Siem Reap
Fart,I'm so dark I can barely recognize my face! HUHUHUHU. And I only spent half a day in Angkor Wat! Two more days and prinitong hipon na ako. :( Nevertheless, pwede daw kaming mag-artista ni Tin dito. Hehehe. :)
On to heavier things:
Siem Reap is so rural, it's charming AND heartbreaking. After Angkor Wat, our tuktuk driver took us to see the sunset by the river. I think he thought we'd enjoy it, but it saddened me considerably. :( BOO I'm depressed. They have slums ON THE WATER. I'm not talking about our urban fisherfolk whose houses are built on stilts, a couple of meters above water. People here live in floating boats (which they deem "houses") and form floating villages. The concept seems cool and I guess that should appeal to the typical tourist, but when your boat comes face to face with theirs, the children's stares jolt you. Then instinct tells you to put your camera away.
I probed the boatman for more information, and I found out that all 100 plus households try to sell bananas and fish from the floating market. They use the murky, Pasig-like river as waste disposal and their source of water. I cannot, for the life of me, imagine how repeated boiling could ever make that water potable. And come rainy season, a couple of houses sink. Many die, some survive.
How can a place with so much beauty contain such devastating, life-threatening poverty?
Then again, I could say the same thing about Manila, Samar, my immersion site, and countless other places.
Pinapatay ako ng Theo at Philo! WAAAAAAAAH! This is why I feel compelled to work in the development sector. :( Otherwise this jaded-ness will never leave....
I miss talking to you, Auds!
On to heavier things:
Siem Reap is so rural, it's charming AND heartbreaking. After Angkor Wat, our tuktuk driver took us to see the sunset by the river. I think he thought we'd enjoy it, but it saddened me considerably. :( BOO I'm depressed. They have slums ON THE WATER. I'm not talking about our urban fisherfolk whose houses are built on stilts, a couple of meters above water. People here live in floating boats (which they deem "houses") and form floating villages. The concept seems cool and I guess that should appeal to the typical tourist, but when your boat comes face to face with theirs, the children's stares jolt you. Then instinct tells you to put your camera away.
I probed the boatman for more information, and I found out that all 100 plus households try to sell bananas and fish from the floating market. They use the murky, Pasig-like river as waste disposal and their source of water. I cannot, for the life of me, imagine how repeated boiling could ever make that water potable. And come rainy season, a couple of houses sink. Many die, some survive.
How can a place with so much beauty contain such devastating, life-threatening poverty?
Then again, I could say the same thing about Manila, Samar, my immersion site, and countless other places.
Pinapatay ako ng Theo at Philo! WAAAAAAAAH! This is why I feel compelled to work in the development sector. :( Otherwise this jaded-ness will never leave....
I miss talking to you, Auds!