Phnom Penh

Royal Palace

Monday we visited the Royal Palace, the Silver Pagoda, and the National Museum. The Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda are filled with riches—I could not imagine how they survived the Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge regime.






Nipia, Local Guide for Phnom Pehn

Our guide said that collaboration with the King was critical to the Khmer Rouge holding power and that any plundering of the riches of the King would have jeopardized that collaboration. The National Museum held many treasures. The early Khmer collection was quite astounding. I also was quite taken with the photographs of the intricate and powerful movements of traditional apsara dancers.We had dinner at a restaurant supported by a local NGO. We also took a boat ride on the Mekong River to see the sunset. Our boat went through the confluence of four rivers—upper and lower Mekong and Tonle Sap and Bassac Rivers.

Mekong River

Along with two other delegates I walked around an area of Phnom Penh near the riverfront. I had a conversation with a tuk-tuk driver who approached me asking if I was American. After conversing about what we were seeing in Cambodia and learning, he told me he was learning English and was eager to practice. After further conversation I learned that he is studying English with his daughter. He is hoping that learning English will improve his chances of getting work. He was 3 years old when the Khmer Rouge came to power. He was separated from his parents and lived in a children’s camp and was unable to attend school. I cannot begin to put into words how powerful people’s stories are.





Royal University Phnom Pehn Studentss

Tuesday we visited the Royal University of Phnom Penh and the International University and had lunch at the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC). The FCC is filled with photographs of war and its impact on the Cambodian people, particularly the continuing impact of landmines. The session at the International University gave us an overview of the official ideology about health care and the role of women. The session at the Royal University was very moving and meaningful. About 30 undergraduate sociology students were assembled in the room when we came in. This is the next generation that Cambodia is hoping will bring a new future. The eagerness on their faces truly brought tears to my eyes. Their courage in standing and asking questions and being willing to answer our questions was very inspiring. After the formal session, we talked with individual students who were so proud and excited to have been visited by sociologists from the United States. There is so much to be done with education in Cambodia—the people are willing and eager if only they can get the needed resources.

Mekong River Trip

Friday, December 2 we traveled from Ho Chi Minh City to the Mekong Delta. Along the way we saw many rice fields.

Workers in Fields

Caodism Temple We stopped at a Caodism temple before arriving at the Mekong River. Caodism is a religion unifying all the world’s religions. The temple was a collection of symbols from different religious traditions. Outside the temple a woman had arranged different piles of various herbs to dry in the sun. What a beautiful sight!

Herbs

We started our tour of the Mekong river in My Tho city, located on the northern banks of the Mekong. We took a wooden boat to Phoenix Island where we passed fish farms. On the island, we visited a family-run coconut candy business. We saw how coconut candy and rice paper are made. In addition to candy and rice paper, they also had crocodile belts, wallets, and purses. There was a huge bottle with various size dead snakes in it and the liquid in which they were fermenting is served as a wine. I tried a sip of the snake wine. It tasted like a very harsh vinegar.

Snake Wine

From this place, we took a horse drawn cart to a local restaurant where we had tea and fruit. From there we took a sampan through a winding canal and under a canopy of trees.

Sampan in Canal

I asked each of the people I’m traveling with what they thought of the day. Theresa said: I liked seeing the women doing nontraditional work like rowing the sampan." Valerie: "This was so different from anything I've ever done. I liked the balance of activities." Allon commented that he appreciated “the opportunity to see some of the rice fields, fish farms, and villages." He also mentioned that he had previously wondered if one could eat the rice paper on which we write, but found out it is not intended to be eaten. Judith thought "the sampan ride was like being in another world." Cynthia really liked seeing "how the old ways have been incorporated into the tourism industry and the contrast between the past and the new as seen through tourism."

Horse Drawn Cart

The various modes of transportation we took over the day were a reflection of the old and new. We took an air-conditioned bus, a motorboat, a horse drawn cart, and then a sampan. The sampan ride through the canal was ethereal. Although it was beautiful and peaceful, two thoughts kept popping up as we traveled through the canal—what must have this been like when American PTF boats went through these canals during the Vietnam (known here as the American) War and how the woman rowing the boat felt at the end of the day. Standing and rowing –I never saw the woman in the sampan in front of us ever switch sides—what does her back, legs, arms feel like at the end of the day and how much does she earn doing this very hard work?

Tour Boats

The tourism industry is well-developed in Vietnam and in general the economics of it are beneath the surface. That is, the smiling faces and warmth with which tourists are greeted mask that we are part of a large and thriving tourist industry. In contrast to this subtlety is the aggressiveness of individual entrepreneurs selling their wares around temples and other historic sites. They gave me new meaning to being “in your face.” It was relentless and dogged. It was fascinating to think of in a self-defense contact because eye contact and a firm no were simply an invitation to be surrounded and pursued. Persistently engaging in no eye contact and no words were ultimately the only thing that worked.