Different country, same foreign investors laughing in the faces of the locals.

Angkor Wat, January 2005


Cambodian entrepeneur. They are way too sweet - you have to let them rip you off


Going for the kill...


Waiting for trade


A wedding couple.


There is such a difference between Siem Reap, or should I say the area around Angkor Wat and the rest of Cambodia. Siem Reap boasts a massive street, full of luxury hotels – some costing $1000’s a night. You have to pay for a day pass into the area where all the temples are, so there are barriers on the road that leads up to it. This whole area is so glossy and clean. The moment you are back to Siem Reap proper the roads are broken, the curbs are all smashed, the footpaths are covered in rubbish and there is dust everywhere.

They are obviously making a lot of money from Angkor Wat – the $60 entrance fee goes to a hotel group. Some of the cash is used for restoration, but those hotels must be making so much money. Why can’t they put a little bit of it back into the community? It’s so unfair. It’s nice to see the people here with jobs, at least, but the rest of the country is so poor. One thing I will give them is that at least they allow traders in to sell drinks and snacks on the site. Machu Picchu bans all independent traders. If you want a drink you are forced to go to the American run luxury hotel restaurant and pay ridiculously hiked prices for a bottle of water. It’s that or nothing.

At least here the kids can make a few dollars selling postcards and breakfasts. They are amazing, funny and simply irresistible. They memorise all the main facts and figures for the countries of all the different tourist groups and charm you with their knowledge. “You have a queen, but the boss is Tony Blair. Your capital is London and it always rains.” They ask for pens, try to sell you tourist guides and offer to act as ‘guides.’ They haven’t quite got the guide bit right yet – our little boy just wanted him to follow him around as he walked ahead completely silent – I think he needed to squat up a bit on his Angkor history.

They also allow landmine victim groups to busk for money. There has not been a single day that we have spent in Cambodia where we haven’t seen hoards of victims. They are everywhere. Many are children, but most are adults. It’s quite safe to come here. All the roads and public areas have been cleared. You just have to remember never to venture off a clear path.

It’s the poor, as usual, that suffer – those that are forced to work on the land or in fields. It’s heart-breaking. Not only did the Khmer Rouge blanket the place with them, but the Vietnamese and the Americans did too. Companies like MAG are working flat out to clear as many mines as possible, but apparently it’s going to take a further 100 years for the whole country to be cleared if they continue at the rate they are working at. Shocking isn’t it? Heard it all before? That’s because you haven’t seen it. I don’t mean to sound arsy or superior. We all know that there’s a horrible land mine situation over here, Princess Diana did her bit there. It just doesn’t really sink in until you see countless young, good looking men with no legs busking in the streets and begging for money or kids running round with no hands.