On our last full day in Cambodia, figured we would do a coule of fun things. The first was to do a "quad" adventure and we would cap the day off with a renowned circus show.
We booked the quads (think 4-wheel all terrain vehicles - ATVs) while in Luang Prabang, maybe seeking something with a little more energy as our blood pressure was starting to get a little low there :-). We were picked up after an early breakfast and brought to the office to do our driving test. We ended up with me taking Abby and a guide each taking Beth and Robin.
The quads were fun. Our main objective was a chance to get into the countryside and see some distant villages and farms. Our time here had been so focused on Angkor that I didn't want that to be the lone impression of the country.
It took us about 10 minutes to get into some real countryside. We stopped to take a picture, then the guides asked if the kids wanted to give it a try. Robin took to driving very quickly - in fact, she was a speed demon.
Abby and I fell in behind Robin and her guide, with Beth and her guide slowly bringing up the rear. We were alternating between laughing our heads off watching Robin speed down the roads or trails, and taking in some beautiful countryside. Abby played the role of a national geographic videographer on the back of her chauffeur.
We made a couple of stops - once at one of the really cheesy new Buddhist temples (they really are gaudy, with painted single frame stories replacing bas relief carvings!) and later for a drink. The best part was when we would find a stretch of tree-lined road or pathway that went through a farming village. Little kids would come running down the end of their yard to smile and wave.... Very cute. Like we've seen many times over now, there seemed to be poverty and happiness intertwined.
On our water break, one of our guides, a really inspiring 21 year old, opened up to us after we started peppering him with questions. We are like sponges and while it may seem nosy, I find in these situations the conversations are mutually beneficial - they practice their English while we learn. He told us that he was one of 4 siblings, living in small village outside Siem Reap. His older brother is a monk and his younger two siblings go to school. He is the breadwinner, as he studied and learned English the most. His father is a construction worker (which we've discovered is the default labour job that pays the least in most southeast Asian countries). The guide is on a monthly employment contract (I guess he makes about $3-400 per month, plus tips which are probably rare), works every day (7 days a week) from 6:00am until 7:00pm and then tries to go to a local free English lesson at night or tries to watch English TV or read. His grandparents work the farm and his mother runs the household. Although he wants to get a better job (hotels and restaurants are the next step up, proper tour guides even higher), employers look to education levels first and he does not have his high school diploma. It's an all to familiar story - although he has the drive and brain to elevate his lot in life, the pressure to continue in his current situation pretty much means he's trapped for now.
Beth and I talked about the company itself. It seemed to be run by an impersonal French family and a Khmer manager that seemed very well off. These excursions are expensive - ours was $195US for two and a half hours and they have 24 quads which were mostly gone when we got back. You see a lot of businesses in town (a restaurant we ate at called Genevieve's owned by an Aussie really demonstrated how a business can take care of employees through profit sharing, education and training) that have a story about how they are trying to give back to the community. Not this business. You can argue the point that if this business wasn't there, they wouldn't employ locals and therefore the locals would be worse off. True, but it wouldn't take much to try to elevate the employees' station in life and give them a path to a better future. We tipped the guides well - I hope some of that money wasn't given to the shwarmy manager or end up in the cold owner's pockets.
We returned to the hotel and cleaned up. Getting around by Tuk Tuk in Siem Reap is a lot of fun and helping the desperately underused drivers out (it's low season) makes us feel good. Put it this way, Beth is not asking to get additional steps logged in favour of short Tuk Tuk rides - that really says it all. We went back to town and found a fantastic Indian restaurant for lunch. The owner was from Kerala and was such a nice guy - it really reminded me of how much I enjoyed the people in India - and the food!
After lunch, the girls did some shopping and a spa while I got a haircut (for $3... Felt very weird!) then holed up at a bar and waited for them. It was torture - enjoying a couple of ice cold Hoegardens while people watching and tapping out a blog :-)
Beth found a local company called Phare that is one of the truly inspiring organizations that has transformed the lives of local kids, while putting on a fantastic show. You can read about the organization here, but in short it is a mini Cirque du Soleil that uses traditional Khmer martial arts and gymnastics while telling a Khmer story. They actually travel around the world, coming to France and the U.S. this fall. It was a great way to cap our last night off in Cambodia.
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