As many of you know, to conclude each trip, we take this
opportunity to mention things of interest that for one reason or another didn't
make it into one of our other stories. We also use this post to recognize
people we met along the way that made a difference in our life on the road.
Other Things Half a
World Away
Spiritual Experience - Even though not a religious person, I
thought that while visiting the temples of Angkor Wat, I may have a spiritual
experience, but in fact it felt more like a tourist experience than anything
else. However, about 90% of the people in both Vietnam and Cambodia are Buddhist
,and when meeting many of them, I could feel their
spirituality.
Asian Food - As part of our travel experience, we try to eat as the locals do. This time of course, it involved a lot
of rice. The most unusual experience was the Kuy Teav soup for breakfast. It is made with rice noodles, greens and meat in a broth, topped with spices. It's eaten with a
ceramic ladle spoon for the broth and chopsticks for the rest.
Some of their market and streetside food handling and
processing is pretty scary, and was best avoided when possible.
Bottled water is a
double edged sword there. On one hand, it's their only source of safe drinking
water, but on the other, they don't have their garbage and recycle under
control, and the empty plastic bottles are everywhere.
Economic Development
- The modern apparel factories looked good on the surface, obviously employ a lot of people, and hopefully are a step forward in not only their economic development, but also their cultural evolution.
- We saw people disassembling electronic equipment which is an important step in the global recycling process. However, from what we saw, they don't have a way to recycle the plastic housings, and the housings were being burned resulting in billowing black smoke. So, in as much as disassembly creates some employment, recovers some valuable material, it begs the question, at what unaccounted environmental cost. It seems to me, the manufactures should be required to make the housings out of recyclable plastics.
Masked Faces - In urban areas, many people wore masks while
out and about. At rush hour, 4 of 5 motor scooter drivers wore masks. These
masks varied from simple scarves to surgical masks. I think their main concern
is airborne particulate, but in other situations like on the plane, it appeared
to be disease.
Transportation - The Tuk-tuk, a motorbike with a trailer is
the affordable vehicle of choice. More often than not, they were far overloaded
with coconuts, building materials, people, a couple of cows going to market, or
other stuff we couldn't even imagine until we saw it with our own eyes. Of
course, the overloading of Tuk-tuks along with the other common unsafe driving practices
made getting around somewhat dangerous by North American standards.
Sanitation - This varied widely from rural to urban
situations. It was common in more rural settings to have a squat toilet with a
container of water and a ladle at hand, with the expectation the user would
take a ladle full of water and rinse the area of undesirable residue when
finished. In the urban settings, regular flush toilets and sinks were common.
In both cases, it seemed wise to use a personal handi-wipe or sterilant
gel as a final step when using as they referred to it, the WC or happy-house.
The Hammock - Cambodians love their hammocks. They are strung
everywhere, and if a Cambodian isn't busy, they are likely in their hammock. In
this outdoor restaurant, the expectation is that you take a snooze after
you eat, or if the server or cook aren't busy, they might make use of it while
waiting for their next customer.
Cambodian People - The people we met, specially the rural folks, were very welcoming. We met people on their
farms, in their homes, in one case during a family wedding ceremony, and others
where we just happened across them. They took the time to share what they did,
how they felt, information about their family, their history, and more.
Kudos
The following kudos are our special thank you to people that
made a significant contribution to our Indochina experience.
Kun - our guide, showed us around in places we'd have never
gone otherwise. Schools, home based businesses, a wedding where we were invited
to stay and participate, to meet families, and helped us when there were
uncertainties or issues. He's English speaking, pleasant, patient, prompt and
flexible. He arranged for good lunches from good restaurants, and bought local produce
for us to taste. If you're travelling to Cambodia, we recommend you contact Kun at kunthul@gmail.com,
telephone - +855 93 97 70 70.
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Kun on the Left and Dara on the Right having Lunch with Us
Cambodian Style, at an Outdoor Restaurant
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The Cathay Pacific Flight Crew - as you know from our last
story, we had a medical emergency on our Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong
to Toronto; but thanks to the very professional flight crew, led by their
Senior Flight Attendant, they analysed the situation with speed and brought
things under control.
These folks are very deserving of these kudos, so once again,
we want to say to them, thank you!
And lastly, to you folks that followed our adventure to Indochina,
and those that expressed concern over my medical emergency, we hope you enjoyed our
stories, and thank you for coming along.
