We left Phnom Penh on a 6 hour bus journey through the Southern Cardamom Mountains to get to the tiny coastal city of Krong Koh Kong. The town lies just 10 kilometers from the Thai border at the mouth of the Kah Bpow river, which empties in to the Gulf of Thailand. It’s an interesting mix of Thai and Khmer culture with tons of sea food. Tourism is just starting to pick up here because it is a gateway to  beautiful jungles, waterfalls, and pristine islands, but for the most part it still retains it’s old rural, market-place feel.  We spent most of our time wandering around the open markets, eating above the river, and trying to stay out of the intense, Southern sun.  The most enjoyable part of the trip along the coast came when we finally got to bust the tent out again.

On our second night in Koh Kong we ended up at a place called Bob’s Bar run by a friendly Irish guy who fell in love with the area awhile back and couldn’t leave.  We got to chatting with Bob who hooked us up with his German friend, Thomas, who runs a boat up the Kah Bpow river anywhere you want to go for a reasonable fee.  We had him take us and our new friends from Norway, Susanne and Lars, up the river about two hours to some beautiful cascades.  There we went swimming, jumped off cliffs in the river, and camped on the shore under the stars.  Perfectly beautiful experience.  Thomas brought along a couple locals to make sure we were fed well with grilled shrimp, squid, a couple Thai curries, and some eggs and baguettes in the morning.  We spent some time kayaking through the mangrove forests and hiking up the cascades as far as we could go in search of an even better swimming hole (they were endless).  The water was clear and cool, and we spent so much time in it and on it that we ended up with sun burns to last us the next couple weeks.   Because the river is so close to the ocean it acts with the tides, so on the way back our boat ran aground a sand bar. We took the opportunity to run around this little ‘beach’ while the sun was setting (and the captain was working to get us going again).  Eventually the boat was freed, we left the beach and relaxed on the way back under the last bits of the Cambodian sun.  If you are ever in Koh Kong look up Bob’s bar and have him make you a good western style pizza, then give Thomas a call at Neptune’s guesthouse and let him take you on the trip of a lifetime (just be careful of the crocodiles, literally).

We spent some more time in the markets of Koh Kong after the camping trip where we met lots of different kinds of people – women at banana stands, men selling the Khmer version of the pork bun, young guys inviting us to ‘the deeeskoh tek,” kids hawking post cards and other souvenirs.  The nice thing about this place is the open market is so very much Southeast Asia, but in too many places the markets have been taken over by souvenir shops for the tourist and no longer serve the locals.  Not Koh Kong, thankfully, where you can still get a massive bowl of soup for 70 cents and consume it while watching women sew while their kids make up fresh spring rolls.  The market was also our first experience with the Cambodian rains:  The sky suddenly opens violently, the ground is immediately flooded, and everyone closes up shop and goes home because the flood means no costumers.  Some day I’ll see that market again, and I will remember to bring my umbrella.

We are back in Phnom Penh now, and I think we have a better appreciation of the capital then we did our first time here.  We understand a little more about the people and their resilience, which gives me a bit more hope.  After doing some more reading and talking with more locals I think I am beginning to understand the needs a bit more as well, but mostly I’m just realizing that these people are strong.  Seriously, so strong.  It’s a good thing to know.

The sweetest thing about Phnom Penh is the evening “dance time.” Around the royal palace, which is near our guesthouse, are wide grassy boulevards in between one-way main streets running in either direction.  Here there are various monuments and fountains and wide grassy promenades where huge groups of people gather and do a dance routine.  In each group there is a leader who has a particular style, and each group has their own music blasting away while they all go nuts, perfectly in step.  Most of the dance moves come straight off of MTV, as well as most of the music.  Each song has a different dance that goes along with it.  So basically you have 5-10 groups of people, each group consisting of 20-60 people of all ages, dancing in perfect step to something they picked up on MTV – all in the middle of Phnom Penh’s busiest streets with the fountains and the royal palace in the background.  If only they danced during the day we could have had a better picture….

We will be spending a bit more time here, soaking up as much as we can learn as possible.  I have been meeting with a few people and looking in to different volunteer commitments, and we hope to have a little more direction before we go to Saigon for Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas….last night we were wandering some markets here in Phnom Penh when we came across a jewelry seller with one of those big glass jewelry cases.  On top of the case was a tiny Christmas tree about 2 feet tall with some ornaments, blinking lights, tinsel, a star, the works.  You don’t see something like that very often here so we payed attention.  We asked the woman where we could find a small fake tree like that in Phnom Pehn.  Her response was, “I sell you now fiteen dolla.”  We swiped it up, carried it back through the streets, ornaments and all, and now we have a Christmas tree in our guesthouse room.  We plan on taking it to Saigon with us so we can have a proper celebration on the 25th.

