If life is the accumulation of experiences, my tour guide this afternoon for Angkor Wat is way ahead of the game. From a young age he was brought up in the war, then fled from the fighting. He has tried on various roles since then, as a buddhist monk, history teacher, and now tour guide. Given his explanations during the tour, I give him at least some credit since he gave some great descriptions and background information.
We also spent some time discussing current politics, during which I found out he dislikes the Korean tourists (too rude), the Vietnamese (traditional enemies of Cambodia), and the French (colonialists). Apparently he also likes to help the pretty girls, as he said to one rather cute Chinese woman climbing down the steps of Angkor Wat.
If you spend any time in the developing world, you become amazed by how ubiquitous cell phones are. It seems those devices have made their way in to the most remote areas.