Siem Reap

After a day of temple touring in the hot sun, we decided to hang around the hotel until early evening and then visit downtown after it cooled off a bit.  We were actually lucky and a big rain storm came through and cooled things down quite a bit.

By far the main source of transportation in Siem Reap is motorcycle, most of which are of the very small engine sort.  The primary taxi in town is called a tuk tuk, which is a small motorcycle pulling a trailer for up to four people.  In the U.S., and, for Ed and Janet, Canada, there are specific driving rules that almost everyone follows.  In Cambodia, there are general driving guidelines that someone might occasionally remember.  Most intersections do not have traffic lights, or even stop/yield signs.  In order to get onto the street in the first place, a driver has to edge his way out into the traffic until his position is such that others have to give way.  Luckily, everyone drives very slowly (20-30 mph).  As you might imagine, the bigger your vehicle the quicker other drivers will give way.

We took a tuk tuk downtown for dinner and some shopping, then we were going to the Cambodian Circus.  Tuk tuks are pretty small and so our driver had to drive down the shoulder on the wrong side of the road before he found an opening and slowly made his way to the correct side of the road (which in Cambodia is actually the right-hand side of the road).  This photo was taken immediately after our driver found his way to the right side of the road.  Note the rain cover on the tuk tuk, the opposing traffic to our left, and then the line of motorcycles going the wrong way on the opposing shoulder.  There are also drivers to the right of us going the wrong way.  Driving in Cambodia is barely-controlled chaos.

Once we made it downtown safe and sound, we bought a few items at a couple of outlet stores, and from one of the local vendors.  It was weird seeing full-on North Face down jackets for sale in a tropical country.  The outlet stores wouldn't dicker, but the local woman would.  I didn't push too much since a few dollars makes a much bigger difference to her than to us.

This photo was taken where we ate dinner, at Le Tigre Papier.  The seats along the main road were all taken, so the hostess took us through the dinning room, through the kitchen, and into what you might call the alleyway seating.  Sandy ordered cashew chicken with rice and I ordered the barbequed crocodile.  If anyone asks, it tastes like chicken but has the consistency of shrimp.

Cambodia mainly supported America during the Vietnam war, and were actually fighting their own civil war at the time.  When the U.S. left our South Vietnamese allies to the tender mercies of the North in 1975, we also left our Cambodian allies to the mercies of the Cambodian communists, called the Khmner Rouge, or Red Cambodians, led by Pol Pot.  Pol Pot forced Cambodians to evacuate all the cities deciding that all Cambodians would become simple subsistence farmers.  Bankers, taxi drivers, cooks, business owners were all forced out of the cities.  The driver who met us at the airport was a young child during this period, and was forced away from Siem Reap and to rely on the generosity of others, while the communists killed all the other members of his immediate family.  He ventured back into town after Pol Pot was overthrown in 1979.

During the civil war the Khmer Rouge and other forces planted many millions of land mines.  While millions of those have been found and destroyed, it is estimated that 5 million still remain.  In 2013, there were 111 land mine casualties in Cambodia including 22 deaths and 89 injuries.  Because of land mines, Cambodia has one of the highest rates in the world of amputees per capita.

Cambodia is a very poor country with little in the way of industry, and much of that poverty is on display in Siem Reap.  The fellow pictured next to me is selling books about Cambodia, one of which I bought from him.  What you can't see very well is that both of his arms have been amputated due to a land mine explosion.  While we have enjoyed our time in Siem Reap, we have also spent some time reflecting on how lucky we are to live the lives we do.

This photo shows the same tuk tuk driver, now with the "top down", taking us from the Pub Street area downtown, north see the Cambodian Circus, which is called Phare.  Driving in Siem Reap is pretty much pandemonium, and we hear it is even worse in the capital city of Phnom Penh.

Phare was pretty cool, like a Cambodian Cirque du Soleil.  The acrobats all belong to a school for the arts, which was founded to support Cambodian arts.  The show combines music and acrobatics with a nice little story of acceptance.  Check out the woman in front doing a handstand with her legs touching the back of her head, and the man in back doing a balancing handstand and feats of strength.

This photo shows most of the troupe doing something daring.

This last photo shows your happy bloggers immediately after the show as our friendly tuk tuk driver took us for the last ride of the evening back to the hotel.  Note my new Angkor Lager shirt!