Cambodia--Across the Country

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Part 15
February 16 Siem Reap
It is not hard to get off the tourist track here. Simply crossing the river (a muddy brown little meander) gets us to a ruddy dirt road and the last sighting of any Caucasians. We cycle along past waterwheels, fish drying, schools, wats, and all the other "regular" life sights of shops and homes and kareoke halls that make up life here.
Soon we come upon fields of corn, and after that rice that grows in what is the outskirts of Tonle Sap Lake when it is high during rainy season. Overlooking the rice fields, there are a string of hammock restaurants--as far as we can tell, you place your order and kick back in one of the 14 or so hammocks hanging in two rows, shaded by a bamboo roof, with views of the fields. There are no tables or chairs in these restaurants, so I guess you eat while lounging in the hammock.
We also see more of the common sight of pigs on motorcycles--no, they aren't driving, but lie crossways on the seat behind the driver, wrapped in bamboo. The big pigs, usually two at a time, are likely on their last ride, bellies to the sun, immobilized by the bamboo wrapping. The piglets are set inside a bamboo cage, joining about a dozen of their small, pink peers for their ride to the retail sales department. Unfortunately, by time we spot this phenomenon, it is too hard to get the camera out, so you will have to leave this your imagination.
Once away from the tourist circuit, it is easy to have your mind drift to the struggles of the war years. Even without the ubiquitous presence of landmine victims with missing limbs, you realize anyone over 30 most likely survived desperate famine, and probably much worse. And losing the great majority of the educated population (less than 50 doctors remained in Cambodia by 1979), there was a brain drain that probably still has repercussions.
Seeing the more normal lives of Cambodians, it is also easy to get a sense of the limited effects of tourism, and the open corruption of government. Most of the huge new hotels are owned by Koreans or Thai, who must be making some special deals with the political leadership to get these key real estate locations. Worse still, these hotels tend to employ Koreans, and most Korean tourists eat at the hotel, so very little money filters down from this development to the local population. The guesthouses, for the most part, are locally owned and employ Cambodians, so staying in these you both save money and do more for the local economy.
Personally, I can't see how one can stay at these very fancy and very expensive hotels when all around there are people who earn less in a year than the hotel room costs in one day. Our wealth and life opportunities are so exceptionally greater than the local population without flaunting it from the butlered doorstep of a resort hotel. I couldn't do this without feeling much guilt and even more questions about how to respond to this vast inequality.
Confusingly, it is extremely difficult to know how to address the injustices of the world. Throwing around money seems like a very short term fix that has many troubling consequences in terms of encouraging begging and lowering dignity. But a dollar means a lot to a starving child or a legless man with no other source of income, and this same dollar is almost nothing to us. So we give to individuals periodically, contribute to organizations when we can, and puzzle over what else we can do that would make a difference.

