December 27, 2004
Cambodian Trip 3
The other driver, Pichet (sp?), was a veteran driver and could explain a lot of Angkor history to us. He was very nice, too, and answered all kinds of questions that we asked about his experience in the 70s. He is the first son in his family, and had three sisters and one brother. His father was an Army officer before the Khmer Rouge came into power. So his father was arrested by the government in the beginning of the 70s, and disappeared (probably was killed.) The whole family hid in a jungle for three years, during which his three sisters caught malaria and died from it. There were no medicine, no doctors that could cure them. His mother also got a serious digestion problem and still suffers from it. The only thing they had was this traditional medicine:
It's still selling on the mountains. After coming out of the jungle, they wore black clothes, following the Pol Pot regime's rules.
Cambodian people are very laid-back, and we cannot tell the dark side of their history from their warm smiles. Kids were soooooo cute!
After a while, we realized that Cambodian people are pretty punctual but sometimes not very used to doing business. Even in Siem Reap, which is the biggest touristee spot in Cambodia, drivers are sort of soft-hearted, and intimidated by Yukiko's powerful price negotiation. In some cafes, when they do not have materials necessary to fill our orders, they sometimes change our orders without telling us. I ordered a cheese pancake once in Phnom Penh, and they served me with a plain pancake. In Sihanoukville, which is a pretty beach town, 4 hour bus ride away from Phnom Penh, Yukiko stood in the kitchen and gave directions to the cooks so that they could finish our pancakes before we would miss our bus back to Phnom Penh.
In Siem Reap, we went to the "Cultural Village." They are hanging some pictures of some foreign presidents visiting there. However, this was the biggest crap I have ever seen. They apparently spent a lot of money to build that park but there is nothing to see. Their Japanese brochure is hilarious. One paragraph on the "American village" says:
「アメリカーところ：こちらはカンボージアむらですが、アメリカーなどにいちしています。ここはじんじゃといろいろなアメリカーのうちのようしきがみせております」
However, I still think it was worth paying US$12 just to see this:
A part of their exhibitions was wax human figures, showing important people in Cambodia. The last one was a white soldier of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), walking with a Cambodian girl. This is THE ONLY explanation of the UNTAC. The background drawing is also showing UNTAC soldiers flirting with Cambodian girls.