Karaoke in Cambodia

There were many great experiences while I was in Cambodia but the one that took me by surprise was my first visit to a Karaoke club.

That night, I was with my Cambodian friend.  We had just finished a good dinner and he asked me what I wanted to do with what was left of the evening.  I remember telling him that I wanted to go somewhere quiet and talk.  Maybe with some music.  But nothing too loud.  My days in Cambodia were very busy and by 8pm, I was usually sleeping standing up.  I wasn’t in the mood for anything too exciting but my mood apparently didn’t matter since my friend knew exactly what he wanted to do all along.  And he wanted to sing. 

We pulled up to the karaoke building and the first thing I noticed was that there were large numbers of very young, well dressed women lounging around at the entrance.  They gave me some curious looks and the first thing I thought was that my friend was taking me on a side trip to a brothel.  In Cambodia, sometimes it is fun to see where things will go so I dutifully followed my friend up some large stairs where a sturdy older woman who kinda reminded me of a worn-out gym school teacher ushered us into a smallish room.  She talked to my friend briefly in Khmer, sprayed some air freshener which was probably called Mist of Cheap Cambodian Whore and she left.

The room was not in good shape but when the lights were lowered, it didn’t really matter.  There were large stains on the carpet, there were dark patches of suspected mold on the walls and the fabric couches had tears and cigarette burns.  But the room was nonetheless inviting.  There was a large TV screen, some coffee tables where beer and snacks were efficiently laid out and a large pool table.  Neon lights were begging us to be “Happy, Happy, Happy!”  I plunked myself down on the couch and waited for the next thing to happen. 

As I soon found out, the karaoke rooms are private.  Apparently fights would break out if too many Asians were competing over the same song book.  I can’t imagine someone kicking someone else’s ass over a Brittney Spear’s song but I suppose anything is possible on this side of the world.  But when I say private, I don’t mean that there aren’t other people.  Two younger girls dressed in uniform came in and started setting up the karaoke machine.  Another girl came in and started to open the beer.  A friend of my friend arrived and I thought that everyone was there that was going to be there.  But boy, was I wrong. 

The door opened and about twenty very scantily clad women were paraded into the room.  I didn’t dare ask how old the youngest was (maybe I should have) but the oldest didn’t look any older than 21.   Now I’m not exaggerating when I say that they were all beautiful.  Cambodian women have a very exotic look and at that age, they are stunning.  Dressed in their cocktail dresses, it was like I was suddenly the judge on a Miss Cambodia pageant.

 

“You have to pick one”, my friend said. 

“You’re kidding me”, I replied. 

I wasn’t really sure what the protocol was here.  My first thought was what in the hell was I getting myself into?  My second thought was that I only had about $20 in my pocket and I had no idea how much the girl was going to cost.  Or the Karaoke room.  And my third thought was there was no way I could choose.  I have a hard time deciding what clothes to wear in the morning.  There was no way I could pick out something as serious as a fake date for an evening. 

I looked down the lineup.  Some of the girls looked at me but most acted very indifferent.  Very cool.  Very professional like they had seen everything (and maybe had done everything) a million times before I had gotten there.  I wanted someone who looked fun and there were a couple that caught my eye.  I figured that if I were going to be in this awkward situation, I wanted someone who I could joke around with and dance with and …

“How about that one?” I said to my friend. 

“She’s ugly”, he said without hesitation.  I later found out that none of them could speak English so I guess the insult landed on deaf ears. 

“Then you pick out one for me.” 

I obviously wasn’t good at picking out choice Cambodian meat (which was how they were presented and NOT how I felt about them) so I decided to leave it to someone who had apparently better taste.  My friend went over, grabbed one by the hand and brought her back to sit with me.

She looked at me, smiled very shyly and clasped her hands on her lap.  I asked her what her name was and she, of course, had no clue what I was saying.  This was going to be tough but then I remembered that my iPhone had a little app that translates English into Khmer.  I pulled out the phone and tapped away.  I found out her name was … something.  I can’t remember what she said but I have a hard enough time remembering names anyway.  Then I asked her everything on the app.  Where she lived.  The directions to the airport.  I counted from 1 to 10 and told her that it was a sunny day.  She smiled and laughed but I think deep down inside she thought I was a moron and was probably hoping that I had more than $20 in my pocket. 

I’m a nervous drinker.  Whenever I’m in strange situations, I tend to drink more than I should.  This isn’t by design but it does loosen me up and calms my nerves.  In this situation, the funny thing was that every time I took a drink, my date had to drink too.  And we had to clink the glasses and stare into each other’s eyes like we were madly in love or something.   The other funny thing was that the beer was bottomless.  In other words, as soon as the glass was emptied by a mouthful, a host rushed over and filled it back up.  So you never know how much beer you’re drinking.  Very smart for the karaoke business but no so smart for the dumb foreigners who don’t have an off switch for drinking.  If there is alcohol in front of me, I tend to drink it.  And it can be any alcohol.  Strong or weak.  Whisky or wine.  I’ll suck it down.  Thankfully in this case, it was Angkor Beer which is great tasting and not especially strong.  At least initially. 

