Crossing Cambodia

What am I doing here? I have been asking myself this questions many times today. First in the gloomy room of a guesthouse in Phsar Thmei in Phnom Penh. The people I like have already left this town. Dave and Owens have left. Julie has left. My two French companions have gone too. No more reasons for me to stay. The mission over, I can leave too. The buses are coming and going in the busy central station, just two blocks away. I can hear them in the darkness of my room. Yes, it is time to go away. A last party has been consumed with the CIST people yesterday night. A pizza, a last funny tektonic dance with Fred and Yacine at Stephanes's, then the moment for the final goodbye had come.

Stuff the permethrine-soaked pijama in the bag. Run for the station. And buy a ticket for the more remore destination in Cambodia: Stung Treng. The trip is long. Eleven hours. The bus is crowded. The weather is inclement. A strong sun to start, then the heavens open. The monsoon season is approaching fast. But the driver doen't seem to to care. And he goes faster and faster on these deserted roads going nowhere. The sun, the heavy rain don't scare him. And do not scare my bus companions neither: it's a young family leaving Phnom Penh for the countryside. They are enjoying the usual Karaoke show on air at any time in Cambodia. And they are craving bugs, all sort of them, like young Americans eat chocolate, cookies and french fries. When I see them smiling at me with debris of tarantulas wedged between the teeth, I once more ask to myself: what the f... I am doing here?

Lonelyness can be bad to your ego.

You start feeling like no one loves you anymore. And lonelyness is what I felt when I finally got off in Stung Treng. You may have understood it. This is really the last outpost in Cambodia before the jungle becomes too thick for the light to penetrate it. A (dirty) market, two roads, one computer (happily enough) and a few fishermen. This is the real Cambodia. And this is why I am here. Because this is my nature. I am a traveller. Not a tourist. I want to see it all. And, hopefully, survive.

The last questions is: what will tomorrow bring to the good man? A ride on a elephant in the Ratanakiri? A face to face with a tiger in the jungle? Maybe I will just go to swim in the Mekong.

The great Mekong.

It's for you I am here, river.

Now I remember.

Mission completed

Ok. My mission at the CIST school for Information System Training in Phnom Penh is over. Now Phoumen is skilled enough to be able to perform Bandwidth Management in the world of a socialistic Internet. Give him a Linux Kernel to recompile, a few iproute2 functionalities, and he will make your interactive and real-time traffic go fast as hell. Of course, it was not that simple. First, we had to study the protocols used at the CIST, analyse the existing Internet Connection and go through a full study of the network infrastructure. Then we had to plan a low-cost or no-cost queuing solution: just to give you an idea, here in Cambodia a 512/256kbit ADSL passport to the realm of Internet will cost you a huge 500USD, so no room for expensive full-branded devices... Last step, we had to implement the chosen solution. Not everything worked well. But what is important to me is having been able to share with Phoumen and with the Staff of the school my knowledge and my experience. It is, as I was told, one of the first Bandwidth Management project in Cambodia ever. Do I need more to be proud of myself?

Phoumen, I wish you a bright future!

Thanks to the CIST school for the chance I have been given to take part to this important project.

And, last but not least, good luck to all the Khmer students I have met!!!

Now my trip continues to Laos. A new country to discover. A new culture to meet. So, tomorrow morning, 6:30am, I will head for the Pshar Thmei bus station and get away on the lonely road that follows the great Mekong river. North is the direction.

Phoumen and Carlo going faster and faster on the Internet!!!

At the crack of dawn...

The last days were very hot in Phnom Penh. The temperature is rising and the evening storms are becoming more and more frequent (and powerful). So, today, for a change, my will for new experiences pushed me to an early walk in the morning fresh breeze of the gardens between the majestic Royal Palace and the Mekong. As the crimson sun peeked over the horizon, I witnessed people beginning their daily workout at the rhythm of music droning from an army of old crackling speakers. Some were dancing, others swaying gracefully in synchronised Tai-Chi. I quickly understood that the traditional Cambodian society had successfully survived the transition from village to city... everything was calm and noiseless... the people, the river and Phnom Penh itself. This weird form of peace, unknown to Europeans, quietly wafting through to the city, made me feel good.

