 |
| 438 anti-personnel mines and 809 unexploded ornances (UXOs) cleared from around Beng Mealea temple The work is still ongoing. Dogs are trained to detect them... and stop before triggering an explosion. |
Gradually though, the country has begun to heal itself. Instead of death and destruction, people come expecting to experience the wonders of the ancient Angkor temples. The Kingdom of Cambodia, as it's now officially called, has seen tourism grow by roughly 20% each year. I definitely feel that if I go back, visiting the temples will be a different, more crowded, experience. Comparing my trip to photos I saw in other blogs' posts, the temples are in the process of being superficially altered to handle bigger crowds — like adding boardwalk paths to keep visitors out of the mud and also control where they wander. It's getting harder to feel like Indiana Jones.
Cambodia surprised me by how nice its facilities are. The toilets at the Angkor temples are up to Western standards of cleanliness, and the Siem Reap airport is modern and well kept. I expected rustic accommodations since it's a developing country and was pleased to discover that there were a number of luxury hotels available catering to the tourist trade. The Pub Street area is a great place to hang out with everything from a Mexican restaurant to The Blue Pumpkin bakery and cafe which has fantastic ice cream.
However, there is a divide between the tourists and the locals in this country where poverty seems rampant, and the middle class is only beginning to emerge. All this niceness? It seems to exist just for the tourists. Surprisingly, the Angkor temples are not run by the government but by a private company which keeps about 15% of the ticket revenue. From what I gathered from our guide, this arrangement does not sit well with most Cambodians.
Our guide told us that the area we were passing through had only recently been connected to electricity via power lines. Cambodia buys most of its electricity from neighboring Thailand, and the demand exceeds the supply. Blackouts occur often, and we experienced one while we were there. While the hotel had generators which quickly restored electricity to the property, the rest of Siem Reap's city center remained shrouded in darkness. Riding through the streets at night, we passed one dark restaurant after another with the diners lit up solely by candlelight. Sure it seemed romantic, but the candles were used out of necessity, not purely for ambience.
When I told our guide about Earth Hour, a worldwide event that encourages people to turn off their lights for an hour to demonstrate their commitment to the planet, I think he thought we were all a tad mad. We have so much electricity that we make a big deal of voluntarily giving it up for one hour a year. Cambodians experience that weekly.
Remorks buzz back and forth around Siem Reap and Angkor carrying tourists on their sightseeing excursions. I made the mistake of calling it a Tuk-Tuk, but our guide corrected me. "A tuk-tuk is Thailand. This is Cambodia. It is a remork." The remork drivers don't seem to much care if they are going with the car traffic or against it along the side of the road. As we approached a busy intersection, the driver stuck out his hand and waved to indicate his turn. No one slowed down, but we all seemed to flow around each other without colliding.
Refueling at the petrol station was definitely different than what I've seen anywhere else. The station above is one of the nicer ones I saw. Most others were simply roadside stands with racks holding bottles of petrol. Our guide jokingly called it "Cambodian whiskey." This one had a modern fuel pump as well as a hand-cranked pump tapped into a barrel of petrol.
As the man spun the crank around and around, bubbles rapidly floated up through the green fuel in the clear canister. Then, he put the hose in a liter bottle and opened the valve. Motorcycles pulled up, loaded the bottles into baskets on back and then drove off, presumably to restock the racks at smaller roadside stands. Later, we saw a large tour bus on the side of the road with the driver emptying the contents of a liter bottle into the tank. "That's going to take a while," my husband commented.
This is going to sound a little ridiculous, but I was surprised to see so many schools and schoolchildren in Siem Reap. It gave me hope that education is a priority now, unlike during the Khmer Rouge's rule.
As my own daughter and her Girl Scout friends get ready to start standing outside stores and going door-to-door to sell cookies for their fundraiser, I keep having flashbacks to Cambodia and other places where child beggars are sent out into the streets. They're kept out of school and tasked with selling postcards and trinkets to tourists. There's even a baby formula scam. Many times, these kids don't get to keep the money. As I train my Girl Scouts on good selling techniques at the booth, I can't help thinking of those Cambodian kids who are looking to earn enough for one meal a day. My girls, on the other hand, are aiming to fund a GaGa ball pit at their primary school.