The music was fired up and the lyrics scrolled across the screen.  My friend jumped up and belted out an obvious Khmer love song.  If you have ever been to an Asian karaoke bar, you know what I mean when I say that the karaoke videos are amusing even by themselves.  You really don’t need the added entertainment of hearing your friends trying to hold a note.  The actors in these cheesy videos are required to have two “looks”; they either look they are in complete lust with each other or they look like they have been torn apart and this forsaken love has left them tortured forever.  And the backgrounds seem so arbitrary.  I remember looking at one video in my drunken stupor and thinking, “why in the hell are these lovers in Istanbul?”  Recognizing that the background was indeed Istanbul was a proud accomplishment for me at that hour in the evening and I mentally patted myself on my back.    

I got the feeling that my date was hungry because the host came over with some packages of “something” and my date looked at me with big eyes and pointed at the snack.  I nodded yes and she eagerly ripped it open and spilled the contents on the plate.  I wasn’t sure what they were.  Small and round and moist and very pale.  She stabbed one with a toothpick and aimed it at my mouth.  I opened up (like a good little baby) and she stuck it in.  I’m not sure how to describe the taste.  A little garlicky.  Maybe a little fishy?  It was soft and squishy.  An acquired taste which I quickly acquired because she proceeded to stick more down my gullet at every opportunity.  I think she was being polite.  She was starving and didn’t want to make it look like she was eating without me.  The host came over with some more snacks but these ones didn’t look as appetizing.  In fact, they looked like larvae in tomato sauce.  Did I eat them as my date forced them upon me?  Hell yes!  I really can’t say no.  I simply made a mental note to be on high alert for any intestinal grumblings.  Getting hit with EBD (Explosive Butt Disease) in Cambodia can happen at any moment but usually there are at least some initial warning signs. 

You don’t have to ask me twice to sing especially with a group of people who don’t speak English or barely know it.  I went through the songbook and picked out songs that I would never sing in a million years back home.  Kesha.  Yes, I will admit it.  I sang Kesha because what happens in Cambodia stays in Cambodia unless you spill all your guts out on a public blog.  I think I did it pretty well because it got everyone up dancing and if you can’t dance to Kesha, then you really haven’t drunk enough.   

As the evening was winding down, I got the nagging feeling that I actually had to pay my date.  I was certainly not under the illusion that I was so charming and attractive that I was going to get away with a freebie.  And getting mouth fed like a baby bird and getting smiled at every five seconds was not going to be cheap.  I pulled out my wallet.  Yep, the $20 was still there and sadly had not multiplied itself since I had last checked.  I snuck over to my friend and asked him how much I should tip.  He told me not more than $5 and $3 was appropriate if I didn’t have enough money.  I looked over at my date.  She was with me for about three hours and my friend was asking me to give her less money than what it costs to buy a venti frap at Starbucks.  I couldn’t do it.  I felt like she deserved more for putting up with my goofy crap.  I asked my friend for change and he gave me two $10 bills and I went back to my date and gave her one of them.  She folded it up.  Clasped her hands together.  Gave me a polite bow and disappeared out the door.  As quickly as that, she was gone.  

In a weird way, I felt cheated.  (Maybe she did too?)  I think I half expected her to give me her email address or exchange phone numbers.  Or give me a big kiss.  Or whisper in my ear what she could have done for more money.  Leaving like that was like getting a band aid ripped off.  The lights came up and the illusion was over.  I remember the same feeling at my high school dances.  Okay, everyone go home.  The party is over and pretend like you don’t know each other again. 

When we were leaving I saw my ex-fake-date by the front door.  I looked at her and she looked at me.   She didn’t look down and held my gaze.  But I couldn’t interpret it.  Was she being polite?  Was she as curious about me as I was about her?  Was she just being professional and giving me a last taste before hooking up with the next guy that came around?  I don’t know.

But the fact that she made me linger one last time probably means she is just being good at what she does.

Even so, I wish her well.  

Cambodia Dos and Don'ts

I've been to Cambodia four times now and I am DEFINITELY not an expert but I feel like I've had enough experiences around Siem Reap to at least be knowledgeable enough to share some insight.  It is a very complex country but a fascinating one and there is a lot to learn even for those world travelers who think they've seen it all.

So take this advice  ... or not.  Part of the complexity of Cambodia is that everyone has a different opinion on what to see, how to behave and how to help.

