Around the World in Fifty-Two Weeks Week Twenty-Two: Cambodia
Welcome to week twenty-two of my fictitious story,
Around the World in Fifty-Two Weeks
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Around the World in Fifty-Two WeeksWeek Twenty-Two: Cambodia
Half of Cambodia’s population is younger than fifteen. That’s a freaky and sobering thought. Cambodia has a very dark and sad history and I felt subdued as I began my week-long visit to the Asian country. Of course I had just been in Poland that also had difficult history, but that was part of WW2 and everyone knows that WW2 was horrible. It felt like Cambodia’s past was a lot less known and therefore it hit me harder. I was determined not to gloss over the bad parts, but I also wanted to enjoy the beauty of the country as well. The second day I was in Cambodia I came down with either food poisoning or else the stomach flu, which probably explains one of the reasons why I found the country somewhat depressing. It seems like whenever I get sick the whole world takes a turn for the worse. In order to get better as fast as possible and also not spread germs around, I spent the next two days in my hotel room, “exploring” via the internet. Out of everything I researched Battambang sounded like the coolest place to go. It was founded in the 11th century by the Khmer Empire and is well known for being the leading rice-producing province of the country. I’d never seen rice fields in person although I had seen quite a few pictures with them and have always thought they were lovely. In fact, I once bought a calendar made up solely of rice field pictures. I decided that when I felt better Battambang would be my destination. Battambang is populated by a variety of ethnic groups, including Lao, Thai, Vietnamese, and Chinese. Battambang City was built on the banks of the Sangkae River which is a small, peaceful body of water. The city was established as an important trade city in the 18th century and it’s population of 2,500 people lived mainly along a single road that ran parallel to the Sangkae River. That sounded idyllic to me. The list of things to see in and around Battambang City provided me with enough to do for the remainder of my week and while I was sick I had fun planning exactly what I would do. First I would visit Phnom Sampov which is a natural resort which was located about seven miles outside of Battambang. There are mountains and a temple, natural wells, and lots of beauty. Next I would go to the Battambang Circus. I’d never gone to a circus before and it sounded like it would be pretty interesting. There were performances every Monday and Thursday evening. Since I had obviously missed the Monday one with traveling and then being sick, I decided to try and make it to the Thursday one. I was especially excited about the acrobatics although it made my stomach feel even more sick to think of people flipping around in the air. The best part about the circus was that it’s put on by the students from the NGO art school and helps disadvantaged children and young people get away from bad situations that are connected with poverty. (Situations such as trafficking or begging.) The circus helps the children get an education both in public schools and also in the arts. I think it’s wonderful when people find creative ways to help others while being empowering at the same time. With a country so full of young people it’s obvious that they need help and the circus sounded amazing.
It was my second day of being sick when I stumbled on an excellent blog all about Battambang. It promised that the city itself was peaceful and that some people might even find it boring. That sounded perfect to me. After all, I had just survived the last day and a half on the most boring food I could find - namely plain crackers. The blog also recommended renting a bike while in Battambang, stating that it was the easiest way to get around and to be in contact with the local people and therefore discover hidden gems about the city. The prices they listed were really reasonable so I added that to my list of things to do. They also mentioned how friendly the people were and that there were bat caves, crocodile farms, and an old Pepsi plant to visit. It sounded like a great place to go. I also found a lot of places talking about the bamboo train and so of course I had to look it up. The bamboo train is apparently a wooden pallet on tank wheels with an outboard motor and you ride it on tracks through the jungle and fields. Hummm…Sounds interesting. The train was originally a form of local transportation that evolved out of recycled materials when the Khmer Rouge dismantled the regular train network and people needed a way to get between villages under the radar. Nowadays the bamboo train is used mostly for tourists, though. Each ride is about twenty minutes one way and you stop at a brick factory and village where you can hang out for a while if you want to. There’s only one track and bamboo trains go both ways, so when they meet up, one of the trains has to be dismantled and moved off the track so the other train can go past. Sounds crazy, but apparently they can do that really fast. Okay, so going on a bamboo train was on my list of things to do also.
I’d also heard some people commenting about how they liked Cambodian food, but with the state of how I was feeling, the thought of trying out new foods wasn’t exactly at the top of my list of things to do. I was quite thankful that rice was popular in the country and therefore decided to stick mainly to that for a few days until my stomach had calmed down.
