June 27, 2006
The End of the Road...
Tomorrow is our last day at the Documentation Center office, as we leave Friday morning to go to Thailand. Though it is not our last day in Cambodia (we come back from Thailand for two days before flying to the US), it marks the end of our research project. Well, the end of the Cambodian portion of our research project at least. We still have to develop and print about 1,200 photos, edit and clean all of our audio clips, put the text together for the exhibit, create a slideshow, mount and frame the photos, and secure a place at Michigan (as well as other universities) to show our work. That is enough to ensure that we'll be very busy working on this until our exhibit is opened (hopefully in mid-late October.) So far, we have contacts at Rudgers, Columbia, Yale, Northwestern, Northern Illinois, UC Berkeley, and Seattle U that are interested in showing our work.
Just thinking about all that makes me tired! Thankfully, Emma and I have a one-week vacation in Thailand to look forward to. We'll be spending a couple days in Bangkok and then going down to an island called Ko Samet in the Gulf of Thailand. I'm really excited to travel through a new country, although we won't have the comfort of semi-being able to speak the language.
A friend recently emailed me and asked me if this trip was everything I wanted. I can honestly say that it has gone way beyond my expectations. The people we've met, the places we've travelled to, the stories we've heard...they've all taught us so much. I know this trip has really changed me for the better. I can't wait to go back to Michigan and share what we've learned with the university.
Cambodia is an incredible country. The people here have given Emma and I so much, and I would really like a chance to give something to them. Youk has offered us a chance to return and take our exhibit around to the provinces, once it is translated into Khmer. That way, the information in our project will not only reach students in the US, but will also be available to the Cambodian people. I would love to do this, and I really hope that it works out some time in the next year.
Although I'm excited to go home and see my family and friends, I know how much I will miss Kampuchea.
Posted by laraf at 10:47 PM | Comments (0)
June 22, 2006
Tomb Raiding
I can't even express how content I feel now that I've seen Angkor Wat. Since I first read about the temples five years ago, I have been waiting and waiting to finally see them. And I can honestly say that in no way was I let down.
Emma and I were lucky because one of our Cambodian tutors from Michigan is from Siem Riep, and he was able to set us up with one of his friends that is a guide there.
The first ancient city we went to in the morning was Angkor Thom. It's biggest temple is called "Bayon" and it is famous for the numerous carved faces. Despite the beauty and fame of Angkor Wat, there weren't as many tourists as I expected. Apparently it's the low-season. The only tourists that were numerous were the Koreans which came in on tour buses. More Koreans visit Angkor Wat than any other nationality.
At Angkor Thom, our guide let us go off and explore by ourselves. I was able to go down to the depths of the temple and be completely alone. First, I went to a Buddha statue and I lit some incense for my grandmother while a Buddhist nun said a blessing. Then, as I continued exploring, an ancient Cambodian man, wrinkled and hunched over, emerged from the shadows and grabbed my arm. He was speaking in a mixture of Khmer and French and leading me over to a hidden part of the temple. There he gave me a flash light and let me see a deep well with inscriptions on it. It was quite an amazing experience.
After Angkor Thom, we drove out to the famous jungle temple, Ta Prohm. This temple was unique in that it had literally been swallowed by the jungle. Giant trees have grown over the stone and now grip the doorways like claws. It was really beautiful, but a bit more crowded than the other temples due to the fact that it was popularized by its appearance in "Lara Croft Tomb Raider."
At midday, we broke for lunch. We ate quickly, knowing that the tour buses had to go all the way back to town for a longer lunch. We wanted to go to Angkor Wat when there were no crowds. To reach the center of Angkor Wat, you have to walk down very long stone walkways, cross a moat, go through two walls, and finally, climb up a very steep and crumbling stone staircase. And we had to do all of this in the heat of 1 pm; the tempature was around 100 degrees. It was all worth it though. Once at the top, the view is incredible. And we were practically alone up there! There were only a few other tourists and some monks. Emma and I again got to explore by ourselves.
At the end of the day, we climbed a hill to watch the sunset. Unfortunately it was too cloudy so we gave up and went back to our guesthouse (we were also completely wiped out!) It didn't matter to me that we missed the sunset, because I was totally happy. This is such a once in a lifetime experience, and I'm so grateful.
Angkor Wat is something that has to be seen at least once in your lifetime.
Posted by laraf at 10:47 PM | Comments (0)
June 16, 2006
Back from the Wild East!
Emma and I got home on Thursday evening, following a highly adventurous and exhausting trip. We travelled through a total of four provinces, all of which were equally interesting and exciting. We ate nothing but rice and meat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for six days. When you order something like "Beef Noodle Soup" in Cambodia, you have to be prepared for liver, brain, intestines, and other unidenifiable parts of cow swimming arond in your bowl. Emma and I had to constantly be vigilant about what we were putting in our mouths! Needless to say, we lost our appetite on a few occasions.
