Christy Takes a Break: Cambodian Karma

My dear sister, who loves me very much, warned me a few days ago that I should watch my words. She suggested that I might not be in the position to criticize anyone else’s driving skills given my, ahem, unique style of vehicular management. Then this morning she sent me a note wondering if I should really be comparing cute little children to stinging red ants. She’s right, I should have been more careful! Karma is a bitch, and Cambodia is the land of Karma…and it lashed out at me with a cold sore, a stomach ache, and a terrible cold. A triple whammy!

Despite feeling like crap, I did have a great day today in the Ankor archaeological site – truly amazing. I took like 150 pictures (somehow my picture taking skills have deteriorated on this trip). It’s a surreal place. And Cambodia and I had our Come to Buddha moment today and I think we’re on the same page now.

Cambodia was overpromised and it under delivered, but now that I understand Cambodia better, I’m OK with it. My Mom used to say to me when I didn’t like a kid at school that the kid probably had a rough upbringing and I should be nice to them. And that’s exactly how I feel about Cambodia. You don’t get a much rougher upbringing than Cambodia has had and so I’m going to cut him a break.

My problem with Cambodia is that, in general, I am just not a big fan of the people. This is strange because everyone else seems to agree that the people are incredibly wonderful. And that has not been my experience at all. Was that my experience in Thailand? Yes. Was that my experience in Vietnam? Yes. Was that my experience in China? Sometimes. Cambodia – not really. Men have leered at me, children have bullied me and people have ignored me all together. So I’m not on the Cambodian people love train. Do I blame them for not being particularly kind? Not anymore. Like I said, they’ve had about as shitty an upbringing as you can get.

It’s the begging that gets me the most. Where I was in Vietnam, the living conditions were far, far, FAR, worse than what I have seen in Cambodia, but nobody begged once to us. We were around children and families several times a day and they were lovely. They didn’t speak any English at all so communication was impossible, but it was always quite pleasant interaction. Kids would come running from their homes in bare feet screaming HELLO! and giving high fives and giggling. The same thing happens here, except the Cambodian kids say HELLO! give a high five and then ask for candy and money.

In the tourist areas, the kids have impressive begging skills and I’m learning from them. They can be very charming people – they are beautiful for the most part, they speak English, and they’ve been taught the right things to say. Although their skills are impressive, I feel terrible for these kids because someone has taught them to beg and it's simply not dignified behavior. Nor does it seem to be required (and this was reinforced by my tour guides).

These kids stick to you like glue and barrage you with: Where are you from? What’s your name madame? How are you feeling? Are you doing OK? Just one dollar for this silk scarf to help me learn English in school. Please pretty lady? Please? Just one dollar. And then they just drone on “one dollar, one dollar, one dollar, one dollar” until you want to run away. I’ve never bought anything from them because I really think it’s terrible. The other people in my group do (even though the tour guides tell them not to) which causes a terrible stir.

The Cambodians appear to have received more international aide than Vietnam and have put it to good use – and Cambodians seem to be quite industrious and take good care of their homes and land. This surprised me because both my Cambodian guides and Vietnamese guides said that the Vietnamese were harder workers than the Cambodians, but based on what I have seen I think it’s the opposite. There were loads of Vietnamese hanging out in hammocks doing nothing or watching tv. But in the Cambodian villages we’ve been in, the people are almost always working on their homes and cleaning up or taking care of their cattle or rice.

So there are good things and bad things. But I really sort of value human kindness above just about everything and I’m not feeling the love. Cambodia just feels a bit arrogant or desperate. Tomorrow we’re headed to more villages and I’m curious to see if I feel the same way.

Disclaimer: This is just my own uneducated opinion based on what I've seen. I'm an ignorant traveler here...I learn most everything about the places I'm visiting once I arrive. Cambodia has a king? I didn't know that. He might be gay? How interesting. So take my opinions with a grain of salt.

Now that I’ve apologized and everything, I do have to redeem myself with the following quote from my friend Mike who emailed today after recently arriving in Cambodia from Vietnam: “So I'm having a tough one in Cambodia..bad hotel experiences, got a cough, got food poisoning, got computer problems, etc.”

Sounds like Cambodia hit him with the bad Karma too…I’ll have to let him know that it’s Angelina’s fault.

First temple we visited which was made famous by...Angelina Jolie in the movie Tomb Raider. These trees were amazing growing all over the building. It is the only temple in the area where the trees are allowed to grow like this.