Monthly Archive for January, 2010

Suosdey, SuperForest!

In one week flat, I went from knowing absolutely nothing of Cambodia to being so taken with it that one would think I’d been paid to sing of its praises. My mother has always encouraged me travel, so that I might see how those less fortunate than me live. However, a few days into my trip, it was clear that the Cambodian people are not less fortunate than me at all. They have so much joy about them and a great sense of closeness, community and togetherness. All this despite a very pained past, which I’ll try and give you a sense of in this post.

Day 1 My tour group and I set off on a 6-hour bus ride from Ho Chi Minh City to Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh. At 5:30pm, we met outside our hotel for a cyclo (pushbike-type tricycle) tour of the city. As I took my seat, I became crazily excited. There were hundreds of scooters on the street, a couple of cars and, at one point, even an elephant. An elephant! Strolling down the busy Sisowath Quay! We headed down one chaotic road, side-swiping oncoming traffic and somehow safely made our way onto yet another bustling strip. At one point during the cyclo ride, I closed my eyes to better absorb all the unfamiliar sounds around me. Wow. We made a brief stop at the Independence Monument, erected in 1958 to mark Cambodia’s independence from France. The cyclo drivers took a quick breather and, afterwards, we set off for the Royal Palace where the ride ended.

Day 2 Our tour leader, Sareth (above), reminded us today would be a sad look into the country’s tragic past. 2009 marked the 30th anniversary of the end of the Khmer Rouge’s corrupt martial government, under which an estimated 2 million people died from starvation or were killed by the Khmer Rouge’s soldiers. Our first stop was the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a former high school which was taken over by KR soldiers and used as a torture prison. Our local guide, T, told us that 20,000 people were tortured here and later transported to one of 343 “killing centres”. Of these people, seven survived. Four have since died of old age, and three remain. “One of these survivors is sitting right over there,” says T, as he points out an elderly man sitting on a bench under a tree. Everyone was speechless at the very notion that in the place we were standing, so many people suffered tremendous injustice, and that one man who had endured this torture had lived through it and was sitting a mere 15 metres away. T told us that this man is too old to work and so makes his way to the museum every day to answer questions about his experience. Inside the rooms, there are photographs of every prisoner who was once held here, as well as photographs of the soldiers. Looking into their faces, I see that they are all so young, some are as young as 13. Next, we make our way to the Killing Fields. As we walk these fields, there are bone fragments beneath our feet, meaning the whole place is a mass graveyard. T tells us, “Many Cambodians, myself included, lost our relatives. We don’t know where they were taken but it’s possible their bones are somewhere here.” I remove my cap and shoes before stepping into the 62-metre-high stupa which houses roughly 8,000 human skulls.

Days 3-5 Temple mania. We took a bus ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, temple city, though not before stopping to sample some fried tarantula at “Spider Town”. After setting eyes on the basket filled with cooked spiders, I then and there decided that I was out – no mid-morning snack for me, thanks. After Sareth fearlessly took a bite out of his, I reconsidered. Did I really want to return home without giving tarantulas a go? So, in the interest of being able to truthfully say, ‘I ate a spider’, I handed over my money and took a bite. LOL. Afterwards, I feel invicible. Really, truly invincible. As though snacking on insects were the equivalent of colliding with the flashing star in Super Mario Bros. On the morning of Day 4, we woke up at 4am to be on the bus at 5am and ready to watch the sun rise over the mother of all temples, and the one Cambodia proudly parades on its national flag, Angkor Wat (‘angkor’ meaning ‘city’, and ‘wat’ meaning ‘temple’). Just the scale of the place is enough to knock your socks off. It is the largest religious monument ever built. With each step I took, I paused to imagine just how things were during the construction of this mammoth place. All the hands involved, all the skilfull artists who carved intricate and mesmerising scenes on the walls. I tried to picture the elephants who laboriously lugged tonnes of stone from faraway quarries to this site. I thought of all the storms Angkor Wat has weathered, all the visitors it has housed.

Day 6 We took a 7-hour boat ride to Battambang (pronounced Battam-bong) and this, despite the extended period spent seated, was one of my favourite things because we got to see all the families who live alongside the river. The kids were playing naked in the river. And it looked so fun. Every child we passed shot up their hands to wave at us as we passed by. After seven hours, I can say that equalled a lot of waves, but I loved every second of it. I loved their smiling faces and how full of joy they were. After arriving in Battambang, we took a tuk-tuk (rickshaw) tour of the countryside. Seeing me struggle to stay in my seat thanks to a particularly bumpy road, Sareth offered me the following advice: “Just relax yourself and jump when the tuk-tuk jumps.” So I loosened my posture and let my body bounce with each crack in the road. What difference it made! We stopped in three places to see locals making rice paper, fish paste and sticky rice. We also rode the bamboo train (one of the town’s biggest drawcards). This is basically a bed made from bamboo that sits on wheels which run along train tracks. The speed we were going caused my eyes to tear up. We stopped to watch the sunset, and nearby, a speaker was playing a sad folk song. Sareth explained that a sunset means something different to everyone. That if you watch it with a loved one, it can be a beautiful thing. Though if you watched it alone, while thinking of someone who wasn’t with you, it would bring about feelings of longing and loneliness. I found that pretty interesting.

Day 7 Time to leave. We took a bus ride headed for the Cambodian-Thailand border. On the way, we stopped by an small shop known for its ice-cream. Despite my stomach not feeling 100% – I’m not sure what did it, but friends suggested it might’ve been the spider - I bought a strawberry flavoured cone. It was worth every lick! Having been home for three weeks now, I’ve had time to really appreciate all the things I saw and learnt. Travelling, for me, helps solidify the idea that we have more in common than we know. There’s a lot of beauty in that.

Suosdey Chhnam Thmey (Happy New Year!),
April