DOs

• Buy a temple pass late in the afternoon (I believe the time is after 5pm).  You will be able to enter that evening for free and enjoy the pass on the subsequent days.  
• Getting up at dawn to see Angkor Wat is definitely worth the effort.  The crowd is a lot of fun and the people watching is just as entertaining as seeing the sun come up over the iconic building.  Get there early and rent a red chair.
• The only time to see the Bayon (the temple with the big heads) or Ta Prohm (the temple with the large trees) is either very early in the morning or last thing in the evening.  If you go during the other times, you will be swamped by large collections of Korean tourists who will take pictures of EVERYTHING.  
• Go see Preah Khan.  This is a huge overlooked temple that is one of my favorites.  If you go when it is raining, you will think that you've entered another world.  
• Buy a red wool "bracelet" from an old woman.  It will give you protection when you decide to climb up some of the steeper temples such as Ta Keo.  
• If it's your first time in Cambodia, hire a tour guide.  They will give you some insight into the fascinating history of the temples and also show you the best places to capture that great photo.  
• Drink from a fresh coconut.  Not only is it cheaper than a coke but it is much, much better for you if you're sweating your ... ahem, extremities off.  
• Go enjoy pub street.  Yes, I know, it isn't very "Cambodian" but it sure is a lot of fun and there are some good restaurants (Tigre de Papier, Molly Malone's, Grand Cafe, Khmer Kitchen, Picasso's--not all technically on pub street but close enough).  
• If you can find yourself a local to take you to a karaoke bar, it is well worth it.  These are private rooms and even bad singers can sound remarkably good.  You can have yourself a female escort for a couple of bucks an hour.  Leave with her and it will be more.  (Keep in mind, prostitution in Cambodia is illegal).  
• Go see Apsara dancing.  Intricate steady movements make this an interesting spectacle to watch.  There are a couple of free shows in town but I saw one combined with a buffet and it was a lot of fun.  
• Support the tuk-tuk drivers.  For $2 they will take you all over town.  For $10 to $15 you can have a private driver for the whole day.  
• If you want to take a picture of a monk with their very photogenic orange robes, ask them first.  They are just like regular people and will enjoy practicing their English.  
• Take your shoes off before you enter someone's home.  
• If you would like to help Cambodia, support the organizations that are well established and have a good record.  Here's one that you should help out:  The Savong Foundation.  I'm the CEO so perhaps I'm a little biased.  
• Take the side trips out to Banteay Srei (the incredible "women's temple"), Kbal Spean (with its carved river beds) and especially the sacred mountain of Phnom Kulen (the big waterfall is amazing!).
• Check your money for any rips or tears.  In Cambodia, the main currency is American dollars and they won't take a damaged bill.  No one has ever explained to me why this is so.     
• Buy yourself a local phone for about $20.  You can call your favorite tuk tuk driver to pick you up wherever you are.  

DON'Ts; 

• Don't buy trinkets from the children.  Don't even give them money.  You're just turning them into beggars and giving their parent(s) an excuse for the children NOT to go to school. 
• If a Cambodian shows up unexpectedly while you're trampling around a temple and offers some "tour guide" information, politely decline his company or else he will expect a tip when he decides he has spent enough time with you.  If a policeman does the same thing, don't be shocked; they hardly make any money and kind tourists are a good source of income.  
• Don't drink the damn tap water.  Or even brush your teeth in it unless you like EBD (explosive butt disease).  
• Don't play with the stray dogs.  They may look cute but they can also bite unexpectedly and I'll bet you a couple thousand Riel that they aren't vaccinated against rabies.  The same goes for monkeys who can harbour even more dangerous diseases.  
• Don't be rude to the vendors who are walking around trying to sell you a scarf or a carving.  They are trying to make a living and won't appreciate being barked at like a dog.  
• Don't go visit an "orphanage" just to see smiling kids and take pictures of them.  If you want to help, make sure the orphan center is legit (keep in mind that even the legit orphan centers don't always have orphans.  Many of them have parents.) and donate money directly to the organization in charge. 
• Don't let the poverty get you down.  Cambodia is a developing country and needs a lot of help but things are slowly changing for the better.   
• Don't expect that Cambodians do things the way we do.  They don't.  (This has been the hardest lesson for me to learn.)

So that's it.  I'm sure I'll think of more but I've got to go eat.  

Temples of the Children

When you're wandering around the temples of Cambodia, you are definitely going to run into children.  They are usually begging for money or trying to sell you a bottle of water and they can be VERY persistent.  If you try to ignore them, they will usually ask you where you are from. 

Who can resist a little kid asking about your background?   

So you answer ...

"Canada" or another common tourist country like Australia, England or the USA. 

And then they spill out a half-dozen facts about your country that you probably didn't even know about.

At that point, you are so amazed that you fork over a couple of bucks and buy their trinkets.  (At least, that is what they are hoping). 

I've been to Cambodia a couple of times now and most of the time, I LOVE to interact with the kids.  They are harmless, probably come from very rough backgrounds and after all, they are KIDS and I hate it when other tourists bat at them like they are pesky flies.  But sometimes, I'm really not in the mood to be bothered so when they ask me where I am from, here is what I reply: 

"Surinam"

At which point, they get a blank look on their face and stumble away defeated. 

A lot of the time, the kids hang around outside the temples in small groups, keeping their eagle eyes out for a sweat-soaked tourist who might have an open wallet.  But sometimes, there are little kids hanging around the temples who just seem to be watching the world go by.  Who knows where these kids come from and in the case of the kid below, I'm not sure even what gender he or she was. 

These pictures were taken at the Preah Ko temple which is part of the Roulos group.  These temple pre-date Angkor Wat and are all quite small but still fascinating.  They are located just outside of Siem Reap, Cambodia.   

This little boy (I'm calling him a boy) was watching the tourists from behind a stone barrier. 

I asked my buddy Eddie (aka Reluctant Photography Model) to pose with him.  Eddie tried to get him to smile at the camera but it was unsuccessful for the most part and the kid really couldn't have cared less about what I was doing. 

