Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Cambodia has to be one of the poorest places I have ever been to.  Unlike the Vietnamese, who are hard workers, the people we saw today are uneducated and unlikely to ever achieve anything.  For one to understand Cambodia today, one must look at the history.

Cambodia was a French colony for almost 100 years until it gained its independence in 1953.   The King Sihanouk held power until 1970 when he was removed from power in a bloodless coup d’etat.  A bloody civil war broke out between the Cambodian right wing government and the communists – known as the Khmer Rouge.  At the same time, Cambodia was drawn into the Vietnamese War as the USA bombed the countryside in an attempt to destroy the North Vietnamese guerrillas.

The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, captured the capital Phnom Penh and forced the population to move to the countryside and started a communist revolution.  It is estimated that somewhere between two and ten million Cambodians lost their lives during the Pol Pot era.  Supporters of the previous regime were executed, tortured, and murdered along with a large number of educated members of society.  Many more died from hunger, sickness, and forced labor. 

King Sihanouk returned to power in 1993.

I have to wonder if what I saw today was a result of the educated class being wiped out.  Sihanoukville is not the capital of the country, so things might be different there.  What we saw here was abject poverty.  Children were filthy dirty, wearing ragged clothes.  Mothers with babies were begging for money, albeit in a non-aggressive manner.  The children at the first temple we stopped at were curious and smiled.  These kids did not ask for money, at first.   The children we saw at the second temple started begging for dollars right away and would not quit.  There was an orphanage nearby and it is my understanding that the monks make sure these kids get something to eat.  According to our guide, malnutrition and diarrhea are very common among children.

The countryside we saw is not very pretty; along the side of the road the pretty red earth and bushes were littered with trash.  Trash was heaped in front of homes, under the homes and in the yards.  Homes are built on stilts to keep snakes out; there are king cobras here. 

There are 15 million people in Cambodia.  April is the hottest month.  They do not use coins in their currency.  There are some beautiful white beaches and resorts in this area.  They believe in ghosts.

So what did we do?  It was another hot and sticky day.  We visited Wat Krom temple, which is situated on a hill overlooking the ocean.  We were greeted by a bunch of kids, some of whom were selling bracelets made out of string.  One girl seemed like the entrepreneurial-type and I bought a headband from her.  I felt like the pied piper as I walked up the hill with a bunch of bare footed kids wearing torn and dirty clothes following me.  I was targeted as the patsy.  As I climbed up the steep steps to the upper level of the temple, several kids insisted on helping me up.  This bunch of kids was curious about these foreigners invading their space.  I asked the kids why they weren’t in school, and I was told it was a holiday (Sunday).  Many of the kids knew some English.  I engaged them in conversation and told them about America and to study hard in school so they can someday earn money.  The girls then decorated me with flowers in my hair.

Wat Krom Temple

Children put flowers in my hair

I bought a headband from this girl

These two guys were quite the talkers

The children are really pretty

Sala Tree

The temple was dirty and falling apart.  There were grey monkeys everywhere, peeing and pooping as they pleased.   They climbed on the sala tree, swung from cables to the roof and beyond.  There were babies and juveniles as well as adults, who were grooming each other.  I liked watching them better than seeing the temple

Our next stop was to the local market in town.  OMG, this one was even hotter, stinkyer and more crowded than any of the ones we have seen so far on this trip.  When we got off the bus, we were surrounded with men waving brochures saying come ride on my tuk tuk for a tour.  They were so aggressive that we could hardly get off the bus.  We had a half hour here and that was about 29 minutes too long.  I found Michael, who was on another bus as escort, and he was thrilled because he found a great deal on a watch (an authorized imitation Breitling that sells for $650 he got for $20).  I confess I am local marketed out.  I do not know how anyone in the central part of the market can exist in the stale humid hot air.

The Market

Parking outside the market

Motorbikes are the most common mode of transportation

We went to Wat Leu temple and this one was very large and had even more pathetic kids and women with infants.  Kids never stopped begging and looking pathetic and whiney.  I wish I had brought the accumulated chocolate candies that they leave on our bed every evening to hand out.  Monks live at this temple and we took our picture with them.  It was really weird to see them in their red robes playing around with a cell phone.  Most of them were studying English.  The cemetery was filled with ornate mausoleums that were quite interesting.

Monks with cell phones

Praying is integral part of life 

Cemetery mausoleums

Our final stop was to a five star resort for refreshments.  What a contrast to the rest of what we saw.  We entered the gate and went from utter poverty and filth to this beautiful resort.  The beach at this resort has been voted one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.  We had a coke and walked on the beach; I even took my shoes off and walked into the warm water.  I wish I could have stayed for awhile.  There was a nice breeze off the ocean that felt cool when compared to the inland still air. 

We returned to the ship and I made a beeline for the pool to try and cool off.  Michael made a beeline to the grill to eat.  I was glad to get back to the ship and disappear into my current reality as the reality of what we saw today was so very disturbing.