-^-for posterity-^-

my family and i went to chau doc. it's a small town located on the boarder with cambodia. there are more tourists there. it's a stopover point on the way from phnom penh to can tho and then up to ho chi minh city. they have a nice hotel there.

we arrived and were only going to stay for one night. my parents decided it would be a good idea to stay in the nice hotel. we made our way there after an absurdly overpriced taxi ride. i didn't have any energy to argue.

the hotel is pressed between a busy road and an even busier river. the hotel has a wonderful pool that's as warm as a bathtub. i floated in it for a couple of hours watching the clouds pass overhead. the higher cirrus clouds would remain fixed. they looked painted. the smaller fluffier clouds would race by.

out room had a balcony overlooking the river. we watched poor family after poor family putter by going about their daily activities. the contrast in wealth was staggering. everything i saw took on a whole new meaning. the boats that once looked efficient and practical now looked shabby and on the verge of a breakdown. the houses which at first looked modest and homely now looked in tatters. the people who at first looked healthy and bronzed skinned now looked weak and fragile. the hotel was too nice. i felt like a colonizer. it really didn't help that everything was written in french. the only way that we could deal with the extremes inequalities was to make jokes about it. jokes about big game hunting and colonizing.

walking on the street away from the hotel to a internet cafe was depressing. i kept my head down for longer than normal. i tried to avoid the stares. they all seemed to be judging me. they would stop looking and i knew what they were thinking.