tuk-tuk, ma'am? and other tales of Cambodia

I've briefly mentioned the attempt of every local to separate the tourists from their money as quickly as possible, and this effort only becomes more desperate increases as the standard of living becomes lower. Until now I have, for the most part, avoided the discussion of poverty. In Cambodia, it's especially hard to ignore.

Andy and I left Chao Doc, a lovely little Vietnamese port city, for Phnom Pehn, Cambodia yesterday morning. We boarded a speedboat on the Mekong at 8 am, checked out of Vietnam a couple hours later, and were promptly issued Cambodian visas and ushered through customs. My initial feeling toward Cambodia was positive; as always, the national gatekeeper - customs officer - is the first citizen with whom I interact. The Cambodian officer was smiling, friendly, and spent a long time looking through my passport and admiring my visas. (I give him second prize after Singapore, where the woman at the counter smiled at my tired 3 am face and said, "Here, darling, have a candy.")

My experience got quite a bit less pleasant from the moment I stepped off the boat in Phnom Penh. Andy lent $25 to an Australian couple to get visas, so we had to stand by the pier and wait for repayment. During this time, at least 20 tuk-tuk (sort of a wagon pulled by a scooter) drivers tried to convince us to get in their vehicles. They would not leave us alone, despite our ignoring and even being quite rude to them by the end.

This pattern has continued throughout the trip: from outrageous entrance fees for foreigners, to requiring rental proper attire for temple entry at grossly inflated prices, to sending children onto the street to cry "need school, no money" - Cambodia really has the scamming-foreigners thing down. Throughout the trip, it has been hard for me to see standards of living in the countries, and especially remote villages, that we have visited. For city-dwelling Vietnamese, for example, average monthly salary is only $50 - which is still far better than their counterparts in the countryside who earn about $15. It's hard to not give a dollar tip when you know how much more value that paper has for them than for you... But it's equally hard to feel continuously scammed, so that in watching your back you begin to suspect the worst of every local you encounter.

BUT: Cambodia is certainly not a terrible place to be, even when it's 100 degrees and sunny and you're still keeping your sweaty money inside your bra. (My Grandma Dee would be proud. ;)) Today we caught a 7:30 am bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, the base from which to explore the temples of Angkor. The bus ride was fantastic, exactly the kind of overland travel I'd hoped for in Southeast Asia. Endless fields with sparse palm trees, skinny cows, thatched dwellings, and randomly placed ornate Buddhist temples. I have no doubt that if I were to spend more time in this part of Cambodia, I would leave with a different and more uplifting perspective; it seems that the desparation of the poor urban-dwellers fades into contentment as the city borders lose their grip.

We arrived in Siam Reap at 1 pm, and immediately caught a tuk-tuk to explore the ruins of Angkor. Angkor was the seat of the Khmer Empire that dominated the entire region from the year 802 - yes, 1207 years ago - to the fifteenth century. (FYI: The language of Cambodia is still called Khmer, and that is the common way to refer to their ethnicity.) The most famous building is Angkor Wat, which is according to Wikipedia is also the biggest religious monument in the world.

The entire complex of temples covers about 3,000 square km, and is well-preserved after hundreds of years of disuse. If you haven't seen photos of the ruins, they're pretty difficult to describe, so I'll wait until I can get photos up next week. For now, I'll use Andy's observation: "This temple looks exactly like the only in the Jungle Book. I'm half-expecting to see Uncle Louie (the orangutan) come swinging around those branches."

After two short days in Cambodia, we're moving onto Thailand tomorrow. Two days there, one and a half in Hong Kong, and then I'll be back on a plane flying backwards 14 hours to home. The future is looking bright.