Our time in Cambodia has been exactly what we were looking for. Even in the capital, the hustle and bustle just feels more relaxed than in Vietnam. And it's been much easier to get out of the big city here, whereas in Vietnam, everything was either a big city or well on its way to becoming one. But Cambodia has felt a touch more relaxed.
Here is a review of Cambodia... the good, the bad and the Cambodian...
THE GOOD: ELEPHANT VALLEY PROJECT
Sen Monorom is like many towns in developing countries. It has a small tourist industry (AKA a few guesthouses with restaurants), and a small list of things to keep you occupied while you're there.
We had one day before heading out to an elephant sanctuary we planned on volunteering at, so we rented a motorbike and set out to explore the region.
Our first stop was about an hour down the dusty, rocky, winding roads to the Bou Sraa waterfall. The waterfall was traditionally a central cultural aspect of the Bunong people - the local tribe in that region. Unfortunately, because the Bunong don't rely on paperwork to sketch out their land ownership, it was purchased by the Chinese in a deal with the Cambodian government. It is an impressive waterfall, but we were disheartened by the amount of trash littering what was once and certainly could be a beautiful historical wilderness site. (I swear I'm getting to the good!)
The rest of our exploration took us to a coffee plantation, where we lazed about on hammocks and drank iced coffee by a beautiful lake, then we headed back to town to get ready for our trip out of town early the next morning to the elephant sanctuary.
But, the fact is that people here are poor. Very poor. And they need to eat, and a working elephant can help feed the family, send kids to school, etc. That's a decision that a lot of us aren't forced to make.
Again, getting to the good...
The Elephant Valley Project is a type of elephant retirement home for overworked or mistreated elephants. Elephant owners who can no longer adequately care for their elephants "rent" them out to the EVP, that way they still make money, but their elephant is in a place where it can get back to the business of being an elephant. Others "rent" their elephants out short term to the project, allowing their elephants months of rest from the hard labor, while the owner can still make enough money to sustain the family.
In addition to reintegrating elephants into the wild, a difficult task that in many cases involves re-teaching elephants how to wash and feed themselves, the EVP also works to conserve the forest for the Bunong people, and to support their general wellbeing so that they don't have to face the choice of overworking their elephant or letting their family go hungry.
EVP has helped map out the land for the Bunong people, and through lobbying efforts has managed to obtain a piece of paper that says that the land belongs to the Bunong people and can't be sold off to rubber plantations, etc. This is actually a huge deal, as they often don't even find out they have lost their land until the chain saws show up. It also protects the forest for the elephants living out their days in retirement, which is ultimately a win-win - of which there are few in this world.
EVP also pays for the health care of the Bunong villagers, which again, supports the community and the elephants. When people have basic levels of wellbeing, they are far less incentivized to overwork their elephants.
We came to the EVP as part of a deal where we spent half of our days walking with and learning about the elephants roaming EVP's protected jungle, and the other half of the day volunteering on one of their vast array of projects. We spent our volunteer time building a "pig bank". The pig pen we were building was to house five female pigs that would then be loaned out to high need Bunong families who could breed the pig, keep the piglets and return the sow.
The experience on the whole was perfect. We had the opportunity to be with the elephants as they did what elephants do. We learned about them, the Bunong culture, and gained a better understanding of the ways in which we could be more responsible tourists. And then we had the opportunity to make ourselves useful and help build something real, something that would be of use to the community. It really was "good" to say the least.
When visiting other countries, Adam and I generally like to pay homage to the past by learning about the history of the region we are visiting... And let's be real: history isn't usually a pick-me-up.
Hence "the bad" is basically our dive into modern Cambodian history. Phnom Penh is the epicenter of exploration for those interested in learning about the Cambodian genocide in which it is estimated that nearly one third of the population (two million people) were killed. When Pol Pot brought the Khmer Rouge to power, he aimed to make the country an agrarian, peasant-run cooperative utopia. He abolished currency, sent people out of the city to do labor on farms, and executed anyone who was educated, had soft hands, wore glasses, or posed any threat to his plans.
It's hard to believe this happened only forty years ago. In Phnom Penh, the high school turned prison and torture facility still stands as it was. It is eery to walk the halls of what was once a place of learning, but became a place of such horror.
From there, you can take a ride out to the Killing Fields, which many people have heard of. These are the fields where the prisoners were taken to be executed and piled into mass graves. It was nothing short of appalling. There are still bones and scraps of clothing being unearthed as the rains churn up the land, and you have to be careful so as not to step on them as you walk the grounds. It was truly surreal.
One interesting thing we noticed at both of these historical locations was the effort made to pose an important question. Many soldiers in the Khmer Rouge who perpetrated these acts of hostility were doing so more or less at gunpoint as well. Many joined the Khmer Rouge out of fear for their own lives, not knowing what they would be asked to do, compelled to save their own lives. Both the prison and the killing fields include testimonials from people who are now free today, yet were on the wrong side of history during the genocide. The question explored at the sites is whether or not they too are victims.
And now, something a little more lighthearted. The Cambodian, or rather, the Cambodian way. Below are a few gems about Cambodian culture and life...
GROUP EXERCISE
The Cambodians really know how to make exercise a fun community event! Dawn and dusk at the Olympic Stadium (built but never used) find tons of people doing group dance aerobics, running, or working out on the stairs.
This is certainly not completely unique to Cambodia, and there may be other countries that are in the running for packing the most stuff into small spaces, but Cambodia definitely deserves a nod. One trip, luckily a short one, we had 19 people in a 12 passenger van, plus luggage. That meant that even the driver was on a lap.
It doesn't bother me that this is a delicacy, it just makes me a bit anxious knowing that there are enough of these roaming the country for them to pile them on top of each other and serve them like fried chicken. So far, I've only seen 2 live ones... in the shower of course, when I'm most vulnerable.
Cambodian hospitality is top notch! We had the opportunity to ride our bikes 30 miles from the nearest town, up the Mekong to a small island village called Koh Pdao. No roads, no restaurants, not really much other than lovely Cambodian people, some who have volunteered to make their homes into homestays. The extra income for the village means that they have to rely less on over fishing in the Mekong, and that in turn protects the endangered Irawaddy freshwater dolphins. Another win-win. We had a lovely time with our host family watching The Voice Cambodia with 17 other villagers who had come to watch on the one TV in our loft with no furniture. Beautiful people, beautiful village.
Absolutely nothing beats the breathtaking sunsets on the Mekong.
We spent 7 hours (from 5am until noon) visiting some of Cambodia's (and probably the world's) most impressive temples built in the 11th century. Many of the stones were transported down the Mekong 50km before being carved and stacked to create some absolutely incredible architectural and engineering accomplishments.