So long, Middle-earth

Lake Taupo

Sometimes I wonder what New Zealand was like for tourists before Peter Jackson started filming The Lord of the Rings. What would one do in Auckland or Rotorua besides visit Hobbiton? Where would one go in Taupo or Turangi besides Mount Doom? What would one explore in Wellington besides the studios or the filming locations? Even the museum of natural history in Wellington hosts stuff related to the movies. New Zealanders certainly know how to exploit the movie industry for tourist attractions.

I leave New Zealand with bittersweet feelings. Yes, I loved the natural beauty of the country. It's even more breathtaking than I imagined. The people are friendly and outgoing. It was easy to get around. The beer is good.

So what bothered me? It was frustrating to not have unlimited access to the internet as I was accustomed to in Asia. Hostels in New Zealand typically don't provide free WiFi to their guests. I soon learned that if a hostel description says "free internet" this means that they allow you to use their desktop computers for a half hour. If I wanted WiFi, I had to pay for it, but even then I had to be constantly mindful of the time when it expires, and of which provider I was using because there are so many. On the other hand, they expect tourists to make bookings online, many information brochures only list the web address for details so it's a constant chore and a hassle to find ways to get online.

This last post from New Zealand comes from a McDonald's in Auckland. Thank you McDonald's for the free WiFi!

I was surprised that some of the hostels where I stayed in New Zealand were so dirty. After putting up with dirty Asia for months, I was looking forward to enjoying cleaner accomodation. But I was disappointed a few times. Almost all of the hostels where I stayed advertised cleaning staff jobs and I found out that there is a shortage of unskilled labor in New Zealand. So the uncleanliness might have been related to a lack of cleaning staff. But still, does that mean that the owners of the hostels are not responsible for getting them cleaned one way or another?

I have the impression that despite the nice and friendly attitude of all the locals that I met, there is a fair amount of crime in the country. All parking areas displayed signs warning tourists not to leave valuables in their cars because of possible break-ins. Many parkings in remote places charged a small fee which covered the expense of an on-site guard. Isn't it sad that you can't leave your car while exploring the natural beauty of the country without worrying that something might happen to it? I also heard from other travelers that one girl's backpack was stolen when she left it on a hiking trail while she went to the toilet. Who steals backpacks on hiking trails? And in the hostels, kitchens always displayed signs that security cameras are in place to monitor those who steal other people's food. Who steals food in hostels? This last one is probably not a reflection on New Zealand but rather a reflection on the demographic that stays in hostels in New Zealand. I was lucky that no one found my salad ingredients that I kept in refrigerators in hostels worth stealing.

My time in New Zealand is over. I only scratched the surface of the Northern Island. I haven't set foot on the Southern Island. Somehow I didn't get around to seeing any animals, such as the kiwi bird or the tuatara reptile. There are still so many national parks to visit and explore so that overall I would definitely consider coming back again in the future.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year decoration

Happy Chinese New Year! The year of the snake begins today.

It's impossible not to be aware of Chinese New Year while traveling in Asia. It's very much like our Christmas and New Year holiday season with the decorations, holiday music and shopping. In Thailand, they play popular Christmas songs so it feels like Christmas all over again. In one of the markets there was a huge decorated Christmas tree that was probably left there since Christmas and looks like it's recycled for Chinese New Year.

Mandarin oranges as tree decorations

The traditions for Chinese New Year are similar to Christmas traditions. Families come together to share festive meals and exchange gifts. Judging by what I've seen in all the shopping malls in various cities I've visited recently my guess is that the most popular gifts are sweets and among them Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Globalization goes all ways: Asian made clothing and shoes and electronics are available in Europe while European chocolates seem popular in Asia.

We were in Laos on the actual day of the Chinese New Year where the festive season wasn't so obvious. But I spotted some decorations and we definitely heard firecrackers and saw fireworks during the celebrations.

Characterizing Hong Kong

Golden Bauhinia Square

Hong Kong was British until mid-1997 when it was handed over to the People's Republic of China. After 15 years there are still many signs of British colonialism, evident in old buildings that are interspersed among the skyscrapers, churches and cemeteries, street names and neighborhoods. The city doesn't emit a typical Asian vibe, at least in the sense of how I have learned to associate Asian cities with crazy traffic, street food and general chaos. Hong Kong is much more international, reminiscent of European or American cities in terms of cleanliness, orderliness and the availability of any world brands of whatever one might desire to eat, buy, or experience.