Quietness of Tai Chi

Sunrise on the Mekong river

Life at the students residence

The second week of my sojourn has just started. The task I am supposed to complete is very complex. In fact, the Internet connection speed at the CIST is so very slow, regular blackouts occur at school level or at the ISP... and I have not much time to perform the packet prioritization and QoS definition I would have hoped for.

When not at the school, we, Volunteers, share everyday life with firts-year CIST students in a stark, simple, severe and somewhat gloomy residence of a outlying Phnom Penh district.

The life conditions are rough there, with hot rooms, a few shared toilets and a heap of UFI (unidentified flying insects). Nevertheless the Khmer students enjoy very much living there and our presence between them is much welcomed. So we are happy too, even if the nights can be dirty long when you are sweating like hell in your mosquito net, the fan has just stopped because of a power brownout, you have no more water left to drink and a cloud of insects is waiting for you just to step out of bed...

Same same but different!

Dinner is ready!

Cage numer 1: Fred the monkey

Cage number 2: Yacine the sloth

Cage number 3: Carlo the gorilla

A visit from Singapore

These days I have been visiting Phnom Penh with lovely Julie, the best friend one can dream of. Lots of restaurants looking for tastes of Khmer Cuisine, a visit to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda under a heavy storm, a second visit to the Khmer Rouge museums and a few walks in the local markets have been in the menu. Needless to say, we had a good time together (notwithstanding a lot of arguing, which is the main peculiarity and the funniest part of our friendship...)

Julie and her first cocktail in Phnom Penh

Inside the Royal Palace

A lot of eating ... :)

Lakeside in a fine day, part 1

Lakeside in a fine day, part 2

Lakeside in a fine day, part 3 - The hungry firsherman

Good girl doing business in Wat Phnom

Friendly shopping at the Central Market

Khmer Cuisine

Twenty-nine

I have read in my Lonely Planet that Cambodia has a very young population and that three-quarters of Cambodians are too young to remember the Khmer Rouge years.

Just a fact, apparently. But visit this country, and get stunned by the sight everybody looking so young: tuk-tuk drivers, bartenders, staff in hotels, soldiers, farmers, shopkeepers... and no Khmer is older than 29 in the school where I am working as a volunteer.

Twenty-nine... You have figured it out by yourself. This is exactly the number of years passed since the end of the genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge, in 1979. A genocide from which just a few survived, on the good as on the bad side. And today children of the oppressed share the country with the children of the oppressor and there is a strong will to forget.

Nobody talk of it then. The current government itself does not require that educators teach children about Khmer Rouge atrocities in the schools.

But I couldn't not to notice it and fell a profound sadness for this people.

No religious rituals.
No religious symbols.
No fortune tellers.
No traditional healers.
No paying respect to the elders.
No social status. No titles.

No education. No training.
No school. No learning.
No books. No library.
No science. No technology.
No pens. No paper.

No currency. No bartering.
No buying. No selling.
No begging. No giving.
No purses. No wallets.

No human rights. No liberty.
No courts. No judges.
No laws. No attorneys.

No communications.
No public transportation.
No private transportation.
No travelling. No mailing.
No inviting. No visiting.
No faxes. No telephones.

No social gatherings.
No chitchatting.
No jokes. No laughter.
No music. No dancing.

No romance. No flirting.
No fornication. No dating.
No wet dreaming.
No masturbating.
No naked sleepers.
No bathers.
No nakedness in showers.
No love songs. No love letters.
No affection.

No marrying. No divorcing.
No martial conflicts. No fighting.
No profanity. No cursing.

No shoes. No sandals.
No toothbrushes. No razors.
No combs. No mirrors.
No lotion. No make up.
No long hair. No braids.
No jewelry.
No soap. No detergent. No shampoo.
No knitting. No embroidering.
No colored clothes, except black.
No styles. No palm sap hooch.
No lighters. No cigarettes.
No morning coffee. No afternoon tea.
No snacks. No desserts.
No breakfast [sometimes no dinner]

No mercy. No forgiveness.
No regret. No remorse.
No second chances. No excuses.
No complaints. No grievances.
No help. No favors.
No eyeglasses. No dental treatment.
No vaccines. No medicines.
No hospitals. No doctors.
No disabilities. No social diseases.
No tuberculosis. No leprosy.

No kites. No marbles. No rubber bands.
No cookies. No popsicle. No candy.
No playing. No toys.
No lullabies.
No rest. No vacation.
No holidays. No weekends.
No games. No sport.
No staying up late.
No newspapers.

