Liz on leaving Cambodia

An early van from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, the capital city for the Kingdom of Cambodia  took us to our hotel for $11 each. We checked in to the Comfort Hotel II for $18 per night plus $1 for breakfast. No swimming pool but lots of TV channels. Internet was too old to be compatible for our new net book. The walk-up computers in the lobby were slow but adequate.

We walked around the block for lunch and then rode a tuk-tuk to the Cambodian National Museum. We saw artifacts in greater detail than in Angkor Wat. The next day we planned to visit The Royal Palace but we were outranked by the President of Ecuador. We saw the honor guard and palace from afar. We visited the palace’s neighbor for $6.25, The Silver Pagoda with its emerald (actually jade) Buddha. The floor is made of thick tiles of actual silver. We saw a film on anthropological digs by Germans and Australians to educate us to place value in village artifacts. Villagers simply do not know and so sell their priceless heirlooms for money to buy a tractor or satellite dish. A museum guide solicited us for $10, a nice wage for 90 minutes. He gave us regional background. He emphasized with a large map how South Vietnam was called Chams; it was a Muslim country independent of anywhere else in Asia. The Silver Pagoda is a showcase of Cambodian wealth with gold and silver Buddhas, some faded photos of Cambodia’s prince, elephant palanquins, a loom for silk.

Dancers practicing for a show at the National Museum

Shrubbery elephants outside the National Museum.
Unfortunately, no photography allowed inside.



On the grounds of the Silver Pagoda


Near the palace Mike had ATM trouble; the ATMs only gave out $100 bills, He grumbled that the machine might as well give out gold bars. How would he use that to pay a tuk-tuk driver their $2 or $3 dollar fare? Near The Silver Pagoda was a mall full of shops with skimpy, colorful clothes apparently for bar girls. Mike was shocked to see women’s knits for sale on this warm place. May be knits are bought by Northern European tourists or lady boys? He paid a coffee shop girl $5 for a cup of coffee if she would break $100. We had coconut cake too.

Later we sat along the Mekong River having pizza when a gifted 10 year old girl walked up with a box of books for sale. She said she’d find Mike a copy of any book he'd want. Mike chose the 2011 edition of Lonely Planet on Vietnam and bargained with her. Meanwhile another little girl approached me to buy scarves. All too recently I unloaded my scarves from my 2004 trip to China and swore not to buy more. Unfortunately my little solicitor was seriously deformed. She had no fingers, apparently due to a ghastly birth defect; she had paws, not even her thumb was separated. Her state was all too overwhelming for me. Mike gave me Cambodian bills and I told her to take the donation and not disturb our dinner. And they disappeared but are not forgettable.
Later under Annoyances Lonely Planet discussed “Beggar Fatigue”.
We’ve just begun. I am not fatigued. My shock is fresh over the poor child without fingers. Mike was so taken by his child’s English and repartee. He told me how beautiful she was but really they are all beautiful, just gifted is rare.

The Cambodians in Siem Reap asked us about the issue of children selling to tourists. Tour guide Su Jett thought children ought not to sell merchandise because their families come to expect the income and it may cost a child their education. He said he paraphrased Lonely Planet. Tour driver Night (not so bright or articulate as Su Jet) thought that since schools operate only half day that it is OK for children to sell when school is not in session. Children learn a work ethic and they help their families before or after school. We all agreed with the UNESCO poster saying, “Children are not tourist attractions”.
Angkor Wat is a global destination because of guides like Su Jett. People with language skills are needed to speak to the Japanese, Thais, Turks, Finns, etc...  Yes, English is the lingua Franca but trips are better since Cambodia offers guides that speak many languages. Every nationality to visited appreciates someone who speaks to them .

Does it come down to parents? Children lack justice. Hopefully parents know them as unique individuals. Life is not fair. Life is difficult. One bright child like Su Jett learns 4 or 5 languages and makes a middle class living as a tour guide or teacher because his mother insists on protecting his education. Another child learns on the street and makes a living in the free market driving a cab and may earn just as much as Su Jett.

Cambodia’s genocide targeted city people, educated people, and in particular they lost a generation of teachers. Middle class working people like Mike and I would have died in the genocide. About 2 million were killed. The middle class raises children and when they are not alive to perform this critical role as in Cambodia it is a disaster. The middle class are the backbone of a society, not the rich or the poor.

Vietnamese tourist Visas are good for 30 days. Ours was bought ahead of time and expires on March 2. We may request an extension or make the trip fast. Border crossing by bus is much easier than it is to board a plane in a US airport.



  
 Cambodia is not as poor as Afghanistan, the poorest nation in Asia followed by Myanmar. While in Phnom Penh we crossed the Cambodian-Japanese friendship bridge obviously a gift from Japan. Later the bus actually drove onto a ferryboat and crossed the Mekong River. On the ferryboat were 3 other buses besides ours. The crossing took minutes and then the bus ground its way up a muddy rutted riverbank and returned to the road. The countryside looked greener and more prosperous as our 6 hour bus ride progressed. By the time we crossed into Vietnam we were in a noticeably healthier economy (even though Cambodia has casinos along the Thai and Vietnamese borders). Not just farms but the roads and houses next to the highways are decent. Then approaching the city the roads, sidewalks and curbs are paved and organized with distinct lanes for buses and cars that are separated from motorbikes. I even saw a traffic light. Somehow Vietnam is prosperous, a far cry from the dust, red dirt and unpaved streets in Phnom Penh. Vietnam’s prosperity spills over into provinces in Cambodia making them far more prosperous than inland Cambodia.

This is Mike’s first trip to Ho Chi Minh City. He was not sent to Saigon when he was in the US Army in Vietnam for all of 1967. He did not serve or visit  duty stations in Ho Chi Minh City. He does not want to see the tunnels here either but he would like to see the tunnels near the DMZ where he was stationed. While he was stationed there his base was relentlessly bombarded by rockets.