Glenn Tells a Monk to Take a Walk!

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  Siem Reap, Cambodia
Friday, March 3, 2006

After all the temples we had seen around Angkor, we were looking forward to seeing something a bit different. We had previously discussed visiting the "Flooded Forest of Kompong Phhluk" (as the guidebook describes it) and with the invitation from the monk to show us his pagoda where he studies and Kompong Phhluk village we thought it a lucky meeting and a great opportunity to get right into the locals way of life, away from the madness of mass-tourism.

There were two ways to get to the village. The first, was by the lake that we came in to Siem Reap. This was the more expensive option and after our last "extended" long ride into Siem Reap from Battambang, we were happy that there was a second option. This second option was a rough road down to the village and then a boat ride from there. The rough road meant that we couldn't take the tuk-tuk and our friendly driver Phe, but when we told him, he replied "no problem"

Bakong Temple, Roulos Group (1)

. The tuk-tuks here are unlike the Thailand or Indian versions. Here they are a motorbike, which a frame is bolted onto the back the bike and a trailer carriage attached. Phe would go as far as he could with the carriage, then dump it, convert back to a motorbike and we would all jump on for the ride to the boat. Sounded ok, and he was a very fair driver, so it was settled. Glenn was happy that it was the more adventurous option too!

We left about 7am and we asked Phe to find a phone so we could let the monks know we were on our way. We didn't want to arrive and find that they weren't there. With a bit of fun trying to get hold of the monk, we did get hold of him, and after speaking broken English with him for about 10 minutes we actually found out he was still in Siem Reap! Lucky! We thought that he would be back in his village.

Handing the phone back to Phe, they were able to work out a place to meet, and we finally met up with our friendly monk "Narong", an hour later. Narong was accompanied with his friend (also a monk). Both spoke some English, but Narong was much keener to practice it for his teaching.

Finally we set off, the tuk-tuk carriage loaded with the four of us. The drive out was great. We passed smaller villages along the road, temple ruins, and slowly the villages faded and the rough road appeared. Phe disconnected the carriage and the monks found another motorbike to share (as four on the back of the motorbike wasn't our cup of tea!). Still, he left the main shaft that held the carriage to the bike, so there was a big pole in the middle of the motorbike seat, meaning only one could get on the back

Bakong Temple, Roulos Group (2)

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It wasn't really what we had thought when, the night before when he indicated the two of us could get on the back, but he said that he would take one then come back for the other. A bit hesitantly, Glenn went with him first. The road turned out to be really bad (read really fun if you have a dirt bike), but Phe was finding it tough going balancing through the troughs and peaks of the messed up road. After going further and further, and Glenn getting concerned that Christie was left behind, he tried to ask Phe to stop and go back for Christie, but the communication barrier wasn't helping as he obviously had no idea what Glenn was asking. Phe eventually stopped at a tiny little village among the rice fields and indicated he would go back, take off the rest of the trailer support and get Christie. A sigh of relief from Glenn.

In the meantime, Christie was back at the trailer with the monks talking to the locals. The monks were translating and the conversation seemed to concentrate on why she wasn't yet married and that she was too old not to be married (you're telling me!!! ha ha). Glenn on the other hand, was invited into one of the small huts in the village where he was dropped off. It was a very kind gesture to let a complete (foreign) stranger into your home. Not really being able to communicate and with no common language spoken except "hello", Glenn managed to gather a lot of interest from the kids in the hut, and even got a serve of some fresh corn. After trying to remain polite, Glenn finally pulled out the camera and had some great fun taking photos with the kids, and seeing their enjoyment as they rushed to see the images after each shot.

Soon after Christie appeared, along with the monks, and so we set off again with the two bikes, two monks on the back of one, and Christie and Glenn hanging on to Phe

Bakong Temple, Roulos Group (3)

! The road was wild and Phe was really struggling hard to make the ride smooth for us, let alone keep the bike on track. At one stage, while riding along the road edge to avoid the deep dips in the road, he lost balance and we all fell over into the bushes! It was only a minor fall, as we were hardly moving, but because all three of us were over and against the bushes on the side of the road we got a bit stuck and it was hard to get up!

Poor Phe was really embarrassed, but we were fine and tried to keep his spirits up (for us it was an adventure!) He slowly struggled on, and before long another moto driver came past and Phe asked Glenn to jump on the back of that bike. He was obviously finding it hard. The new moto rider was a bit less fearless and Glenn was raced off towards the boat, hanging on tight as the bike almost bounced him off the back with the speed. Christie on the other hand had a bit of a rough trip with Phe, and managed to say hello to the ground one more time (ouch!).

Glenn's moto driver was also the boat driver, who the monks had called in advance. The monks had asked before what we wanted to pay for the boat. Finding his question a bit strange, we asked how much it should be, but he didn't know the price for foreigners. So we said we'd work it out at the boat

Christie and Phe

. At the boat now, he asked the same question, so going off our guidebook Glenn said 20,000 riel (US$5) and the offer was accepted (first offer - amazing!).

