cambodia...a country of contrasts

we arrived in phnom penh after a harrowing bus journey from siem reap. in north america there is road rage, in s.e. asia there is road brave. you have to be really brave (or incredibly insane) to drive here. it must be innate and then through conditioning as a child (ie. riding with all four of your siblings and your father on a moto scooter) you become immune to the fear of dying via vehicular accident. to learn the nuances of when to ebb and when to flow would be overwhelming to the average canadian. the chaos that is traffic in cambodia makes no sense to those that were raised to abide by traffic lights and lane markers.

anyway...we arrived safely in phnom penh and went straight to our couchsurfer host's place. this was our first couch experience in s.e. asia so we were super stoked (did i really just type 'stoked'?) about it. usually our couch has consisted of a: a soft couch or b: a soft bed or c: a softish blow up mattress in a room separate from our host. we've stayed in home offices, living rooms, guest rooms and my favourite to date...a laundry room with it's own balcony! i'll just say our experience with mariam in p.p. was unique. we are always grateful for a place to stay and a new person to chat up. that her place was steps away from the national museum and a few more steps away from the royal palace was a huge bonus.

our 'couch' - a traditional khmer bamboo platform bed on a covered terrace

we had 4 days in p.p. which was actually more than enough. we only really did one touristy thing a day and the rest of the time we read our travel guide, walked along the river or sat in internet cafes planning our next destination. since the royal palace was literally across the park from mariam's place we couldn't NOT go...and anyway, we had to see the silver pagoda with the solid gold buddha. at the end of our tour of the palace grounds we came to the outer wall where we could hear music playing. we followed wooden stairs up to an open balcony where some musicians were seated. we were encouraged to join them and try out one of the khmer-style xylophones.

corina attempting to the roneat with the royal palace band

we wandered through the national museum one cloudy afternoon and eavesdropped on a tour guide that was quizzing his followers on their recognition of buddhist gods. the museum houses one of the largest collections of khmer art but i was quickly drawn outside to the courtyard. it was lush and green with great perspectives of the museum buildings, which are based on khmer temple architecture.

national museum courtyard

the weather in p.p. was drizzly and humid so we opted not to go to the killing fields but to stay in the city and go to the tuol sleng genocide museum a.k.a. S-21. the former security office 21 was created on orders of pol pot and was "designed for detention, interrogation, inhuman torture and killing after confession from the detainees were received and documented". while visiting this museum is difficult and depressing i think it is important to view. it's important because tragedies like this (ie. genocide) are still going on in the world today. and how is that possible? how can we let this continue? what are we doing to stop it? i'm not saying that a visit to tuol sleng will make you an activist but it has made me start to wonder about myself. how can i have been so apathetic for so long?

ironic footboard for a prison

photo documentation of just a few faces of the thousands killed at S-21

prison cells in building B

and then...just like that...you are thrown head first into paradise.

our oceanside hut on bamboo island


the beach at sunset

we headed from p.p. to sihanoukville on the gulf of thailand. we spent a day at the beach here and decided we should get out of there asap. the beach was crowded with restaurants and bars and many, many people trying to sell you stuff. an hour and a half boat ride over a choppy ocean brought us to ko russei a.k.a ko ruh or bamboo island. the hut was basic and the menu limited but it was just what we needed to recover from the hustle and bustle of mainland cambodia.

leah sen heuy,

corina

heartbreakers

we've been in cambodia for little more than a week and already the kids have captured my heart. they are a scruffy, beautiful, pesky, and dusty bunch and they know how to charm you. they've charmed us out of money, food, and a pen. we have read the guidebooks that warn you only to support businesses that help kids (which we have done) and not to give in to their begging but...really...could you say no to this face?


this little girl saw our bag of pineapple scraps and mango and made a beeline for jay. we'd already eaten most of the pineapple as we walked through the temples of angkor but she put out her hand and said, "food"?

this boy was selling books outside a temple and when we said no to the books he challenged me to a game of tic tac toe. as we were playing he said,"ïf i win you give me money". for some reason i never asked what i would get if i won but it was a moot point.


this blue dog and his friend just kinda moped around as we walked through a temple. they didn't ask us for anything but after i took is picture i gave him 1000 riels (25 cents).


just hanging around a temple with his sister, this boy posed for me and another tourist.

the boy on the front of the boat would leap onto the tourist boats and sell water and pop and then leap back onto his boat as the father trolled alongside.

we went on a boat tour of tonle sap near siem reap as suggested by our tuk tuk driver. there is a floating village on the lake and many tourists take tours around with a few stops at local businesses along the way. when i read about it online the price of a shared boat ride was $6 per person. when we arrived at the docks we were told the price was $20 per person and that we would have our own boat. jay and i had already spent $15 on the tuk tuk driver and spent the morning at angkor wat so another $40 was out of our budget. we turned away to leave and the tour guy followed us back to our tuk tuk. our driver explained that the tour would support the local people and gave them jobs. the tour guy dropped the price to $30 all the while making sure we knew that every other tourist paid the full fare and ribbing us about spending money in other countries but not cambodia. jay was still resistant but i said...we're only in cambodia once...so we went.

it was interesting to see the village but it became disturbing when it became apparent that children were put on display to entertain the tourists. this little girl is waving a snake at us and asking for food or money. when i took the photo i didn't think much of it but when we were on the floating souvenir store and looked down at another boat there was another snake and child combo. this time the mother was putting the snake's head into the child's mouth.

i'm sure not all the kids we see are coerced into putting on shows and begging from the tourists. there is evidence of loving parents and families in cambodia. but when you are bombarded with children begging from you at every opportunity it is difficult to see past that. i see the desperation in their eyes and my heart breaks.

chum riep leah,

corina