Feb 19: Battembang
There are a lot of organizations of goodwill in Cambodia, in a way that is much more visible than anywhere else we've been. It is hard to know if that is because the needs here are greater, the history more horrific, the system more established, or simply the style to be more visible. Certainly one piece is there is money flowing in to support NGOs, and this history of Cambodia, particularly of the Khmer Rouge, calls out for help.
Some of these organizations remind me of Compass--small, values driven, committed individuals focused on their mission and serving the interests of their client base. We arrived in Battenbang just in time to see the circus--a youth troupe reminiscent of Circus Smirkus that is part of an arts school that started first as a place to rescue traditional Cambodian arts among the youth. Learning that painting and music wouldn't be attractive to all kids, someone hit on the idea of circus arts, and suddenly all these active, at risk boys found an interest that took them off the streets and onto the stage. Now, this troupe, Phare Ponleu Selpak, is self supporting, and even travels internationally to perform the beyond cultural borders skills of juggling and tumbling and diablo and clowning (phareps@camintelcom).
It seems these small, non bureaucratized organizations set free the best in the human spirit. It would be great to document these "small is beautiful" programs all over the world that are full of spirit and have real impact for the people they serve.
The obvious question is how do you scale up these efforts? Are small organizations open both to great goodwill but also great corruption or ineptitude? Is bigger, even if it loses some of the spirit and flexibility, somehow better? I am doubtful, as there are many inefficiencies in larger systems, and as we see here, a great deal of complacency and spending that does little to serve the intended population (and much more to serve the needs of the NGO officials and probably the government as well).
Which brings us to the enormous problem of corruption here, and elsewhere in the less developed world. It isn't hard to see some of the effects of this corruption--grand houses for local officials, prime real estate given to Korean and Thai companies for development of new hotels, politics dominated by one party although everyone we meets seems to support another (Sam Rainsey, who is largely exiled to France). The impact of this corruption is pernicious, as if people in charge do not respect the law, why should anyone else? So people steal the bolts from the train tracks to sell as scrap metal (35 cents per kg), thereby destroying a public service but no different than the much greater theft at the top of the system. And sadly, this corruption is very hard to break, as anyone "cleaner" is unlikely to come to power, as they threaten the powers that be, and won't use the dirty tactics that bring one to power. And when those at the top abuse the system, it is easy to see how police and teachers and everyone else with the slightest power (and too little income) are led to be on the take as well to get their small "share." (Parallels to the US and the Bush administration's effect will be left for others to expand upon.)
So the Cambodia we've seen is still troubled by poverty, and the below normal rainfall of the past 4 years makes eeking a living from the land ever more difficult (although the real impact of the lowered rivers, partly due to dams, won't be noticed for another couple years when the depleted soils really miss the regular rejuvenating silting carried by floodwaters). The effects of the poverty look less pronounced here, as there is a lot of land upon which people can build their raised bamboo huts (costing a minimum of $500), and there they can raise some animals and crops that provide some of the basic needs. But still, there is a large number of orphanages around, not for children whose parents have died (as was the problem after the war and probably will be with the alarmingly high AIDS rate (over 25%)) but more so for parents who simply can't afford to keep their children.
Others live in floating villages on Tonle Sap Lake, a huge body of water that provides half the nation's food. Linked to the Mekong River, this lake can rise and fall 10 meters annually, so houses and schools are built to float with the water, and although lacking in lawn space, provide ready access to fishing and the livelihood (and protein) this provides. Because it is the dry season, the normal 4 hour boat trip from Siem Reap to Battenbang ended up more like 9 hours, as we trudged up the low water of the river, grinding the propeller in the sandiest low spots, as we passed riverside shacks for the simplest living. Most of our fellow passengers packed in the boat weren't veterans of the Laotian slow boat, so they seemed less patient with the whole affair that we found scenic and interesting as there were all sorts of things to see from these massive bamboo fishing net frames to smiling kids to a variety of boats and villages and fields and such.
In Battenbang, we hooked up with a man who was 15 years old when Phnom Penh was taken over by the Khmer Rouge and then faced the all too familiar story of eviction, forced labor, starvation, murder of his father and siblings, death by malaria of his mother and other family members, and 4 years of massive suffering before getting to a Thai refugee camp where he was for 9 years before returning to Cambodia. On the back of his motorcycle and that of his nephew, we toured the back dirt paths and roads surrounding the city, covering maybe 50km and a few temples, a killing field cave where live bodies were dumped by the hundreds, the fruit bat tree, a load of tiny rural villages, and finally, a trip on the "bamboo train," a homemade contraption of two axles, a bamboo platform, and a small two cycle engine that can be constructed (and taken apart) on the spot to travel the one lane track. If a real train is coming, you jump off and they take apart the whole thing, and if another bamboo train comes, the one with the lighter load is obliged to deconstruct to let the other one pass. These trains are real transportation for Cambodians getting to and from the market in Battenbang, and now they are in with tourists just for the experience of rumbling down the track and witnessing first hand the sorry state of the wobbly and ill fitting track (hence explaining how the train ride to Phnom Penh can take 18 hours while the bus takes 5).
The bus, where we are now, gives us the chance to watch some of the ever popular Karaoke, with such hits as "Mouse Loves Rice" (loving you, as the mouse does love his rice). More of the continuously flat fields of brown rice stubble (must be quite lively green in season) appreciated more when traveling in air conditioned, dust free comfort.