Flag raising ceremony

Each morning there is a flag raising ceremony at the Golden Bauhinia Square. The statue representing the bauhinia, Hong Kong's official flower, was gifted to Hong Kong by the Central Government at the time of handover from the British. The flags of Hong Kong and the People's Republic of China are raised side by side each morning. On the first day of the month they do a more elaborate ceremony, so a bagpipe band performed after the flags were raised. The band members were dressed in Scottish uniforms but I'm guessing there was no way the Chinese band members could be talked into wearing kilts.

Bagpipe performance

Ten years after Hong Kong was handed over to the People's Republic of China, another gift from the Central Government ensued. This time it was a pair of pandas that are housed at Hong Kong's Ocean park.

Panda at Ocean park

Hong Kong's many public parks are alive with recreation seeking locals which is another typical characteristic of the city. So many people, even very old ones, walk, stretch, run, play tennis, or practice tai chi.

Women practicing tai chi in a public park

Regardless of whether Hong Kong is more British or more Chinese, if it had to be described by only one word, it would be shopping. The entire city is almost like one endless shopping mall and local people seem to be shopping all the time. Even businessmen on their lunch breaks carry Armani shopping bags. Do they go out for lunch and then on their way back hop into one of the malls to pick up a new suit? I wonder how often they do that, as in how many Armani suits does a businessman in Hong Kong need anyway?

Impressions of Malaysia

City mosque in Kota Kinabalu

Malaysia is an easy country to travel. “Easy to travel” usually translates into the fact that it is more touristy therefore also more expensive and there is more pressure to buy whatever is forced upon the tourists. My experience is that I was generally able to avoid the more touristy areas and focused more on remote parts which I explored using local transport. Yes, I had to pay for the tours I took, as they don’t allow you to climb Mount Kinabalu outside of a group and you can’t do a Kinabatangan river safari on your own. But the rest was easy and peaceful. My average cost per day if I exclude the tours is comparable to the costs in Thailand, Laos or Cambodia.

Hindi temple in Penang

What also makes it easy to travel in Malaysia is that they use the Latin alphabet which is always helpful in a foreign country. Even if I don’t understand the language, I can read signs such as the names of places or names of food items on street stalls. Almost everyone speaks at least a little English in Malaysia so it was easy to get around. Even young schoolgirls chatted me up in basic English. I spoke with a local woman who told me that she went to university in India. She said that although there are many good university programs in Malaysia, some people decide to study in India. According to her, India has the best medicine programs because they have so many dead bodies that no one claims it’s easy to practice medicine on them. I think this might be a myth although with India, you never know. Do they really pick up dead bodies by the side of the road to use them for studying medicine?

Another aspect of the more developed countries of southeast Asia such as Thailand and Malaysia as compared to the less developed Laos and Cambodia is the amount of hassle they give you when entering the country and their visa requirements. The less developed countries make you fill out elaborate forms and pay a fee. I wonder if they believe that there are millions of foreigners lining up to take residence in their countries. The more developed countries just stamp your passport and in you go, no questions asked.

Malaysia is a mixture of Indian, Chinese and Malay cultures and religions. I was so glad to have the option of Indian food although the Indian ethnic groups are more populous on peninsular Malaysia and less so on Borneo where it’s predominantly Chinese. It’s fun to watch the coexistence of the Muslim population which doesn’t drink alcohol or eat pork with the Chinese culture which is quite the opposite. But they seem to make it work. I’ve seen Chinese restaurants that display “serve no pork” signs to be able to cater to the Muslim population. And I noticed a group of Chinese tourists who went to a Malay restaurant where they ordered Cokes and spiked them up with liquor from a small bottle that they brought along.

Performance at a Chinese New Year Bazaar
(looks and feels just like Christmas)

Out of all the countries in southeast Asia that I visited so far I noticed quite a number of fat people in Malaysia as opposed to Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, where practically everyone, young and old alike, is either skinny or bordering on emaciated. It probably correlates to the standard of living which is higher in Malaysia and also to the number of fast food places that can be found everywhere in Malaysia, even in very small remote towns. I sometimes had difficulty finding fresh fruit which I had become accustomed to eating for lunch and which was always readily available in Thailand, Laos or Cambodia. In Malaysia, it’s much easier to find street stalls that sell baked goods, waffles or pancakes. The fast food is also quite cheap therefore it is accessible to the entire population. For example, in Cambodia and in Thailand, a meal in a fast food place would cost about three times as much as a meal from a street stall. In Malaysia, the cost is about the same. So even the poorest can eat a greasy burger and fries for the same price as a noodle or rice dish with meat and vegetables. It’s sad to note that a better standard of living goes hand in hand with less healthy eating choices.