We all piled into the boat (except Phe who rode his bike down the road further) and started making our way down river and saw the village - houses built on huge towering stilts, some 7 metres or so above the ground. Apparently during the wet season, the water rises almost this much! After only a few minutes in the boat we stopped in the heart of the village - surprised that the boat trip was so short. As we jumped out, we were hoping that the US$5 (quite a lot in the local economy) was also including the trip to the flooded forest (as we had discussed with Narong), as this short ride was not worth that much.

The monks then took us around the village for a quick tour - we saw their pagoda, and Narong described some of the paintings to us. We then went to the local school and met some of the students who he was teaching English, although most were a little embarrassed as we tried to talk with them. The village was quite a sight, with most of the same wooden style huts typical of villages, but now supported 7 metres above the ground!

We met the sister of the boat driver who was also learning English, and Narong said that we could have lunch with them, while they went to the pagoda for theirs

Glenn's Visit At Tiny Village (1)

. Ok, sounds fine as there weren't exactly restaurants in this village! We were led to their home, a typical wooden hut way up in the sky and were excited to see if we could make it up there without it falling, but instead we were led down to a small canoe and we slowly crawled in as the boat rocked with every small movement. We crossed the river (not very wide) and were then taken to a fairly lavish place (compared to the basic surroundings), which turns out to be the only guesthouse in town. It was their guesthouse, although the food was being prepared in the original place over the river. Of course we preferred the hut, but being polite as we were guests, we waited in the guesthouse for lunch to be prepared. We waited some more. And some more, and after 1 1/2 hours the monks returned as agreed but we still hadn't had anything to eat. Surprised, they said it must be coming soon, and sure enough over the river came our food. So the table was set for three and a feast was put on the table. We were expecting something small, but this... we wondered what it was going to cost!

The monks having eaten, waited while we attempted to eat the big dishes of food served, and Phe joined us. After finishing what we could, we asked how much, and Narong translated for us that it was US$10. Quite steep for lunch here (especially out of tourist town), but as guests we didn't want to appear rude and paid

Glenn's Visit At Tiny Village (2)

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Eager to get out and see something more after wasting 2 hours waiting for lunch, Narong said we can rest a while first. Huh? 2 hours waiting and you want to rest???? We tried to be patient, and managed to politely indicate that we were keen to keep moving after already having sufficient rest.

Before lunch, we were told that a small boat would be best to see the flooded forest, as the long boat we had come in on was too big. Now, heading down to the river, we got back into the big boat (huh - what happened to you need a small boat?) and proceeded down the river to see the flooded forest. The village ended as a forest sprung out of the river bed, the water up the trunks of the tall trees. They were an interesting sight, but not much to see. It didn't take long until we were past the forest and into the Tonle Sap lake (same lake we came into Siem Reap on from Battambang).

We kept heading out away from the forest and into the vast lake towards some huts on the lake, maybe a few hundred metres away from the end of the forest. Narong told us that these were being built for the fishermen, and the boat pulled up alongside one. The driver and one of the monks jumped out and we wondered what we were doing here? Narong asked if we wanted to climb aboard the hut, but it didn't interest us and we declined. However, the rest of the crew looked like they were having another "rest" (less than 10 minutes after leaving).

Trying to be patient, but getting a little frustrated that we were wasting so much time, we asked if we could go back to see the village again

Glenn's Visit At Tiny Village (3)

. Ahh, that worked, and we chugged back. Apparantly in the wet season you can take a boat through the trees in the forest, but they told us it was not possible in the dry season.

Narong said we could walk through to see the north side of the village and then take the boat from there. Sounded good, and we walked through the stilted village again, heading further up north. It wasn't a very big village, and before we reached the end of the village we headed back down to the boat for the short ride back up the river. Phe wasn't with us and we asked how he was going to get back (he jumped in the boat further downstream on the way down), but Narong said he'll meet us back there. Stumped with translation, we let it go, only to see our driver riding past as we chugged along. Huh? Can you go all the way via land?

After the short ride we thanked the driver and handed him the US$5 we agreed. But it was not accepted and he wanted more. We explained to Narong that we had agreed on the price before as 20,000 reil which was the same as $US5. Narong was talking between the driver and us and he said that we had said the price was 28,000 not 20,000. After trying to be polite we said fine, and paid the extra 8000 ($2) to avoid a situation. Still not good enough... Narong said, no, 28 US dollars

Glenn's Visit At Tiny Village (4)

. WHAT! $US 28 no way! We came all the way from Battambang to Siem Reap (10 hours) for only $20 together! This short trip was only worth $5 as agreed (and in the guidebook) and we had already offered an extra $2. Pretty soon it turned into a stalemate, with us refusing to give $US28, a ridiculous price and the boat driver and his "mates" that had gathered around us. Narong was the middle man and after some time of this stalemate and us refusing to dish out the ridiculous price asked if we can pay some more and that he didn't have to come out here, as he was busy at his pagoda? Huh? It was him that invited us and now he is getting personal when the issue is over the boat?

