November 1st, 2011 | 
Author: Neang Roam Sigh Sock, (translation – Neang Let Down Your Long Hair).
My second visit to Sihanoukville, on the South coast of Cambodia, afforded me the time to learn the legend of the lady with long black tresses and a crocodile at her feet, depicted in statues in Sihanoukville, Phnom Penh and Battambang. This legend, like so many others, involves princes, common folk and an element of the supernatural. I must add here there are various versions of the story behind this statue, but the most common, perhaps due to the element of romance it contains, involves a prince and a commoner. Also, so long ago was the legend of the prince first told, his name has long since been lost.
Long ago, a young prince did the unthinkable; he fell in love with an ordinary girl, a common young woman, far beneath his royal stature. The ordinary girl was of extraordinary beauty, who had lived a very quiet life as the daughter of a hermit. The young prince pledged his love to the ordinary girl and promised to load his ship with all the royal riches it could hold and ask for her hand in marriage. The prince’s parents, the King and Queen, were outraged when they learned of the pending marriage and forbade the prince to marry beneath his station. They ordered him to instead marry Neang Roam, who was of royal blood. With his ship already loaded with royal riches, the Prince did his parent’s bidding and set sail for the home of Neang. Along the way, the common girl of ordinary standing awaited the arrival of the prince’s ship and too was outraged, when the ship sailed past her residence and did not stop, as had been promised. The common girl became angry, having deduced the prince’s betrayal. So deeply spurned was this commoner by the prince’s broken promise, she formulated a plan of revenge. She called upon her pet crocodile Ah Thuun, a dedicated and loyal beast, devoted to his malevolent mistress, at the ready to do her beck and call. The common girl ordered Ah Thuun to thwart the prince’s passage and capsize his ship. Ah Thuun immediately set to work, carrying out his vengeful task with great gusto. The crocodile crept into the river and began to thrash about, so great was his size and stature, the water began to roil around the ship, frightening the life out of the prince. Yet, the prince did not cry out. Ah Thuun worked harder and rose out of the water, tossing his mighty head around, bringing such agitation to the river waters, the ship began to shake. The prince began to tremble, yet still remained silent. The crocodile next put in his greatest effort and whipped his body back and forth with such extraordinary strength; the prince’s vessel took on some water and began to list to one side. The prince knew he would soon die if something was not done. The prince began to make offerings to the croc and threw cages of chickens and water fowl over the side of the ship. The crocodile ignored these offerings and continued to churn the waters. The prince then tossed animals over the side, but nothing appeased Ah Thuun, who called out, “I only heed my mistress who feeds me.” Hearing the commotion outside, Neang of royal blood, made her way to the river and witnessed the mêlée in the river. Seeing her standing in the sun, with her raven tresses trailing far out behind her, the prince called to her to save him. Neang immediately responded by dipping her hair into the river, magically soaking up the waters. This bit of trickery worked so well the prince’s ship ran aground, later to become Phnom Sampeau (Ship Mountain). There is also a Crocodile Mountain nearby. The cages of fowl and animals became the smaller mountains in the range near Battambang. The prince and Neang had a lavish royal wedding and lived happily ever after, while the common girl lived the rest of her in human solitude, with Ah Thuun as her only companion.
There is another legend of a goddess, Neang Hong Hing, who did the same with her hair and also released demons to protect the Buddha while he meditated.
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Nee Hau one and all!
We left Cambodia on the national day of tragedy where 347 (numbers are still not confirmed) people died and approximately 300 or more were injured in a stampede on the Koh Pich (Diamond Island) Bridge at the Phnom Penh Water Festival. It was with heavy hearts that we waived goodbye to Mr, Phanak and his family and later boarded our plane bound for Hong Kong. A national day of mourning was declared for Thursday, later that week.
