Same Same, Only Different

Today was basically more temples. I was really hot and tired to appreciate them as I approached "temple burn-out". Instead, I decided to observe and talk to people.

First of all, Capone, Frank Abagnale, Ken Lay, all con-artists. I'd give them about a 3 on the con-artist scale of 1 - 10. I'd give the Cambodian children in Angkor an 11. They have got it DOWN and I have the tape to prove it. They know exactly which buttons to push. They can turn on the tears and puppy-dog faces and are full of hardship stories for every deflection. And they are relentless.

I can't really blame them though. Gordon Sharpless of "TalesOfAsia.com explains it best when he says:

Deal with it. Most of these folks live within the Angkor Archaeological Park and have a lot of restrictions placed upon them as to how they can farm, build their houses, keep their chickens, hang their laundry, and so forth. The villages within the park existed in some form during the time these temples were built and the kid trying to sell you a cold drink may be a direct descendent from someone who built Ta Prohm or served as a concubine to Jayavarman VII. If anyone has a right to exploit these temples for personal gain, it's these folks. Unfortunately, due to the fact that regulations significantly curtail what they can do in their villages and that life is inherently unfair, these folks have been screwed every which way and selling souvenirs and cold drinks is about all they can do. That said, go easy when it's time to buy a drink or a t-shirt. Save your hard bargains for somewhere else. There is absolutely no reason why you should try to knock 500 riels off the price of a bottle of water from someone who makes a profit of $1.50 a day. Even more so when you consider you'll probably drop $10 in a bar later that evening never considering to bargain the price with the British bartender serving you the drinks. If there was ever a place to pay up or shut up, it's here.

I spent an hour today with a kid who charmed the socks off me. We wrote the alphabet in Cambodian and English, she drew me pictures, I drew her some and she sang me a song. We laughed and just had a great time playing and I took her picture a bunch of times. I gave her the little flashlight on my pack since I wasn't using it and she liked it a lot. I thought that was really cool until she bounded off to an old guy and showed him what she got. I was kind of bummed about it because I don't think they were related and the first thing I thought was "they are pimping out these kids to get trinkets or money from tourists. And they're GOOD." It made me kind of sad because I thought we were having a great time (at least I was) and I'd like to think her smiles and playfulness were genuiune.

Today, I took many photos (with a new POS film camera bought this morning) of people as we motored to the temples. There were people carrying unbelievable amounts of wood on the backs of bicycles, there were 4-person families all stacked neatly in a row on the top of a motorcycle and there were brother and sister pairs, riding the same bicycle built for a person who's knees are at the level of their eyes.

Every road is like the backroads of Oregon's route to the coast. Forests on either sides (or palm trees) with little houses nestled in between. The air smells fresh in the evening and heavy at mid-day. Everything in green and fertile. It's gorgeous.