Christ being born into the world. His miraculous birth led the way for his eternal salvation from sins. However, this story is about a little nameless baby that was born in a roadside hut in Bakan district, Pursat province in Cambodia…
By Paul Hyde Here’s what I learned: Walking 140km+ in the heat with 20kg on your back isn’t easy; but possible. When my dad and I walked we heard some pretty amazing and disturbing stories; usually both amazing and disturbing hand in hand. Even though those stories would scar most people just listening about…
Today, Sunday, is a day of rest for my son and I. It is the sixth day of our Freedom Walk and a much-needed break for our weary legs and bodies. Having walked nearly 150km our bodies are spent. Emotionally it has been a difficult journey for my son and me as we hear the…
Walking the Freedom Walk, by re-tracing the route that my wife walked on her journey to freedom from the genocide of the Khmer Rouge, has opened up so many emotions to my son and I which we could not have expected. While I have heard the stories of atrocities from my wife and others about…
“A day will come when we will chase a dog because he has a grain of rice stuck on his tail.” This may have a strange sound to it, but this was a prophecy which Noit’s grandmother had in her heart many years before war broke out in Cambodia. This being so, whenever she made…
Life previous to the Khmer Rouge take over in 1975 was not good. Cambodia was entwined in the Vietnam War because of its proximity to the war zone. Cambodia shares a several hundred mile long border with Vietnam. Do you may remember Kent State riots and killings of university students in the US that was…
I now know the sound of nearly every kind of car, bus and truck in Cambodia having walked over 100km alongside one of the busiest roads in Cambodia. I know that any bus which comes within 4 feet of me is going to blow my hat off! I know when a car is passing from…
Today was a long tough day. The road where we were walking was narrow and didn’t have a shoulder. It was recently fixed leaving the sides of the road where we were walking to be loose gravel and sand. It was like trying to walk on the beach or in a sandbox. This caused me…
Today was hot. The heat index was well over 110 degrees. I was struggling to carry my forty pound pack. My son and I had now walked almost fifty miles on our Freedom Walk honoring the sacrifices of Noit, my wife and Paul’s mother. We are retracing her steps that she walked when she…