No radio. No TV.
No drawing. No painting.
No pets. No pictures.
No electricity. No lamp oil.
No clocks. No watches.

No hope. No life.
A third of the people didn't survive.
The regime died.

Poem by Sarith Pou.

Mission to Mars

The CIST has organised today a early visit to the huge rubbish tip (Stung Meachey) of Phnom Penh. A place where people live, work and suffer for less than half a dollar a day, scratching bare hands into mountains of wastes and selling raw materials to be recycled. A place where, like on a distant planet, the air is almost unbreathable.

And, incredibly, even in this hell, behind the skinny features of the people, we could find kindness and smiles.

France, and Europe, were today thousands of miles away.

Killing Fields

The sadest day of my trip. A visit to Killing Fields first. Then to the prison where the Kampuchean Party, know as the Khmer Rouge, tortured and killed the opponents to the Angkar Padevat.

No comments on this. Words are not useful. Cambodia will definitively need a long time to forget this horrible part of its past.

The commemorating Stupa as seen from the graves...

Clothes can still be found just where the prisoners where executed, undressed and then buried...

First days in Phnom Penh

I have finally come to Phnom Penh. The capital of Cambodia. A weekend as a tourist first, spending my time between the lively Riverside and the romantic Lakeside. And then my mission to the CIST has begun, in a wonderful atmosphere of collaboration between the volunteers, the young Khmer students and the staff.

The cosy Lakeside

Getting to know the students!

Boys and girls playing under the rain (sorry, out of focus, but not an easy picture to take under a storm in the middle of the night... it was a wonderful moment for me anyway.... Thank you to Dave and Owens, my American friends, for paying the bill at the restaurant, at the hotel, and, needless to say, for the friendship you gave me!!!)

Best friends

Hi guys, this a special post to thank sweet Megumi, serious Takehiro and volcano Dave for being my best travel companions during these hot days in Siem Rap. I hope you will come and read my blog as often as you can. Megumi, Takehiro, I miss you already...

Dave on the back of a bike following us in Siem Rap.

Lovely Megumi

Italo-Japanese dream team!

Divine inspiration!

What do you need to know here? This is simply the largest religious building of the world and it blew my socks off!
Just come and see by yourself and be ready for divine inspiration!

Quote: "One of these temples - a rival to that of Solomon, and erected by some ancient Michelangelo - might take an honourable place beside our most beautiful buildings. It is grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome, and presents a sad contrast to the state of barbarism in which the nation is now plunged."

Biking in the Cambodian countryside

Despite the extremely hot weather, these days I have been biking a lot in the countryside of western Cambodia. This is a pretty much agricultural region, where, apart the majestic Angkor temples, everything is still stuck in time at the end of the Pol Pot reign of terror... from which, sadly to say, most Cambodians have not yet been able to recover.

What`s better than a bike to explore?

Taking bikes on a ride...

Nature-compliant scaffodils!

Running to welcome the foreigner!

Lovely tyre-players.

Khmer pride.

The countryside.

Cambodian People`s Party headquarters.

The missing link ?

Endless roads.

Heritage of French colonialism...

...or as, even in Cambodia, you can enjoy a baguette with French cheese !!!

Angkor Temples

I wasn`t ready...

After visiting Bangkok, I thought every place in Southeast Asia should be more or less just like a hot version of home. This is just not the case... Cross the border to Cambodia and find a bus or taxi along the Brocken Backside Boulevard to Siem Rap, and it will be like stepping inside a time-machine to a lost world: the one of the long-gone Khmers...

At the border with Cambodia!

Making friends with the blue people at the Poipet border control.

Leaving Thailand - The bus station

Early wake to get the bus from Mo Chit Station to Aranya Prathet, and then all the way to Siem Rap. Probably the most miserable road in South East Asia... but, definitevely, many nice people to meet!

Relaxing in Wat Pho

The main activity of the day was a peaceful stroll inside the amazing Wat Pho temples, in Ko Ratanakosin. The temples inside the complex are truly worth a visit and the giant reclining Buddha is an impressive sight. Of course, I also went to the Wat Pho Traditional Thai Massage School and I had my body pleasantly stretched for more than a hour... Wonderful Bangkok!