[Sandra & More] Cambodia

[Sandra Cloostermans & Lluís Moré]

Hi guys, in the meantime we´re back at home, safe and sound. I am a little (just a little) behind, but here goes Cambodia...

31 August – 4 September: Phnom Penh
Our first impression of Cambodia is not exactly positive. But, we don´t worry, because this happened with all new countries: we don´t get to like the place until we have spent a few days there. I guess we need this time to get accostumed to new people, another language (here we have to greet with “sue se dai”), a new way of functioning …

Now, in Phnom Penh we had some added inconveniences: Lluís had a cold and did not feel too well, the mornings were too hot and in the afternoons we had 4-5 hours of heavy rain and, although our guesthouse was OK, it was located in a neighbourhood with very little ambiance. For all these reasons, we ended up spending a lot of time in our room (reading of course, you dirty minds, READING) or on the rooftop terrace of our guesthouse.

Still, we launched ourselves into the hot sun, armed with suntan lotion, litres of water, handkerchief on head, and saw quite a few things. We visited Tuol Sleng (or the S21 Museum), which is a former college, used by the Khmer Rouge as a prison and interrogation (read: torture) centre. It was very moving to see all those pictures, rows and rows full of pictures of prisoners, knowing that virtually all these people were killed.

This sign was actually there. Can you imagine? The last thing we felt like doing was to laugh:

Wat Phnom:

We could also have made an excursion to the Killing Fields, outside Phnom Penh, but we had seen enough cruelties after Tuol Sleng and the War Remnants Museum in Saigon. When we talked about the Pol Pot regime with a 35-year old Cambodian woman, Sochhta, she started to cry, and we realized that it is all still very recent for them. With 1/5th of the Cambodian people killed, every family must have lost various relatives. How we met Sochhta (pronounced Soyetà)? Well, this was during one of our Wat visits. These wats are usually surrounded by residences for the monks (Their orange or red tunics hanging on the line to dry always make nice pictures!) This particular one, which we passed by accident, had village-like surroundings, all very cosy.

Some of the monks, eager to practice their English, started talking to us and invited us to their house, where they offered us water and a nice (however difficult) conversation. There we met Sotchha, who was introduced by one of them as his “spiritual sister”. Before we left, we took some pictures and she gave me a wallet, made of beautiful Cambodian silk.

No hugging here, caus´women aren´t allowed to touch a monk:

Anyway, Phnom Penh is a city to return to in a different season, because we did not get to explore it to the fullest…

4-12 September: Sihanoukville
“Monkey Republic”: name of our first guesthouse here, a cute blue wooden bungalow, but where we left after a night of insomnia, due to the Karaoke nextdoor, followed by a hysterically barking dog, followed by the loud arrival of the guests of the bungalow nextdoor. Very nice bar though, where we spent some nice evenings…

“Karaoke”: favourite activity for people all over Laos, Cambodia & I guess also Thailand. When we have discos, they have Karaoke bars. The music is unvariably some mellow pop-style, always about love (or so it seems from the videos we’ve seen on the many buses) and if you´re very lucky if the person singing is not too drunk and can keep up the tone. If not, it is the worst sound to keep you awake at night. By the way, if on the sign the word “massage”is added to “karaoke”, then you better keep out ladies, caus’ you´re entering a brothel!

“Rega”: name of the next guesthouse, with beautiful garden, run by a charming French guy (who told us when we left that he hoped all his guests would be like us), and… very quiet.

“Serendipity beach”: small beach close to the hotel, packed with bungalow-guesthouses.

“Occheuteal beach”: same as Serendipity, but bigger. All guesthouses and restaurants have their sunbeds on the beach, where you can relax on, if only you order a drink. At night, sunbeds are replaced by tables and comfortable chairs and you can have a fish or seafood barbecue dinner. Yummy yummy! Prepare for a sleepless night, however, if you forgot to bring your mosquito repellent.