Eddie was far more entertaining. 

I tried to take the little guy back to the US but the Cambodians have STRICT rules that nothing can be taken out of the temples. 

Oh well.

Related articles

• Angkor Wat - Siem Reap, Cambodia (travelpod.com)
• A 4:30am start to Siem Reap - Siem Reap, Cambodia (travelpod.com)
• Benteay Sarei, Ta Prohm, Bayan, Angkor Wat - Siem Reap, Cambodia (travelpod.com)
• Ancient Angkor - Siem Reap, Cambodia (travelpod.com)

New photos are up!

I've put up more of my (artsier) Cambodian photos on the photoshelter site.  There is a gallery for the temples, people and nature. 

Thanks for taking a look. 

And if you're so inclined, you can purchase them!!  Yes, I know it's Christmas time and your dear sick mother needs new socks so I'm okay if you would rather throw your money somewhere else. 

The link is below: 

Phil's Photos at Photoshelter

Thanks,

Phil

This shy girl was photographed during one of my trips to the Cambodian countryside.

The Cambodian fish massage

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. 

When in Siem Reap, it's a lot of fun just to be a tourist. 

Going to the night market is not something that regular Cambodians do.  It is strictly for those out-of-towners who aren't too weary from trampling around temples.  Most of it, as the name suggests, involves shopping for souvenirs but there is a central bar serving strong drinks and plenty of opportunities to get REALLY cheap massages.

$4 foot massage for an hour?  No problem! 

But if you're looking for something a little more exotic, then there is another option ...

A FISH FOOT MASSAGE

On this visit to Cambodia, I really wanted to try it out. I was hoping that the experience was better than their command of English.

For $2, you get a massage that lasts about 20 minutes.  This means that the fish are bringing in higher profits than their human counterparts! 

This does seem a little um, fishy.

You do get a free beer, glass of wine or coke while you're getting your toes tickled. This was a huge selling point for me because I was thirsty and a little nervous about sticking my feet into nasty water filled with a school of potential pirrhanas.

 
Here is the pool of water and the hungry fish. I don't think they get fed otherwise. Their diet consists entirely of tourist toe jam. Yummy.

 
After sticking my toes into the pool, the sensation was almost unbearable. I have ticklish feet and the feeling of having thirty tiny mouths eat away at me like I was some sort of human buffet was very disturbing.



But damnit, I sucked it up and endured it like a man.

Eddie didn't seem that impressed but the girls at the pool next to us were more entertaining than the fish. 

At the end of twenty minutes, did my feet feel any better?  Well, no but I walked away satisfied knowing that I had filled up lots of little stomachs and made them very happy even if they hadn't done the same thing for me.

Slow day in Siem Reap

I finally have a couple of hours to slow down and relax. 

And that's only because Eddie's condition has deteriorated from EBD (Explosive Butt Disease) to EEBD (Extreme Explosive Butt Disease).  Last night, he shit all over town until we dragged ourselves home around midnight.  And then I think he shit again.  Imodium isn't doing the trick; I think it's time for a cork. 

So, yesterday was a temple day.  I've been trying to mix up the days; do the touristy stuff one day and the next day go to the orphanage or do some humanitarian work.  It's been a lot of fun but it has been quite exhausting.  Like Eddie indicated after our last trip to Cambodia, we need a vacation after our vacation. 
I had wanted to go see the Roulos temple group after my last trip back in April.  These are very old temples that are just outside of town.  They are smaller, less visited by tourists but they have a certain charm and the red bricks that they used for the construction (especially at Preah Ko) are quite beautiful.  After breakfast, we got in our tuktuk and headed out.  We visited the three temples.  I took lots of pictures.  Sweated a LOT.  Had some fresh coconut water.  Got bombarded by girls selling silk scarves.  Dodged the Korean tourists with their visors and umbrellas.  Sweated some more. 

Then I wanted to go out to one of the most beautiful temples in all the Angkor area:  Banteay Srei. 

Banteay Srei is much further out.  It takes over an hour to get there by tuktuk but the drive isn't a bad one (although at times, it can be quite bumpy).  There are plenty of sights to see in the countryside; water buffalo submerged in their muddy water, palm sugar boiling in big steel pans, waving children and the general quiet hum of country life.  You have to pay an extra $5 from Siem Reap for the ride but it is definitely well worth it because Banteay Srei has the most incredible carvings.  So intricate that they call it the women's temple since it is believed that the carvings are too fine to be carved by apparently clumsy men.  The temple itself is quite small, especially when carved to the massive structures of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom.  It is surrounded by a moat and most of the temple is in great condition.  We made it there in the early afternoon and spent a couple of hours mulling around. 

There are two people that I have seen on previous visits to Banteay Srei that I really wanted to see on this visit.  One is Toi who was a boy of about 7 when I first met him a couple of years ago.  He had the saddest face when he tried to sell me his Angkor DVDs and I have a great picture of him near my tuktuk. I saw him again during my visit in April and already he looked a lot taller and much stronger.  He spoke very little English, especially for someone who was always around tourists.  On this visit, I looked for him but couldn't find him.  I hoped he was at school but who knows?  Any number of things could have accounted for his absence. 

