Mathew Biadun | Staff Writer
One long, stretching highway leads from the airport. Less of a highway, really, and more of a one-lane line of asphalt. It’s built smack in the middle of marshes, wilderness and farmland. Water buffalo line the sides of the road, where you could see farmers tending to their crops. When we got off the highway, it was replaced with a dirt road peppered with holes and puddles, rocking the bus as it tried to get through. This wasn’t Bangkok - it wasn’t even Thailand. Rather, this was the city of Siem Reap; home of Angkor Wat and the fifth biggest city in Cambodia.
Up until this point, we had only stayed in Bangkok. To say Bangkok isn’t culturally authentic would be a mistake. It is the capital of Thailand and has staples of their culture, from friendly locals to Chedis and elephant memorabilia. But using Bangkok as a stand-in for all of Thailand, or even most of Southeast Asia, would be catastrophically false. Thailand is forty percent rural after all, and that number skyrockets to nearly seventy-five percent for Cambodia. In terms of wealth, Bangkok amounts to half of Thailand’s total GDP, despite having a seventh of its population. Compared to Cambodia, Bangkok’s GDP is eight-times higher.
In summary, Bangkok is not representative of the region. It is far more urbanized and wealthy than most people would experience. Even people who do live in cities in the region, like the people of Siem Reap, have very different lives from the people in Bangkok. Visiting Siem Reap, therefore, would be a much more representative experience of the average Southeast Asian.
Despite all of the socioeconomic factors I just described, the area directly surrounding us was very nice. Our hotel had a pool, nice air-conditioning, although the beds could’ve been better. They amounted to little more than padded spring boxes. But one really couldn’t complain. It was located in the most touristy area of Siem Reap; a city known for tourists, since it houses the majesty of Angkor Wat. The area right around us had hotels for tourists, restaurants with English menus, and the infamous, neon-light bombarding ‘Pub Street’. That first night (which we had all to ourselves), I wanted to escape that area, and so embarked on a long walk to see a more accurate depiction of the city.
Motorbikes are not a mode of transportation here. They are a way of life. Merchants hook their food carts up to the motorbikes, transporting them wherever they want their stand to be. People from all walks of life, from ages seven to seventy, rode them. You really do have to be careful on the streets to make sure the road is clear. There are no crosswalks. There are no lights to press. It’s merely a matter of picking your time and bolting to the other side.
One of my favorite things to do is to ask people about their money. Our currency isn’t something we think of often; but the people on it can tell you something about the country. Cambodia was interesting in that every store happily took USD, which is the nation’s second official currency. One US dollar equals about 4000 Cambodian ‘Riel’. You can easily get by with just dollars, especially in a big tourist city like Siem Reap. But I exchanged one dollar, just so I’d have some currency as a souvenir. I was bound to get some either way; stores here price everything to be ‘1.50’ or ‘2.75’, never exactly a set dollar amount, so you always give one more dollar. They’ll give you their weaker Riel in return.
Going up to food stands or stores, I’d try and hold up the bills to the sellers, pointing at the men on them. “Who’s this?” I’d ask, and initially, they’d always merely tell me what bill it was. “100,” “200,” “500.” I’d shake my head, say no, and point to the faces again, at which point they’d understand. With the bills I had, there were two people on them, although there may be others on different bills.
Cambodia, to say the least, has had a chaotic history for the last century. Over the span of fifty years, between 1944 and 1994, it was a French colonial protectorate, a Japanese puppet state, an independent kingdom, a military dictatorship, and three different communist states in succession. It only became the Kingdom that exists today in 1993. The first person I learned about, Norodom Sihanouk, had experiences in all of these regimes. He was a King from 1941-1955, then Prime Minister, then ‘Chief of State’. He fought against a military government, sponsoring the Khmer Rouge, only to turn against them when genocide began. When the Khmer Rouge fell, he was temporarily President of the new government. Eventually, when Cambodia finally ended communism in 1993, he was elected King by a Council.
Having consistently fought for his people, Norodom was beloved by the people, particularly the rural peasantry. Everyone I asked eagerly told me about the ‘King Father’, and when I asked if he was a ‘Good King or Bad King’, the answer was always immensely positive and enthusiastic. I could not say the same for his successor, the current king Norodom Sihamoni.
People seem very muted about him. When I ask them the ‘good king/bad king’ question, I’ll often get shrugs, or ‘maybe’s, or ‘I don’t know’s. Cambodia has recently had fraudulent elections, in favor of the pro-monarchy party. Perhaps that’s why? One person, who was obviously tipsy, replied that the King “sits in big house too much.” His wife then yelled something aggressively in Khmer, which I couldn’t understand, but I had a feeling he shouldn’t have said that.
I don’t want to be misleading, however. Siem Reap isn’t just some poor, tourist-dependent backwater. There is a very strong entrepreneurial spirit here. On our last day we embarked on a six mile bike trip through the countryside. We met a family raising eight sons, and supporting them by selling mushrooms and crocodiles. Yes, crocodiles! They had a huge pool in the back with brick walls around it, with somewhere around thirty or forty massive crocodiles inside. The family sells crocodile eggs, which used to go for twenty USD, but now go for two, although I don’t know why. People here are eager to pull themselves up and provide from themselves, not with government aid or charity, but through hard work.
There were several of what I’d call ‘startup universities’ here. These colleges, often just one or two small, apartment-sized buildings, offer programs like dentistry, medical school or law school. Practical careers that will help someone rise in the social ladder. Students wore uniforms to these schools, commuted from home, and studied rather late from what I saw. At seven and eight PM, I still saw many classrooms filled with students.
The biggest sight to see of this trip was, of course, Angkor Wat. The temple, more than nine hundred years old, has been preserved amazingly well. The sculptures on the walls are still very clear, showing depictions of battles between monkeys and demons, or the victorious parade of the King who built it. Angkor Wat was a temple complex, which bounced between Hindu and Buddhist for a little while, and now has pieces of both. But it was also built as a great monument to the King who built it, and his royal family. There are temples dedicated to his mother and ancestors, for example.
The depth of the temple can only be appreciated in person. The giant stone steps to the Buddhist shrine at its peak, providing a look around the entire temple. The swimming pool for ritualistic bathing. The great moat around the temple, made to represent the mythological ocean that surrounds the world. Seeing it is just really impressive, and gives you an excellent look into the distant glories of the Khmer people.
The trip was a stellar experience. Beyond the learning, it was just really fun. You biked through streets and construction zones, walked through ruined temples, and ate fresh, fantastic food with your friends. All for no additional cost!
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