Life in the Harbor of the Tusks - Cambodia blog entry #27

You may be relieved to hear that Friday's post will be my last one about my Cambodian trip until after the Christmas holidays. I'm letting you know now so that you will be more excited to read these last two posts.

Our tuk tuk picked us up one morning, and we headed off to the floating villages along the Tonlé Sap River. 

Tonlé Sap means 'vast body of fresh water' or 'great lake' in the Khmer language. There are many inlets into this large river, and many villages have been built along those banks. The homes are all built on stilts, since during the rainy season, these inlets flood, giving the appearance that some of these homes are floating on the water. 

There are four floating villages in the area around Siem Reap, and we visited the one named Kompong Phluk, which means "Harbor of the Tusks". 

We boarded our tour boat and began chugging along like the African Queen.

Can you say, "sketchy transmission".

I reflected on my privileged life and how my needs are met with minimal sacrifice, yet I complain so much. Even though I refuse to wear designer clothes, buy most of my clothes at Goodwill or St Vinnie, use the same old battered purse forever, use my cell phone until it doesn't hold a charge, and challenge every vehicle to roll a hundred thousand miles before looking for a newer used car.

There are a lot more sacrifices I could make, but I try to live modestly. But nothing is taken for granted out there in those tacked-together shacks on stilts over the river with a depth dependent on the dry versus rainy season. 

Every day must be a struggle. Living off fishing, these residents find each season brings a new challenge. When the fish are spawning, fishing with nets is illegal, but can a family live on what is caught with a pole? 

There's a public school out there somewhere among the water, but how many kids are committed to going? There's a grocery store, too, but can it be kept stocked with fresh food?  

And yet, I bet the families are as happy as those I've met in the Bush of Kenya. They may not even know that much about the outside world. All they know is their little world, and they get by day to day without much thought of what's beyond their watery home. 

Sometimes, I think they are the ones who are lucky, who are living their best lives, while privileged populations don't even know what a best life is. 

My New Heroes - Cambodia blog entry #26

Much earlier in this series of blog posts, I told you about the Killing Fields and the Genocide Museum, and about the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge in the seventies. I told you how heart-wrenching that all was. Somehow, I held my emotions in check through all of that.

A week later, still in Cambodia, I just about broke down, learning about some true heroes, ones who are turning back the clock on those injustices and making a difference in the lives of many still facing horror in Southeast Asia.

Meet Glen.

 And Gordon (with his handler and Denise).

They are African Giant Pouched Rats who have been granted the title of HeroRats.  

Nearly 60 countries have land which still contains hidden landmines and other explosives, leftover from war. These devices kill indiscriminately, and in just 2023, they caused at least 5,757 casualties, of which 84% were civilians and 37% children.

How can these explosive devices be found safely so that they can be demolished in a controlled setting? It would take a human with a metal detector up to four days to clear an area the size of a tennis court. A HeroRat can search that area in thirty minutes, because he or she is trained to sniff out the explosive and not any other metal that may be buried there.

When we hear the word “rat”, we all picture a rodent digging around in trash, carrying fleas and diseases. But rats are actually very intelligent, easy to train, and have a remarkable sense of smell. They are also perfect for landmine and explosive detection, because they don’t weigh very much, so they can’t set off a device if they step on one. Also, they can live up to eight years, don’t eat much, and are easy to transport, so basically, they are really cheap labor.

But they love doing their job and they love the treats they are rewarded with. Okay, maybe they just love the treats. But they are still heroes for anyone who lives in a country where there are still active hidden explosives in the ground.

Please click here to view to their website, APOPO, to see what else these rats have been  trained to do, and consider making a donation.

(APOPO is an acronym from Dutch which stands for “Anti-Persoonsmijnen Ontmijnende Product Ontwikkeling”, or in English, Anti-Personnel Landmines Detection Product Development.)

Preah Khan Temple - Cambodia blog entry #25

The last ancient temple we toured in Cambodia was Preah Khan. Only we didn’t really tour it; we sprinted it.

Long story. We were scheduled to be done with the day’s three temples and back to our hotel by 1:30, for an afternoon of leisure. So, us three women made appointments at the spa next door for 2:00. Plenty of time, right?