The second person that I wanted to see was a girl who is terribly disfigured.  I don't know how old she is but my guess is that she is in her late teens or possibly early twenties.  It is difficult to tell because her face is so badly altered.  She barely has a nose and she doesn't have a tongue.  The only sound that I have ever heard her make is a low groan which I have heard when she approaches a tourist and begs for money.  My guess is that she was a victim of an acid attack although another type of burn could have happened.  As we were coming out of the temple, we saw her and she looked much better than she had on my previous encounters; her hair was relatively clean and tied back in a ponytail and her clothes weren't dirty and torn.  Eddie whipped out his wallet and gave her $20 and her eyeballs nearly popped out of her head.  She bowed down her head with enthusiastic thanks and then she held up the bill for all her friends to see.  With her immobile face, it was impossible to tell if she were crying or just really happy.  That much money was quite possibly more than she would get for a full month.  We decided to take some pictures and the girl was happy to oblige with the support of all her friends.  She held my camera with her twisted fingers and I scrolled through the photos.  I have no idea what was going through her head when she saw her face looking back at her.

We made it to the Bayon for sunset.  The Bayon is a large Hindu temple that sits at the exact centre of the walled city of Angkor Thom.  It is famous for it's large smiling faces carved into the rock and is a great temple to see at sundown as the dramatic lighting highlights the faces well.  It is also less crowded at sunset because most tourists flock to the hill temple of Phnom Bakheng, and I'm really not sure why.  Tradition perhaps?  You can ride an elephant to the top.  We stayed at the Bayon for about an hour and then headed back to town.  If you're in Siem Reap, then a trip to the Bayon should be high on your list.  Just try to avoid the morning hours when you have to battle all the other tourists who have the same idea. 

For dinner, we went to Picasso's which is a very Western tapas bar which has great food and drinks.  I drank a carafe full of sangria which made me appropriately drunk for my first ever fish massage. 

A fish massage is not a massage for fish.  And it isn't really a massage.  But there are fish involved so I guess they got that right.  For $2 which includes a beer or a glass of wine or a bottled water, you get to stick your nasty stinkin' feet into a pool of fish for 20 minutes.  During this time, the fish eat your dead skin and according to the sign, make you "happy and funny".  When I first stuck my toes into the pool, I could barely stand it.  I have ticklish feet and the sensation of having 20 small mouths chomping on my extremities really took me to my sensory limit.  The best part was watching other people.  There were two Japanese girls in the same predicament and one could barely keep her feet in the water and the other just shook her head and screamed.  If you're in Siem Reap, you have to try it so that you too can be happy and funny. 

Then it was off to do some shopping at the night market where I bought 10 t-shirts for $16 and I met a girl who wanted to show me how she makes handmade scarves.  At this market, there were plenty of opportunities for massaging your body parts.  For $4 you could get a real hour long foot massage which made me re-think my opinion that a $2 fish massage was a good deal.  The vendors at the night market are all very friendly and they are not hard bargainers.  They smile a lot and I fall for their sweet natures.  Typical Cambodians.  This is why I have been back to this country three times. 

We went to a bar later that night and tried to teach someone how to play Blackjack which was, for the most part, unsuccessful.  Eddie had to go to the shitter on two different occasions and his pathetic face told me that it was time to leave earlier than I had hoped. 

This morning, Savong picked us up and we went to the new market.  We bought $300 worth of medical supplies for the clinic (that lasts for only 3 days!) as well as shoes, blankets, mats, bowls, plates, spoons, chickens, eggs, fish and soap all for the orphanage.  Savong said the kids will be very happy with all the great food and new household items.  Looking after 33 children is apparently a lot of work and expensive, even in Cambodia. 

And now it's now.  I just had a conversation with Ponheary about the disaster in Phnom Penh during the water festival.  345 people died because of trampling and drowning.  Ponheary is very sad because she is a very empathetic person.  She has a tour to do this afternoon but she looks tired and I don't think she wants to go.

This evening, I hope to go to the orphanage again and Eddie needs to pick up a beautiful carved Buddha head he bought at the night market.

Time is passing TOO fast.  We leave tomorrow at midnight for the long trip back home. 

Related articles

• Cambodia: Ten tips on visiting Angkor's temples (telegraph.co.uk)
• Rolling through the Ruins | Siem Reap (jeffpruett.wordpress.com)
• A Perfect Day in Siem Reap (time.com)
• Private water raiding threatens Angkor's temples built on sand (guardian.co.uk)
• Traveller's Guide: Cambodia (independent.co.uk)
• Temples of Angkor (lonelyplanet.tv)

Water festivals and ghosts and babies with big heads

It's late. I'm exhausted.  And I have another early start tomorrow.

But I thought I should update my blog before another couple of days pass and I'm on my way home. 

Saturday.  We tackled the temples.  We met a couple of guys who decided to join us on our adventures.  One is from Austria.  The other from Germany.  Great guys who enjoy street food (not such a great idea in Cambodia unless you can identify the mystery meat) and they seem to like taking pictures as much as I do.  We all fit into one large tuk-tuk and set off about 9am. 

