DAY 25: (Danny) In Cambodia, we played two big concerts and conducted a Master Class. Most of our days were quite busy – sometimes 16 hours long. So, on our one free day, we woke up early and left our hotel at 6:00 AM to fly to Ankor Watt to see the great temples and ruins. The flight from Phnom Phen was about 45 minutes long and a lot shorter than our other flights (with a lot less gear). Our liaisons, Michelle and Pekaday, were kind enough to set up the flights and arrange for a driver/guide. Mony is a friend of the Embassy and one of the most knowledgeable guides in the area. He was assigned to show the Secretary of State around just a few days before he was scheduled to show us around. And he had done the same for President Clinton so we knew we were in great hands and would learn a lot about the history of the temples. We got our passes to the Ankor Watt Eco Park for about $20 (U.S.) and proceeded to the first stop: Angkor Watt.

There are water filled moats surrounding the temple. The grounds are lush and expansive. We saw some funny monkeys by the entrance who were entertaining us and begging for bananas. Mony called them “tourist monkeys.” Our guide knew so much about every detail of these temples, I understood why he was chosen by the State Department to guide us. It was a bit overwhelming to hear all of the history at once and reminded me of touring the Vatican and cathedrals of Europe, except it’s easier for me to wrap my head around the Christian history. We were all really tired and the heat was pretty intense but we made it through the grounds. Mony took us to lunch at a great open air restaurant where we had an amazing meal and purchased some gifts. After lunch, we went to see the famous temple filmed in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.Nature had taken over the temple and the tree roots were growing through and over the rock. We took some great band shots and learned so much about this ancient culture. Pu Klaing had told me to pay attention at the temples in order to understand the Cambodian people and their history. He said to take it all in and someday, to try to put it into a song for all the world to hear. No easy task, but one that is inspired. We hit one more temple on the way back to the airport which was called the Smiling Buddha temple (look at the picture and you’ll know why). I had to sit this one out and relaxed on the stone wall outside the entrance, where I observed the structure from the outside. I realized there are some things that can only be felt and are not possible to describe in words or intellect. I was overwhelmed by a sense of impermanence when I saw the crumbling stone and felt that just like these temples, all structures are unstable and pass one day back to the nothingness from which they were formed. This ancient city of temples was once home to millions of people who lived and died within the shadows of the temple walls. Their voices echo in the ruins and are a reminder that we are the awareness in which all life unfolds.

DAY 22: (Joe) I was just preparing my first blog post in several days about our tour in Cambodia when I received news of the terrible tragedy which took place at the end of the Water Festival in Phnom Penh. We played last Friday night for an audience of 3,000 at Veal Preah Mehru, a park near the National Museum in Phnom Penh, as an opening concert for this festival. It’s difficult for us, as a band, to comprehend such a horrible ending to such a wonderful event. As a band, we send our deepest, heartfelt condolences to all our new friends in Cambodia. We were so well received and are so thankful to the Cambodian people for the wonderful experience and love they brought to us and our music.Cambodia is not what I had expected. I could write a huge blog post on what I saw and learned but I think for now, because of the pace we’re keeping in The Philippines, I’ll give the short version of something that touched my heart. I’m very sensitive about filming or photographing the pain of people who have suffered great losses in their lives. It’s a bit voyeuristic, I feel, and nothing positive can come of it. However, on the entry path to Ankgor Wat, we passed a group of musicians playing traditional Cambodian music on traditional instruments.It all seemed normal to me, you know, the Cambodian version of street musicians. Upon closer view, I realized they were land mine victims from land mines left behind over the course of three decades of war. The fact that they were land mine victims wasn’t as striking as the spirit of the music they played. One of our main messages to students who attend our Rhythm Road Master Classes is to never give up one’s dream.These musicians are the living example of the power of the human spirit. Cambodia itself is proof of such a spirit. The most impressive thing about young Cambodians – more than 60% of the population is under 30 – is their forward-looking spirit. How do a people, whose recent history is so tragic, whose culture was all but destroyed, who lost by various estimates one quarter to one third of their population, how do these people maintain such a positive outlook on the future? I’m amazed by the Cambodians I met in my short stay. As an American, I feel a bit spoiled. We speak often of the dark cloud of slavery in our own county’s past and how the music we play is the silver lining of that dark cloud – all of the American music which finds its roots in slave songs, gospel and the blues. It seems we are about to see a cultural rise in Cambodia descending from the pain and suffering dealt by the Khmer Rouge reign and civil war. The people of Cambodia seem on their way to building a new Cambodian culture out of the ashes of the past.In our concert at Veal Preah Mehru, we invited a guest ensemble led by Keo Sonankavei, a professor of music at the Royal University of Fine Arts (RUFA) to perform. Keo brought a couple of very special instruments that he, himself, created based on traditional Cambodian instruments.These new instruments are based on the chromatic scale rather than the older traditional Cambodian scales. The modern versions of Cambodian instruments and the Cambodian musicians fit right into our ensemble jam session at the concert. For me, this was a wonderful cultural bonding experience, one that only happens when musicians share the thing they love: music. I have quite a bit more to say about this land of gentle people and great hope.But, for the moment, for myself and the rest of the Johnny Rodgers Band, we again send our deepest condolences for this recent tragedy at the Water Festival.