I hope everybody had a nice christmas!
My christmas this year was a very quiet one. As you maybe know, most people Cambodia are buddhists. So this means that christmas is not really celebrated here. Occassionaly you'll see a tree with lights in it, or a kid wearing a santa-hat. But that's about it, and most of it are for the tourists anyway. So I spent my christmas days doing sightseeing in the surroundings of Battambang, the 2nd biggest city in Cambodia. I did this by renting a moto for a whole day for $10. A moto is a motorbike with a driver, and he can take you to all the best spots in the surroundings.This is the best way to do it, since the roads are bad and signs are still to be places. Besides that, you spend a whole day with a native cambodian driver that can tell you much more about Cambodia and the people than your guidebook does!
In the evenings in Battambang I watched some old-fashioned christmas movies (like Tim Burton's: The night before christmas and Home Alone 2). As there was not much to do in Battambang town in the evenings. There, like most places in Cambodia, after 10 p.m. it gets very quiet and most people go to bed. Yes, the people here fashion the day rhythm of getting up early and going to bed early. Not an ideal setting for a good christmas party ;)
But there is not where I ended my last story. I was on my way to Siem Reap, the biggest town near the ancient Angkor. Angkor was the old capital in the days when the Khmer empire reached it's greatest size, including a large part of nowadays Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. And as a monumentous sign of this greatness huge temples were build (from 900 a.d. - 1300 a.d.) in honour of the contemporary reigning king and hindu and buddhist divinities. Being constantly attacked by both the jungle and many wars, the temples have endured a lot. Although a lot of restoration is on it's way, you can still see every temple's struggle with nature. And that makes it one of the most beautiful ancient places on earth! With the roots of big trees lifting heavy-stones as if it is weightless.
The best way to view this, according to some people, is to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Not to miss this opportunity, Jens, Richard and I went off at 4a.m. in the morning to bicycle the 10km way to the temples. After waiting another hour for the sunrise (we misjudged the time of sunrise a bit) the moment was there. Unfortunately the clouds where in the way ruining the sunrise. And there was much too little light to make a proper picture anyway, so it turned out to be not that special :) But on the upside, we were very early at the temples before the big crowd shuffles in :) To create full disclosure we spent the whole day there until sunset at the same spot, after which we bicycled home. Although you can spend many days at the temples, for us young, ignorant people one day was clearly enough.
In Siem Reap I split with the swedish guys and went on a scenic boat trip to Battambang. Traveling through narrow mangroves and local fishermen villages, this is the best way to see the interior of Cambodia. And to see how the poor fishermen live in small boats on the water. Compared to them, the people in the city are wealthy. Days later, back in Phnom Penh, I was encountered with another display of the poverty in this land. Along the railway going into Phnom Penh many people live in very basic houses. As the train blows the whistle to come by, they quickly move their stuff from the railway before it is squashed by the train. The people here have little money to spend, and as I was invited for a cup of tea with some youngsters it became clear that the gap between the rich and the poor is growing bigger every day. Cambodia can only look with jealousy at the rich Thailand, which is rapidly getting wealthier.
Later the same day, while reading a book in a park, a guy approached me to have a chat. It is funny to see how many cambodian people are eager to chat and learn english by talking english to a foreigner. The 20-year old student from university made it clear that corruption is running high here and hopes fore the future are dim. A duality that I hear from other people also applied to him. In one way very optimistic about his indivdual prospects. But on the other hand very fatalistisc about the future of Cambodia and it's people. I am not sure in which way Cambodia can attain wealth. It seems hard to convert a agriculture-based society to a wealthy industrionalized country. Especially when the government, police and law are not something you can rely on. I hope at least that Cambodia will have peace for a longer periode of time. Being safe is still more important than having money. I still think Cambodia is a truly beautiful country with many friendly people and lots of smiles. It would be a waste to let that go away.
Wow, you have come so far! Good thing, I hope you weren't bored too much by the above. But a weblog of a travel to Cambodia can not be complete without some insight in the troublesome history and current affairs. For me, I knew nothing about Cambodia and it's history untill I came here. Looking back now at my high school history lessons it is striking to see how much was concerned with European and ancient european history. Whereas big parts of Asian history are neglected! They really should change this.
My next destination?!
Well, for a good newyear party it seems I have to leave Cambodia and go to a real big city. So Ho Chi Minh City it is! Some people may know it by the name of Saigon. With a population of over 5 million people there should be a big party around there somewhere and I'm gonna find out! :)
My plan is to stay in Vietnam for another two weeks, and then go to Laos for two weeks, to return to Bangkok and catch my plane by the end of January.
I wish everybody good holidays and a happy happy new year!!
p.s. Some new pictures are uploaded into the photoalbum!