Before we traveled to Cambodia, I decided that, no matter what sorry condition those child beggars may be in, I was not going to contribute to the cycle of poverty by giving them money. It was a hard discussion to have with my own kids — to explain to them that we were being helpful, not mean. As a mom, it was so difficult to know that I would be intentionally depriving the street child standing in front of me in order to aid the unseen greater good. Instead, we would make a nice donation to Love Cambodia which was founded by Emma, a former Penang international school teacher with whom I share many friends. This organization focuses on helping poverty stricken children receive food and an education while, if possible, keeping families together.
There are other ways to help the children in Cambodia. As we drove back into town from Angkor Wat, I noticed a gathering of mothers and kids. They were waiting outside the hospital founded by Swiss pediatrician, Dr. Beat Richner, that provides Cambodian children and expectant mothers with high quality, free healthcare.
Dr. Richner, a.k.a. Beatocello, performs free cello concerts at the hospital on Thursday and Saturday nights during the tourist high season. It gets good reviews on TripAdvisor, partly because of the music, but mostly because of the education the audience receives about the state of healthcare in Cambodia. Some feel the call to donate money, some donate blood, and some donate both.
Riding through the streets of Siem Reap, it's clear that Cambodia is on the road to recovery. It's future is bright and no longer as bleak. The Killing Fields are relegated to museums so we won't forget instead of being a part of everyday life that can't be escaped. When I read the news about the horrors in Syria and Nigeria, I react with despair. Then, I think of Cambodia, and it gives me hope.
This post is part of the following linkups. Check them out for more around-the-world travel inspiration.
 |
| Sokha Angkor hotel pool area and surrounding rooms |
Cambodia surprised me by how nice its facilities are. The toilets at the Angkor temples are up to Western standards of cleanliness, and the Siem Reap airport is modern and well kept. I expected rustic accommodations since it's a developing country and was pleased to discover that there were a number of luxury hotels available catering to the tourist trade. The Pub Street area is a great place to hang out with everything from a Mexican restaurant to The Blue Pumpkin bakery and cafe which has fantastic ice cream.
However, there is a divide between the tourists and the locals in this country where poverty seems rampant, and the middle class is only beginning to emerge. All this niceness? It seems to exist just for the tourists. Surprisingly, the Angkor temples are not run by the government but by a private company which keeps about 15% of the ticket revenue. From what I gathered from our guide, this arrangement does not sit well with most Cambodians.
 |
| Typical houses on stilts along the road. Many had "Cambodia People's Party" signs. |
Our guide told us that the area we were passing through had only recently been connected to electricity via power lines. Cambodia buys most of its electricity from neighboring Thailand, and the demand exceeds the supply. Blackouts occur often, and we experienced one while we were there. While the hotel had generators which quickly restored electricity to the property, the rest of Siem Reap's city center remained shrouded in darkness. Riding through the streets at night, we passed one dark restaurant after another with the diners lit up solely by candlelight. Sure it seemed romantic, but the candles were used out of necessity, not purely for ambience.
When I told our guide about Earth Hour, a worldwide event that encourages people to turn off their lights for an hour to demonstrate their commitment to the planet, I think he thought we were all a tad mad. We have so much electricity that we make a big deal of voluntarily giving it up for one hour a year. Cambodians experience that weekly.
 |
| Remorks (two-wheeled carriages pulled by motorcycles) are a primary mode of transportation for tourists. |
Remorks buzz back and forth around Siem Reap and Angkor carrying tourists on their sightseeing excursions. I made the mistake of calling it a Tuk-Tuk, but our guide corrected me. "A tuk-tuk is Thailand. This is Cambodia. It is a remork." The remork drivers don't seem to much care if they are going with the car traffic or against it along the side of the road. As we approached a busy intersection, the driver stuck out his hand and waved to indicate his turn. No one slowed down, but we all seemed to flow around each other without colliding.
