Cambodia is such a dichotomy (as is most of this part of the world - I've probably already mentioned that before). You have people driving around in Lexus SUVs (they are every other vehicle on the road - very strange) and people living in shanty shacks, that come monsoon season will likely be in ruins.
Tourists obviously have money and their dollars are sought after. The majority of the locals do not have money and try anyway they can to make a "riel", or get your dollar. There are a lot of people, and in particular kids on the streets asking for money. A lot of people (adults and kids) with lost limbs from UXO (unexploded bombs) asking for money or tyring to sell you a photocopied book. It's a bit of an eye-opening experience and sometimes it's honest and sometimes a scam. As a tourist it's so hard to know what the right thing to do is... do you give them money or food? Is that money or food really going to them or to a ring-leader who likely drives the Lexus SUV? By giving them money, does it perpetuate the problem of begging? And if it does continue the cycle, is it worth it if you actually help one person who honestly needs it and is thankful for it, not expecting it? I don't know what the right answer and I don't know if there is a right answer. But it's definitely hard to resist a child on the street, in the blazing hot sun, asking you for the remainder of your drinking water... because when you look back they are gulping it down.
If you can see passed all of this, Siem Reap and the people of of Cambodia are truly lovely. The city center is made up of lots of restaurants and shops, both trendy and tranditional. The city center is 100% catered towards tourists, which feels so strange - common in Asia, but I still can't get over it. It's so weird to go out for dinner on the main strip, Pub Street, and the restaurants are chock-a-block full of foreigners. Not a local in sight, with the exception of the workers, tuk-tuk drivers and people asking for money. You can get all kinds of international cuisine, including Mexican (hmmmm, not sure about that one). We had this amazing Cambodian BBQ and soup where you bbq all the meat in the center and all the juicy goodness drips down from the meat into a brothy soup that collects around the bbq.... so good and so fun to do with a group of people.
Sadly, it was coming up to Beth and Justin's last few days in Siem Reap so we wanted to make the most of it. We didn't really want to do another day in the smouldering heat looking at more temples, so we decided to hire a tuk-tuk to see life outside the city center. We really wanted to visit an orphanage but couldn't really find any information one. So we just winged it.
Outside the restaurant we had lunch in (the restaurant looked like one of those old French colonial style buildings you's see in a film set in Asia with fans going, men wearing white linen and summer fidoras talking local politics), we hired a tuk-tuk driver to pick us up the next day.
The next morning, Meng Hean, our tuk-tuk driver was right on time and so began one of the best couple of days of my trip so far...
We had mentioned to him that we wanted to visit an orphanage but didn't know where to go. So without saying anything he pulled up outside the Cambodian Orphan Save Organization (COSO) http://www.coso-orphanage.org/ an orphanage just outside of town. The kids were in a class room being taught by a monk. (Picutre is of the kids shoes outside the classroom)
The youngest children were running around the dusty courtyard. When the kids were let out of class, they were soooo excited to see us, as we were them. They were exceptionally polite asking our names and where we were from. Their English was very good. The caretakers and later the President of the orphanage showed us around the small orphanage... it's not much: a room for the kids to eat, one big room where all of the girls slept and one big room where all the boys slept. Beds side by side. There's a stage where the children learn Khmer traditional dance - it was pretty cool with a backstage (which also doubled as someone's room). They have a detached bathroom and bathe outside by pouring buckets of water over themselves. They really don't have anything. Not even many clothes. It was a little sad to see, but the kids seemed so happy. One little girl named Resmai (orange shirt in the pic below) stole my heart. She is 10 years old and so sweet with a contagious smile. I literally could have taken her home with me.
The kids put on a show for us, showing us the music and traditional dances they have learned. They were fantastic! And at the end of their show, they got us up to give it a whirl. At first, a part of me felt like this is all a part of the "act" when a foreinger comes to visit. It was like the kids are on cue and then you get the sales pitch. It was all a little too rehearsed. But the cynic in me left pretty quickly when I really looked around and realized they really have nothing and I mean nothing - I don't blame them for being organized and trying to solicit donations. As a non-government funded orphanage, they rely mostly on donations from tourists. They are trying to raise money to buy the land the orphanage is on otherwise they lose it and will need to move somewhere else and essentially start over. They also just need food and supplies to live everyday. It was quite heart-breaking when you see these beautiful kids. We gave them a small donation before we left. The kids gave us a big good-bye and asked when we'd be back!
Our driver then took us to an old temple that turned out to be the practice temple for Angkor Wat. The practice temple took 10 years and they didn't finish it! Can you imagine - 10 years?!?! That's a lot of planning, pretty smart if you ask me.
That night we couldn't stop talking about the kids at the orphanage. How we just wanted to scoop them up and take them home or do something for them. Beth suggested that we pool our money together to buy them some supplies for them. Good idea! So we called our Hean, the tuk-tuk driver, and arranged for him to pick us up the next morning...
More soon...
xoxo
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