Kissing Buddha: A Closer Look Into Cambodia

Let's just say I almost missed my flight.

I wrongly dated my calendar and thought that the trip to Cambodia was on 15th July when it was actually on 8th July. Thanks to my wonderful friends in Bintulu who understands my absent mindedness. They called me on 7th July!

Cambodia is a pleasant surprise.

Upon arrival at Siem Riep International Airport and meeting the Customs officials, our first impression is that the people at the airport are not as friendly as the ones we meet in Thailand, Brunei, Borneo or Indonesia. Hoping to be corrected, we, all 7 of us soon met our tuk tuk driver Mr Kram. Thankfully, he greeted us with a huge smile.

I noticed that many vehicles in Siem Riep are powered by motorcycles. You see motorcycles attached to wagons, motorcycles attached to contraptions where it transforms into a truck, van, car, etc.

The population in general appear youthful since most of them cycle. You can see a mother cycling with her baby strapped on her chest, while her 2 kids are pillion riders.

We stayed at Temple Villa, where the rates are 2 stars, but the quality is 4 stars. Truly! 3-single beds, AC, fan, TV, DVD player, personal bathroom, a minibar with replenishable water bottles, free WiFi, free internet cafe, towels, toothbrushes and soap, for USD 23/night is a steal. Eating at the Villa was cheaper than at eateries since the rates are for stay-in customers. The location is at the heart of Siem Riep, which makes it accessible to eateries and shopping areas.

The Khmer massages are USD 3/hour. That's RM 9 per hour. We went crazy!

The Cambodian population generally comprise of Khmer folk, Chinese and Vietnamese. It was once a historical power house, but the civil war started by Pol Pot, and the succeeding corruption has caused the population to be generally poor. This observation may be unjust since my benchmark is Malaysia. Perhaps, in the Khmer criteria, they may be working class. I need to do more research on this.

What to Do and See
1) We toured most of the interesting Wat(s) (temples) including the infamous Angkor Wat and where Angelina Jolie filmed the Tomb Raider. The entrance fees to see the wats within 3 days is USD 40. I had my history lesson and understood more on Hinduism and Buddhism.

2) We visited Tonle Sap (Fresh Water River). We chartered a small boat in the range of maybe USD 10 for 7 people. Don't worry, it has life jackets. The tour took easily 2 hours +. We saw the floating village, where the Khmer and Vietnamese folk build their houses on rafts attached to a motorboat. They literally bathe, answer nature's call, fish, and do domestic work in the river. There was a floating church, mosque, orphanage, school, shop, restaurant and a sports court. The floating mosque was a donation from an organization in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. Most of the establishment of schools were funded on donations, but the run-and-maintain costs are borne by the local administration. It was really heart-wrenching seeing how large families crowd in a small boat house; eating, sleeping and cooking in 1 area. Some of them were extremely impoverished. The boat that they were paddling in was old and leaking, that the young children as old as 5 or younger can be seen scooping water out of the boat (sampan). A few of my friends donated money to those whom we feel needed it. We did not care that some of our friends insisted that we not subsidize laziness. In my personal opinion, these people are from a war torn-corrupted country. The government and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) presence is practically nil. They stay on rivers dependant on the river source. A few days before we came there was a draught and the river was dry. How can these people who have nothing make a living? How can they who hardly have clean water, electricity, and basic facilities make ends meet? What if their only source of income i.e. the river was dry? My heart bled for them. I can live without a few USD. I can opt to not eat out, or go to a movie. I can survive. The Khmer folk need it more.

3) Cultural Village
We paid USD 11 per pax (on weekends) and USD 6 (weekdays) to enter a Mini Cambodia Village. There is a museum, judgement tunnel as per Buddhism, and cultural performances for traditional Khmer weddings, fiance selection, and etc. I took a liking to the some of the male-female dances. Very different but respectful. Okla, plus I thought one of the male dancer was uber cute.

4) Silk Farm
There is no entrance fees. We learned how Cambodian Silk is made. From the type of tree they used to feed the silk worms (all types of mulberry), the worm life cycle (apparently worms are created just to mate, and then they die), how fine and raw silk are made, how to differentiate between hand made silk and machine made, etc. Very interesting. Now I understand why it is so expensive. It's so manual!

