Life Begins Anew in Cambodia

For all of the killing in Cambodia, mines still being tripped and maiming the innocent, Cambodians seem to be happy and looking to the future; the city of Siem Reap has piles of construction materials everywhere. The roads leading to the river village as I said, were full of holes and sometimes the holes had holes but along the road were piles of bricks, huge trucks carrying gravel and  concrete mixers everywhere. Siem Reap is building and growing back. When Sharan and I asked the guide why there weren't children flocking to the museums of the killing fields he said they are trying to figure the best approach to telling them their history. He has taught all 5 of his children languages and each speak English fluently and all 5 have college educations. While the Angkor ruins photos and images are everywhere and parents are in parks and on rivers enjoying the days with their children, the children are still protected from the horrors of the killing fields. Since we were there over a weekend and the weekend beginning Chinese New Year, all seemed to be in a great spirit with hotels and airports full of people, especially Chinese families out to celebrate the new year.

The photos shown here of dancers, acrobats, and artists were taken on Sunday as we traveled around the more touristy sites. We went to the Cambodian Cultural Center which is like a theme park full of activities to show life as it is there. We attended a wedding complete with costumes, singing, dancing and blessing the bride and groom. Cambodian culture still is very protective of their daughters, and young men do not date or select their mates. Joe did say that children are now making recommendations to their parents if they want to marry someone they care for. A young man approaches the father of the girl and they negotiate the conditions of the marriage (money, property, etc) and the groom pays for the wedding. Weddings can be as expensive there as the US including big parties, food, ceremonies, etc. The agreement is signed by both parties and they are married. Then the event is held. Joe said he is very protective of his daughters.

After the wedding we moved down the road to the next event, the Chinese acrobats. The photo of the young girls shows beautiful costumes and colorful fans. If you notice in the photo of the two women, a big part of their dance is moving their hands in a way that it appears they are absolutely fluid in movement. They also are very fluid in the movement of their arms - just beautiful! The acrobats - the men, were as good as any that I have seen with lots of tumbling and jumping through rings of fire. We managed to find a seat on the bleachers and a large group of young monks stood right next to me. The audience was very respectful and gave up their seats to the monks and bowed to them and walked in a different direction to avoid blocking their view during the show.

We walked through the rest of the center through playgrounds, over bridges and around miniature temples and cities in miniature. The entire grounds were well kept and we finished the day by driving through the center if Siem Reap and looking at the many new hotels, even a large Hyatt hotel. A few skinny white water buffalo ate grass in a lot next door to the Hyatt hotel and small businesses pulled down their aluminum doors to look up the business for the night. As evening fell, we heard fireworks, loud music and people singing and dancing to celebrate the new year!

Before we left we visited a very well appointed art school. The school was sponsored by the French with some funding by Germany. We saw signs of support for museums and other structures from France, Germany and the US. In this case, there were students working in each of the wings of the school and busy drawing, painting, polishing, baking and whittling beautiful products. Since Sharan and I always support education, we walked through the large gift shop and helped support this important work. My kids will be happy with what I bought there. The silk is produced elsewhere but is some of the most beautiful colors I have seen.

A final word about Cambodia. The French and Germans have worked with Cambodian historians, archeologists and anthropologists to make sure the world knows about Angkor Wat and the museum of culture that we saw had so many replicas of Angkor Wat that I began to recognize certain expressions on faces, certain designs that we saw on the walls of the ruins and sculpture that reflected those that lived in the 10th century when Angkor Wat was built. As we listened to Joe and the many films of life in Cambodia, we felt we had absorbed as much as possible about the past, the current culture and had a chance to look at the great plans for the future. Cambodia is certainly worth seeing and while I can't speak for other cities of Cambodia, I would recommend visiting Siem Reap. Sharon and I need to buy another suitcase to bring home all the great products of the outdoor markets of Siem Reap!