No - I haven't fallen off the map yet. Cindy and I arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on June 15th after pulling an all-nighter in the Kuala Lumpur airport with our new friend Murray, from Scotland. We arrived at a hostel straight from the airport, washed our faces, and headed off in a tuk-tuk to see the temples surrounding Angkor Wat, which is supposed to be the 8th man-made wonder of the world.
The temples were absolutely amazing. As soon as I get pictures posted (who knows when that will be), you'll be able to see for yourself, but for now a little background: The temples were built in the 12th century, which really doesn't seem that long ago, but they were neglected for years and have had to be restored because vegetation has grown in cracks - one temple has been covered in places by trees. Some of the temples lay in pieces in the grounds surrounding the actual structures. International organizations - the Indian, German, and Japanese government come to mind - have joined forces with the Cambodian government to restore the temples, and are working to put them back together piece by piece, which is a very complex task that was hampered when the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in the 1970s and 1980s and restoration work was put on hold.
All in all, we had an interesting day driving around to all the different temples, climbing on them, and seeing what the Hindu and Buddhist architecture was like in Cambodia centuries ago. But what I was most struck by was the people. We were there on a Sunday, and many of the children who normally would have been in school were out and about at the temples. Most were begging or money or were selling bracelets, books, fans, a guided tour of the temples (which they'd give first, then charge for later), anything . . . and the sad part was that they were so poor and so sad-looking that you felt you needed to buy something from or give something to every kid who passed in front of you.
Between temples, Cindy and I stopped by a few stands to look at the art. While we were in one of the stands, 12-year-old and 5-year-old sisters started talking to us and trying to sell us things. They ended up following us to the stand where we bought lunch, and the 5-year-old brought out some plastic sea creatures that she had been carrying around. I wasn't sure what they were, but apparently they were similar to jacks, and we played a few games (she beat me every game). It was nice to know that even though she was "working", she was still allowed to have some fun. The 12-year-old, on the other hand, broke my heart. She told me that she wakes up every morning at 4, helps set up at some restaurants, then goes to school from 7am until sometime mid-afternoon. From school she comes back to the Angkor Wat complex to sell books (which look really heavy) and goes home at 9pm. She told me she's tired all the time. And while I encouraged her to stay in school, I don't know if she will or even if she does whether it will help her that much.
Back in Siem Reap (and still running on the sleep we got on our two 2-hour flights), we hustled back to the hostel, showered, and went to dinner. In sharp contrast to the poverty just outside the city, much of Siem Reap is very developed and VERY touristy. Apparently the Koreans have invested heavily in the tourism industry there, and many of the hotels are very up-scale. So are the restaurants. The bar scene, which is where we met up with Chris, Christopher, and Audun, Norwegians we met at the temples, was pretty low-key because it's low season in Cambodia, but I'm sure it would be crazy during busy season.
After being up for nearly 48 hours, Cindy and I slept most of the day on the 16th, and by the time we finally woke up (1:45 pm), got ready for the day, and attempted to go outside, the city was in the middle of a deluge. Rainy season is definitely rainy at times! So instead of being productive in a sense that we'd actually see something that day, we spent the time writing in our journals and calling home.
On June 17, we rented bikes and rode out to the temples again. It was only about a 25 kilometer ride, but felt really good to get in a bit of exercise. That night, we met some Americans - which seems to be rare unless you're in Cambodia, where the tuk-tuk drivers told us they are everywhere. It was pretty interesting to talk to them. Craig had been stationed in South Korea with the Army, and his brother, Matthew, works on an oil rig in Mississippi. Because everyone we've met here, without exception, has been interested in American politics and is pro-Obama, my big mouth didn't take the time to register "red state" and "oil rig" before I made some comment about how we could be doing more good in the world by helping the Cambodian people out instead of spending money on the war in Iraq, and I promptly inserted my foot in my mouth and tabled all political conversations for the rest of the night. It's a lesson I'll hopefully learn from.
On June 18, Cindy and I did a boat tour of the floating village on Tonle Sap Lake, just outside of Siem Reap. The people who live on the lake mostly make a living by fishing, and have to move their homes about once a month because the lake's level rises and falls along with the rainy season. We took hundreds of photos of village life, which is quite possibly the poorest I've seen since being on my trip. Because we were on a boat, we didn't have kids coming up to us, pulling us on the arm, and asking us to buy things from them or give them money, but the sadness in their eyes was enough to make you want to spill out your wallet into the water and let the fastest swimmer take everything home to their family.
While in Siem Reap, I emailed Pat, our contact with Clear Path International, an organization that Marler Clark supports, and arranged to meet up with her while we were in Phnom Penh. Clear Path International provides support to land mine victims, their families, and communities, and I wanted to see their work in action.
We left Siem Reap for Phnom Penh on June 19th, and the morning of the 20th hooked up with Pat and Surat, a volunteer with Cambodian Volunteers and Community Development (CVCD), for a tour of a few schools that are supported by CPI and CVCD. The schools are set up in areas where "squatters," or people who have been moved out of the city by the Phnom Penh government, have been forced to live. CVCD funds the schools so that kids who have been "relocated" can be educated while their parents work. We saw a 2nd grade and a 4th grade class. The 4th graders are learning English, and it was fun for them to practice basic questions and answers with us. After our tour, Pat and Surat drove Cindy and me back to our hostel, and on the way taught us a bit about Cambodian history and the current political climate. After seeing the squatter villages and hearing them talk, it felt to me like the Cambodian government is treating its citizens like the US government treated Native Americans.
The afternoon of the 20th, we visited Choeung Ek, also known as The Killing Fields, which are located about 15 kilometers outside of Phnom Penh. The Killing Fields consist of mass graves where victims of the Khmer Rouge - mostly intellectuals and government officials and their families - were buried after they were executed. Our guide described the methods with which the Khmer Rouge killed different victims - babies were either thrown into the air and speared with bayonets or held by the legs and smashed against trees, while adults were clubbed in the head with blunt instruments or held down and slowly tortured while soldiers pulled sharp baby palm fronds across their necks. Not all the bodies have been recovered from the graves, and after it rains (thank God we were there at the beginning and not the end of the rainy season) clothing and bones from the graves float to the surface. The trail we walked on was littered with small pieces of bone, teeth, and pieces of clothing.
Following the Killing fields, we visited Tuol Sleng Museum, also known as Security Prison 21 (S-21), the former Tuol Svey Prey High School in Phnom Penh. S-21 was used to hold thousands of prisoners throughout the reign of the Khmer Rouge. The prisoners were tortured and beaten by soldiers, and the museum depicts the different torture methods, and displays photos of victims. The two things that struck me most about the school were (1) that one of the exhibits included photos of and quotes from former members of the Khmer Rouge. Nearly all of them said that they had joined the Khmer Rouge not because they believed in the cause, but because they believed it was their only choice. What an awful choice to have to make, and (2) that very old white plumeria trees were growing in the school-yard. Staring out the prison windows into the yard, or being walked to a torture chamber past those trees, must have been quite the contrast.
After a day filled with emotions, we decided to have a cup of coffee and digest what we'd seen. Before we left the cafe we were at, however, another torrential downpour began (the best one I've seen yet, with lots of lightning and thunder), and we were stuck inside for several hours. It turned out to be a pleasant end to the day since we met Stu from Calgary while we were there, and had a great conversation with him. We also met a couple who had recently been to Vietnam. The woman shared with Cindy some ins and outs in the shopping world, and gave us some good advice. Now that we're in Vietnam, hopefully it will pay off.
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