Our first province on the trip was Mondulkiri, which has the climate and landscape of the wine country in Northern California (minus the vineyards, of course.) It was refreshing to have cooler weather, especially at night. In Mondulkiri we visited a few different waterfalls, and Emma captured some great photographs of the landscape and sunset. A lot of ethnic minorities live in the province, so we went to one of their markets. Most of the ethnic minorities speak Khmer and their own language. They are also mostly Christian! We went to a church celebration on Sunday to check it out. They do a lot of singing with guitars...it was pretty surreal. Mondulkiri was a pretty amazing place. Driving through the hills in the evening, we saw two little boys riding home on their elephant!
The second place we went to was Rattanakiri. On the long drive there, we stopped in a province called Kratie to rent a boat to take out on the Mekong River so we could look for river dolphins. We were able to spot a few, but the population has been devestated by "dynamite fishing." Unfortunately, we got kind of a late start from Kratie so nighttime quickly fell before we got to Rattanakiri. Driving through the deserted jungle at night, we had just begun to tell ghost stories, when, all of the sudden, we got a flat tire! Changing the tire took almost an hour. Luckily I had a small flashlight, but the jack wasn't big enough to lift the car up high enough. So, Barang, one of the DC-Cam staff members, balanced the jack on a log to change the tire! It was very impressive.
In Rattanakiri, Emma and I had two very interesting meetings with ADHOC and CARE. We learned about the human rights situation in Rattanakiri. Montagnards are a group of people living in Vietnam that are being greatly repressed. They are fleeing in increasing numbers into Cambodia and being resettled by ADHOC and UNHCR. CARE in Rattanakiri is working on an equally interesting project. They have started bilingual education for the ethnic minorities, so the children can read and write in both Khmer and their own language. To keep kids in school, CARE works with the elders of the villages to develop relevant and familiar curriculum.
We were also able to go to a few more waterfalls in Rattanakiri, and a beautiful pristine jungle lake. It was formed by a cater a long, long time ago. We got to go swimming, which is so nice after being so overheated and dusty.
From Rattanakiri, we went to Stung Treng, which is situated next to the Mekong River. From there, we took boat trips to see ancient temples even older than Angkor Wat. We also went up to the Lao border to take a boat ride down the Mekong (Cambodian side on the left, and Lao side on on the right) and hike to see another waterfall.
We were extremely close to the Vietnamese and Lao border during this trip, which was pretty incredible.
Back in Phnom Penh, Emma and I have still been very busy at work. We got to meet David Chandler yesterday. He was very excited about our project, and we exchanged email addresses. Youk also seems to be very excited about our project. He told us that we are welcome to come back to Cambodia some time in the future to tour our exhibit around to the provinces, to show the Cambodian people. That would be such an amazing and important opportunity.
On Monday we are planning to go to Angkor Wat. Stay tuned for updates.
One last thing: I have decided to decicate my portion of this project to my Grandma Nona, who has just passed away. She was a very strong, resilient woman, and I want to do something in her memory. I know my grandparents were trying to read my blog, so I hope Nona had a chance to read about my work before she passed away. I love you Nona.
Posted by laraf at 10:13 PM | Comments (0)
June 07, 2006
Busy, busy, busy!
The details have fallen into place for the rest of our time in Cambodia, and I can't even begin to describe how busy we are! Looking at my daily planner, I can count four "blank" days before we leave on June 30th to go to Thailand.
For starters, this week, we've met with UNHCR to learn about the history of its operations in Cambodia. In an hour, we're going to the CARE office to meet with their staff. And tomorrow, we're going to the MSF office here in Phnom Penh for another meeting! And on Friday afternoon, we're travelling again to Kandal Province to visit a women's prison, to do interviews and photographs.
On Saturday morning, Emma and I, along with two people from the DC-Cam staff, are driving up to Stung Treng (Northeastern Cambodia) to stay with the sister of one of the DC-Cam staffers. From there, we'll make trips into the two most remote provinces in Cambodia: Rattanakiri (near Laos) and Mondulkiri (near Vietnam.) They're so remote that the two provinces, sharing a border, aren't even connected by a road, which is why we have to use Stung Treng as our base. The provinces are inhabited by indigenous hill tribes and are covered by dense jungle.
There, we will be conducting interviews, as well as meeting with NGO's doing development work in these areas. So far, I have a confirmed meeting with ADHOC (Cambodia Human Rights and Development Association), and I'm hoping to get a meeting with CARE up there too. It will be quite the adventure.
When we get back on the 15th, we have to prepare for an important meeting with David Chandler, perhaps the most famous author/expert on Cambodian history, on the 16th. This was all set up by Youk Chhang, who is far too good to us.
Between the 16th-18th, Emma and I will be attending the UNHCR-run film festival for World Refugee Day, as several films will be pertaining to the Khmer Rouge genocide.
On the 19th, we leave for Siem Riep to see Angkor Wat, and from there we go to Battambang Province. We return to Phnom Penh on the 23rd for a few days of relaxation, which probably means spending long hours in the DC-Cam office trying to get as much information as possible before we leave.
Oh, and one more thing. Emma and I recently found out there we're neighbors with Ieng Sary, Brother #3 of the former Khmer Rouge. He lives on the same street as us, just a few houses down. In the last few days of our trip, Emma and I are going to ring his doorbell and try and meet him. We'll see how that goes!
Posted by laraf at 11:05 PM | Comments (0)