kai of siem reap
i'm spring cleaning today. from my travel journals. dated august 5, 2003.
In siem reap, there are no roads. at least not the kinds the modern world is used to.
On the beaten tracks, sand swirls in all directions as bicycles, cars, tuks tuks and motors converge, going somewhere and coming from somewhere.
The angkor wat - the main highlight of the city about 320 km away from Phnom Penh is majestic. standing on the same ground since the 11th century. it tells the story of Cambodia's rich past. but really, the real story of cambodia is in its poor people. for outside the site of the ancient ruins, the streets are lined with kids who will sell you postcards, souvineirs and shirts. they look as dusty as the sandy ground they walk on. but the smiles are unmistakeable when they try to speak the little english tourists have left them with, together with their petty cash. the kids come in a big group. and plead you to part with a dollar in exchange for a set of 10 rattan bangles...if not then a box of postcards.
a little boy cried, and cried when i said no. his tears converted my no to a yes in an instant. the tourists too get tired of the little kids. the lonely planet calls it beggar fatigue. maybe so. but the kids have a worse case of it than 100 tourists put together.
Kai is 13 years old. but he looks 8 or 9. he's way too thin and tiny. on my second day in siem reap, he tries to sell me postcards i already have. i said no thank you or teaw kohn as the locals would say. but since it was my birthday, i decided to have a little party and decided to buy him and his business companion- a 14 year old girl - breakfast. i took them to a tourist cafe. it's about 7 am. i tell them to order anything they wished on the menu. for breakfast, kai ordered chicken fried rice with a cold can of coke. kai tells me he's been in the business for a couple of years now. we exchanged some words, but mostly smiles and coupleof awkward nervous laughs. we had nothing in common but a moment.
kai tells me he'd like to grow up to be just like beckham. you know, he says, david beckham. but he has no football. sneaky little devil/ he then points his tanned little index finger at a boy outside the cafe. he is holding a football that was given by a tourist, kai tells me. he tells me the boy charges kids just to touch or play with the soccer ball.
so it was decided by kai that i give him a football. but i decided not to tell just yet. as i left, while getting into my car, kai reminds me that it's a soccer ball and not a basketball that he wants. over lunch that day, the driver took me back to angkor wat, where kai was waiting at the same spot. i gave him his gift - together with a pen, pencil and a khmer/english dictionary. i hope this would lead him somewhere, where the roads aren't as dusty.
In siem reap, there are no roads. at least not the kinds the modern world is used to.
On the beaten tracks, sand swirls in all directions as bicycles, cars, tuks tuks and motors converge, going somewhere and coming from somewhere.
The angkor wat - the main highlight of the city about 320 km away from Phnom Penh is majestic. standing on the same ground since the 11th century. it tells the story of Cambodia's rich past. but really, the real story of cambodia is in its poor people. for outside the site of the ancient ruins, the streets are lined with kids who will sell you postcards, souvineirs and shirts. they look as dusty as the sandy ground they walk on. but the smiles are unmistakeable when they try to speak the little english tourists have left them with, together with their petty cash. the kids come in a big group. and plead you to part with a dollar in exchange for a set of 10 rattan bangles...if not then a box of postcards.
a little boy cried, and cried when i said no. his tears converted my no to a yes in an instant. the tourists too get tired of the little kids. the lonely planet calls it beggar fatigue. maybe so. but the kids have a worse case of it than 100 tourists put together.
Kai is 13 years old. but he looks 8 or 9. he's way too thin and tiny. on my second day in siem reap, he tries to sell me postcards i already have. i said no thank you or teaw kohn as the locals would say. but since it was my birthday, i decided to have a little party and decided to buy him and his business companion- a 14 year old girl - breakfast. i took them to a tourist cafe. it's about 7 am. i tell them to order anything they wished on the menu. for breakfast, kai ordered chicken fried rice with a cold can of coke. kai tells me he's been in the business for a couple of years now. we exchanged some words, but mostly smiles and coupleof awkward nervous laughs. we had nothing in common but a moment.
kai tells me he'd like to grow up to be just like beckham. you know, he says, david beckham. but he has no football. sneaky little devil/ he then points his tanned little index finger at a boy outside the cafe. he is holding a football that was given by a tourist, kai tells me. he tells me the boy charges kids just to touch or play with the soccer ball.
so it was decided by kai that i give him a football. but i decided not to tell just yet. as i left, while getting into my car, kai reminds me that it's a soccer ball and not a basketball that he wants. over lunch that day, the driver took me back to angkor wat, where kai was waiting at the same spot. i gave him his gift - together with a pen, pencil and a khmer/english dictionary. i hope this would lead him somewhere, where the roads aren't as dusty.
posted by mypurpleink at 11:48 AM
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