I set the itinerary.  I wanted to see some of the smaller temples and avoid all the tourists.  Everyone agreed to follow my plan which was slightly scary to me since my plans are always faulty on some level.  The first temple we visited was Preah Khan, which has probably become my favorite temple since they ruined the "lost temple" atmosphere at Ta Prohm by putting up barricades and wooden walkways.  Preah Khan has lots of small corridors, tons of carved Apsaras (or heavenly dancers with large breasts) and a fair number of trees that are taking down the walls with their large roots.  Although everyone wants to see the Bayon with the large carved heads and Ta Prohm and Angkor Wat, they should really try to see Preah Khan as well, especially since it is usually avoided by the large tour groups. 

I really wanted to find a smaller temple called Ta Nei.  I had seen one picture of it; it looked small, crumbled and completely deserted but the tuk-tuk driver made up all sorts of excuses why we couldn't get there.  Finally he drove us down a long dirt path, which eventually turned into impassible mud and stopped.  If we wanted to see Ta Nei, then we had to walk the rest of the way.  The only problem was that we weren't even sure if we were on the right road (our driver couldn't speak much English) and the map wasn't any help.  To make matters worse, we came to a fork in the road after walking for a couple of minutes.  We decided to split up and jog (!) for a minute and then return back to the spot if we couldn't find anything that resembled crumbling ruins.  The jogging idea belonged to the German dude.  To him, there wasn't anything even remotely bizarre of jogging down a muddy path in the Cambodian jungle in 85 degree heat with strange insects to find a temple.  As it turned out, we DID find the temple and both roads led right to it.  It was an incredible discovery.  We came to the end of the road and there was a relatively intact temple that had absolutely no human presence.  I felt like I was discovering Angkor Wat for the first time.  We were able to climb over the ruins, explore the corridors, photograph anything we wanted without the intrusion of other tourists and pretend like we were Indiana Jones.  We found out later that it was "closed" to tourists because they were using it for "research"??  I have some great pictures of it that I will share later. 

I was driving our tuk-tuk driver a little batty.  He didn't understand what I was saying and I think he wanted to do the regular tourist circuit.  I, on the other hand, wanted a custom tour that went all over the place and even to temples that were apparently closed.  As with all the Cambodians I have met, he was still incredibly tolerant and put up with all of us for almost eleven hours for $28 including tip.  And he was happy. 

In the evening, we went to a Cambodian drag show.  Yes, a little weird but why not?  To say that this show had low production values does not fully explain how low budget it was.  The shoes didn't fit, one dress was ripped and covered in mildew and at one point, a wig flew off and landed on the floor.  The Cambodians seemed to enjoy it.  Ignorance truly is bliss. 

Okay, I'm just about caught up.  Today, there was a huge (and I mean, freakin' huge) festival going on in Siem Reap called the Water Festival.  This festival signals the end of the rainy season (goodbye water) and everyone pours into Siem Reap in the north of Cambodia and Phnom Penh in the south.  I thought that Siem Reap is chaotic on a regular day but add in another million people and you pretty much have breakdown of all systems, especially the traffic one.  This morning, we were walking down the sidewalk near the river bank catching all the festivities, which included boat races and lying around, and we came across a baby which had the head the size of two basket balls.  I am seriously not joking.  This baby's head was enormous and he lay there on a cot, clutching bills of riel which locals or tourists were giving to him.  He was in front of the children's hospital and I guess it was their way of raising money for him.  Just put him out on the sidewalk and make him earn money for his care.  There were plenty of people surrounding him as if he were part of a sideshow circus.  It was all very disturbing.  My guess is that he had a severe case of hydrocephalus and was never treated for it.  If this had happened in the US, the hospital would have been burnt to the ground and all the hospital staff would have been thrown in jail.  In Cambodia, there is a different system; you try to get through life any way you can. 

In the afternoon, I FINALLY had a good long talk with my partner in crime, Savong.  We met at a restaurant and discussed all the details of the Savong Foundation, which is the charitable organization that will hopefully be a 501c3 soon.  He answered all my questions and I was very pleased how the meeting went.  I'm very excited about the direction of the foundation and the two hour meeting only reinforced what I already suspected about Savong; this guy is pretty incredible and I am very blessed to have him as a friend. 

Okay, dinner and a massage.  Fast forward through that.  I'll just say that the massage cost $26 for an hour and a half.  That is actually quite expensive for Cambodia but it was worth it. 

In the evening, I met with Savong again and he took me down to the river to watch the water festival.  The river was full of handmade boats with candles and incense which made for an incredibly beautiful sight.  There was lots of music and HORDES of people.  Amazingly enough, there were no traffic accidents or people run over by a wayward tuk-tuk.  As far as I could tell anyway.  I suppose this was the definition of ordered chaos. 

Then Savong took me to the site of the killing fields in Siem Reap.  Under a full moon, he showed me the stupa that was loaded with the skulls and other bones of the victims.  (That was more than a little creepy).  He told me how the old people with killed with blows to their heads and how babies were bayoneted after being tossed up into the air.  He told me the stories of his own family and how some them survived and some of them not.  Then he told me stories about his father who has sort of a psychic gift and how he has healed some people that were possessed by bad spirits.  One tip for keeping the bad spirits out of your body; don't let the banana tree leaves touch your house.  The spirits will slip and slide on those leaves and enter your house and then it's possession time. 