Our 2-hour flight over Asia, compliments of Dragon Air (subsidiary airline to Cathay Pacific) was uneventful – the best form of flight in my books. We landed in Hong Kong and entered the bustling airport of this famed Asian port and headed directly to the ferry terminal to purchase tickets to the island of Macau – a 50 minute jaunt across the South China Sea to China’s gambling pilgrimage. Upon emerging from the decks of the ferry and finding ourselves queued for a taxi we both immediately noted we had not heard a single horn blast from the streets. There was law and order in traffic! 10 scant minutes later we were deposited at the main entrance of the Royal Hotel and Casino. As we looked up and around to take in the skyline surrounding us, I quipped “We’ve gone from 3rd to 1st in 2 hours”. It is quite remarkable to leave a 3rd world country behind and, in what felt like the next breath, look up and set foot in a 1st world nation, such that is offered in Hong Kong and Macau. The contrasts were astounding: gone is the pandemonium encountered in traffic; all streets here are paved, all sidewalks here are tiled and in great condition; gone are the piles of rubbish and trash at street side; trash & recycling receptacles abound in Macau, towering hotels and casinos boasting facades of polished granite, gleaming glass, chrome and marble both catching and reflecting sunlight, dominate the skyline in all directions. Read the rest of this entry »
Hello!
Our last week in the Kingdom of Wonder was quite a busy one.
When we arrived road weary and dusty from our return trek from Battambang, we were met at the door by a very apologetic Mr. Phanak, who explained with deep regret that there had been a major pipe break under the floor of the main level of the guest house; the pipe being of the sewer persuasion. The impact of this turned out to be of great magnitude, the least of which being the access to our room was completely blocked due to the fact the floor was being torn up in order to gain access to the broken pipe. Now this is where things became very complicated. With the standard wage in Cambodia being $3.00 per day, it is far, far cheaper to go with manual labour, than it is to rent machinery, such as the jack hammer required to tear up the tile and concrete floor beneath. So, yes, there was a workman, down on his haunches, chipping away by hand at the tile with a hammer and chisel. His task was to open a trench 4 feet across and a length of approximately 150 feet (the length of the hall and out the street, where the new pipes would be connected to the public sewer at street side). Once, he had chipped away at the tile, he was then required to pound away at concrete 1 foot thick with a sledge hammer – again by hand and again 4 feet across and the aforementioned 150 feet to the street. Read the rest of this entry »
Arun Sosedai, Taivile Sosedai, Seizua Sosedai (Good morning, good afternoon, good evening)
I join you again with the final update on Battambang. Leaving the charm and novelty of the Bamboo Railroad behind us, we next embarked on what soon developed into a very jarring jaunt across Battambang Province to Wat Banan. Riding on two skinny tires and traversing a rough country road, recently ravaged by monsoons is a rather rough affair that required looping our arms through our hand bags for fear of them sailing out of the Tuk Tuk and holding firmly to the overhead handle bars, as we may our way over the rough road. In the end, this trek turned into a full hour of bouncing and jouncing along and upon our arrival at Wat Banan, we were told we had just received our “Free Cambodian Massage”. Read the rest of this entry »
Sosedai, Soksebai!
In this epistle I rejoin you with the remaining news of our tour of Battambang. We are tourists again in Cambodia, as we have not been to this region before and therefore I have much to tell you. Our tour started with a sto
p at “Ancient House”. This 103 year old home is ensconced in the jungle on the outskirts of the city and is the home of an elderly gentleman who welcomed us into his house for a tour. One item to note here, the entire tour was conducted in French! I am proud to say, I was able to glean most of what he was telling us, perhaps 70% or more. The home belonged to his grandfather, the front section being for the family and the back housed the servants. Built in the traditional style for this part of the world, this house is built approximately 6 feet off the ground, propped up on stilts fashioned from the trunks of trees. This system of building off the ground serves a number of purposes: cooling breezes from the jungle can circulate under the house which is situated in such a way that the windows are in line with the prevailing winds – those blessed drying drafts that prove to be such a relief from the humidity. Read the rest of this entry »
Sosedai!