Happy Holidays

Take a look at our Koh Kong photos:

The rest of the day our guide took us around to many of the 10th century temples throughout the area teaching us the history of the Angkor Empire, which he spoke proudly of. He was really informative and even pointed out the spots that Tomb Raider was filmed (Aan-ha-leena Ho-lee film here, movie!). He taught us about all the symbolism of the different reliefs, where the kings were buried and why, what happened when the empire fell, and how the Khmer Rouge used some of the temples as hideouts when their revolution finally fell apart. He was well worth the cost of a mere 20 bucks for the whole day. The temples of Angkor Wat truly is the 8th wonder of the world.

Back in Siem Reap we immediately found a quiet bar to cool off in and rest. It gets to be around 100 quite easily in places, so hiking the temples for 10 hours got a bit tiring. Siem Reap is just South of the temples. It used to be a small market town but it’s grown in to pretty big business in terms of the tourist scene. Everyone who comes to Southeast Asia tries to make it to these temples, and Siem Reap is really the only place to sleep and eat within many kilometers. So, the prices have risen quite a bit in the past few years, which the people here desperately need. Unfortunately, it’s obvious the money isn’t always getting in to the hands of the locals. The street begging, the homelessness, the 50% unemployment rate, the children selling odds and ends at 10 at night on a street corner, the prostitution. During our travels we have yet to see a city this size filled with such desperation. Siem Reap is a beautiful place, but it’s difficult to enjoy when you are immersed in such tragedy. It’s also easy to get angry when you see many of the restaurants and guesthouses are run by foreigners earning a killing, while their workers and drivers are earning 5 bucks a day. We haven’t figured out whether the tourism there really has been good for the people, and many locals were also unable to answer the question just the same.

We are told to say no when women and children beg us for money because giving it to them isn’t encouraging them to find the services to get them off the street. That, and you don’t know where that money is really going. It’s difficult, though, when young mothers carrying infants are begging you for what amounts to be a nickle while you, the tourist, are enjoying a quick shopping spree through the market. For David and I we have taken to offering food when these folks are begging us for money. As long as they say yes it means they are truly hungry, which means we must feed them. In terms of money it can be hard to say no, but you have to get used to it otherwise you become a part of the problem. We have been able to feed some women and children around the city, but of course it’s not nearly enough, and we don’t know what else to do. We are hoping to find a good volunteer network here before we leave for Vietnam.

We are in Phnom Phen now, the Capital city of Cambodia. The disparity between classes isn’t any better here, maybe even worse. There are men everywhere without work, and more and more child beggars in the street. You can’t walk out of the guesthouse without being touted for any number of things: A taxi ride, a postcard, a massage, jewelry, drugs, books, and even sex. Literally, as foreigners here, it can sometimes be a real challenge just to get down the street. We scream money just by the way we look, and to have any sort of fun here usually leads to a rather guilty feeling because of the tragedy that surrounds us.

We have seen some incredible things here since leaving Laos, but we have to say we aren’t exactly enjoying ourselves. Sure we have had some excellent food, been to the 8th wonder of the world, and toured some amazing museams, but we just can’t bring ourselves to say “Wow, I really like it here.” It would be like going to the holocaust museam in Washington DC and at the end of the tour you say, ”That was great!” Instead, you don’t know what to say. You certainly didn’t hate it, but you wouldn’t say you enjoyed it, either. It’s that feeling of having to learn something that just should never have to be learned. So far, for me, that’s Cambodia.

We leave tomorrow for the Southern Coast of this little country. We need a break from these cities so we will be searching for some quiet islands – a place to reflect on all the tragedy we just witnessed and maybe a chance to think about how best we can help. Hopefully the next blog will be a bit more cheery.

By the way, we broke a camera, then lost a camera, then went without internet access for a bit. Sorry for the delay in postings. Between now, the islands down south, and Christmas in Hanoi, you should be hearing from us much more often now that things are back in order.

And speaking of Christmas, think about tossing a few bucks over this way to help feed some folks this year. There is a great organization (or so I am told) working to get kids off the street here in Cambodia called FRIENDS. Talking to some of the NGO workers it sounds like their bosses here live simply and don’t take the money to live in extravagant French villas (sadly, there is a history here of many NGO leaders living quite comfortably, while their workers get little to support themselves and their goals of ’saving the children’ are often unmet). Their website is http://www.friends-international.org/ if you would like to learn more.

Until next time….