[This is another re-posting from Lauren's Tumblr. The original post date was May 29th, 2011. To see some of her great photos and to read more about her travels, please check out: http://sheshallgofree.tumblr.com]
I am back safely in Phnom Penh after a 6.5 hour ride from Siem Reap on a bus with a partially broken/collapsing floor at the back (but hey, it only costs $5...sooo worth it).
On Saturday (our last full day in Siem Reap), we decided to go visit the last two temples on our list: Ta Prohm and Banteay Kdei. I visited both of these temples in 2009 as well, but they are magnificent and well worth a second visit. Ta Prohm is the temple where "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" was filmed back in 2000. Much of the temple was blocked off this time because of restoration work...but Ali and I accidentally got lost (it is a bit of a maze) and ended up in the "DANGER! DO NOT ENTER! WORK AREA! UNSAFE!" zone...oopsies. But at least we found our way back out?
I loved going back and seeing both of these sites because they are well preserved, architecturally stunning, and just beautiful all around. But going back also broke my heart--these two sights have (understandably) become major tourist hotspots. Many of the other temples we visited on this trip weren't quite as popular or well-known, and we often had entire temples to explore with no one else around. But because of the popularity (which, I believe, can partly be attributed to the constant insistence of tuk-tuk and moto drivers that "Oh no, you don't want to see Ta Keo...Ta Prohm much better! I take you there!"), it has also become a hot-spot for merchants. And specifically for the use of children to sell goods. I wrote in my previous post that young children on the street has been a decidedly absent scene compared to 2009. A few hours after that post, I was being swarmed by children at Ta Prohm and Banteay Kdei, urgently shoving bracelets and postcards and knick-knacks in my face: "Three for $1...okay lady 4 for $1...okay okay 5 for $1. Lady...5 for $1...please lady...please."
It made me angry. I kept thinking: these kids should be in school. They should not be here frantically and desperately trying to guilt tourists into purchasing cheap products so that whoever is sending them out here in the first place can get a few extra bucks. This is wrong. This is wrong!!
Just as it did in 2009, the scene made my blood boil and brought tears to my eyes. The kids were so young. I stopped and spoke with a few of them. One girl at Banteay Kdei followed me around for a few minutes at the back of the temple, repeating the same phrases over and over. She looked at me with the saddest, most heartbreaking eyes. I knelt down in front of her and began speaking with her in my limited Khmer mixed with English.
What's your name? Srey Mam.
My name is Lauren. How old are you? I am 10 (she looked to be no older than 8, at best...but "10" or "16" are common answers when asked by tourists, regardless of how old the child really is).
You are very beautiful, Srey Mam.
She smiled and lowered her eyes. I wondered if anyone ever told her she was beautiful. Light skin is highly prized and valued in Cambodian society, and children with darker skin are often considered ugly. I have encountered this repeatedly--in Sihanoukville, I was talking with a Khmer woman named Sophie, and I pointed out a little boy (maybe 1.5 years old) running around naked in the sand. I mentioned that he was adorable. She turned her nose up in disgust and said "Ugh! No! He is so dark!" Srey Mam's skin was dark by Cambodian standards. So I wondered if people told her she was beautiful. I took her picture and showed it to her on the LCD screen of my Canon. I told her again that she was beautiful, and she smiled. I told her I couldn't buy anything, but that it was nice to meet her. I had to leave. I was kicking myself for not having anything I could give her (food, a small toy, something other than money, which would inevitably go back to the person who sent her out in the first place, instead of to school).
Seeing kids being used to guilt tourists into purchasing merchandise angers and saddens me. Seeing them run around, mostly barefoot and unwashed, chasing aftertuk-tuks and repeating the same 3-5 phrases they know in English over and over...and watching people push past them, ignoring them. Watching workers with APSARA Authority patches on their arms do nothing, say nothing. Watching everyone just let it happen...And being powerless to do anything about that. It makes me angry. These kids deserve better. And as I mentioned in my previous post, they are capable of so much more.
Just some thoughts...
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