Traveling and Friendship; Mondulkiri Part 3

(Yes, I'm skipping part 2 until next time. ;) ) When our friends had talked about visiting Nature Lodge in Mondulkiri, Cambodia, they mentioned it having kids most of the time. Reviews online mirrored these sentiments. This was no deterrent, rather, we preferred our children to not be the only ones and liked that they might make friends.

Friendship is different when used in a nomadic sense: you make friends quicker, get right down to what matters, and keep in contact if able. This type of friendship puts emphasis on creating as much positive change as possible while in a place, as time limits drive out room for introversion or small talk. At least, this is how I've seen it. Of course, this means one is open to more heartache: the more you love, the harder it is to leave; but at the same time it gives one a capacity for sensing what is needed in a situation and connecting quickly.

At first we didn't see any children at Nature Lodge. It wasn't until the last three days that we met some... And they, being nomadic children too, made immediate friends with our children. The kids were very excited, and the boys, who were a bit intimidated by the cows and horses around the lodge, lost their timidity in favor of playing with their new friends!

We were all sad to leave Mondulkiri, but convinced them to visit us in Phnom Penh. The kids were thrilled! We checked out several play places in the city (as there aren't parks near us), baked goodies and learned new games and ways to pronounce words with an Australian accent... (Now my son says "nin-jer" instead of ninja.)

Of course we all missed them when they left for adventures in Viet Nam... but we know how adventures work and we're  glad we made the most of the time we had. It's good to have friends around the world who broaden our perspectives of it  and who we can plan our own adventures to visit some day!