Adventures

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The past week and a half have proven rather ridiculous, and thus warrant documentation. My first mishap, a motorcycle accident and supposed bag theft, left me with numerous bruises and scrapes. The accident also incited a day of panic as I had no access to money, and thus no access to food. Fortunately the bag was recovered and all injuries are minimal.

The next incident is so absurd that I find it quite humorous. While merely sitting at my desk at work, I managed to carelessly swing my arm into a glass, smashing it against the wall, launching shards of glass to the ground, one of which managed to slice my leg open. I was taken to a Cambodian clinic for stitches- a total of six. Thankfully they did have local anesthetic, but it took an hour and a half for the Cambodian doctor to painstakingly stitch my leg. Thanks to my foreign status and pale skin, I will have only a minimal scar.

The next day was my birthday (22!) and friends and I went to a sleepy river village near the sea called Kampot. The countryside in Cambodia is extraordinary. Envision an idyllic green blanket with a patchwork of rice fields, interlaced with picturesque palm trees, wooden bungalows, and bony white cows. Upon arrival in Kampot, my favorite ladies in the country and I enjoyed a lovely riverside birthday dinner. Unfortunately, dinner was disturbed a bit as I was stalked and stared at by a mentally deranged Cambodian.

The next day we went on a jungle adventure to reach the abandoned French village of Bokor. We piled into the back of a truck like illegal immigrants and carted up to a rustic trail. Next we hiked, or scrambled rather (with my leg laceration), through a jungle mess reminiscent of the most harrowing Conrad novel. Two of my friends fell prey to jungle leeches on the way.

Bokor Station was built at the turn of the century as a resort for French colonists. The location remains stunning and offers beautiful views of the sea and Cambodian islands beyond the luminescent green jungle. During the war it served as a base for Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese soldiers simultaneously, the KR in the former casino and the Vietnamese in the Catholic Church. They fired on one another across a pasture, leaving endless bullet holes in the guest suites of the former hotel. The eerie aura of death still lingers in the tiled bathrooms, sticks to the cornices of the moss-drenched corridors, and crawls up to the now-verdant terraces.

Last night my office screened the documentary “New Year Baby”- I highly recommend it. The star was present for a Q and A and I inadvertently mingled with the filmmaker, who then proceeded to invite me out to dinner with their whole crowd (my boss just happened to show up at the same restaurant- ex-pat Cambodia is a small world- and was shocked to see her little intern out to dinner with the famous filmmaker that she had just hosted). As luck would have it, we share many friends and contacts through AIESEC- shout out to AIESEC Yale!! My AIESEC moment was yet another testament to the amazing opportunities that AIESEC affords and also to the prestige that foreigners enjoy in Cambodia.

This weekend I will travel north to Preah Vihear, a remote temple complex atop a random mountain in the north of the country. Tensions here are running high due to Cambodia’s current dispute with Thailand, and to make things more interesting we will be staying at a Thai military base. By the way, I promise that I do in fact have pictures. I am just too lazy/ busy to actually upload them.

Monday will be an adventure as well. I will attend the verdict against former Khmer Rouge cadre and topic of my thesis, Duch. I have several prominent interviews lined up at the courthouse, thanks to Rithy Panh. I must admit that it’s pretty nice having a famous and well-connected Cambodian backing my thesis.

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