Feb 21 Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is your basic well functioning, relatively clean, active, interesting Asian city. The sheer normalness of life here is quite remarkable considering how desolate life was here less than 30 years ago under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge regime. While the surrounding countries of Vietnam and Laos have their own history of war, Cambodia has another level of victimization, that which is more internal, and far more insidious and hideous.
If you were unaware of this recent history, you'd just think that Phnom Penh is a pleasant city on its way up. There are loads of big houses behind fences, presumably many are for diplomats and NGO workers and government officials, but also some must be for wealthy Cambodians. There are new hotels and gas station/ Star marts (complete with ATMs that weren't anywhere in Cambodia until this year). Restaurants, bars, shopping, the Royal Palace, National Museum, Olympic Stadium, Wats...all the stuff that makes up a thriving city and one that is appealing to tourists.
More shockingly, this same ordinariness characterizes Tuol Sleng, the former Khmer Rouge S-21 prison set in a former three story high school set in a leafy neighborhood in the city. Outside the barbed wire topped school walls lies a neighborhood of houses and shops, while inside the concrete classrooms house instruments of torture and the tiny cells in which prisoners were kept until they had confessed to their alleged "crimes" of being educated or capitalist or simply wearing glasses or having smooth hands, and then were killed and dumped in the mass graves outside the city.
The torture chambers of S-21 are cast in a somewhat different light in the context of current US actions regarding terrorism. I don't think any nation wants to be on comparable moral ground as the Khmer Rouge, but there are also questions about if any kind of torture is justified? If someone is an an unqualified threat to others, what is permissible? It isn't that hard to argue that long term incarceration is necessary, and maybe even more harsh treatment if this somehow prevents other dangers. But a little more thought makes me realize the key issue here is following the rule of law and universally accepted judicial practices. Long term incarceration, and even capital punishment, could be warranted, but this should result from accepted legal procedures, not from secretive and hidden decisions of government or military officials. Because even if people want to believe "our" officials are somehow more moral than "theirs," the hidden actions of regimes like Pol Pot's make you know that almost anything is possible when individuals make the rules up for themselves.
Of course, it is also the acts of heroic individuals who make a world of diffemece, and Phnom Penh seems full of those working to improve the lot of the worse off--homeless children, disadvantaged women, trafficked humans,... Again, many of these programs have figured out how to have a strong public presence, often with a restaurant or store to both train individuals with marketable skills and to generate revenue for the organization and its clients. One exceptional program is Mith Samlanh (www.streetfriends.org) that has evolved over a decade to serve over 1500 street children, their families, and their community. Their most visible venture is their restaurant, Friends, which serves exquisite food prepared and served by street youth who then go on to work in some of the best hotels and restaurants in Cambodia. What is most inspiring about programs like this is how they learn and evolve over time, adjusting from naive ideas by listening to their clients, expanding their vision, and generating theenergy to keep moving forward despite what are surely all sorts of challenges internally and in the world beyond their scope.