5) Local delicacies
The Khmer food is somewhat familiar to Malaysian tastebuds but different. Muslims can opt for vegetarian dishes or dishes with seafood. I advise to eat the local dishes and not try something familiar like Western food. You might be disappointed.

5) Shopping
You can go to the Night Market (pasar malam) and the Old Market. Prices are inflated and must be haggled to at least 50%. Remember, these prices are for tourists. You can buy their traditional dresses, shirts, pants, handmade handbags, paintings, coffee flavored rice wine i.e. tuak (i kid you not!), local coffee, local beer (Angkor beer was so popular among my non-Muslim friends), silk, and etc. If you know how to haggle, you can get dirt cheap stuff compared to Malaysia. Dirt cheap. Call me up if you need bargaining tips.

6) War Museum
You can check out the destruction left by Pol Pot.

7) Visit orhpanages.
There are so many orphanages.

8) Visit your local church and mosque.

What I Learned
1) Clean and accessible water is still scarce in Cambodia (not to mention electricity)
We only drank bottled water there.

2) Khmer uses sitting toilets and water to clean themselves in the restrooms. However, if you are not careful, some ''public'' toilets may use recycled water. I had a terrible experience cleaning myself at a restaurant. The toilet was clean, but when I felt my hands were oily, I realized they may have recycled the water from the dish cleaning. If you were thinking it, yes, I did scream!

3) Muslims are referred to as Cham. The earliest Muslims in Cambodia originated from Champa, Vietnam. Due to unawareness, Khmer folk call everyone wearing a headscarf Cham. Yeah, I was Miss Cham! They think Chams speak the same language globally. Initially, I disagreed with them. When I sat to think about it, I realized, maybe when Muslims greet each other, we have a universal language: assalamualaikum, salaam a'laik, and salaam. Most of us can speak a little Arabic. I feel proud to be Muslim!

4) The number of hotel presence outnumber the number of schools, and hospitals.
During Pol Pot's reign, he ordered the killing of intellectuals: teachers, writers, historians, academicians, doctors, lawyers, etc. Children who wanted to learn had to be smuggled into temples.

5) There are so many orphanages!
I have yet to determine why there are so many considering it has been at least 20 years since Pol Pot's rule ended. Perhaps it was due to the landmines, or human trafficking.

6) There are 2 prices everywhere you eat or everywhere you shop (except at standard marts): 1 price for Khmer, 1 price for tourists. If you want to invite your tour guide and tuk tuk driver to eat with you, just allow them to eat separately. You can treat them by increasing their tip to compensate for the lunch and dinner.

7) When you go to the floating village, make sure you buy books, stationeries, and dry food from Malaysia to donate to either mosque, church or orphan schools. You don't want the hassle of bargaining in a foreign country.

8) Khmer folk are industrious. Our tour guide went to school until 5th grade or something. Then he worked at hotels, saved money to learn English, and Spanish so he can become a tour guide. Wow, how many of us bother remembering what they LEARNED in SCHOOL?

9) Cambodia was saddled by civil wars that they INVITED the French to colonize them. They are also very proud to share this information with tourists. I guess, you must be fed up with all the in-fighting of your people that you'd rather have a foreigner colonize you. I guess better the French than the Dutch. Hehehe pun intended (referring to history here).

10) Remember how people always say don't buy from the children or people who stalk you at the tourists sites? I say BUY FROM THEM. Why?
a) Much cheaper
b) You are really helping the hard core poor
c) Though you can't buy from all, buy what you want, and at least you are helping some
d) They sell post cards, hats, shirts, books, food and drinks much cheaper than the night and old market. I did my survey. For schizzle.

11) Gas prices at the pump stations in Cambodia are roughly USD 1.70 per gallon and follows the market rate. I can't imagine how the poor survive and get around since they need gas.

12) Many tourists fund an entire tuk tuk or the like to assist Khmer in making a living. They show their gratitude by posting the poster of the donator on their tuk tuk etc.

Cambodia has taught me to be grateful of the basic necessities, my civil liberties, my country, my family and friends. Malaysia is not perfect and has many room for improvement, but we are better off than many countries. I still want to fair elections, refining civil rights and policies, and etc, but it doesn't make me less of a Malaysian or a Muslim.

Be the Change You Want to See In the World

PS> Well, I didn't kiss Buddha. I made sure Buddha kissed me in a picture! :p