environment

Cambodia – Part 3 – Siem Reap

Posted on by Ginny

Archaeology is not what you find, it’s what you find out.” ~ David Hurst Thomas (Archaeologist)

 

You’ve seen the films, the exotic shots of ancient civilisations, the anticipation as the intrepid hero is on the trail for fortune and glory. In his path ancient evil is not far behind. Traversing temples, eating monkey brains and beetles and rituals and sacrifices are all just part of the plot. When I first studied archeology I was led by this fictional story, only to find that archeology was more about collecting data than the stories. It didn’t take long to realise that my imagination couldn’t cope with the day to day drudgery. However I appreciated the work. I loved reading about past archeologists and looking at images of before and after a dig. It’s a pity that it took me 35 years to find my hobby. I first remember my love of ancient sites. The moon and the sun pyramids of the Aztecs. I thought to myself how come I didn’t know about this. I was fascinated, although it would be 10 years later before I took a couple of units of archeology and anthropology to appreciate the past at Uni. Since then I have become a passive lover of ancients sites and have had the opportunity to visit some of the worlds most amazing sites, which doesn’t include Egypt, yet. So it was a no brainer that I would visit Siem Reap. I deliberately didn’t read much information, I wanted to go with a clear mind. I had no idea what I was in for and as it would turn out, it wasn’t just the visit to the many sites in this region that made the 4 days of discovery an amazing experience.

BACKGROUND FIRST

Before I set out to decide the areas I would like to explore, I spent a few hours doing my due diligence by going to the Museum. My knowledge of the Khmer empire began in Thailand at Sukhothai. I also visited the royal palace in Phnom Penh where I came across some interesting reliefs and murals that told the story of this once mighty empire. The Museum gave my head a full work out and as much as I could try I knew I needed to read more. I think in retrospect I should’ve understood the physical geography a little better. So after learning about textiles, the technical aspects of art and carvings I was ready to choose the sites, so I spent the day lying by the pool and learning about the appropriate sites to visit. Very nice indeed, that’s the way to study.  Then with my notebook in hand the next challenge was that I needed to work out how the hell I was going to get to them all. This is the thing about just turning up at a place and not really knowing what to expect. On the positive the excitement of something new on the negative trying to work out how not to get ripped of. The hostel I was staying at was for the under 25s and they weren’t to interested in 4 days of getting up at 5am and returning at 7pm. The Chinese tourists were either paying for a private car or tour buses that shuttle you around like cattle. I did have many tuk-tuk drivers who promised me the world but most couldn’t speak English, only knew what the travel brochures told them and they wanted to take me to as many sites they could fit in one day. To me it was quality and also my ability at the time to traverse the many sites with my healing broken foot.  I am not going to explain every site I visited here as the video does show you and really you need to come and see for yourself.  But lets just say, the expanse of this empire was indeed mighty and their show of power intimidating, magnificent in detail and size.

YOUR ONLY AS STRONG AS YOUR WEAKEST LINK

It’s funny, that most good stories always include a back story, sort of like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, minor players to the big gig.  This wasn’t any different, as it was the Tuk Tuk drivers that added to my discovery about the history of the Khmers, including my tuk-tuk driver Rus.  When I first met Rus my intuition kicked in and I knew he wouldn’t let me down. We worked out the best routes and what I was to expect. Well to the best of my knowledge anyway. I felt really comfortable talking to him and he was honest with me.  So we worked out a price and set the ball rolling. For the many tuk tuk drivers it is pay day, the money they can earn helps with the basics of life.  The other businesses that profit from Siem Reap’s archeology enable the people to prosper in many ways. However like all touristic places there are also the normal pitfalls, culture clashes, lack of infrastructure, alienation.  I have already commented on a previous posts about this and Rus was quite aware of many of the issues.  He didn’t enjoy the loss of community and the building of mega size hotels with casinos that bring in thousands each week.  They fly in spend two days, give all their money to Chinese owners and nothing left for the locals.  Rus also knew, rather than just being a driver and be stuck in a revolving door, he needed to aim higher he needed to go back to school and learn about the history of his ancestors and also his own local history.  He also realised that being able to communicate also required many hours learning other languages.  When I met him he was still learning and happy to.  He was aiming to save money for his young children who would need more than just a basic education.  He also was the bread winner for his mother and father who were subsistent farmers and his younger brother was a cowboy, his role was to look after the farm animals because he did not have an education.  Rus did not want this for himself or his family.  So Rus started small and over the past few years has been able to earn more.  He needs extra cash for repairs on his Tuk Tuk and is also hoping to buy an environmentally cleaner, faster and stronger Tuk Tuk like some of his friends have.  With many people going on organised tours to the main sites he needs to take people to places a little of the beaten track. A point of difference from the major travel companies.  He says he is learning every day new understandings of the past and proud and honoured to be a spokesperson. Similarly with his friends I met who were also Tuk Tuk drivers.  Over time I got to know the other drivers and if Rus didn’t know an answer to my question there was always someone who did.  Like community education.  They also worked in teams using their mobiles to warn other drivers when buses or when the Lexus cars would be arriving.  They would know the bus route and they made sure I and other tourist using Tuk tuks could visit various sites without hoards of people.  Of course this did not always work out but you know that when its Chinese New Year you really only have yourself to blame.  Of course the Chinese like any other group of people should also have the ability to visit this area.  Its just a little sad that the mystery of the place has now been lost to an over saturation of tourists. I wish I went 20-15 years ago when this incredible area was only a paragraph in the lonely planet. Yet without tourism I wonder what Rus would be doing.  Like he says “in Cambodia you have to make the most of the opportunities because you never know when you will end up with nothing to show for it.” The history of the Khmer and their ruins are evident of that.