Narong kept at us to pay more, saying "you pay a few more dollars", but we refused. We had been in a stalemate for quite some time, waiting for a suitable outcome, but suddenly Phe pulled out his wallet as if to pay. We motioned for him not to, as we were intending to sort it out ourselves, but he handed over what appeared to be everything in it (a $US 10 note and about 10000 reil, basically totalling about US$20 with the US$7 we had already paid). Shocked and unsure why he had done this, Glenn picked up the $US7 that we had offered the boat driver. Phe was telling us to go and appeared to be in a hurry to get out of there.

Narong jumped in and said that the money Phe had paid was not for the boat but was for his nephew who studies in the village and that he was the boat driver's uncle! It sounded like horse trollup, but the boat driver didn't look impressed that Glenn had taken the money and so having noone else to translate except Narong, who was a monk we trusted, Glenn handed the boat driver the US$7, and we jumped on the back of the bike, with Phe eager to go

Glenn's Visit At Tiny Village (5)

.

We were really annoyed at this stage (especially Glenn!) and very worried that the money Phe had paid was actually for the boat, meaning of course that we would need to pay him back - so we had paid over $20US. After Phe struggled again with the poor roads back, the monks zoomed past on the back of their bike. Not long after, Phe stopped and said he needed a rest. He was quite stressed from what had happened and we tried to find out if the money he had paid was for the boat. It seemed that it was, and he proceeded to explain with a lot of sign language and a little broken English that the boat and lunch was a rip off and the monks were somehow involved. He was cursing at what we thought must have been the monks and we pointed to a picture of some monks on our guidebook and he nodded and said Kampuchea Monks no good, while spitting and stamping on the ground, and was obviously very angry with them and what had happened. So were we, but we remained supportive of Phe, who for all we know may have saved us from a much worse situation. It was also totally out of character for him, he was always so meek, polite and such a gentleman.

We plodded along precariously but still having some fun with Phe for the rest of the ride, as each time we came to an obstacle we'd enquire "walk?" and he'd usually say yes, except at the one big puddle of muddy water he said "no, its ok" and proceeded to crack up laughing as we all rode through the puddle with our feet in the air

Kampong Phhluk Village (1)

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Making it back to the trailer, the monks were waiting there and Glenn was still very p@#$ed with what had happened, as if the monks had lied then that was the reason for him handing over the extra cash (to put it in context, we were only paying Phe US$8 for the whole day)! As Christie tried to calm Glenn down, he finally had to confront the monk to see if he had lied. Glenn asked why he said Phe was the uncle of the boat driver, and that it wasn't true. Narong, knowing well that Phe spoke little English said yes, ask your driver! We said we had, and that it wasn't true. Narong back peddled a bit and said that he thought he was, and started speaking to the driver. Mid way through, our driver, obviously angry at the monk said "Me Muslim, not Kampuchea, not uncle" and we knew then for sure that our driver was definately telling the truth, as he had told us before he was Muslim.

Suitably angry at the monks, Glenn now said to Narong "You lied to us. That is bad karma... You had better start walking"... Yep, Glenn was threatening the monks find alternate transport. "Don't say that" Was Narong's response... but it seemed our driver was in agreement and wasn't letting them in as well. Our driver did lend them his mobile so they could call another bike, and we left, leaving our lying monks behind

Kampong Phhluk Village (2)

. One interesting point to note was that Narongs monk friend didn't seem very surprised that we weren't letting them come with us.

Reflecting on the events on the day, we realised that the whole day of events seemed to be a bit of a scam from Narong from saying we needed a boat, and him calling one, to having an expensive lunch at the same guesthouse as the boat driver's family. Also Narong had asked before lunch if we could pay for their return back to Siem Reap. Huh? Why did they now not want to come back with us?, but we had said that we will take them back in our tuk-tuk. Not seeming satisfied, we said we'd work it out later. I guess we did just that.

Although still quite annoyed, we made our way towards Siem Reap, and Phe stopped off at some of the Rolous Group temples along the way. We had planned to visit these temples anyway, but now, it was more of a chance to calm down rather than sightsee. Having calmed down, we went to the main temple of the Rolous group as the sun was fading. It was worth the stop and provided a quiet way to reflect on what had happened (although still a bit unsure) and take in the beauty as the late afternoon sun was lighting up the ruins.

Continuing on back to Siem Reap, we noticed two monks passing us on a motorbike - yes, our lovely monk friends. Seems like they had a bit of a wait! We made it back to Siem Reap, and thanked Phe for his help over the last few days, paid him back the money he had spent on us along with a nice tip (unusual for us!). He was very sweet and couldn't stop shaking our hands and wishing us luck for the future. We loved Phe! After that we decided to go to our favourite cheap restaurant for dinner to eat for less than US$2 together (all we could now afford!).

What a day. I think we are glad to be getting out of here tomorrow!

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Kampong Phhluk Village (3)

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