Yesterday, we finally left Siem Reap after 3 days and 4 nights there. We had an amazing time, spending the days at the temples and the nights in the town where there are lots of restaurants and bars. I'm not a big fan of buying things when travelling because I think it's a waste of money and also means there is more stuff to carry around. I also really dislike children selling things and think that it's better to not buy from them so that they are not an income source for their parents/pimps and seek other avenues, preferably an education, to succeed.
Janelle and I were sitting outside of a bar watching people walk by and drinking $.50 beers. People walk by trying to sell all kinds of stuff and I was either flatly telling people "no" or trying to harass them back to make them leave us alone. A little girl of about ten years old was selling bracelets and I started to try to harass her back, but she was so quick in response to everything I said, she had a response for everything. Her responses weren't the usual canned responses and the more in depth and harder I tried to make it for her to respond the better she got. She truly had a great understanding of the English language, better than anyone we have met in Cambodia. I started talking with her to find out more about her life because she really impressed me not only with her English but also her wit and charm. I found out that she was actually 10 years and two days old. She was being raised by her mother and had several siblings and no father in her life. I asked her what her dream job would be and she told me she would like to sell bracelets forever. At that point I got really emotional, I could tell that this girl had a special gift for languages, I had overheard her speaking to several different groups of European people with the same skill as she had in English. Her dream job is to sell bracelets, my heart broke for her and I wished that there was something I could do to help someone so obviously gifted do more with her life. Janelle and I broke our own rules and bought a bracelet each from the little girl. I then told her to set her goals and dreams as high as possible.
We caught the bus from Siem Reap to Sisophon, near the Thailand border and then got into a shared taxi with 4 local people and a driver for a total of 7 people in the small Toyota car. We then drove for an hour and a half on a bumpy dirt road to Banteay Chhamer where we were dropped off at a local's house that we would be spending the night with. There is a program in Banteay Chhamer where the locals allow people to come and stay in their homes and the money is given both to the family and back to the community. There are many different households that participate and they all take turns being hosts. Our family was made up of 5 girls and their mother. The girls ages ranged from 10 to late 20's and we were mostly looked after by the 17 year old daughter named Konnga.
The family arranged bicycles for us and we went on a ride around town and to a nearby Angkorian style temple that is just starting to be renovated and reconstructed, it was a good contrast with all of the temples in Angkor Wat. Later in the afternoon Konnga got Janelle and I each a fresh coconut to drink from their coconut tree and then took us on a personalized tour of the village and the surrounding temples.
For dinner Konnga took us to the markets to get vegetables and then Janelle helped her prepare dinner for us. I think I made Konnga uncomfortable as she would only talk to Janelle. Konnga's house has been without power for 3 days and they are unsure why it isn't working and when it will come back on.
We were woken up this morning at 5am by the local news broadcast that plays from an enormous speaker 4 houses away and can be heard throughout the entire village. The broadcast would talk for a couple of minutes and then play the same song over and over again. The broadcast finally ended around 7am at which time we were already up and packed to head off. We got another shared taxi, this time with 5 people in the back and Janelle and I crammed into the front seat.
The taxi dropped us back in Sisophon and somewhere between leaving the village and getting to the bus station I lost my camera. This is why I don't have any pictures from yesterday or today as I hadn't backed them up and they are now lost forever. I just bought this camera new for this trip and I'm really upset that I have lost it.
From Sisophon we caught a bus across the border to Thailand and then back to Bangkok.
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