Cam bod ia, Can beg ya, Can bug ya

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Trip Start Apr 19, 2008 Trip End Apr 25, 2008

  Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Wednesday, April 30, 2008

I have been really bad! I can't believe how long it has been since I have written an update and now, since I've been in Vietnam for two weeks, Cambodia seems so far away. I still have the images, smells and experiences close in my mind though. The border crossing into Cambodia took a while and Lauren and I were dropped off about 200 meters away from the crossing where a table stood with 5 young Cambodian men trying to get us visas. This Lauren found skeptical but I was all for it. I figured it would save us the line up and lots of time but it turns out that I was lucky to have Lauren say. "No Elana. NO no nonononono. We're going to the border to get our visas like everyone else that crosses it." Most likely, these guys were going to rip us off, I just didn't have the proper judgement. There were hardly any line-ups, we just happened to get into the wrong ones and not sign the forms properly so it took a little longer. Once we crossed, we met two American girls who were looking for a private taxi like ourselves to travel the horrible road into Siem Reap, 4 hours away. The road was suicide! Pretty much a one lane dirt road filled with potholes, cattle crossings, broken tree parts, rubbish, tankers, pick-ups loaded with dozens of Cambodians, motos and then us. Our driver was also a lunatic but we were all so thankful to have been under a roof in a small vehicle. The only thing that was available on the side of the road was pringles and baguette and cheese so by the time we arrived we were ravinous. The baguette here, by the way is just filled with air so it is like eating a rice cake. We didn't have much time in Siem Reap because Lauren was on a tight schedule so we decided to make the most of the next day in Angkor Wat. We arrived for sunrise at 5 a.m. and ended up staying wondering around the temple ruins until sunset at 6:30 p.m. For those of you who do not know, (and I wouldn't have had a clue of its existence) Angkor Wat is one of the historical wonders of the world. There are over a dozen temples that were built during the 12th century for a crazy King that are still standing. It is amazing how intricate all the carvings are and the amount of detail that still remains! My favorite temple was Angkor Thom, which has massive faces of Buddhist gods carved into the towers. Another which I found equally interesting is known as the jungle temple. Gigantic trees have grown on top of the ruins, its roots strong and thick span across them, engulfing the ancient boulders that crumble beneath them. It was in this temple that Angelina Joile filmed the Tomb Raider and fell in love with the "chidran" (children) of Cambodia.

I must now speak to you about these chidran. They are all so beautiful and bright. I can see why Angelina took it upon herself to adopt Cambodian chidran rather than Thai or Vietnamese. I'm sure all of the chidran of Cambodia have their own bank accounts with thousands of dollars in it becasue of of the jolly Jolie. I'm sure the parents of the chidran she bought live the life of a King as well. However, this does not stop the chidran from begging. Eveywhere in Angkor Wat. Chidran off all ages with various sorts of tactics would try to get every single dollar out of me. At first I thought they were brilliant. A six year old girl came up to me and said, "Where you frum?" Delighfully, I replied "Canada". Immediately, without a breath she vomitted out a monologue, " Oh Canada. Population 33 million people minus 2 (because Lauren and I were there). Prime Minister Steven Harper but no for long. Main language English and French. Parlez vous francais? Canada is very collld counry. Do lots of ski." I was taken aback by all this information. This child was worthy of a couple thousand riel. I handed over my money and smiled, hoping that this money would go to furthering her education so she will one day she will be whatever she wants to be. Little did I know that each and every child in the country knew this blurb. This is what they must learn in school. An easy way to impress the expats and make money. They learn different ways to beg. Some cried, others fronted a big smile and just repeated over and over, "one dolla, one dolla. One dolla for me. One dolla. Yes. One dolla".  Lauren and I dicovered that the only way we would keep the chidran away was by telling them we were from Uzbekistan. Surely they would no nothing about this country and right we were. People would get our attention by calling us "laady". "Hello, laady. You buy somesing? Book, poscard, chewing gam? Come on lady." If it wasn't laady it was Madame. I don't know which I prefer but they both seemed degrading. They would find a way to make you feel as guilty as possible, never giving up, always wanting more. "You say you buy fwom me. Lady, you buy moar. Rememba me, Okay. You buys fwom me"... ad nausaum. Enough is enough! At one point I had 17 chidran hanging off my body. I felt like shark bait. I raised my purse high above their heads to avoid being robbed by these persistent litle babies. I left with about 40 postcards, 100 bengals and a bag full of books. A lot of the people asking for money were landmine victims. It was so sad to see and very hard to feel comfortable. We couldn't give to everybody, it was just impossible. We left Cambodia with a lot less money between giving to the childran, the wounded, the young parents with dehydrated babies in their arms and the old women trying to sell homemade goods and fruit. By giving, it only encourages more begging but it was so emotionally draining to see all the poverty and really, what is one dolla to me? It could feed a child and its family for one day when it could get me a coffee.