For those interested in the logistics of travel in these countries with wacky alphabets and unfathomable languages, let me assure you it isn't all that hard (although as our new air con bus bumps wildly along one of the country's supposedly better roads, I may amend that statement). Between Lonely Planet and the all too present drivers, tour offices, touts, or just helpgful folk willing to help you out (and speaking English), we never feel too troubled by logistics. For food, there are tons of locals restaurants everywhere, which are perfectly fine (and cheap), but more international restaurants abound in most places, so lately the kids have been eating spaghetti and pizza and the omnipresent fruit shakes to their heart's delight. Cambodia and Laos both have baguettes everywhere (a product of French colonialism), but none of us are really craving bread, so we have not been inclined to eat this type of local food much at all. Beer is a popular item here, so that is not hard to find. And hotels run the range from very simple guesthouses to 5 star internationally sterile places. We have been staying in the basic $15 room with air conditioning and private bathroom--not always flawless rooms, but always clean and roomy and more than adequate. Finally, on the subject of toilets--although most places have western toilets, we love squat toilets in public places. Almost always clean, as they are flushed by pouring water downthe drain, even at their worst, it is only the bottoms of your shoes that are getting dirty. So pretty easy living--good restaurants, adequate and air conditioned hotels, cheap taxi like vehicles, good buses, and all for much less than $100 per day for the 4 of us.

Feb 23 Kampot
Maybe I shouldn't have commented on how easy it was to make travel arrangements. Our bus ride here, advertised as 2-3 hours by all accounts, turned out to be more than 5. Instead of the direct route, we took a little 50 km detour, a left onto a potholed dirt lane that bounced us along until we suddenly came out at the ocean, not exactly en route to Kampot, but apparently a destination for some of our Cambodian fellow bus riders. At least this was scenic driving along the palm fringed coast, and when we suddenly pulled to a halt in the middle of nowhere, there were plenty of guesthouse "encouragers" there to explain how the bridge had washed out and another bus awaited on the other side of the river, and, oh, did we need a guesthouse to stay in in Kampot?
This is a laid back, almost beach-like town relatively off the tourist track. For some reason, almost everyone at our place is French, which seems odd since we saw hardly any other French elsewhere in Cambodia. Maybe they like the feel of this town or it is the French guidebooks. Although at the crossroads to the beach town of Sihanoukville just a couple hours away, here are mostly dirt roads and quiet living, although with somewhat more upscale houses than we have seen elsewhere. And happily, the air is a bit less humid, the breezes a bit more regular, so we don't feel drained by the slightest exertion.
Yesterday, we toured Bokor Hill Station National Park, an old French hill station set above the jungle built in 1922 and abandoned in the 1960's. Later home to real battles between the Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge, it is now just shells of buildings--the old Catholic Church (later Vietnamese military HQ), Grand Hotel and Casino, school, police station, etc. At 1000 m. directly above the sea, it was pleasantly cool and even foggy, lending a slight air of mystery to the scene that disappeared as we descended back down the boulder strewn road that would compete for Asia's worst road if not disqualified by being not on the way to anything.
We intend to try slowing down a little over the coming week or so, as it feels like we have been very active every day since arriving in Bangkok. This is an easy town to laze around a bit, and heading to the beaches should be less than hectic. We never know if the kids do better being busy all day or having more downtime. Since we have had relatively little of the latter, we will see how they do without being on the go as much.

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Photos

School--Floating Village
A colorful school, with the morning snack seller stopping by

Schoolbus--Floating Village
One of many floating houses on Tonle Sap, which can rise 10 meters each year

Floating Village
Rowing to Work

Kids at Work
Kids, with mom beside, filet these tiny fish from the river

Boat and Man and Buffalo
Good use of washed up boat

Buddhist Stupas
After being banned by Pol Pot, Buddhism is making a very visible comeback here

Bamboo Train
Riding the rails, until some other vehicle comes along

Schoolkids Greeting
Kids come out in droves to see us as we motorcycle through the countryside

Pigs Motorcycling
Yes, finally got this picture

Comments

[mara]

awesome
I think what you are doing is very brave and awesome...really is .... free spirit and ..

[Luis]

Very good information.. Thanks
Hi. I will be going at the beginning of April to Southeast Asia with my wife. We wil focus specially on Cambodia. I have been researching about the countries and checking the travelblogs. And your travelblog has been extremely helpful and enlighting. I hope you keep enjoying your great adventure. [e-mail]