Greetings From the Other Side of the World, Days 12 and 13: Thankful, Grateful, Blessed

 It's coming up on the uniquely American time of year, Thanksgiving.  No matter you look, you'll see the motto, "Thankful.  Grateful. Blessed." emblazoned on just about everything.

All I can tell you is that after spending a day and a half in Sihounkville, Cambodia, I will never be able to see those words without thinking about the many people we saw here who live in abject, unremitting, relentless, endless, pervasive poverty.  We should never, ever complain about our privileged, first world lives again.

Like the other former Indochinese countries in Southeast Asia, Chinese and Indian influences helped form Cambodia's early culture.  It's a long, complicated, complex, dense history so perhaps you might like to click the link and read more about it.  Honestly, similar to what I found myself thinking about Viet Nam, a college major in Cambodian history might only begin to skim the surface.  

In terms of more 'modern' day history, the Japanese occupied Cambodia during World War II while the country was under French colonizational influence. After Allied military units entered Cambodia, the Japanese military forces present in the country were disarmed and repatriated. The French reimposed the colonial administration in Phnom Penh.  The French wanted to 'civilize' the Indochinese countries; Cambodia was ruled by King Sihanouk who wanted sovereignty for his country.  

Hot mess stirred even hotter with the onset of the Viet Nam war.  The King wanted Cambodia to stay out of the conflict, which, of course, annoyed the US who wanted to utilize airspace to bomb North Viet Nam.  Domestic Cambodian politics became polarized in the 1960's, with members of the government seeking to overthrow the King.

Skipping ahead to the 1970s, the People's Republic of Viet Nam, the Viet Cong, the Pathet Lao and the Chinese Communist Party were providing support to the insurgency against the King known as the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot.  This is an incredibly dark period in history, one which most countries, including the United States, turned a blind eye to. The Cambodian genocide that took place between 1975 and 1979 lead to the deaths of nearly 2 million people, approximately 25% of Cambodia's population. (If you're old enough, you may have seen the film The Killing Fields about this.  If you're not, you might want to watch it as it stars Sam Waterston, he of Law and Order fame.)  While 17% of the United States population is over 65, only 5% of the Cambodian population is due to the genocide.  Educated and urban people; ethnic minorities; religious leaders; former government and military leaders and anyone accused of dissent were murdered.  According to one guide, all the older people were killed off, leaving the country with a populace of young, uneducated and unexperienced.  Cambodians have since been encouraged to have large families to replace the populace, however there is minimal maternal-child health or health care of any kind available.  Only recently has the education system been re-developed, as it was basically eliminated during Khmer Rouge rule.  It is still common for girls to leave formal schooling after 6th grade to help out in their families or go to work.  One guide said that in large families, where it is difficult to provide for the children, boys are sent to the monasteries to become monks and for education.

In the 1980s-1993, following the overthrow of Pol Pot, Cambodia engaged in civil war, displacing hundreds of thousands of Cambodians and resulting in the murder of thousands more.  With the intervention of the United Nations, the civil war ended but the country is far from a settled governmental system.  Currently it is governed by one party rule.  One guide spoke regularly about government corruption (hmm...sounds familiar).  Land mines still dot the rural areas, leftovers from the years of war. 

Cambodia is primarily a country of small fishing villages or farms.  Farming is primarily subsistence level.  Our guide indicated that the fishermen do sell their catch to the larger cities and those towns away from the coast.  Manufacturing is emerging, particularly clothing, an industry with low wages and where young girls primarily work.  According to one guide, tourism was expanding prior to the pandemic; the pandemic wiped it out.  According to another guide, tourism was fueled by the advent of casino hotels.  The corruption brought to the country by gambling caused the government to significantly limit the number of casinos in the country.  Between that and the pandemic, there are skeletons of buildings in Sihanoukville where construction was abandoned.  We did see an expansion of resort hotels along the beach front, which bodes well for the economy, although both guides frequently pointed out the limitation of tourism based on the two Cambodian seasons: rainy and hot.  Construction and manufacturing is being heavily financed and influenced by the Chinese.  Phnom Phen is the capitol city; Sihanoukville is the coastal city; Siem Reap is the gateway to the famous Angor Wat.