I don’t know where we got behind schedule, but we walked into Preah Khan around quarter to one. K guaranteed us we had plenty of time to get back for our appointment, that it wouldn't take long to get through this temple and we were only a half hour drive from our hotel. Oh, and we never stopped for lunch that day, so I was already getting hangry.

I’m not going to tell you anything about the temple, just let you view it like I felt I did – one scene right after another. And did I tell you this place was huge?!

 

Temple in the pond on an island in a lake - Cambodia blog entry #24

After being overwhelmed by the beauty of Banteay Srei Temple, we rode our tuk tuk to Neak Pean. But I wouldn’t consider Neak Poan a temple.

It is located on an artificial island in the center of Jayatataka Baray, which translates to pool or reservoir of Jayavarman. We walked across the long bridge over the lotus-filled lake to get there.  

Built in the middle of the 12^th century, it is one of the many “hospitals” that Jayavarman VII commissioned. It was originally designed for medical purposes.

The temple sits in the middle of its own square pool, and on each of the four sides, there were four smaller ponds, representing water, earth, fire, and wind. Each of those pools were presided over by either an elephant, bull, horse, or lion.

The ancient people believed that going into the pools would balance the elements in the person, thus curing disease. It is based on the ancient Hindu belief of balance.

The horse is the only remaining statue of the animals.

It was an interesting place, but we couldn’t walk around the entire structure so it was hard to put all the features into perspective. There was also work going on, but that is a good thing, as maybe it will be easier to visualize in the near future.

Under the Big Top in Siem Reap - Cambodia blog entry #23

Maybe this week’s Sunday post has nothing to do with the religion I practice. Maybe I’m not sharing any Bible verses or Jesus stories today. But this experience was one of the most inspirational we witnessed while in Cambodia.

Monday, after touring another three temples, having a two-hour spa experience, and eating another delicious dinner in a nice restaurant, we went to The Phare Circus in Siem Reap. Other than sitting in the round “big-top”, this was more than just a circus. 

It is a venue where the performers use theater, music, dance and modern acts to tell unique Cambodian stories; historical, folk and modern. The energy, emotion, enthusiasm and talent of the young circus artists was breathtaking. 

And more importantly, the stories they told, using very few words but mostly actions and facial expressions, were riveting.  

 The show we saw was titled “Khmer Metal”. It presented the wilder side of modern urban life as the artists shared the kinds of challenges that Cambodian young adults face. 

The setting is a grungy Phnom Penh rock bar, where patrons demonstrate problems with alcoholism, cheating, lying, stealing, and relationships with the opposite sex, as well as (surprisingly to me) the same sex.

These are all issues which young people in Cambodia struggle with, and I think we are all aware of the same problems in our cities.

But the entire enterprise is so much more than the show.

(From their website) The performers are students and graduates from Phare Ponleu Selpak’s vocational training center in Battambang. The association was formed in 1994 by nine young men coming home from a refugee camp after the Khmer Rouge regime. They were greatly helped during that time by an art teacher using drawing classes as therapy and wanted to share this new skill among the poor, socially deprived, and troubled youngsters in Battambang. They founded an art school, and a public school followed to offer free education. A music school and theatre school were next and finally, for the kids who wanted more, the circus school. Today more than 1,200 pupils attend the public school daily and 500 attend the alternative schools. Phare Ponleu Selpak also has extensive outreach programs, trying to help with the problems highlighted in their own tales.

The Cambodian Circus offers these students and graduates a place to hone their skills and earn a decent wage. Money that will take them out of poverty and give them self-respect and freedom.

The Phare Circus is reviving the arts that was nearly destroyed during the reign of the Khmer Rouge, while providing an education for the poor children of Cambodia and giving them the opportunity to learn acting and high-flying tricks by joining the Phare Circus.

I'm sorry that the pictures don't come close to telling you what the show was really like or that I don't have more of them. The show was just so mezmerising that I didn't want to take my eyes off the performers to point my camera. Plus, it was dark in there. I hope you at least can pick up a little of their vibe.