This afternoon we spent an hour or so in a narrow, dusty, hot,
cramped stationery and book store in Siem Reap – we were happy to
find that many childrens’ books and educational puzzles were
available, so we bought quite a lot for the school.
Then we took ‘time out’ and drove over the river to the residential
area.
With so much development (chiefly hotels) taking place in Siem Reap
it would be easy to think that life was changing for the better for
the impoverished population. Indeed, travel books, newspaper
articles and travel documentaries we have seen all convey the
impression that great progress has been made and life is so much
better than before for the people of Siem Reap.
What nonsense!
Today we joined people where they actually are living. Of course,
there was not a tourist in sight. That’s not surprising really for
the only way of getting around the lanes and alleys (no roads) which
appear more like canals, is by vehicle remotely equipped for
traversing mud, putrid water and slime. There are vast sections of
Siem Reap’s residential area under water i.e. around 1 metre in
depth covers whole tracts of the area. Imagine having filthy water
surrounding your dwelling and likely under your dwelling too!
Children fall or splash in this putrid water – one woman was even
drinking from it!!
We saw one family whose ‘dwelling’ was a raised wooden platform –
the size of your loungeroom – no walls and a thatched roof. All
around and underneath was this putrid water and the whole family
lives there.
Many, many people are living like that and it will continue until
the monsoon rains end next month.
No wonder this province is one of the world’s ‘leading’ areas of
disease – a high proportion of the population has tuberculosis, or
dengue fever, or malaria.
Yet we can leave it and return to the comfort of our hotel – not for
the population of Siem Reap is that an option.