Around the World in Fifty-Two WeeksWeek Twenty-Two: Cambodia
Half of Cambodia’s population is younger than fifteen. That’s a freaky and sobering thought. Cambodia has a very dark and sad history and I felt subdued as I began my week-long visit to the Asian country. Of course I had just been in Poland that also had difficult history, but that was part of WW2 and everyone knows that WW2 was horrible. It felt like Cambodia’s past was a lot less known and therefore it hit me harder. I was determined not to gloss over the bad parts, but I also wanted to enjoy the beauty of the country as well. The second day I was in Cambodia I came down with either food poisoning or else the stomach flu, which probably explains one of the reasons why I found the country somewhat depressing. It seems like whenever I get sick the whole world takes a turn for the worse. In order to get better as fast as possible and also not spread germs around, I spent the next two days in my hotel room, “exploring” via the internet. Out of everything I researched Battambang sounded like the coolest place to go. It was founded in the 11th century by the Khmer Empire and is well known for being the leading rice-producing province of the country. I’d never seen rice fields in person although I had seen quite a few pictures with them and have always thought they were lovely. In fact, I once bought a calendar made up solely of rice field pictures. I decided that when I felt better Battambang would be my destination. Battambang is populated by a variety of ethnic groups, including Lao, Thai, Vietnamese, and Chinese. Battambang City was built on the banks of the Sangkae River which is a small, peaceful body of water. The city was established as an important trade city in the 18th century and it’s population of 2,500 people lived mainly along a single road that ran parallel to the Sangkae River. That sounded idyllic to me. The list of things to see in and around Battambang City provided me with enough to do for the remainder of my week and while I was sick I had fun planning exactly what I would do. First I would visit Phnom Sampov which is a natural resort which was located about seven miles outside of Battambang. There are mountains and a temple, natural wells, and lots of beauty. Next I would go to the Battambang Circus. I’d never gone to a circus before and it sounded like it would be pretty interesting. There were performances every Monday and Thursday evening. Since I had obviously missed the Monday one with traveling and then being sick, I decided to try and make it to the Thursday one. I was especially excited about the acrobatics although it made my stomach feel even more sick to think of people flipping around in the air. The best part about the circus was that it’s put on by the students from the NGO art school and helps disadvantaged children and young people get away from bad situations that are connected with poverty. (Situations such as trafficking or begging.) The circus helps the children get an education both in public schools and also in the arts. I think it’s wonderful when people find creative ways to help others while being empowering at the same time. With a country so full of young people it’s obvious that they need help and the circus sounded amazing.
It was my second day of being sick when I stumbled on an excellent blog all about Battambang. It promised that the city itself was peaceful and that some people might even find it boring. That sounded perfect to me. After all, I had just survived the last day and a half on the most boring food I could find - namely plain crackers. The blog also recommended renting a bike while in Battambang, stating that it was the easiest way to get around and to be in contact with the local people and therefore discover hidden gems about the city. The prices they listed were really reasonable so I added that to my list of things to do. They also mentioned how friendly the people were and that there were bat caves, crocodile farms, and an old Pepsi plant to visit. It sounded like a great place to go. I also found a lot of places talking about the bamboo train and so of course I had to look it up. The bamboo train is apparently a wooden pallet on tank wheels with an outboard motor and you ride it on tracks through the jungle and fields. Hummm…Sounds interesting. The train was originally a form of local transportation that evolved out of recycled materials when the Khmer Rouge dismantled the regular train network and people needed a way to get between villages under the radar. Nowadays the bamboo train is used mostly for tourists, though. Each ride is about twenty minutes one way and you stop at a brick factory and village where you can hang out for a while if you want to. There’s only one track and bamboo trains go both ways, so when they meet up, one of the trains has to be dismantled and moved off the track so the other train can go past. Sounds crazy, but apparently they can do that really fast. Okay, so going on a bamboo train was on my list of things to do also.
I’d also heard some people commenting about how they liked Cambodian food, but with the state of how I was feeling, the thought of trying out new foods wasn’t exactly at the top of my list of things to do. I was quite thankful that rice was popular in the country and therefore decided to stick mainly to that for a few days until my stomach had calmed down.
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