Cambodia

This past week we ventured off to Cambodia. Wow - what an experience. We had one "OMG!" moment after another. I don't know if we can do this trip justice.

The whole country has been set back to the Stone Age because of the devastation of the Khmer Rouge reign of terror 1975 through 1979. They killed off all of the intelligentsia, the academicians, the prosperous and the rich. They left the poor, the destitute and orphans. The people left had no skills, knowledge or industry. However, they have picked themselves up and have started to rebuild their country. It is a country of very young people. Twenty to thirty year olds are directors, managers, and they basically run the country's business. They are dedicated and committed but there is so much to do in every aspect. Tourism is their big boom so they have lovely hotels and some great restaurants. But, there are also many scams going on - so you have to be wary at every turn. Many countries - especially France and Japan - are investing in Cambodia so there are some areas of advancement. The health care system is abysmal. There is no sense or system of sanitation and litter is everywhere. Basic health care is poor in the cities and non existent in some rural areas. Our friend worked in mental health in Ontario and she is trying to help the people of Cambodia but she was told that although mental health is a huge problem - because of post war traumas, that is the least of their worries at this moment. They need health care professionals, clean water, supplies, better clinics, and most of all their population needs to be educated on basic health care and hygiene. We saw the most "Oh My God" things there - naked children everywhere, children begging on every street, vans with 20-30 workers perched on top of the vans with that many people inside too.

We flew into Siem Reap on Monday morning and once ensconced at the hotel we booked a tuk-tuk and driver for the day. This is a favoured mode of transportation that has a motor bike pulling an open passenger compartment. Because we started late (10:30) he only asked US $15.00 for the day.

We went to Siem Reap to see the ancient temples of Angkor Wat (and there about 300 other temples in the area). The temples are amazing, immense, ancient, awe inspiring. Our guide was fabulous and told us all about the Angkor empire and the advanced civilization that existed from 800 to 1400 AD. Most of the time we were slack jawed at the scale and beauty of the temples. Angkor Wat (which literally translates as "Holy Place" or Holy Temple") is the largest religious worship site in the world. The moat defining its boundaries is 180 metres wide and surrounds it on all four sides. The site itself has a perimeter of about 6.5 kilometres. The entire temple with its many buildings and towers is made completely of dry laid sandstone. The statues, carvings and bas relief are very impressive...because I can't find another word that suffices.

We also visited a former (1300s) capital city called Angkor Thom (which translates a "Holy City") with its Bayon temple. The temple is made up of 54 towers with four faces on each tower. They are supposedly of the many-faced god but the guide and guidebooks say they bear a striking resemblance to the king himself. We got a great tour of some of the bas relief sculptures here and we are impressed (again) by the unexpected depiction of the everyday life and the sense of humour of the artists. In this one you can see a tortoise, held by a woman, biting the rear end of the man in front.

The temple most familiar to North American movie goers is Ta Prohm...Angelina Jolie filmed part of Tomb Raider movie there. The trees in many of the temples grow right out of the rock and as a result the jungle has dismantled many parts of these monuments. It is such a shame. But Japan and Korea are heavily involved in the restoration of many of the sites. Some of the overall destruction is also man made. The country has vacillated between Buddhism and Hinduism depending on the preference of the king of the day. Many tolerated other religions but the people generally tended to follow the king. In times of change carvings and statues were sometimes destroyed or buried to be replaced by the new faith and its icons.

One of our side trips was to the floating village on Lake Tonle Sap. The lake is a source of almost half of the country's protein because of its abundance of fish. The floating village is the living quarters of many of the fishermen. The poverty is staggering. We travelled down a dusty gritty dirt highway that is undergoing widening. Along the verge were houses made of sticks. Many are just platforms on fragile stilts and having a thatched roof. The more splendid ones have grass or stick walls. Children run about naked and often adults sleep away the day on the platforms…evening is for fishing. We climbed over three other boats tied end to end to get to the one we were to ‘cruise’ on. The ten minute ride down river to the lake was punctuated by small canoe like crafts pulling alongside and children of four to seven years old jumping aboard to sell everything from bananas to coke for ‘one dollah’. The local schools were also floating, built on large barges and including a gym on the second floor for basketball and football (soccer). Once on the lake we were again approached by beggars and sellers but this time most were Vietnamese. The fishermen and their families live aboard permanently anchored boats and barges. They paddle out onto the lake in small canoes, fish and sell their catch to some of the shore people who arrange transport to the cities. But the destitution is visible in almost everything. We wonder at our luxury and the morality of gawking at their lives. But we know that without the tourism they might have no life.

By the end of the second day we were templed out and had arranged a bus ride to the capital, Phnom Penh. This was a high grade coach; we're not sure what made it high grade except that it was more money (US$12.00). It was cramped and hot because the further you are back on the bus the less the air conditioning is effective. Six hours is a long ride but we got a lot more of the flavour of the country. Kim commented that it's the "Three Little Pigs" over and over again. We'd pass a brick house followed by a stick and then a grass one; but most of the houses were of stick or grass with a number of wooden structures thrown in.

Phnom Penh initially gives the impression of a modern city. Then we learned about the almost total lack of sanitation. In a few pockets the odour of urine was very strong. That aside, the people are wonderful. We found them polite and helpful when our language differences allowed for communication. Everyone, though, made a stab at English which is good because we had no idea about Khmer.

We did a preprogrammed walking tour of the downtown as laid out in the 'Roughs Guide'. At Wat Phnom Penh we ran into a scam of people standing on the stairs trying to collect 'one dollah'. When Kim pointed out that a couple of locals had entered without paying, the response was something like "They're free you one dollah!" We walked on to another stairway and got the photos we were seeking. The area was very crowded and the predominant population was of beggars on the stairs. The central market is a rabbit warren of narrow walks between overpacked stalls mainly selling clothing. The floral part of the market was magnificent and we noticed subsequently that many people here loved their flowers. The local shopping mall was next and we had heard and we confirmed that they have escalator trainers standing by to instruct visitors in the art of the moving stairway. The National Museum was our last stop of the afternoon. It contains a large number of Khmer sculptures from scattered temples.

We made a considered decision to avoid the Killing Fields and S21. Most will know of the former. The latter is a high school that the Khmer Rouge turned into a prison and torture centre. People taken there rarely ever came out except to be transported to the mass graves at the Killing Fields. Maybe we were squeamish or just cowardly but we felt no compulsion to see the remnants of that regime when other evidence was all around us.

We met friends Steve and Pam for dinner at the FCC (Foreign Correspondents Club). This is where the journalists came to file their stories and take a rest during the Vietnam war. The food was great and the company better.

On our last day we took a tour of the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda. The pagoda is named for the fact that the entire floor is tiled in silver. They are, of course, protected by carpet over most of the area. All of the architecture is wonderfully Cambodian except one building. There is a French colonial building in the middle of it all. It was donated by Napoleon III after his empress Eugenia had used it during the dedication of the Suez Canal. It is ugly and out of place in this setting but has been deemed a national heritage building. I guess they won't be getting rid of it any time soon. We finished up our trip with a little shopping and a drink at a sidewalk cafe on Sisawath Quay for some people watching.

This has been a revolutionizing experience and we feel the need to do something to contribute to the rebuilding of this ancient and destitute society...but what?