Upon returning to the Fancy Guest House, from our day of delivery at PIO, the front desk telephone rang and we were gladdened to hear it was Mr. Pov calling!. As we had suspected he had been visiting his homeland and had just returned to Phnom Penh. We made arrangements to meet with him the next day. As well, Thyda had left us a message and we learned she was working at the Vietnam Trade Show currently underway in Phnom Penh – no doubt to coincide with the visit of the Vietnamese Prime Minister. With Mr. Pin at the helm, we made our way via Tuk Tuk to Koh Pich (Diamond Island), site of the massive new trade centre in Phnom Penh. As always, it was a relief to leave the glaring sun outdoors and entire the air conditioned hall of trade. Just as we ascended the steps, we heard a husky voice call, “Cha! Mom! Dad!” Sure enough there was Thyda waving from the entry. Hugs were exchanged and greetings of Xin Caio (Hello in Vietnamese) and Sosedai! resounded. With the glad tidings dispensed, I next noted that Thyda is alarmingly thin. I questioned Thyda about her health, which brought creases of concern to her brow. True enough she is struggling with thyroid problems and a few other issues that come with womanhood and I fear her diet continues to be low on iron. I quickly surmised she works incredibly long days after school, either volunteering at Church, working selling clothes at the local market and teaching Ongli (English) to neighbors in her community, It was later confirmed that Thyda often puts in an 18-hour day going to school and supporting her parents. There is nothing we can say or do to change this situation, as it is ingrained in the culture here that children become their parents’ retirement plan. Read the rest of this entry »
Good morning, good afternoon or good evening.
This next posting is a departure from my usual report of our activities in Cambodia; other than to briefly advise our next few days were spent in Battambang, Cambodia’s second largest city. I had intended to update you on our weekend in there, however during the 6 hour bus trip to Battambang, we passed through exquisitely beautiful farm country, and I instead have been inspired to write about the lovely lotus plant. You see, the rainy season has just come to an end for 2010 in Cambodia; the results of the flood waters from the Mekong Delta and the monsoons are breathtaking – Cambodia is lush and green and verdant at this time of the year. Mile after mile after mile of vibrantly green rice fields flanked the highway on both sides. Periodically a farmer could be seen fishing in his rice field; when the rivers overflow their banks, the water brings wide variety of fish to the rice fields! So the rains not only irrigate the rice plants, the river brings fishing and nutrient rich silt to the farmers. The fish are caught, cleaned, dried in the ever reliable Cambodian sun, and kept in store to sustain the famers over the dry season. Read the rest of this entry »
Arun Sosedai! (Good morning in Khmer)
Tuesday morning dawned hot and humid and knowing we would be spending a couple of hours in a hot, humid, cavernous street market in the afternoon, led to the decision to enjoy a relaxing morning sipping local coffee and munching on fresh (warm from the oven) baguettes – remnants I suspect from French colonization. Speaking of French Colonization, Tuesday also marked Independence Day in Cambodia. Cambodian national flags were aflutter at every doorway and thousands off local Phnom Penh residents were gathered at the towering Independence Monument, in celebration of Cambodia’s gaining independence from France in 1954. Having been in town for this festival before, we knew the evening would be topped off with fireworks. Read the rest of this entry »
Hello from Kampuchea!
We rose Monday, brimming with excitement at the thought of reuniting with the staff and students of PIO – the People’s Improvement Organization of Cambodia. In years past it has been Mr, Pov who has served as Tuk Tuk driver, translator and friend on these trips. Alas, we have not yet connected with him; we suspect he has been visiting his mother in the Provinces and therefore not near a computer to retrieve our email. Instead we have had the extreme pleasure of having Mr. Pin as our driver this year. He lives across the street from the Fancy Guest House and is a constable, but also works part time as a Tuk Tuk driver. Our first stop was at the offices of PIO, where we were met by Malida Mean, niece of Phymean Noun – founder of the PIO. The last time we saw Malida she had just given birth to a beautiful baby boy and we are overjoyed to hear she is expecting again! Malida was thrilled to see us and I suspect from her reaction, she was not aware we were back in town. As we met with Malida, I happened to glance down to street level to see the arrival of a new reception desk for the reception/hair salon area of he PIO Offices. New as well were the glossy and funky chair stations to compliment the new desk. While this furniture is used and somewhat dated (circa early 1980’s) it is new to PIO and definitely brings a bit of flash and pizzazz to the salon. What impressed me even more however was the sight of Mr, Pin assisting in hoisting the old reception desk off the ground and squeezing it in through the back window of the PIO Tuk Tuk. Unlike Mr. Pov, Mr. Pin does not speak English and therefore did not know the purpose of our trip to PIO. However just like Mr. Pov, Mr. Pin required no introductions or explanations, he simply stepped in to assist. This action was later repeated at the school, when the time came to unload the unwieldy desk at the school at the city garbage dump. Read the rest of this entry »