Monday, May 19, 2014

Cambodia or Bust!


From the moment we disembarked the plane in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, it was evident that the Khmer (pronounced Kmai) people were preparing for something BIG!

According to the Buddhist calendar, they were about to embark on the year 2556 and we were just in time to witness it first hand.  

In full traditional regalia they greeted us in the airport, offering gifts of dried tea in woven boxes and live flower wreaths for luck.  A gentle head bow with palms of the hands placed together indicates greeting and respect - the sampeah.  We, too, would learn to sampeah in return.  It was a gesture so steeped in ancient tradition and yet so full of graceful respect - so unlike the handshake or "Hey, how are ya?"


Meeting up with our long-lost wayfarer with a penchant for orphans and a do-good spirit, we hopped the country's most prolific taxi, the tuk tuk (an open air motorcycle taxi).  By now, she could haggle with the best of them and every tuk tuk ride began with a well-practiced negotiation.

We toured the orphanage where she spent so many hours, started by Mother Teresa and run by a harem of motherly nuns. These children were a sad reminder of the extreme poverty left by Pol Pot and the Khmer regime of the 1970's.  In just 3 short years a massive genocide of 3 million Cambodians left the country destitute, impoverished and struggling with a sense of identity.  Today there are over 500 orphanages in Cambodia, many of which are fronts for child prosititution rings.  

By day 2 we were headed to Siem Reap, an arduous 8 hour drive, to experience the Khmer New Year at the Buddhist temples that made this country famous.  The "highways" and streets were clogged with buses, scooters and vans filled to the brimming with revellers and their celebretory provisions.

  

Our transfer driver moved through the chaotic vehicular madness with skill and the regular use of his horn, leaving us simultaneously rattled and relieved.  It was good to stop and stretch our legs at the first major market along the way.  Opening the door of our air conditioned van we were first hit with a wave of oppressive heat and then excitable children.  For them, we were like the circus that just rolled into town. 


Like adorable salesmen with commission on their breath they worked their magic, surrounding us in a tightly spun caccoon, shoving tropical fruits in our faces as they plied us with questions.

My appetite for it all soon waned at the sight of stools laden with platters of vermin...AGAIN!  


Quail egg, squid, cockroach, tarantula, piled high and freshly cooked.  By the poker-faced tone of the sellers, and the creatures piled high, I had to surmise that there must be a market for this stuff.



Of course, where there's dead tarantulas there will also be live ones.  This realization no sooner took hold of me when I turned to witness a little girl of about 6, tarantula attached snugly to her shirt.  Her pet.  She attached herself to my arm and, upon seeing my curiosity over the furry black spot on her shirt, thrust it toward me with eager anticipation.  "No!"  I squealed, as I leapt for cover behind a cherub-faced 3 year old (in my estimation, furry arachnids and women were never intended to co-exist).  To the children's delight they had found a way to make this white-faced lady buckle under pressure.  We bought their fruit and high-tailed it out of there.

Siem Reap, to us, was the jewel of the Orient.  After driving miles and miles of garbage-laden, dusty countryside, we arrived!  Music played, people danced and the party was getting started.  For the next 4 days we hit the Temples of Anghor Wat, Anghor Tom and Ta Phrom with the zeal of young archeologists on a new dig.  38 Celcius be damned, this is what we'd come here for!








Can you tell we're having fun yet?





The site where Tomb Raider was filmed


And then at dusk we flocked back to start all over again.





We lit candles and made Khmer wishes...



sending them off into the temple moat.


Then danced traditional dances till we dropped.  They dragged us in, taught us the moves and laughed with us as we fumbled our way around the circle of joy.


This country, Cambodia, stands out for me.  I don't know why, exactly.  Perhaps it was the reunion with our amazing, all-growed-up-and-ready-to-take-on-the-world daughter.  Perhaps it was the lovely sampeah gesture of respect.  Perhaps it was the people.  Yeah, that's it.  They pulled us into their culture from the start, held us rapt with wonderful tradition, beautiful music and brilliant smiles and waves.  We were so welcome here and it exuded from these people of little means and little hope. 
And where there's joy and wonder like that...I'd like to believe there's hope! 


























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