We ended up bumping into the Americans in every single place we went and we eventually exchanged e-mails. We had a great night out partying with locals and the girls. The next day we went on a private boat through a floating village. Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like. A village that floats in the Mekong Delta. It has everything a normal village would have: a church, basketball court, schools, restaurants, shops, a doctor. Since it is dry season, the village all moves further out into the river. During wet season, they are a lot closer to land. The water during dry season is absolutely disgusting. It is literally shit brown. All of the human waste, boat pollution and rubbish from the people living in the floating village goes into that water, not to mention parasite heaven. When I asked our guide where they get their drinking water, he said it came from Siem Reap. I found that very hard to believe. These people couldn't afford drinking water and the cost of living in this village is far cheaper than having a property on land. Seconds after I asked the question, I glanced over at the floating school and a young boy ran out from recess, rapidly scooping the river water into his mouth as if it tasted like natural spring water. It was devastating. Many people have visible ring worm which looks like giant suction cups all over the body. A little fishing boat came by our and a little girl had a massive snake wrapped around her neck. Lauren was intruiged by this, meanwhile in the back of the boat, I was prepared to get ringworm and jump in the water. My fear was clearly evident and the guide didn't allow the girl to come in the boat with the snake. I did build up the courage to take a picture of a little boy with one later on but from a far away distance.

We took a 6$ air con bus down to the capital city Phnom Phen. No proper toilet on the bus so a struggle to hold in for 7 hours. I had heard about the Khmer Rouge Regime in Cambodia but I didn't know much about it. From 1975-1979, Cambodia was taken over by a radical communist named Pol Pot. He has this mental idea to kill of all the people in the country that would be educated enough to outsmart his ludicrous new system. This included all doctors, teachers, government workers, military, children in school, even Westerners that were in the country at the time. He killed people if they had tasted chocolate because they had enoguh money to do so. All inocent lives. During this time, more than half the entire population was raped, murdered or led to starvation and eventually death. Only some of the peasants were kept alive and many of them were killed as well. He wanted to leave only a certain number of woman and men and breed them with the Chinese to create a whole new species. Absolutely sick. His own kind...

We visited an old school that was converted into the cental prison, torture and interogation center. Everything remains the exact same as it was in 1979. I found out that it was made into a museum in 1980, only a year after the horrific events. There were galleries filled with photos of everyone who went into that institution. Once people were taken out of the prison, they were promised to be taken out to work in the fields but really they were just murdered there. We also visited these killing fields where there is a massive viewing gallery with  millions of skulls from all of the victims that were never buried. I couldn't believe all the events of this massacre and how it is such recent history! 

Cambodia was a huge wake up call for me. I have stopped ordering so much food because I don't need it. I feel much better not wasting. I would give my leftovers to people on the street and they were so appreciative. I have realized how lucky I am. Not that I didn't know this before but now I feel so much more fortunate to have been raised where I was. I don't complain about the little petty things and when I open my mouth to try, I think about how so many people in third world countries suffer every day and never complain. It has given me a tougher skin but a softer core. I only stayed in Cambodia for a week but it was action packed and every day filled with so much information and new experiences. I loved it but it was just to difficult for my emotional temperament.

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