 |
| Fancy schmancy Petrol Station |
Refueling at the petrol station was definitely different than what I've seen anywhere else. The station above is one of the nicer ones I saw. Most others were simply roadside stands with racks holding bottles of petrol. Our guide jokingly called it "Cambodian whiskey." This one had a modern fuel pump as well as a hand-cranked pump tapped into a barrel of petrol.
 |
| Hand-cranked fuel pump tapped into a petrol barrel. |
As the man spun the crank around and around, bubbles rapidly floated up through the green fuel in the clear canister. Then, he put the hose in a liter bottle and opened the valve. Motorcycles pulled up, loaded the bottles into baskets on back and then drove off, presumably to restock the racks at smaller roadside stands. Later, we saw a large tour bus on the side of the road with the driver emptying the contents of a liter bottle into the tank. "That's going to take a while," my husband commented.
 |
| Schoolchildren outside the schoolyard |
This is going to sound a little ridiculous, but I was surprised to see so many schools and schoolchildren in Siem Reap. It gave me hope that education is a priority now, unlike during the Khmer Rouge's rule.
As my own daughter and her Girl Scout friends get ready to start standing outside stores and going door-to-door to sell cookies for their fundraiser, I keep having flashbacks to Cambodia and other places where child beggars are sent out into the streets. They're kept out of school and tasked with selling postcards and trinkets to tourists. There's even a baby formula scam. Many times, these kids don't get to keep the money. As I train my Girl Scouts on good selling techniques at the booth, I can't help thinking of those Cambodian kids who are looking to earn enough for one meal a day. My girls, on the other hand, are aiming to fund a GaGa ball pit at their primary school.
Before we traveled to Cambodia, I decided that, no matter what sorry condition those child beggars may be in, I was not going to contribute to the cycle of poverty by giving them money. It was a hard discussion to have with my own kids — to explain to them that we were being helpful, not mean. As a mom, it was so difficult to know that I would be intentionally depriving the street child standing in front of me in order to aid the unseen greater good. Instead, we would make a nice donation to Love Cambodia which was founded by Emma, a former Penang international school teacher with whom I share many friends. This organization focuses on helping poverty stricken children receive food and an education while, if possible, keeping families together.
 |
| My heart ached when I saw this tiny child gripping his mama on the back of a bicycle. |
There are other ways to help the children in Cambodia. As we drove back into town from Angkor Wat, I noticed a gathering of mothers and kids. They were waiting outside the hospital founded by Swiss pediatrician, Dr. Beat Richner, that provides Cambodian children and expectant mothers with high quality, free healthcare.
 |
| A few months before this trip, my own doctor said I may have contracted Haemorrhagic Dengue Fever. It turned out to have been Chikugunya, but I remember how scared I was hearing the word "haemorrhagic." I really felt for these mothers. |
Dr. Richner, a.k.a. Beatocello, performs free cello concerts at the hospital on Thursday and Saturday nights during the tourist high season. It gets good reviews on TripAdvisor, partly because of the music, but mostly because of the education the audience receives about the state of healthcare in Cambodia. Some feel the call to donate money, some donate blood, and some donate both.
Riding through the streets of Siem Reap, it's clear that Cambodia is on the road to recovery. It's future is bright and no longer as bleak. The Killing Fields are relegated to museums so we won't forget instead of being a part of everyday life that can't be escaped. When I read the news about the horrors in Syria and Nigeria, I react with despair. Then, I think of Cambodia, and it gives me hope.
This post is part of the following linkups. Check them out for more around-the-world travel inspiration.
- Travel Photo Thursday on Budget Travelers Sandbox
- Friday Postcards on Walking On Travels
- Weekend Travel Inspiration on A Brit and a Southerner, A Southern Gypsy, Justin + Lauren, Carmen's Luxury Travel, and Outbound Adventurer
- Weekend Travel Inspiration Reflections En Route, The Crowded Planet, Contented Travellers, Albom Adventures, Bay Essence, Safari 254 and Families Go.
- Sunday Traveler on Chasing the Donkey, Pack Me To..., A Southern Gypsy, The Fairytale Traveler, and Ice Cream & Permafrost