And then I went back to the guesthouse.  I think I should have been in bed about an hour ago.  We have a long day tomorrow; we're going back to see some temples and then we may do some shopping.  On Tuesday, we're going to buy some supplies for the medical clinic (thanks Anneke!) and probably buy a pump for a very poor family. 

Oh wait, this morning, I also helped to buy a rice plough with Ponheary Ly who runs the guesthouse where I'm staying.  We bought it for a farmer who needed it for the rice harvest.  I'm starting to loose track of everything I did.  Thankfully, I have the pictures to jog this damn brain of mine. 

I gotta get to bed.  I'm gonna hurt tomorrow.

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I've got Cambodia on my mind

Yes, I have decided to do it twice in one year. 

No, I'm not talking about balancing my checkbook.  I'm talking about taking another trip to Cambodia! 

I leave this Sunday on the red eye.  Technically speaking, I'm doing two red eyes back-to-back because I leave on Sunday night and I arrive on Tuesday night.  This is one helluva long trip and I'm not looking forward to it but at least Korean Airlines has a good in-flight entertainment service.  And their flight attendants are very attractive and helpful.  Those are definite pluses when you are cramped into a stiff chair for a gazillion hours. 

On the agenda:  

The main reason for my travel is to meet with Savong to discuss the recent birth of The Savong Foundation.  This is a non-profit organization (with the 501c3 status pending) that will benefit the Savong School, the Savong Orphan Center and the surrounding community of the Bakong district of northern Cambodia.  We will discuss the various projects and see what directions we wish them to take.  The push right now is to come up with ways to make money for the Foundation so that it can accomplish everything that we dream about.  I am very excited to be a part of this charity and you can keep an eye on the updates on The Savong Foundation facebook page. 

Besides the business stuff, I'll spend a lot of time with kids at the orphan center and hopefully I'll get a chance to see what's happening at the school.  I'm sure that I'll be exploring the temples that I didn't get to see last time and for the first time, I hope to travel to Phnom Kulen which is the sacred Cambodian mountain known for its waterfalls.  

I will be staying at the Seven Candles Guesthouse which is the best accommodation I know for $20 a night.  I am very excited to see Ponheary Ly again who is the Big Mama of the house and was recently awarded the title of a CNN hero for her work with schoolchildren.  The guesthouse is very centrally located and you really do feel as if you are part of the big family when you're there.  I highly recommend it if you ever decide to take the trip to Siem Reap. 

And of course, I'll try to see sunrise at Angkor Wat.  And I'll visit the markets.  And I'll walk down Pub Street in Siem Reap and hope to see a show at the Temple Bar this time around.  I may even try a fish foot massage for $3 which includes a coke or a beer.   Yes, I am a tourist at heart and I love to take pictures. 

This is a good time to visit Cambodia for the weather; it will be cooler with less (wishful thinking here) rain.  The weather has GOT to be better than it was in April which felt like I was running through hell wearing a fur coat.  If it does rain, it doesn't tend to last and scrubs everything clean (including the sweat-soaked tourists). 

It's a little tricky to post updates due to the exhaustion factor (I tend to go until I drop when I'm on vacation) but I'll do my best at letting you know that I'm still alive. 

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Temples of Doom

One thing that I would like you to know if you're travelling to the temples of Northern Cambodia ...

It isn't safe. 

I think this is the only sign that I saw warning tourists of potential dangers. 

Overall, the temples are treacherous; they are very steep, the steps are very narrow and in the rainy season, you are one missed step away from a broken leg.  And there is very little limit as to where you can go.  If you have a burning desire to climb that ancient statue of the elephant, then there is usually no one around to stop you. 

But I really think that is a GOOD thing.  I like the temples to be wild and dangerous.  I want to feel as if I'm one of the early explorers discovering these ruins for the first time.  I want to feel excited about what might be around the next corner and if that might be a huge boulder rolling straight at me, then so be it. 

For the most part, the Cambodian temples are still like this but on my second visit to Cambodia, I noticed a disturbing trend.  They are trying to make the temples "safe" and "photo friendly".  They are obviously catering to the abundant middle-aged to elderly tourists who want their smiling faces in front of as many temples as they can visit during their three day tour.  I guess it would put a damper on the trip if your sixty year old fat wife broke her neck while falling down 100 stone stairs but maybe if you're out of shape and sixty, you should have considered the Caribbean instead. 

One of my favorite things to do at the temples is to see the sunset from the hill temple of Phnom Bakheng.  What I didn't know on my first visit to Cambodia was that after the sunset, you must descend from the temple with a horde of other tourists IN PITCH BLACK DARKNESS.  This was quite amusing because very few people had flashlights and there were no guides to show you were you were supposed to go.  When descending the temple stairs, you just prayed that some Korean tourist coming from up above was not going to miss a step and take you with him on the way down and when descending the hill, you hoped that the tourists you were following knew where they were going.  In the end, the exhilarating feeling was worth the risk of potential bodily harm.   