Video of Siem Reap

 

Phu Quoc – when you know you are part of the problem

Posted on by Ginny

“We all want what we know is not good for us. What we know that might break us in the end, and yet we fly towards it. Always wanting the thing we cannot have.” – Madonna (Crave)

What it is about hotel companies and corrupt governments that believe the idea of building large structures only 15 meters from the water is a great idea. I could only think that when they first built some of these holiday accommodations on Phu Quoc they might have been 100-200 meters away. (I told ya mum you will have a water front property soon) The Russians and Chinese flock here even though they only have a foot of sand to play with. I kept on thinking, why would you want to come to a resort on the beach where the water is grey and looks like it’s nearly run out of oxygen? It was not the first time that I have seen water like this and I am sure it won’t be the last but I did fear for their health and happiness. Certainly the marketers have done a great job selling the dream. Says something about the world we live in. Profit for a few and destroying a way of life and the environment for those who have no voice.

It was not all doom and gloom, the sunset was divine, the bustling street markets selling plenty of food and voices of happy people singing to all hours their favourite Karaoke tune.   When I eventually found the beach where the locals meet, sleep and eat I started to see how, maybe within my life time, Phu Quoc was a beautiful place. However as I strolled along the foreshore it was sad to see the environment totally destroyed thanks to hap hazard rubbish collection and a lack of regulation. The fishermen and their families lived on the shoreline in homes made from any building material they could find. I wondered how on earth could the government allow this to happen? I started to get a picture in my mind that although tourism has a positive effect for a few, for the majority it actually is devastating.

As I continued my walk along the beach towards the main town, (separated by a river from the tourist center) there was a huge pier that I needed to navigate, however it was fenced of. I had hobbled to far to go back so I weaved my way through horrible piles of rubbish and filthy gunky puddles and managed to crawl and rock climb the man made shore breaker. About 100 meters in front of me were domestic buildings and what looked like a thriving village. I didn’t want to arouse the locals but that was impossible. At first I think they were also shocked to see me. I gingerly smiled, feeling like I was intruding in their private business but they were more than happy to show me the right direction. With my hiking/walking stick in hand I disappeared into a maze of laneways. After a short time I had lost my sense of direction so the best thing to do was to roam and observe the people going about their daily life. I stood out like a sore thumb especially with my camera so I decided to put it away, rather than focusing within the frame. I needed to see, hear, feel, smell and taste this world. I’m glad I did. I mean what was I going to take a photo of? I think it was around this time that I started to question the purpose. Because what I was seeing was not right? How can one not be appalled at the millions of people that have been taken advantage of? How can I not question myself?

Before arriving in Vietnam many people spoke about how great the country was. I met those who took advantage of the cheap travel; accommodation, transport and simplistically of life. I met those who took advantage of a party one can have. I met those who can stay long term because it’s cheaper than home. I met those who went for the cultural experience, for whatever that might mean. I met those that went for the food. I met those to experience the beautiful landscape. I met those who want to have a ‘real’ experience. I then met myself.

When I left, I felt empty, betrayed, cheated and angry at myself for being everything that I thought I might not be. The privileged. We come and go and leave a country that is in such bad shape environmentally which we have contributed to. We view through a prism, the market places alive but dead, the beaches and their resorts a fake reality, we take advantage without giving back yet when we leave we speak highly of the time we had. We get home or go somewhere else and thank god we don’t live in Vietnam.

I am glad I went to Phu Quoc, if anything it has reinforced my view of the world and the idea that we must fight for decency, dignity, fairness and making the untouchables accountable. We live on one planet, pity some think it’s all theirs.

So what are some solutions? Maybe with the money we save we could give to local organizations that help the environment, fund educational programs for the people by the people or subsidize community programs to help to regenerate the land we are quite happy to use. Choose resorts that have taken the effort to engage with their employees that help promote education and environment problems. Take the time to engage with the local community you are visiting. Pay a fair price for goods. There are many people who have made goods that are more expensive and the money goes to the local community, not to someone from another country, ie China. Stay at resorts owned by locals rather than multinationals. Book accommodation through their website rather than the big chains. The money goes overseas not to the locals who have no control over their bookings. If you use plastic bottles make sure you use them again. Don’t use a plastic bag to carry what you have bought. Ride a bike rather than a motorcycle, take public transport, it’s hard but u still get to the same place.

Finally, I keep on thinking about my own country. Is this what happens when human rights are disregarded? Here we have a country like Vietnam (and many more) where people who are a position of power. They control by means of corruption or through the threat of physical or psychological violence? Yet here we are in Australia thinking we are above all that. Yet are we? We are certainly not trying to hard to reconcile with indigenous Australia as facts and stereotypes are often distorted. We continue to destroy our environment and treat the less fortunate with disdain and blame them for all our woes. We also think by dismantling the basic tenants of human rights that many fought for is some sort of conspiracy that takes away our freedom and opens up our borders to terrorists. More than ever we need to take a good hard look at ourselves, because bit by bit it won’t be immigrants, the poor or indigenous Australians who threaten our so called lucky country but those who have the power to stop anyone who disagrees and challenges their agenda. It happens slowly and history has a habit of repeating itself.

 

Video of Vietnam