Cambodia - Part 21

Friday, 21st December 2007


Leaving Kampong Thom

Ok - So today is my last day of work and for the first time in months I have nothing to do. Might as well update the old blog. I am feeling really sad to leave Kampong Thom. I have really enjoyed my time here and have made many friends. It has been a really great experience, although tough at times, I feel really lucky to have had it. And maybe, just maybe, I have grown a little…

Next week I start a new job in Phnom Penh with an international development company called IDP – their focus is on education and I will be working on some scholarship stuff, research and a big TESOL conference. Where one door closes another opens. It will be a big change going from a small NGO in rural Cambodia to an international company. For starters I will be getting paid. There there will be no chickens or dogs running around the office. There will be no little children, who know three words, calling me giant. People wear shoes and stuff. Computers can update virus scanners. I won’t have to sit in the chemist or the moto shop to use email – it will be at my desk! No more handing out rice or going to meetings down muddy bogs. And my office will be air-conditioned. I am a little anxious about it at the moment, but am sure I will be fine. Phnom Penh is really a world onto itself – it is so far removed from the rest of Cambodia.

Last weekend Shin and I hosted a big party (Shin will be leaving next month too). We decided to go completely Khmer style. We hired a big marquee, tables, chairs, glasses, plates, etc, etc…we even had a chef and wait staff. Just like a Khmer wedding. And we dressed up as Khmer Princes. Needless to say, our Khmer friends love it. Everyone wanted a photo with us and told us that we looked very beautiful. They also asked us if we were getting married – a little Khmer joke – to which I retorted that I was clearly the Groom and Shin the Bride. We had some massive speakers and blasted out the music for several hours just so there was no doubt that we were having a party. It was great to have all our friends there and they plied us with presents – I got several scarfs, sarongs, a few statues, a few gold rings, a portrait of me, an old Khmer knife, a pen with laser pointer, etc…It was just like Christmas! In fact I even got a Santa hat (Cambodians really love Christmas decorations – a few places have them up year round). The best bit about the party was that I did nothing. Except wait for people to show up and get drunk. A whole crew of people cleaned up, set up, cooked, packed up and cleaned up. Ahh…to be rich in Cambodia…

So the last few weeks have been very busy. Both with work and other stuff. At work I have taken the organisation through a strategic planning process, built a management database, trained staff how to use the database, wrote some more proposals, edited some reports, went to a few meetings and finished off a new training program in local governance. I feel like I have final made a contribution to my organisation which is good. That’s what I came to do and I did it. I only wish I had a bit more time to do some more stuff. But I guess - there is always something more that can be done, especially in a place like this.

Outside of work I have spent many weekends travelling about Cambodia.

Two weeks ago all the Australian volunteers went to a conference in Phnom Penh/Sihanoukville. While the conference was average, it did give us the opportunity to do some fun things. On one of the days (International Day of the Volunteer) we all made to go down to a local school to help paint it. We broke up into groups of five and were given a few buckets, some powdered paint and what can only be described as a bundle of small reeds tied together in the form of a paint brush. Our group was under the impression that we were meant to let the kids help – so when a few turned up, we let them get right into it. The result was devastating, to say the least. There was white paint everywhere – on table, chairs, the floor, on people – and we got into trouble off the organisers. Oh well, it was fun playing with the kids. And they were getting professionals in after anyhow…seems a strange logic to me that they should choose to pull volunteers off projects that they are qualified to undertake to do something none of us were qualified for. But that is the development industry – never miss a good photo op.

After the conference Lainie and I headed to Bokor mountain; a mountain on the south coast which has beautiful views looking out over the Gulf of Thailand. Up on the top of a mountain is an old Casino and town that was built in the 30’s and is now deserted. It is quite spooky. Unfortunately the road up there is really poor and took about 3 hours. I wasn’t feeling great, so I found it particularly painful on the back of the pick up. On the way back down the pickup broke down and we had to walk half the way back. Despite the illness, it was still a nice walk through thick forest.

A few weeks ago I also did the northern temple run with a few of my colleagues and Lainie. The highlights of which were Prah Vihear and Phnom Kulen.

Prah Vihear is right on the northern border with Thailand and the road out to it (from the Cambodian side) is the worst road I have ever been on. At one point the rut in the road came up past the window and a few time we had to get out, so the taxi (a jacked up Camry) could get through. It took us a day and half to get there (about 300km). Along the road there are very few villages or people, just lots and lots of thick scrappy bushland. We travelled half a day without seeing another car. Occasionally we would see army personnel lazing about, but that was about it.

The province of Prah Vihear has a lot of problems – there are a lot of land disputes and a heavy military presence. Not much international AID reaches this remote part of Cambodia. A week before we went up there, we heard a story of two backpackers who were taken hostage during a land dispute and which resulted a few villagers being shot (this story was denied though). But we were travelling with Khmer people and they knew the areas to avoid, so we decided to go anyhow. At one point we passed through a large village which had been burnt to the ground. My counterpart, Nary, told me that a corrupt official had sold the land to a middle man, despite it being part of a National Park, who then sold it to villagers. The Government intervened, moved the people out, imprisoned the official and razed the village.

So after a day and half of very bumpy travel, we got to the base of the mountain on top of which stood the temple of Prah Vihear. The road up the mountain was also an experience. It was a half hour ride up a very steep, rocky and poor road. The road was sealed in part, but some of the parts had been washed away and there were exposed metal form work. Working along the side of the road, there were no less than three mine clearing teams. The driver told us there were heaps of mines up there. The last part of the road was so steep that the driver of the moto sat on the front nub of the moto seat and I had to hold on tight. I would have been scared to walk up it. As we rounded the top though, we saw a beautiful old temple sitting on the top looking out over an immense landscape. And then we saw the pristine, perfectly sealed and marked highway coming from the Thailand right up to the foot of the stairs and flocks of tourists.

From the Thai side, it is only a short air-conditioned bus ride to the border and a walk up the stairs. The Thai authorities charge a decent entry fee – none of which goes to the upkeep of the temple. It was hard not to resent the fresh looking tourists walk about the temple. But the temple itself was cool and it had a great view, and because of our experience getting there, I think we valued it far more than other visitors.

On the way to and from Prah Vihear we visited a few smaller temples and other places. Most of which were desertd except for our group. Having the car meant we could dictate where we went. On one night we stayed in a small town that had no electricity or running water. The guest house (the only one) powered a few lights for a few hours off car batteries. But, despite the basic environs, there was definitely something charming about the town.

We also visited Phnom Kulen, which is a bit north of Siem Reap. It is a beautiful mountain covered in thick forest where heaps of butterflies flit away amongst the trees. It has a beautiful waterfall which Khmers love to visit and swim in. Legend has it that Budda stood on Cambodia – one foot on Phnom Kulen, the other on Phnom Santuk (near Kampong Thom) – so there is also a big pagoda and stone carvings on the mountain. I really enjoyed walking thorough the crisp clean water after such a long bumpy journey.

Back in Kampong Thom the weather is heating up again. The river is getting lower, the ground water has dried up and fields are turning yellow. It is starting to look like the place I remembered when we arrived. And like the seasons, it is time for me to start again. So, I take this special experience and I go on…wow, what a year!

I hope everyone has a great Christmas and New Years.

Take Care
e.