Diary Entry: You Haven't Been to Cambodia If....

by Chong Su Lyn


All good things come in threes – or so they say. But for us bunch of Monash students in Siem Reap, Cambodia, we were lucky enough to bite the dust of Cambodia as we ride our way to the Ceramics Center on the effervescent tuk-tuks! It was quite a thrill to ride on something that resembles a bullock cart and goes at a 60km/h with a 'no bars' policy! Not to mention the 'amazingly' coordinated traffic system in Cambodia. It felt like riding a really scary roller coaster without the belts on. Beat that you thriller seekers!

It is our third day in the land of dusty roads and hot scorching sun. I have never felt the sun bite my skin as it does here in Cambodia. Seriously! Even back in Malaysia with the noon sun high in the sky, it felt more like a tiny sizzle than the sun here!

We met in the hotel lobby at 12.30pm sharp as requested by Dr. Yeoh. I wolfed down a Cambodian baguette before our thrilling tuk-tuks arrived. We divided ourselves into groups of 4 to ride the tuk-tuks. But before moving on, something hilarious occurred. We were gathered in a circle discussing about a change in our timetables when Aaron made a joke and grabbed his belly in a Santa Claus like fashion and Ho-ho-ed. The statement by one of the hotel personnel made everyone cried out laughing because he said: "How many months your baby?" It was such an out-of-the-blue thing that it just made everyone yelled in laughter for about 5 minutes and we had stitches on our sides when we boarded the tuk-tuks.

We arrived at the Ceramics Center near the airport and watched a really skillful Cambodian girl turn a slab of clay into a perfectly sculptured vase. It was absolutely fascinating to see such beautiful artworks made from scratch. It was like a slight magic trick. Take your eyes off it for a minute and voila, a vase appears perfectly sculptured and ready for firing. A couple of us indulged in a little retail therapy after that. Though I might say it was a bit on the pricey side but I suppose it was worth it for the fine design and delicate carvings – especially the head of the King of Cambodia. Plus, the gifts came in a really pretty basket which works double as a rather interesting package and protection for the breakable aspect of the gift.

Caption: Carving of Apsaras in clay

Once we were happy with our goodies, we adjourned once again on to our tuk-tuks and left a naked scared daughter of Mr. Serge – the owner of the center – behind with a cloud of dust. So I guess it wasn't just us who bit the dust today. Our next stop was the War Museum somewhere on the way back to our hotel. It is located some what inside of one of the small lanes. Maxine's tuk-tuk was blocked by several cows who might be cursing the intrusion on their relaxing Sunday stroll!

The War Museum was a former land mine site and it housed a chopper and a fighter jet at the entrance. All vehicles displayed in the field were salvaged in the destruction of war. There were even skeletal remains in one of the tankers. It just gave me a really creepy feeling. That's because one of the guide whom we were idyllically chatting with told us that he brought all remains to a temple to put them to rest except that one which he forgot. The museum allowed us to reflect on how lucky we were to have never experienced war.

Most of us had fun posing in front of the tankers and machine gun relics. Khairie even became an-all-girl terrorist hostage at one point. But what didn't really appeal to Feeza, Melanie and I was the amount of red ants crawling everywhere. When the tour ended, once again we went back to biting more dust on our way to the hotel. You have never been to Cambodia if you have never tasted dust between your teeth.


See day three of our journey here!