“Why?”: inevitable question asked by the Cambodian children if you dare answer “no” to the question “Buy something from me?” These children go from sunbed to sunbed on the beach asking you to buy their bracelets. If it isn´t a child wanting to sell, it will be a lady offering you massages or pedicure (or she will look at the hairs on your legs, disgusted, assuring you she should take THOSE away)

“Sokha beach”: very small beach (the bigger part is now available only to the guests of a new and very chic resort), from which you can see the most marvellous sunsets ever. The best things in life are usually free. (Dixit: Lluís – well, maybe also the odd one before him)

“Otres beach”: Unlike the other beaches, still completely virgin, except for one restaurant.

Not too much fun if it starts to rain the moment you arrive there, although wet tables, rain drops and grey beach can be an incredible inspiration for a photographer, especially if he hasn´t brought a book to read while waiting for the rain to stop...

12-19 September: Siem Reap
Coincidences! We choose Smiley guesthouse, where during one of the nights the owner throws a party for his daughter´s birthday and we run into the lady of our Phnom Penh guesthouse (or “wes-jous” as Luis from Galicia called it), who turns out to be the owner´s sister… Anyway, let me introduce the Siem Reap chapter with an article copied from one of the local magazines:

TO GIVE OR NOT TO GIVE? For visitors to Siem Reap, the sight of grubby children and pleading mothers with comatose babies can be pretty hard to bear.

Even the most hardened travellers can be moved with pity by this scene. That pity is what moves people to give, but is giving always the right thing to do? NGO´s and welfare workers remain torn on the issue, so I spoke to many in the hope of getting a balanced opinion. It is true that long before the influx of tourism, begging existed throughout Asia. With no welfare system in place, the jobless, the sick and the elderly were often forced to beg and you may notice that many Cambodians still give, predominantly to these groups.

Today, however, there are a lot of NGOs in place to assist with medical care, support and employment opportunities, so if you´re serious about helping, the best thing you can do is familiarize yourself with the services available and direct them to someone who can help on a more sustainable level. Unfortunately, the group that most tourists cannot resist is kids. Let´s face it, some of the street kids around town are pretty damn cool, and some can also turn quite nasty and down right rude if you don´t buy their books. The reality, however, is that whether they´re cute or nasty has nothing to do with whether it is helpful or harmful to give them money or buy their products.

Child begging was relatively uncommon before tourists arrived in droves, as most Khmers will give to the elderly long before giving to a child. Unfortunately for the kids begging in Siem Reap, tourists do the opposite. Due to this tourist habit of giving only to kids, poor parents are forced to send their children to beg while they stay at home. According to Friends International kids selling in Siem Reap town centre can make up to 300 USD per month in the high season. Why would a father work full time for as little as 30 USD per month and struggle to send their child to school when they can stay at home and send their children out to earn ten times that?

Some of these children do also attend school which is an important factor but many do not (although knowing all the lines too well, the majority will say they do) and the money they earn is far too often wasted on their parents´drunken gambling rather than being used to improve the family situation. Even if it is used wisely, this income is unsustainable, only lasting as long as the child is cute and giving them unrealistic future expectations, as well as risking training them in dishonesty and manipulation, none of which are great life lessons to be reinforcing in the next Khmer generation.

Some of the most disturbing stories of beggars in Cambodia are those involving mothers with young babies. Over the years Friends International have reported numerous cases of babies being hired out for begging, and being kept in the hot sun for hours. Many are pinched and slapped so they cry on cue and purposely starved to the point where several have had to be taken from mothers, because they refused to feed their own babies the milk provided for them free of charge, all purely to make them look as pathetic as possible for passing tourists.

Every case is different and every person has a different story to tell, making the decision to give or not to give even harder, but the only way these patterns can change is if we all change our habits. Everyone must make their own choice, but please think seriously about the situation you are supporting and analyse your reasons for giving. Is it simply to ease your conscience and avoid an uncomfortable situation, or do you really think you can help these children by handing over some cash?

For alternatives to giving money, please see the ChildSafe website at www.childsafecambodia.org.
Tracey Shelton

And yes, there were loads and loads of children begging us to buy, and no, we didn´t buy from them, although it was really difficult sometimes. We made a habit of only giving to elder people or buying books from victims of the landmines, men with amputated arms or legs, who sell books to tourists as their only possibility to make a living apart from begging.