Believe me, this is the massively abbreviated version of what the country and people of Cambodia have endured.  Below are photos from our shore tours.

Entrance into the fishing village.  

A typical home in the fishing village.  Our guide said that Cambodians discard trash wherever and we saw lots of evidence of this.

Most of the villagers don't own large fishing boats like this.  They go out in their sampans overnight, returning with their catch that other members of the family then prepare for their own meals or for sale.

We saw a number of fish being displayed in this flower pattern, but don't know what kind of fish it is or why it was displayed like this.

Raw fish.  There were plenty of containers of fish throughout the village and when we first entered, I found the smell overpowering.  

There were racks and racks of fileted fish left to cure and dry out in the sun.  Many were covered in chilis or salt.  One guide said that Cambodians take in an overabundance of salt because it is used to preserve the fish.  He also talked about using charcoal to write with when he was in school because they had no pencils.

Gasoline is very expensive, so it is often sold in large containers like these.  We also saw it being sold in recycled Coke and water bottles.

There are shrines everywhere.  Cambodians are 97% Buddhist, their Buddhism influenced by Chinese Buddhism and Indian Buddhism.  

We then visited Wat Krom, a site where locals often come to worship and pay respect.

 I noticed that the edges of the Wat turn upward, as opposed to the edges of the temples we saw in Viet Nam ending with dragons.  In fact, snakes are seen symbolically much more in Cambodia than dragons.  The upward turn is to the heavens, seeking protection from evil spirits, harmony and grace.

A stupa is built to hold sacred relics, also the ashes of deceased family members.  As the guide pointed out, your family would need to be wealthy in order to have a stupa in which to place your remains.

The interior of Wat Krom.  The floor was imported from China and each tile is exactly the same.

And here we have our tourists.

Next stop, Independence Beach.

Where we had a traditional Cambodian beer and I stuck my feet in the 

Gulf of Thailand

Projects abandoned due to COVID and the restriction of casino gambling

Back on the Orion, a beautiful performance of traditional Cambodian dance

Day 2: a Tuk Tuk ride through Sihanoukville.  More cars in this city than scooters but plenty of same, with the addition of the Tuk Tuk which is used as a mode of transportation by Cambodians.  My Friend Jeanieᵀᴹ wondered how the streets were not littered with accidents between scooters and cars or buses or, in this case, Tuk Tuks.  We did see one as we drove through the crowded streets, a truck load of melons taking out a scooter.

Yes, all of this is loaded on to one Tuk Tuk.

On the back of a couple Tuk Tuks.  There was a brief skirmish between Cambodia and Thailand earlier this year.  Our guide attributed the resolution to your friend and his, President Donald J. Trump.

Not an uncommon site on the streets in Sihanoukville.  One guide explained that there is no regular trash collection in Cambodia, leaving people to just drop their trash wherever.  And it is wherever.

Stop at another Wat, with the snake representation.

We stopped at Psar Leu Market, where locals shop for just about everything they need.  This was much more a local market than a tourist attraction.  

On the way back to the ship, we stopped in an area near Independence Beach where monkeys and goats roam free.  The one monkey has a baby hanging on to her belly.

Though we had been warned about dogs roaming free in Viet Nam, I found them much more prevalent in Cambodia.  Sad, mangey, scavenging dogs.  At the Wats in Cambodia, there also were children begging.  Heartbreaking.

I apologize to be writing about a country I am so unknowledgeable about.  My opinion is it is in a rough state, has been for years and it looks as if it is swimming upstream with a backpack of bricks to get beyond the years of turmoil.  A suggestion?  If you ever have an opportunity to support aid to Cambodia, DO IT.

The last day of our cruise is today, when we pull into Laem Chabang, approximately  a two hour drive from Bangkok where we'll spend the day.