THE LAND MINES REMAIN - Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Cambodia Mar 2017

THE  LAND MINES REMAIN

Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Cambodia  March 2017

Live frogs anyone?

Land mine victims play for pay

When you're visiting a country that still has more than a million undetonated landmines left from the Vietnam and Khmer Rouge era, it makes you think twice. Unlike power-neighbors Thailand and Vietnam, Cambodia has yet to experience an economic boom that could lift the country's struggling masses out of poverty.


Cambodia still bears the scars of the Khmer Rouge and a genocide in the 1970's that resulted in the murder of 25% of the population--as many as three million people. 

Farming on the Mekong River

No sex trafficking

But there were many bright spots as well. We  found great food (don't we always), a developing economy, and people striving to make a difference. 

During our volunteer stint we stayed just outside of Phnom Penh, where the local market redefined our notion of "edible" and mom and pop restaurants crowded every street.

The head of the school where we volunteered generously offered up a friend's house for free. At first, it was fine. But since termites had eaten away at the floor boards, there was no Internet or fridge, and red ants hiding in a towel that attacked Eileen, we decided it was time to move on. 

Eerie Ta Prohm

Angkor Wat--amazing

We moved to a local hotel that was not only closer to the school, but cost only $25 per night. Other than a disturbing note that warned against sex trafficking, L'Elefant Blanc was perfect, complete with a delicious daily breakfast, great pool, and functional Internet.

After our volunteer stint ended, we traveled to Siem Reap. The hotel arranged for a tuk tuk driver for the day, which included seven stops, but still required a lot of walking.  

Besides the famed Angkor Wat, we also saw a temple with faces carved into the stone and Ta Prohm, with walls embraced by trees growing into and around them. It's a  surreal scene in the shadows of the forest consuming the site.

About face

Women's Center Tuk Tuk

At our lovely hotel (yes, there was a pool) Eileen met an Australian woman  sent by the Australian government for three months to assist a women's foundation. Kaylene offered to take us to the center to meet the Executive Director and we jumped at the opportunity.

Let's Tuk Tuk!

It was interesting talking about the challenges Cambodian women face in a poor country where domestic abuse is rampant.One idea was to train women to be tuk tuk drivers, uncommon since it is considered a man's job. The foundation owns a tuk tuk used to transport women to their jobs. Hopefully they will be able to expand this to offer tuk tuk service to help women feel safer.

We returned to Phnom Penh for a few days. Mike attended a presentation at a local tech hub and saw the entrepreneurial energy emerging from this developing economy. We later visited a tech school, founded by a woman he met at the presentation.

The rules of tyranny

The most impactful moment was visiting the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a former high school converted to a prison during the Khmer Rouge era. As when we visited Auschwitz the previous year, the stories were utterly heart wrenching.

Tuol Sleng terror

While in Phnom Penh we had dinner with a friend from our old neighborhood in New Jersey. Debbie is the principal for a Brooklyn high school and this was their spring break trip to SE Asia. They had just arrived from Vietnam and our plan was to join them for a tour of the Killing Fields. 

She mentioned there was a girl with anorexia, whose parents had failed to mention as a health issues. After dinner we said our goodbyes, looking forward to the next day. The next morning we were devastated to learn that the girl had died that night, despite being rushed to the hospital. It was an unimaginable horror and brought an additional level of sadness to our experiences of Cambodia.