Chinese influence in Malaysia

Chinese cemetery in Sandakan

The Chinese influence in Malaysia is evident especially since almost a quarter of the population is of Chinese descent. Most of the Chinese practice the Buddhist religion with the remainder primarily Christian. It's therefore not surprising that there are so many Chinese people, their temples, cemeteries, restaurants and dwellings. While there is also a significant Indian population on peninsular Malaysia, it's not so on Borneo. Here, it's predominantly Chinese and even a few roadsigns and menus in restaurants are in Chinese.

Contrary to the Malay Muslim and Indian restaurants that typically don't serve alcohol and pork, the Chinese have everything. Beer as well as animal entrails are readily available in Chinese restaurants.

Detail on a Chinese grave

I wandered into a Chinese cemetery in Sandakan, a city on Borneo where I spent a few days. It's different from any cemetery I have ever seen before, but then I have never been to China so I probably don't have a mental image of what a Chinese cemetery is supposed to look like. At the side edge of the cemetery there is a section where I could see graves marked with crosses, obviously the part of the cemetery where the Christian Chinese are buried.

Chinese New Year decorations

With the significant Chinese population it's also not surprising that everyone is getting ready to celebrate the Chinese New Year which falls on February 10th this year. There are decorations in public places that remind me of how we decorate for Christmas.

Leaving Cambodia

Cheers!

It's time to leave Cambodia. It's been ... what should I say? … I loved it? I hated it? I endured it? I was awed by it? I can’t summarize it with just one expression. It was a little of each. Mostly, I loved it. But still it bothers me. It’s so dirty. The streets are dirty. The establishments are dirty. And I’m not even comparing it to the Western world. I’m comparing it to Laos, the much poorer neighboring country. Despite its poverty, I didn’t see any garbage lying around in Laos. In Cambodia, it’s as if they’re saying “Hey, look at me, I’m poor and this gives me permission to dump my garbage however I want!”

Vendor at the fish market

The people seem laid back. They don’t hurry to do anything. Rather, they wouldn’t do much at all. They needed to be reminded repeatedly when I wanted anything, such as repairing the water heater, cleaning my room or refilling the water filtering device. But I know it’s just the way they are. Time flows more slowly in these parts of the world. They don’t hurry and they don’t stress out. As I already know from my experience in South Africa, the only way to blend into this environment is to go with the flow. Slowly, calmly, patiently.

I probably shouldn't generalize. I also dealt with many local people who work really hard. The enterprising tout in Kratie is an example. He sold me everything I bought there as he always seemed to find me when I was looking for something. I know I was paying him a commission for the bicycle rental and the bus ticket, but he saved me the trouble of finding it myself and I was happy to pay for his service. Also, the people at the organization where I work stay long hours and even come to work on the weekends sometimes. They really set an example and it gives me a greater sense of satisfaction that I volunteer my time where it is appreciated.

I met so many friendly local people, at work, at my guesthouse and even at a few places where I went to eat on a regular basis (I usually bought my mango shake from the same stall). Unfortunately, I don’t speak Khmer and most of the locals speak only basic English so it was difficult to have conversations, although I had the feeling that many of them, both men and women, would have liked to chat.

In addition to meeting local people, I enjoyed staying at the guesthouse and socializing with other volunteers who worked in various non-governmental organizations in Cambodia. They came from many different parts of the world, most of the them with the same purpose as me: to enrich our travel experience by helping the poorest and making a difference in the world.

Aerobics at the Olympic Stadium

I'm looking forward to returning to Cambodia in the future. If for nothing else, to do another round of aerobics on top of the Olympic stadium.

Contrasts

Golden Dragon, Phnom Penh

Cambodia is a country of contrasts. It's not my original thought, I've heard it said over and over by people who have visited the country. Being here, I experience such contrasts every day.

There are modern skyscrapers under construction alongside basic shacks by the railroad tracks where the poor people live. Fancy restaurants with every world cuisine imaginable where a dinner likely costs upwards of 25 USD while a few steps away, at the central market, a main meal can be bought from a stall for 1,50 USD. Upscale beauty salons that advertise haircuts for 22 USD but I went to a local hairdresser to have my hair cut for 2 USD.