We visited the city for two days, at a very slow pace, because we are at a moment in our travel that we are tired. Too many walks in the hot sun and a whole week of relaxing beach & garden holiday in Sihanoukville have made it difficult to get into the rythm again. But that´s OK, we take it easy, before the three-day marathon to see ANGKOR.

Wat Dam Nak in Siem Reap:

And yes, for Angkor any description would be unsufficient. The only two words that come to mind are: IM PRESIONANTE!

We bought a 3-day pass to Angkor, which is definitely not enough to see it all, but gives a good idea of the greatness & civilisation of the Angkor Empire. We hired bicycles for the first and the third day, and for the second day a tuk-tuk to visit the temples further away. Let me just show you some pictures:

DAY 1
Angkor Wat: Preah Khan: Me, myself and I at Neak Pean: Sunset at Pre-Rup:
DAY 2
Lolei: Preah Ko: Children at Preah Ko: Bakong: Monks around the modern temple next to Bakong: Beautiful carvings at Banteay Srei:Ta Som, and a proof of nature´s victory over mankind: DAY 3
Sunrise at the lake of Sras Srang:and the always-present children there trying to sell us bracelets or breakfast in their family´s restaurant: Bayon, most important temple in the Angkor Thom complex: Ta Prohm:

19-21 September: Battambang
For the spectacular boat trip to Battambang, we had to get up at 5.00h, but by 8.00h we had already had various adventures. We are picked up at our hotel at 6.00h, assuming we are the last passengers, because the truck is already full, with no room left for us. Excuse me? No room left? We´re in Asia for God´s sake! I get squeezed in on the back seat of the cabin next to a Swiss couple, and the American guy in the front gets to take all the bags on his lap. In the back, suitcases are being put on people´s legs and everyone needs to move closer to make room for Lluís. But… there are still more people to pick up!! I end up with Riekie (a Dutch girl) on my lap, leaving me with no possibility to move my body, although I can still move my head from left to right. Lluís tries to make the driver act, arrange for extra tuk-tuks or something, but since he does not get any support from the other tourists, who accept their fate lamely (including me!), the driver just shrugs his shoulders and moves on. Anyway, it´s a big laugh…

Then we arrive to the port, which is another spectacle. Houses on stilts and dirty shops on either side of a narrow road, and – incredibly surreal – we see complete houses being transported on trucks. It´s a shame I cannot show you any photographs, but I wasn´t in a position to get out my camera… The trip itself was amazingly beautiful and we do have pictures of it luckily:

Buddha image on deck:


Making pictures of the wet floor of Wat Phiphetaram in Battambang:

Battambang is a provincial town, although the second biggest in Cambodia, but much less touristy than anywhere else we´ve been and it gives us a more authentic glimpse on the country and the people. There is not much to see, but we enjoy just walking through the town. On the way to Wat Kampheng in the afternoon, we get caught by the rain and a friendly family offer us their house to wait for it to stop. We start a conversation with the two daughters, Lalin and Soriya, who have learned some English at school, but we cannot talk to the parents. By the time it has actually stopped raining, we have our belly full with oranges and grapefruit, dipped in a chili sauce they have showed me how to prepare and we are looking at their brother´s wedding album. On top of all their generosity, we leave with a lunch packet: one banana leaves roll stuffed with rice & banana and one with rice & meat. Delicious! Lalin, if you ever get to read this, tell your Mum we loved it!

The way back to the hotel means wading through the roads that have now become rivers. A nice occasion to clean my sandals. Just hope they´re dry by tomorrow…

We have dinner with the Swiss couple (Nina & Jonathan) and a German guy (Mark). The latter has been living in Cambodia for 5 years now and has a fruit farm. He gives us a lot of interesting information of life in Cambodia and the way people function. I could spend hours listening to him…

The next day, we leave Cambodia to head to the one before last destiny of our journey, Bangkok. Yes, dearest friends, only 10 days left!

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Publicado por Sandra Cloostermans & Lluís Moré para Sandra & More el 10/03/2007 12:05:00 AM