DAY TRIP TO ANOTHER WORLD

On my overnight trip to Kuala Lumpur, I picked up a copy of Silk Air's in-flight magazine. Listed in the back were a selection of easy getaways from Singapore. In an effort to continue to discover as much as possible on this side of the planet while I'm here, I combed through the suggestions for anything that was two hours away or less - which is how I found myself crawling out of bed a six a.m. on a Monday morning to hail a taxi in the pouring rain to take me to the airport for a flight bound for Phnom Penh in The Kingdom of Cambodia.

THE GOOD

Foremost, I looooved my hotel, The Blue Lime. The all-cement theme might be a bit too austere for some, and those not used to a tropical climate might find the mold stains off-putting but I was terrifically impressed with everything. My room, with private swimming pool, cost $75US for the night, a  kind of luxury unattainable in most western countries. The whole place is immaculately clean, the staff are extremely friendly and very helpful. (Oooo...and fresh passion fruit juice for breakfast !)

Instructions in Khmer, emailed to me by the hotel

in case the taxi driver didn't know the address.

Welcome tray

All cement room

Private pool

Enjoying private pool

The Cambodian people are lovely. Their smile is wide, honest, engaging and comes quickly and easily. The smiles I received were the exact opposite of the glassy-eyed, open-mouthed stares I witness from service staff in Singapore. I felt that when the Cambodians said, "Thank you, sir", they expressed actual gratitude. Those same words spoken in Singapore sound meaningless and false by comparison.

There is a new Cambodia emerging, barely. Scattered here and there are shiny new government buildings and the odd office tower. These structures seem cold and lifeless next to the many temples who's elegant, golden spires reach to touch heaven. The new buildings hide their people. The temples embrace them and teem with the wild, joyful chaos of life. Solemnity is reserved for business. 

 The National Museum

The Royal Palace which I was unceremonious hustled out of after

a brief tour, because the King needed to pray before

the national holiday the next day.

I thought, "Well, it's his house, after all."

Some random observations...

-All dogs in Phnom Penh have fleas. There are a lot of dogs.

-Horn honking is a second (or third) language. It is rarely aggressive though. It usually means, "Hi, I'm here beside you. Don't change lanes or we'll both die".

 Airport transportation

-Traffic lights are merely a suggestion. There are only a few, after all. If the coast looks clear, please feel free to charge on through.

-Crosswalks are nonexistent. On the smaller streets, this is not a problem, but the wide, busy avenues require you so summon your pedestrian courage and step bravely into the road, timing every step and weaving through the traffic with millimeters to spare. Or, you could wait for the Cambodians, who tend to cross in groups (safety in numbers) and hide behind them.

-It's hard not to stand out as a tourist. The white skin is kind of a dead give away. Children and adults alike will wave at you and say "Hello". Even passing by on their motorcycles they will shout a greeting.

I found this sign so incongruous that I couldn't resist photographing it

-Three on a motorcycle is not uncommon. In fact it is almost as common as two on a motorcycle. Or two and a kid on the handlebars. Or two and a basket of chickens (dead or alive). Or two with a 12-year-old driving.

-If you see a young Cambodian woman in high heels and a tight dress, she's a hooker. Unless she's wearing flip-flops and tight shorts, in which case she is also a hooker.

THE BAD

Perhaps because I've been living in squeaky-clean, rule-bound Singapore for so long, I found the profusion of garbage, dog shit and stink more than just a little overwhelming at first. My survival instinct told me to hide in my hotel room, but I pushed myself into the streets, determined to discover what lay beyond the filth.

As the stand-out-in-the-crowd-white-guy, you are at the mercy of the touts. The tuk-tuk drivers are the worst. Step one foot outside the hotel and you are surrounded by shouts of, "Tuk? Tuk?". And a walk down any street is constantly interrupted by random motorcycle drivers pulling over to ask if you want them to drive you somewhere. 

The Cambodian Riel is, literally, not worth the paper it is printed on. $1US = 4,000KHR. American dollars are the preferred currency, but no coins are used if change is given. Instead, you will be given the equivalent in Riels. I tipped my breakfast servers 19,000KHR ($4.60US) just to get rid of the wad of Cambodian bills.

THE UGLY

I had many offers from tuk-tuk drivers to take me to the infamous "Killing Fields", the site of Pol Pot's brutal executions carried out by his Khmer Rouge. I admit that I had to think long and hard about whether I should go and what I might gain from being there, other than just to say that I was there. In the end, I realized that I did not want to feel the pain of this country's past in a place where the bones of 10,000 dead still push themselves to the surface after a rainfall. Instead, I wanted to live the resilience of the place by being among the living.

The soul of this place has been beaten and crushed and almost defeated. But, phoenix-like, it is being reborn. It expresses the anguish of it's growing pains in the shit and filth of poverty, but it also expresses it's joy and energy in the sparkling eyes and disarming smiles of it's people. For what is a country? It is not a place, it is the people who inhabit it.

Phnom Penh changed me in a way I can't describe. I'm larger somehow, as though when I opened up to it, it gave me part of itself. It is not a place for everyone, but it does have something to offer to anyone. Something unique. Something beyond words. Something given, as a gift, to those who are willing to step into it's arms.