Modern air-conditioned cars drive on the roads, many of them huge 4WD models, with Toyota by far the most popular make. Among them, hundreds or perhaps thousands of locals on their motorcycles, tuk-tuks and bicycles wiggle their way, sprinkled with an occasional bicycle rickshaw powered by an emaciated old man.

While many of the local people are poor, making a living on a few US dollars per day, there are also those who overstepped poverty and seem to be living in relative comfort. The family who owns the guesthouse where I’m staying, for example. They send their two boys to an international primary school and they can afford to buy a remote-controlled helicopter for one of the boys on his birthday.

I also met an obviously well situated local young woman, a consultant where I work. She graduated in sociology from the Phnom Penh University and she consults on a freelance basis with non-governmental organizations in conducting surveys. Her background image on her laptop computer is one of her in front of the Universal Studios theme park in Singapore where she had been recently on vacation.

Many Cambodians dream of landing a job in Thailand, the region’s economic leader, where – if they’re lucky and find a job – they migrate to earn money to send back home to their families. Contrarily, I met Thai tourists traveling in Laos and Cambodia who seem to be dreaming of working “abroad”, wherever that may be. One young Thai girl asked me whether it would be possible to get a job in my country (not knowing or even caring where Slovenia is) because she had heard from her English teacher that “one Euro is many, many baht”.

I guess it all boils down to the fact that everyone is looking for ways to improve their standard of living, whether it’s to escape poverty or just to earn more money.

Bags of cash on a motorcycle

Company vehicle

I never imagined that my microfinance job in Cambodia would involve riding on a motorcycle with bags full of cash. As it turned out, that’s exactly what I did.

I accompanied an employee of the organization where I work to one of his microloan disbursement assignments. I was the passenger sitting behind him on the company-owned motorcycle. We drove on narrow paths through villages in the suburbs of Phnom Penh, trying to avoid fresh mud, chickens, small children and everything else that was in our way.

People gather around to witness microloan disbursment

We stopped at several houses where families had previously applied for microloans and had them approved. The money was handed over to the beneficiaries in stacks of cash. They had to sign the loan contract along with a guarantor. It is our organization’s policy that family members are not allowed to be loan guarantors, therefore the beneficiaries typically ask their neighbors to co-sign. The entire procedure becomes a huge village affair, because the neighbors have to be called and after that many people gather to watch, laugh, chat, and socialize in general.

Signing with a fingerprint
(The husband is signing. The wife
is pointing to instruct him how to do it properly.)

When my colleague pulled out a purple stamp pad, I assumed that he would stamp the papers with an official stamp. Surprisingly, people pressed their fingers against the pad and affixed their fingerprint to the loan contract. It was confusing to me because I believed that only illiterate people sign documents with fingerprints and it wasn’t my impression that Cambodians were illiterate.

Later, I asked the director of our organization about the fingerprinting procedure and he explained that according to Cambodian law all official documents - such as bank papers - have to be signed with a fingerprint.

"That's interesting," I commented. To which he replied incredulously, “Don’t you sign papers with a fingerprint in your country?”

“Um, no," I explained, "in fact I think it might even be illegal to take fingerprints by someone other than the police.”

It was now his turn to comment, "That's interesting."

I do wonder what good the fingerprints do them. For example, if a beneficiary was trying to flee the country to avoid repaying the loan, how would they catch her? Would they take her fingerprints at the border and then – just like in a CSI episode – scan the databases to see if she has any outstanding debts? I very much doubt that they digitize the fingerprints. The whole fingerprinting charade is probably a relic of some old regime.

Street hospital

Baby with intravenous drip exiting a clinic

I often see people with intravenous drips walking or riding the streets of Phnom Penh. It’s a strange sight that makes me wonder what are they doing outside of a hospital?

It makes more sense now that I’ve been told that people typically get drips for severe bouts of stomach problems and diarrhea. Children and babies are especially at risk for dehydration so they are the ones most frequently on drips. They don't stay in the hospital but are just sent home with everything attached.

I used to believe that only tourists have problems with their digestive systems when they visit Asia. But the locals get them just as well. They seem to just accept it, explaining that it’s a common ailment in this hot weather. I have been here long enough by now to realize why this most likely happens in hot weather. They don’t refrigerate the food and they let it spoil in the heat – and then they eat it. It’s no wonder they get sick. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to pay much attention to storing food in more hygienic conditions.

