by Bunchhoeun UT (Cambodia_Sunday May 15, 2016)
Yellowstone is the wonderful and beautiful National Park in mind and heart of YSEALI Professional Fellows who are willing to go and visit while most peoples around the fellows said “most people in Missoula and in Tribe community have never been there, and it is the first and largest YellowStone National Park in America”. This would cause more attractive to our fellows to visit. Seeing bear, bisons, elks, interlopes, and naturally beautiful ponds in the Yellowstone would add more values to the target.
I, myself, am very proud of my opportunity to have trip to United States of America and visit many beautiful and amazing places in the Montana State. The Yellowstone National Park is one of the most amazing and beautiful tourist areas outside glaciers, and Tribal community areas. On May 14, our professional fellow team started trips from diverse host families to Missoula, Montana and forward to YellowStone National Park since 8:00AM to 16:00PM and stay at Gray Wolf Inn, which was very comfortable and nice view, for a night.
On Sunday May 15, 2016 after breakfast at 8:30, the trip started to Yellowstone National Park. On the way, every fellows paid serious attention to visit nature along the road. 3 Coordinators during the trips have professional experiences and knowledge to describes, analyze and facilitate the team to get beautiful scenery and strength of
ecosystem while driving carefully. Along the road we could see the smokes emerging from the ground in which the water was very hot. This would be keenly attractive to our fellows because they never met such kinds of beautiful scene in their lives in the past.
Grand Prismatic Spring is the first location that we stop vans to visit the smokes and hot water from the ground flowing into river water stream while the weather was very cold under slightly raining. Grand Prismatic and Spring is the largest and one of the most brilliant of Yellowstone’ many colorful hot springs. In the places our fellows and many other people from different countries came to visit the Grand Prismatic Springs to see the view. Taking photos, discussions, and imaginations in the areas under very cold weather along with smokes from the water and ground would be leading beautiful appearance of the Grand Prismatic Spring to be unforgettably remembering the scene.
In other place we could see beauty of nature in the Yellowstone national park are adding value to the name and popularity. Other tourists and our team are standing in line to see water fountains from the ground with smokes and rain under very cold weather. Personally, I have never seen the scene in my life before. Therefore, this was great I was there. I think no many people could come and see the beauty of nature in the Yellowstone National Park as I did. I thought I was very lucky.
All the day we have visited many places in the Yellowstone National Park and we spent a night at CHICO Hot Spring Report located in Montana States. Hot Spring water from the underground are designed to develop natural hot swimming pool. Professional Fellows tried to have experiences from the hot spring swimming pool. It was great I have never experienced before.
Through my perspectives regarding to all day visits, I think the United States of America is an example country for the rest of the world, in term of environment, peace, and natural resource conservation. The Yellowstone National Park is naturally beautiful scene through environmental interactions. We can see that not only human being but also animals are also living in peace. Wildlife come to live nearby human beings without fear. They are living naturally in the forests and along the rivers which are full of food and strong ecosystem in the areas. Moreover, hunting is prohibited in the national park. Along the road, herd of wildlife animal such as elk, bison, and interlopes, are eating and living along the road, in farming, and valley. This illustrated US government paid high attentions on law enforcement regards to wildlife and environment protection and conservations.
By turn, in my countries human beings and environment seemed enemy. Wildlife animals are always escaping from human beings when they heard voice of people. In the concept of people when they meet any animals, they intended to kill the animal for food and sometime make a party they have wildlife meat to eat. Human beings and wildlife animal are living in definitely different from each other. This means that it was contrast to the situation in the United States.
In conclusion, what I have learnt today is a wonderful knowledge and understanding on law enforcement and respect by all levels of people. I understood that it is taking longer time for my country to catch up the situation as America did nowadays. What I saw are my best experiences I have ever meet before and it is far and very hard to influence the whole nation to benchmark this situation and practices.
However, my perspective was that any parts of interventions from me on the natural resource managements, educations, capacity building and direct involvement would be step by step and lead very positive changes in the future.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE YSEALI PROFESSIONAL FELLOWS PROGRAM: MANSFIELD CENTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA 