Davik's Heart

In Siem Reap we had the chance to have dinner with Bill Housworth and Eugene Targus. They are doctors at the Angkor Hospital for Children, which has worked with Davik Teng, the young girl with the hole in her heart who we have been following.

Housworth is the new director of the hospital, although he has been a part-time volunteer over the years.

Over dinner, we had an interesting discussion about some of the challenges of providing health care. Angkor Hospital for Children is run by a non-governmental or charitable organization that relies on donor support for most of its work.

Housworth says the hospital sees about 110,000 patients and its 50 beds are almost always at capacity. Much of the work done is educational and preventative and the hospital has a limited budget for technology.

I asked Housworth if a heart-lung machine, the kind needed to provide open heart surgery, was on his wish list. He said, "sure" but it was unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Housworth then described some of the issues the hospital has to deal with.

"There's an ethical question of how we allocate resources," Housworth said, noting that it is much more cost efficient to fight diarrhea and malnutrition.

"That will affect the most lives," Housworth said. "But the other side is the donors" who the doctor noted would rather see their money spent on curing HIV and fixing hearts, because they are sexier.

I am a traitor. Too often I am appalled at the often brutish, oafish nature of my countrymen and somewhat ashamed.

While Jeff and I were walking through the magnificent and eerie Ta Prohm ruins, we saw a group of 20-something men walking right past a "no entry" sign so that their friend could take a picture.

A worker at the complex grabbed the sign and shook it, saying "Can't you see the sign?"

The men just ignored the man and grunted something in German and went on clicking photos as if he had never said a word.

Later, I saw the same guys walking along the tops of several walls, again ignoring posted signs.

As I reflected on the interaction, I wasn't sure what surprised me more, the brutish behavior or that a Cambodian, usually the most placid and nonconfrontational people, challenged them.

That he was so rudely ignored made the conflict that much more disappointing. I really wanted to see the Cambodian guard kick the Germans out and show that certain behavior is universally unacceptable. But I suppose change comes in degrees.

We took part of a day to tour the magnificent Angkor Wat temple complex. Because of a crowded schedule, it was the kind of speed tour that leaves you wishing you had days instead of hours to take it all in.

As Jeff and I walked along of the majestic ruins of the Bayon temple, a young man limped forward. Without preamble, he started explaining the stories portrayed by several bas reliefs.

They are majestic tales of Jayavarman VII's battles against the Cham on land and the Ton Le Sap lake. The bas-reliefs are amazingly intricate carvings that depict the glorious king on elephant, his army ahead and concubines behind.

As interesting as the tales and history, was the 26-year-old man who took us through the temple complex. A victim of a land mine explosion 13 years ago, he said he was working his way his way through school by conducting informal tours.

During my only other trip to Angkor Wat, I had another young man tell me almost the same story. However, the first one hadn't lost a leg and a father to an explosion.

So, Jeff and I walked with the young man, whose name I failed to jot down. He told us about the number of faces and towers on the Bayon, what the levels of the structure represented and about how the temple had been built.

He also took us to the best vantage points for photos.

"I no have camera, but I can picture with my eye," he said.

Later while checking out the temple faces along the top level of the Bayon, Jeff and I met some guards and pretty soon they were teaching us phrases we could use for flirting with girls, not to mention some dirty words that made our companions blush.

Although I have now had two chances to scramble on the rocks of temples at Bayon, it occurred to me that it's the human touch that makes many of these structures come alive.

For all the majesty of the buildings and their history, I am invariably drawn to the stories of the people.

--- Greg

While at Ta Prohm, I overheard a guide telling a group of tourists about a scene from Tomb Raider that was filmed in the spot. That piece of information seemed to be highly interesting to the group.

Ta Prohm is best known for the massive fig and silk cotton trees that grow through and on top of many of the structures. The roots of some of these trees are several feet across and look like dripped wax.

But it is the star power of Angelina Jolie, the star of Tomb Raider, that has turned Ta Prohm into possibly the most popular attraction at Angkor Wat.

I'm all about experiencing the local culture, really. I've hung out with the beer serving girls, I've sung karaoke in a brothel – all in the name of research. But the other day I was introduced, well nearly, to a cultural component I find hard to, um, embrace.

On a recent outing to a beer garden, I went into the bathroom to find several guys at the urinal receiving neck massages and back rubs provided by male bathroom attendants – not that there's anything wrong with that. Maybe it helps with flow.

One rather excited looking attendant spied me, but I was able to avoid him with a shake of the head. I did, however, take the proffered hand towel on the way out for a couple hundred riel.

As we have mentioned in earlier posts, driving in Cambodia is sort of like organized pandemonium. Lines on the roads are merely suggestions, stoplights are optional, the horn is a major tool of the road. It's cool as long as someone else is at the wheel.

Imagine our surprise when we learned that they actually teach some of this stuff. While passing through the city of Battambang we spotted a driving school.

I wondered what some of the course might be: Four-Lane U-Turns 101; Wrong Way Driving Methodology; Theories of the Physics of Braking.

-- Greg

The other day when Jeff and I were at a mall, a teenaged girl rather boldly walked up and rubbed the belly, then ran off to her friend with peals of laughter.

And then today, the waiters at a restaurant gave me a nickname "Big Fat." This time, it was Jeff who was falling down laughing.

-- Greg

I read somewhere that there is an internal logic to Cambodian traffic. I don't know about that, but I have noticed one consistency. Driving in Phnom Penh is a little like driving on snow and ice. The rule is that you can steer and maneuver, but don't ever hit the brakes.

--- Greg

I have noticed, too, that many of them have developed relationships or sorts with the patrons. Recently a Belgian man and the book selling girl got into an argument about how many books he had purchased over the course of a week.

--- Greg