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Published: December 6th 2006
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My third and final day in Siem Reap, and it's been a good one. Just a short morning visiting temples (only three small ones this morning) and the rest of the day has been spent in and around the city.
We visited the Rolous Temples this morning, and like I said they were very small but none the less quite grand. These ones were more interesting in the fact that each of them had a pagoda attached that the buddhist monks live in, and as they were right in the middle of a village there were more locals to talk with. Again, the more I talk with them the more I realize that I am a spoiled brat at home with more than I could ever ask for in life. Every person I talk to, from the age of 7 to the age of 27, is longing to go back to school to try to make a life for themselves and their family. At first I thought it was just the kids trying to sell more stuff by saying they want to go to school, but I am not so sure anymore. It is the one sole desire for adults
and kids alike to go to school. But it is near impossible, as first of all they can't afford the tuition and books, but they also can't afford to not work their low paying jobs as they are all supporting their families somehow. It's a catch-22 of the grandest form.
After I went to the temples in the morning Wen took me to Les Chantiers Ecoles Silk Farm. I think we can all unerstand enough french to realize that this was a school in farming silk. It's a not for profit company that trains and apprentices men and women from small villages in how to farm silk, then process it and dye it, and finally weave it to produce some of the finest silk products in all the world. Once the apprenticeship is done the school provides the tools necessary for the villagers to work from their home, where they then get a fair price for piece work they produce.
The processing of the silk was really interesting. They took me on a tour starting from the Mulberry trees (there are three different kinds of trees, but the kind of tree has no effect on the type of
silke made) to the harvesting of the larvae for the silk worms, to the retrieval of the silk from the cocoons made by the worms. The silk is then retrieved from the actual cocoon, with the raw silk first from the 'fuzz' on the cocoon, then the fine silk from the actual cocoon itself. The silk is then bleached and dyed from natural products (bark from trees, morning glory flowers, rusty nails, coconut husks) and wound onto spools. From there it is weaved into some of the most marvelous silk products I have ever seen. The whole process takes days, and sometimes months depending on what is being weaved. It was one of the most interesting things I have ever seen. Of course there was a gift shop at the end, where I spent more money than my entire weeks accomodation and food. I came out of the gift shop a little guiltily, knowing that that money could have sustained my driver and his entire family for a month. But I sure got some nice stuff.
After that it was a visit to the Landmine Museum. The museum was started in the early 90's by a former soldier of
the Khmer Rouge. While he was enslaved as a child soldier he was forced to plant hundreds of landmines along the Thai/Laos/Cambodian border. Once he was freed he started up the museum, where he trains others to safely remove landmines (that's an oxymoron if I ever heard one). They get a whopping $30 a month to do so. The perks are free cigarettes and food. Aki Ra has started up this land mine museum to raise money to remove more mines, however he now has somewhat of an orphanage as well, where he takes in and schools children that have been affected by landmines. As a result there were running and screaming kids all over the place, all missing arms or legs or sight, happy to be safe and being well looked after. It is an amazing place, with an amazing cause, and I urge people to go to his website and donate money, if not just to be more well informed on the cause.
Then it was off to the local hospital where I tried to donate blood, but because I am an honest idiot I checked yes next to the block where it asked if I was
'On my monthy blood loss period'. Therefore they wouldn't let me do it. I did get to have a conversation with one of the local doctors though, which was very informative. They do about 20 surgeries a day there, for "aches and pains". I couldn't quite get it narrowed down more than that. I did get that there were an amazine amount of cases of encephalitis, Dengue Fever, and Malaria there, especially during the rainy season. During the dry season there are barely any at all. WHich is good for me. The hospital is run by a Dr. Beato Chelo...an assumed name in case you couldn't guess. He is a foreign doctor who came here with a cause, and has since set up an NGO here in Siem Reap to help run the hospital. Every Saturday he puts on Chelo concerts to help raise money as well. Apparently he is an amazing chellist, and plays all the symphony classics. I only wish I were here for that. I wasn't able to walk around the hospital or the grounds at all; there were security guards everywhere. What I did see was sad enough. There was a mass of people that I
literally had to elbow my way through in front of the hospital, all waiting to see a doctor and being held back by the guards. The lucky few who did get inside were all massed together on mats on the floor, in an open air fan cooled waiting area. Sick people everywhere, all lying together on the floor of the hospital. Coughing and crying adults and kids were listessly waiting their turn. The consultation area was adjoining the waiting area, sectioned off by ropes. The doctors/nurses/techs (whatever they were) were at adjoining desks, with the patients telling their stories practically sitting on top of each other. Like the title of the blog says, it's a very sobering country.
That's not to say I am not loving every bit of it here. I wish I had more time to see this wonderful country. Alas, only 5 more short days, and I am back to Bangkok. I hope once I have been away for a while it won't be as bad as when I left.
I don't know if I have said this or not already, but a ride on the back of a scooter in Siem Reap is infinitely
more 'exhilerating' than a tuk tuk ride in Bangkok. My only fear now is that I didn't cringe once today while riding. Maybe one out of every 50 riders wears a helmet here. And they can carry bloody well anyting on those things! I am impressed with their ridermanship.
Am off to Pnohm Pehn tomorrow, which I am excited for, and I will let you know how everything goes asap.
Cathy
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