As for walking around with the drips, I’m also wondering how safe that is. What if the tube gets tangled and pulled? How hygienic is it to be outside in the polluted air? And they don’t just walk with the drips. As might be expected in a country where everyone goes everywhere on their motorcycle, they ride a motorcycle with the drip. It’s not unusual to see a family on a motorcycle where the father drives, the child with the drip sits in the middle and the mother sits in the back, holding the drip bag high above. I’ve also seen similar arrangements of three girls on a motorcycle, the middle one with the drip and the one at the back holding the bag. Sometimes, just two people ride, where one drives and the other holds their own bag.

The above photo depicts a frequent sight in front of a children’s clinic across the street from our guesthouse.

A wedding on our street

Wedding tent on our street

The blasting music jolted me awake. I remembered the wedding tent they were assembling on our street yesterday, but paid it no attention. They had my attention now, at 5:11 in the morning. Do they really get married this early? Yes, they do.

By the time I decided I wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep due to the loud music, got up and dressed and went down to the front terrace of my guesthouse for breakfast, the wedding was in full swing. Beautifully dressed people were returning in a procession from the temple where the wedding ceremony took place and were settling down in their tent for breakfast.

They told us that the music must be played so loudly so that everyone is aware of the wedding taking place. They did well in that respect. Everyone in our guesthouse was aware.

Wedding procession

Weddings – and funeral wakes – usually take place on the street. I often see similar tents in various streets in Phnom Penh, sometimes they block traffic and police are included in the wedding party to redirect traffic. It's so efficient, not having to book a banquet hall for the reception but just using the street

Christmas tree in my guesthouse
(other mandatory artifacts: beer, motorcycle, Buddhist shrine)

In addition to the wedding, another surprise awaited us this morning. The staff at our guesthouse decorated a Christmas tree for us. It was so thoughtful of them as they are Buddhists and don’t celebrate Christmas.

Repairing a water heater

A functioning water heater

This post took a while to compile. I thought it would be fun to document how to go about getting a water heater repaired in my guesthouse room in Phnom Penh. This is how it went:

Day 1

My roommate and I didn’t even notice that the water heater wasn’t working. It’s so hot and humid all the time that we shower with cold water in the evenings anyway. We did notice wires sticking out of the heater and were careful not to run water over them.

Day 2

I wanted to wash my hair in the morning and I would have liked the water to be a little warmer. That’s when I noticed that the water heater wasn’t working. I reported the problem to the maintenance guy at our guesthouse. He said that he doesn’t know how to repair water heaters and that he would call his boss if he may purchase and install a new one for us.

Day 3

I reminded the maintenance guy about the water heater problem and he explained that his boss is out of town and he would call him and he would take care of the problem tomorrow.

Day 4

I reminded the maintenance guy about the water heater problem and he mentioned something that contained the word “tomorrow”.

I rolled my eyes at him and he offered that my roommate and I could change rooms. Ha! That’s funny. We already changed rooms once in this guesthouse and I knew perfectly well that if we take another room, chances are that something would be broken. Since we stayed at the guesthouse we had dealt with fixing light switches, door handles, buying electrical extension cords, and unclogging clogged drains in the bathroom. Also, if we changed rooms, we would have to go through the ordeal of begging for fresh bedsheets again. No thanks, we don’t want to change rooms, we’ll shower with cold water until tomorrow.

Day 5

I didn’t have to remind the maintenance guy about the water heater problem. When I returned home from work in the afternoon he remembered on his own as soon as he saw me. Apparently he had called his boss who didn’t authorize the purchase of a new water heater until an attempt was made to repair the broken one (or perhaps he hadn’t called his boss at all opting to just repair it).

He went to our room and asked to borrow my flip-flops explaining that it would be safer to wear rubber on his feet while he was working with electrical wires in the wet bathroom. I shrugged OK, it’s his decision and I left him there, not wanting to bear witness to his potential electrocution. About an hour later, he notified me that he was unable to repair the water heater. He left it disemboweled until tomorrow, when “his friend is coming” to have a look. Even more wires were now sticking out and we had to be extra careful not to run water over them.

Day 6

I reminded the maintenance guy about the water heater problem and he explained that his friend, who was supposed to be coming, was busy. The magic word, once again, was “tomorrow”.

