Quel voyage magnifique! Le Cambodge est un pays très charmant, malgré son passé sombre. Il y a plusieurs ressemblances avec le Vietnam, mais la culture et l'histoire du Cambodge sont uniques. Une différence importante est que les Cambodgiens sont les descendants de l'empire Khmer, qui a dominé l'Asie du sud-est pendant très longtemps, englobant le Cambodge, la Thailande et le Laos (autour de l'an 1000-1050, environ). Le Royaume du Cambodge dépend aujourd'hui du tourisme (Angkor Wat est le site le mieux connu) et de l'agriculture (le riz, le bois, le poisson et le caoutchouc).
Our trip went quite smoothly, thanks in part to our travel agent who was an angel of patience and sat through at least 5 changes in our plans. We finally left Tra Vinh last Thursday and stayed overnight in HCMC (we wanted to get an early start on Friday). Left on the bus at 9 a.m. along with Dr. A's family (also spending Têt holidays in Cambodia). I was kept well-entertained by the youngest daughter, K2, four years and a half and smart as a whip. As I got my hair braided and asked K2 about Vietnamese kindergarten, I saw beautiful scenery out the bus window: flat, dry land (it is the dry season and there have been reports of drought), occasional patches of muddy water, water buffalo, cows and families hard at work on their farms.
I was wondering how easy it would be to get a visa into Cambodia (do they take bribes here?) but turned out to be a smooth process. We handed over out passports, $20 USD and two very photoshoped visa photos (ask me about my visa pictures when you see me back in Canada!), and got a shiny green Cambodian visa with a picture of Angkor Wat in the background.
Angkor Wat is a huge source of pride here, by the way; it's even on the Cambodian flag.
Puis notre autobus a pris le traversier, où j'ai eu ma première expérience avec les enfants de la rue qui sont si débrouillards et si astucieux mais font également pitié. Les enfants sur le traversier nous demandaient de l'argent ou de la nourriture; nous leur avons donné des petits pains mais avons par la suite deviné que les enfants prennent la nourriture donnée par les touristes, pour ensuite la revendre dans le marché.
Children begging or selling things is a common sight in Cambodia (more so than in Vietnam, or maybe it just seemed that way to me because we were only seeing the touristy parts of Cambodia, whereas we are living in a small town in Vietnam). We had many encounters with children trying to sell books or trinkets to tourists. Although I don't like it one bit and think they should all be in school, the children I talked to said that they only go to school for half a day, and are free to sell things for the other half of their day. I hate giving money to kids because often the money will go directly to an adult; but again, it's maybe better to have the kids selling things rather than be sexually exploited. Child prostitution is growing in Cambodia and Vietnam; even as the government in Thailand has cracked down on it. There are lots of signs begging people to "Respect our National Treasures" - meaning the children, not the ruins - and I took some pamphlets that warn tourists that exploiting children is illegal (I will be working this summer on the topic of child sex tourism with the International Bureau of Children's Rights).
After that we arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital and in many ways quite similar to HCMC. However Vietnam has no tuk-tuks whereas tuk-tuks rule in Cambodia! A tuk-tuk, by the way, is a four-person carriage drawn by a motorbike. Pretty much the best way to get around if you are a tourist with a heavy backpack. Accordingly, Farm Girl (I've renamed Fellow Canadian) and I took at tuk-tuk to our Grand View Guest House, which has...you guessed it...a Grand View of Boeng Kak Lake. It had Internet and air-con, too, so a pretty good deal. We were too tired to do much that night, so ate at a little place right in the backpacker area (the Lazy Gecko café - incidentally there was a real live gecko above the sign as we were sitting down for supper). We met a really nice guy from Holland and he gave us a few tips about what to see and where to go in Siem Reap, where we headed out the very next day.
But first we had the next morning to explore Phnom Penh. We decided to have breakfast down by the waterfront and see the Royal Palace. Quite a grand place, and so different from European palaces (to say nothing of the Chateau Laurier). Cambodia is still ruled by a King, although, much like Good Ol' Liz, the sovereign plays a mostly symbolic role. The real decisions are taken by the Cambodian People's Party. Anyways, the place was swarming with tourists but Farm Girl and I got a good look at some amazing gold Buddha statues and some beautiful gardens.
Royal Palace in Phnom Penh
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