On my second visit, things had definitely changed; the guards did not let you watch the sun set.  While it was still very light out, they cleared the temple and made you head back down towards the road.  This was the last photo that I took before I was told to get the hell off the hill. 

Yes, I know they are doing it for the safety of the tourists.  Dead or maimed tourists don't spend any money so I suppose there are economical reasons for doing it too.   

Ta Prohm is a must for every tourist travelling to Northern Cambodia.  The giant fig trees holding the crumbling temple in their grasp is a photographer's dream come true.  The first time I saw this site, I was in pure bliss.  

Here is one of the photos I took. 

A year and a half later, they did the unthinkable.  They installed a platform where you can pose with the tree.  Now it is impossible to take the above photo because there is a freakin' rope in front of it!   So much for capturing the natural beauty of the scene.  

Instead they have made it like Disneyland.  Stand here.  Smile.  Yay!  I've been to a Cambodian temple.  Wish you were here, mom!  

Did I take one of these photos?  You bet your ass I did.  I couldn't help it.  I'm a tourist at heart but on the inside I was really disappointed.    

This photo shows more of the fenced off area and the platform.  So much for leaving the temple in its "natural state".

Here is another example, once again at Ta Prohm.  This is the famous doorway which, on my first visit, was taken from a fair distance away. 

Well, you can't get that shot anymore.  Unless you take down the rope fence and viewing platform, you are going to get that in the shot and for me, that completely ruins the picture. 

The only way to avoid the modern additions is to do a close crop.  The shot is definitely not as effective. 

If you are on a three day temple tour (which is the most common type of tour), you are going to miss one of the more interesting temples:  Beng Mealea.  I didn't see it on my first visit because there was just too much other stuff to do but I vowed to see it on my return visit.  This is the description in the Lonely Planet guidebook, "Beng Mealea is a spectacular sight to behold.  It's one of the most mysterious temples at Angkor, as nature has well and truly run riot.  Built to the same floor plan as Angkor Wat, exploring this titanic of temples is Angkor's ultimate Indiana Jones experience." 

Doesn't that sound great? 

On my return visit, I fulfilled my promise to myself and made the trek out there to see it.  Most of it was in a destroyed, crumbled state.   

But, you guessed it, they put wooden platforms and walkways EVERYWHERE.  In fact, you didn't need to climb over any giant blocks if you didn't want to because the whole place was apparently made handicapped accessible!

What kind of Indiana Jones crock o' shit was this???  Hmmm, in my mind, they kinda ruined the whole experience of exploring this temple.  It was a very different temple but I'm not sure I would go back.  

Don't get me wrong.  I do enjoy posing but I prefer to be a little more creative. 

Thankfully, there are still locations where you you feel as if you are taking your life into your own hands.  Ta Keo is a huge temple that was abandoned after it was struck by lightening (apparently a bad omen during temple building) but they managed to build most of it.  Climbing to the top of Ta Keo is a little daunting.  In the rainy season, one slip and you're gonna see heaven pretty quickly. 

And the other crazy climb was to the top of Angkor Wat.  They have installed stairs to make it safer but it still isn't all that safe.  Those crazy Korean tourists think they can climb anything at any age and I was constantly worried that I was going to be flattened by grandma Kim on the way down. 

Cambodia is changing and fast.  I am sure they will continue to modernize the temples to make them safer and to accommodate more tourists.  I strongly feel that this is a bad thing but I'm in no position to halt the progress.  It is what it is.  I just hope the extra money goes towards the Cambodian people and not the Japanese conglomerate who looks after the temple tickets.

Wishful thinking, I know.  

Return to Cambodia slideshow!!

If you don't have photodex, this may be an easier way to view my slideshow although the quality is not quite as good.

NEW SLIDESHOW!

It took me a whole lotta hours but it's finally done. 

The slideshow about my latest Cambodian adventures. 

You can view it with my other slideshows at

http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewalbum?bm=51226

Click on the slideshow that is labelled "Return to ...". 

You can make it full screen by right clicking on the show and make sure you turn up the volume because the music took a long time to get right (and I'm still not sure it's right).  My apologies that the music is actually not Cambodian, it's Indian.  Oh well.  I couldn't find any appropriate Cambodian music. 

Enjoy! 

Generous support

I would like to thank all of the supporters who have recently donated to help Savong's school (www.savong.com), Savong's orphanage (http://www.savongorphanage.com/) as well as my Cambodian Good Water Fund. 

A very special thanks to the Yokohama International Woman's Club who has given me $550 to spend on the children. 

I also have very generous supporters in Canada and the United States.  I am so thankful for all the good will. 

During my time over in Cambodia, I will put all this donated money to very good use.  I have been in contact with foreigners living in Cambodia and have learnt a lot about the best way to handle donations.  It isn't as easy as it first appeared!  

I am still hoping to raise enough money to build an addition onto the orphanage.  I realize this is a tough time for everyone but if there is an extra money in your wallet or purse these days, I assure you that it will be well spent on the less fortunate. 

Cambodian Good Water Fund

Please stay tuned. I hope to keep everyone up to date with pictures and articles.