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Disturbing Trends
Entry 32 of 63 | show all | print this entry |
I crossed into cambodia today... well, let me just recap the day.
8:00 am - I'm packed and ready to go, which is fortunate, because all of the power in saigon goes out. I don't know why I'm suddenly having power outage problems (there was another outage tonight in Phnom Penh), but it didn't cause any difficulties. For me, that is.
9:00 am - Board the bus for cambodia. I'm with a german couple, an irish couple, two canadian girls, a dutch guy (more on him in another post), and ten older chinese tourists. None of us have visas, since they're cheap ($20) at the border. The german couple is a little concerned though, since they don't have enough cash (since all of the ATMs in saigon were down, because of the power outage). Our guide assures them that the bus will stop at an ATM before the border.
10:00 am - We stop for gas. No ATM. Our guide assures the germans that there's one at the border.
11:00 am - We get to the border. There is no ATM. Our guide has left and gone back to saigon. The germans begin to try & explain to the border guards that they don't have money for a visa. I feel quite bad for them, and decided to loan them the $40 they need. They are somewhat shocked and happy... we all get our visa paperwork and start filling it out. As I get done, one of the chinese men comes to me. He speaks no english & I speak no chinese, but I realize that he's probably having problems with the paperwork, as it's written in english and cambodian, and he probably can't read either. So I use his passport to fill out his application. I finish. I realize that there are nine other chinese tourists smiling hopefully at me. I spend the next fifteen minutes filling out cambodian bureaucratic forms for random chinese tourists. We all cross the border and begin looking for our bus. Unsuccessfully. I get the feeling that we need to go down the road a little ways. I voice this opinion. The one chinese man who speaks a little bit of english says "We will follow you!" This worries me. They obviously don't know what they're getting into. Fortunately we do find the bus, and I do not accidentally lose an entire pack of tourists in the wilds of cambodia. They are emphatically thankful and end up buying me lunch. They also insist that I pose in numerous photos with them.... I have a feeling that I will be in random chinese tourist slideshows about their vacation when they return home.
Summary of the day: The good news is that many people probably have at least a little bit better feeling about american citizens. The bad news is that I seem to continually leading people around or translating for them. This is a disturbing trend, as I am bad at both of those things....
First impressions of cambodia: Much much poorer than vietnam. We stopped to get on a ferry over a river - there are always lots of locals trying to sell you things, but there were also many kids asking for handouts. It's really the first time that I've had poverty sort of thrust in my face during the trip (perhaps climbing through the bus window would be more accurate). That being said, most of the kids were actually quite cheerful, and once they realized that I wasn't going to give them any money (also a subject for another time), I had semi-conversations with a few of them. I ended up buying and eating lotus buds, which I had never had - they're a bit like pistachios I thought. There was also a monk who got on, and handed out mangos to everyone, that his mother had picked from the garden that morning... so it really was quite an adventurous little journey.
I'm going to go visit genocide sites either tomorrow or the next day (so much for not going on tours of places that lots of people got killed at). I'll fill you in more on cambodia and the city then.
Latest Comments (2)
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caught up (reply)
Mar 29, 2007 13:07 EST by wolfunicorn
finally caught up on your blog and it is wonderful-interesting i just assumed people knew about the massacre and Calley-I went to Ya Vashem in Israel, the memorial to the holocaust and it is tough to see- your having a wonderful time and it is not surprising that so many people trust you to help them-miss you alot- Kate
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Again thanks for the break (reply)
Mar 28, 2007 16:20 EST by ezra0
It sounds like you are having a wonderful time. I also am enjoying the fact that you seem to be exploring these countries with food. Food is a real sense of pride with people, and your ability to try new things opens up a world where people will be pleased with you. Too Bad you can't bring some of these things back with you. I guess we will have to wait for your return to teach us what you have le... show all
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