Day 7

THE BOSS came to the guesthouse to check up on his staff. I was eying him, contemplating whether I should report the water heater problem to him as I wasn’t sure that he was even aware that there was a water heater problem. But the maintenance guy was on to me and he pulled me aside before I had a chance to rat on him and promised me that he would repair the water heater today. Aha, he didn’t want THE BOSS to know that the problem hasn’t been taken care of yet.

His backup strategy now was to exchange the water heater in our room with one from another room where people were checking out that day. He really did come to exchange the water heaters and finally discovered that it wasn’t the water heater that wasn’t working but that the electrical wires that came out of the wall in the bathroom were dead. Another person is “coming tomorrow” to run new electrical wires to the water heater.

And we had been so careful not to run water over the wires, believing they carried electricity.

Day 8

THE BOSS took care of it. He sent two repairmen who looked like they knew what they were doing to run new electrical wires and connect the water heater. Success!

Cambodian TV

Enthiran movie poster

There's a TV in my room in the guesthouse where I'm staying but I haven't bothered to turn it on yet. Another TV blasts in the reception where the guesthouse employees are often glued to watch whatever is on. After three weeks in the guesthouse I have a general idea what their favorite shows are.

Friday night is boxing night. This is the sport that can’t be missed. Last Friday I was there when the match started and the prime minister of Cambodia promised $1000 to the winner. That’s a lot of money for Cambodian standards. I have no idea who was boxing or who won. I retreated to my room, to follow alpine skiing on the internet.

In the mornings there are Khmer soap operas. Some of them must be very dramatic because the women who work at the guesthouse watch them intensely, forgetting dirty breakfast dishes that accumulate on the tables.

There is a local game show, similar to the Games Without Frontiers show we loved to watch as children. It must be very popular because the tuk-tuk drivers who usually hang around on the street outside the guesthouse come in to watch.

On a related note, one of the guys who work at the guesthouse showed me a YouTube clip of his favorite movie. I can’t believe it’s the Bollywood Terminator! That’s not what it’s really called, it’s about a tough looking semi-robot guy, dressed in grey, wearing sunglasses, carrying a mean looking gun, killing everything in sight, rescuing Indian ladies in distress and topping it all off with some dance moves. You can’t beat that, Schwarzenegger! The movie is Enthiran and a sequel is coming up.

A history lesson

Royal palace

Cambodia is worlds apart from my home. I have no personal connections to this country; I chose to come here purely randomly.

I was never much of a history fan but I do try to find out the basic historical facts about each country that I visit to give it more context. So I’ve picked up a few facts about Cambodian history. Everything revolves around the period of Khmer Rouge regime during 1975 – 1979, the genocide, and the civil wars that followed.

We visited the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) to observe the Khmer Rouge trials which are currently in progress. The court was established in cooperation with the United Nations specifically to try the most responsible individuals of the Khmer Rouge for their crimes against humanity.

The defendant who was on trial the day we visited the court is 86 years old. He asked to be excused from the proceedings that day because he was ill. The judge allowed him to stay in his cell and participate via audio link. His answers to questions from both the prosecution and the defense counsel were all along the lines of “I don’t remember”. I thought it was meaningless to pry information out of a frail old man who appears not to remember anything. Or doesn't want to remember. But the trials are very important to the Cambodian people. I saw many old, gray haired people in the audience who must have experienced the terrors of the Khmer Rouge first hand. The trials will bring them closure.

Bones in the memorial stupa at Choeung Ek

We also visited the Killing Fields at Choeung Ek, a memorial site where large numbers of people were killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge regime. The skulls from the human remains that were dug out of the mass graves are on display in a glass memorial stupa.

A monk beside a temple adorned with Sihanouk's photo

A prominent figure in Cambodian history is former king Norodom Sihanouk who died recently, on October 15. He held various offices during his reign, in fact, according to the Wikipedia, "he held so many positions since 1941 that the Guinness Book of World Records identifies him as the politician who has served the world's greatest variety of political offices".

The mourning period is three months following his death. During this time his body is at the Royal Palace where a steady stream of mourners come to pay their respects every day. Numerous temples and public places are adorned with his photograph. A monk at one of the temples I visited proudly indicated his photograph and described him as “This is my king”.

Navigating Phnom Penh traffic

Motorcycles on the road

Hiring a tuk-tuk is hassle-free around here. The drivers typically don't overcharge and they carry maps so that if they don’t speak English I can point to where I want to go. I learned the Khmer words for numbers two and three to be able to communicate the fare. That’s all I really need because short rides are $2 and longer rides are $3. (Actually, I also learned the words for numbers one and four to be able to follow steps in my aerobics class.)

I don't mind riding the tuk-tuk but I still decided to buy a bicycle to get around. Having my own means of transportation gives me more flexibility. I bought a used bicycle that has seen better days. They assured me at the shop that if I have any problems with it, I should come back and they will fix it.

Having my own transportation means that I also get to navigate the traffic on my own. It’s terrifying, although I’m slightly less afraid of the traffic while on the bicycle than when I go on foot. No one walks around here. They say that if you see a Cambodian walking, they are going over to their motorcycle. They go everywhere on their motorcycles, even to the shop around the corner or through the vegetable market.

Motorcycles at the market

I went for a few practice runs on my bicycle to get the feel of being part of the traffic. The official traffic rules such as driving on the right side of the road, stopping for a red traffic light and so on are obeyed only if there is a policeman in sight. The unofficial traffic rules say that motorcycles don’t have to stop – ever – because isn’t it kind of difficult to stop when you’re on two wheels? Why bother stopping? So they just go. I have to be constantly vigilant of what is going on 360 degrees around me at all times because vehicles can come towards me from any direction.

With some practice I figured out that the best thing to do in traffic is to go with the flow, it’s not that bad. There is always someone going the same way I'm going so I just try to follow.

Aerobics on top of the world

Sisowath Quay during the day when it's deserted
(didn't have my camera in the morning when I went running)

I never would have thought that people in an Asian city such as Phnom Penh are so obsessed with physical fitness.

When I went for my run early in the morning on the Sisowath Quay along the Tonle Sap River, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I have become accustomed by now that in these parts of Asia people get up at dawn. What I didn’t expect was that they were all exercising!

Everyone seemed to be out there, old and young and middle-aged, men and women, more or less all of them locals. The few tourists I saw were those who were returning from their all night pub crawls. There were runners and power walkers, groups doing street aerobics, break dancing, tai chi practice, men playing volleyball, a few older people on exercise equipment that is available to the public on the sidewalk.

Another place to exercise is the Olympic stadium so I also went to explore the action there. It was more of the same, people of all ages were about, walking, running, playing sports. There are volleyball and basketball and soccer fields where the men were hanging out. Women did aerobics.

Our aerobics instructor setting up the music.
Another group is already under way in the background.

I joined an aerobics class that was held at the top of the stadium. It was amazing! The music was blasting and the view was magnificent. I could see parts of the city with the temples and skyscrapers under construction and a soccer game that was played inside the stadium.

Crazy traffic in Phnom Penh (notice the name of the street?)

There is just one issue. Although I live very near the stadium and I can get there along back streets in a few minutes, there is one major street to cross. It’s challenging to say the least. The traffic is really crazy here as I had been warned. Let’s just say it takes a while until I decide the traffic has subsided so that I attempt to cross, dodging tuk-tuks, motorcycles, huge 4WD cars, occasional bicycles, all of them hurrying in their respective directions and not all of them going in the direction they should be going.

Buddhist holiday

Festivities at the temple

Today is a Buddhist holiday, the Pavarana. I went to the nearby temple to observe the festivities. People were nicely dressed, each carrying a silver or gold bowl in which they brought their offerings: balls of sticky rice, flowers, pieces of fruit, homemade sweets wrapped in banana leaves, packaged candy bars and chocolates as well as bills of money. They placed all of that on a table before entering the temple for the service, led by several monks. I didn’t feel comfortable taking photos of people praying so I didn’t. I felt enough of a voyeur just watching them.

Children line up for sweets

Afterwards, several men sorted the stuff that was offered on the table, taking the money separately, placing the different types of food in different baskets and they carried it away. Children were allowed to take individual pieces of the sweets so they lined up for their share of the spoils.

Sharing sweets with a group of local men

A group of men who were sitting on a carpet outside the temple invited me over and offered me a banana leaf wrapped sweet. They asked where I was from and I replied as I usually do:

“From Slovenia,” clarified by “Europe” because no one has ever heard of Slovenia in this part of the world.

One of the men surprised me by reciting:

“Slovenia, population 2 million, bordered by Austria, Italy and Croatia.”

Wow, I was impressed! I asked him how he knew that and he just shrugged,

“I looked at a map.”