Ptea Teuk Dong "Tree-House-Coconut"

I spent a great week just last up in Battambang again. Seems like my favorite haunting grounds, up near the big lake. The first two days I was in the field on the back of a moto, slashing through puddles, dodging crater holes in the weather-worn dirt roads, and choking over the fine laterite dust. 100 km in two days on the back of a moto is not my tricky back’s favorite thing to do, but I had a blast.

The first day we visited the WOW group, a community based organization of women who have formed a Self Help Group. SHG’s are small organizations of villagers who want to save money or start a business and collaborate with others to do so. Hai (in purple top on left), the leader, is a quiet mannered woman who has a strong backbone and the respect of her fellow villagers. She has engaged in enterprise development and she, along with her fellow villagers, have enjoyed a better lifestyle because of it.

I met with a group of about 10 women for about 90 minutes. Not a word of English was spoken, but my interpreter did a pretty good job. He and I had OUR moments of trying to understand each other as well! Working through translators is really challenging. Occasionally I’ll pick up on words that are being used, which helps immensely with context, but it is an experience that evades me often.

The next day Albert, a VSO volunteer from the Philippines, and I drove way out into the sticks to visit another community fishery and its leaders. They are working on creating alternative livelihoods because fishing only happens for several months of the year. The rest of the time they farm rice or grow the occasional green crop. Most people in rural areas engage in several income generating activities to make ends meet.

A huge problem for them is getting a decent price for their goods because they live so remotely and are so far removed from the markets that they have to depend on middlemen to do the trading for them. Thus they get a very low, often less than subsistence price for their produce. It’s a story that is played out over and over across all livelihoods in Cambodia and a key problem that I am working on in my project.

The rest of the week I was involved in meetings of the VSO Livelihoods volunteers and Programme Office staff. 24 of us met at Ptea Teuk Dong, a center that houses, rehabilitates, and retrains street families, many of whom are the long term fallout victims of the Khmer Rouge days. This is an amazing place, where families get proper nutrition, medical care and bankable craft training so they can leave in 12 months and restart their lives on their own.

PTD houses about 140 people, 80 of whom are children. At the end of one year they are given a plot of land and a modest traditional house on stilts with a little money to start their business, such as mat making, rattan furniture building, sewing, or another trade. The cost is less than $2,000 per family to do all of this, for an entire year AND setting up the family in their home! They have a 95% success rate. If any of you are interested in donating to this worthwhile charity I can provide more information.

Motos and Cyclos and Tuk-Tuks (oh my!)

How could one live in Phnom Penh and not be awestruck time and again by the transport here? I’ve written before about its extraordinary perplexity, simplicity and audacity, but today I want to talk about public transport. Yes, today is dedicated to those moto-dops, tuk-tuk drivers and long-legged cyclo guys who keep the traffic of this great city moving beyond a monolithic traffic jam. So I went right out on the streets around my house today to grab these photos for you. You can click here for even more photos.

First some definitions: a moto is a low-powered motorcycle, what we might call a motor scooter, and ones for hire are driven by “moto-dops”. Cyclos are like three wheeled pedal-powered rickshaws with the driver in the back. Tuk-tuks are two wheeled covered carts with two padded benches and pulled by a moto or motorcycle.

Motos are by far the most common form of transport. They swarm on the road like bees in a shaken hive, totally responsive to anyone on foot. Step out of the gate at my place and within seconds there’s a guy zipping up and saying “MOTO SUH?” You negotiate a price which is usually half of what they ask and then hop on the back. Cost-wise, I can zip from my door to the office, about 2km away, for 1,500 Riel, or about 38 American pennies. I can go anywhere in town for R2,000 ($0.50) or to Pochentong Airport, 20 minutes out of town, for R8,000 ($2.00).

Back in January Lizzy and I rode probably 100km in total on motos. They’re really fun and cheap, but ridiculously dangerous if you ride without a helmet. I’m a bit ashamed to admit that we neglected that little detail back then, but now I always wear my helmet (it’s part of my agreement with VSO). A few moto-dops wear helmets but they prefer baseball caps over safety. I suspect the ones that do have had their brush with reality at some time in their driving career. Actually, the law just changed in January where everyone is required to wear helmets. Hah! Where is the enforcement?!

Motos are the family Volkswagen of Cambodia. Inexpensive, maneuverable, cheap to operate, they are a staple of Cambodian life as well as SE Asia. So I just now went to the railing on my balcony and did a quick sixty second survey of moto-mania. I saw probably 200 motos in that short bit, two cyclos, one heavy truck, two cars, one van, three handcarts and a couple of bicycles thrown in. Most were solo drivers, but a number of them had passengers, one of which had three. I’ve seen up to five on one! The women usually perch sidesaddle which to me looks precarious but they do it somehow.


Tuk-tuks are what black cabs are to London. They transport families and tourists in groups of up to four comfortably, two facing two. The cost is about double that of the moto and a bit slower. The only time I use a tuk-tuk now is when I have a large item to transport or if a group of us want to go somewhere together. Or if I don’t have my helmet with me it’s my only real option. Tuk-tuks are fun but more sensitive to the potholes and tend to jar you more than the agile and shock-cushioned moto.

Now if you want a leisurely ride through the streets of Phnom Penh then taking a cyclo is the ultimate. There is a different feel to this mode of transport, devoid of the pinged puttering of the mechanized options, the cyclo is almost meditative. Cool breeze brushes against your face as you slide by the street scenes. The depth and richness of life here is suddenly more accessible to your senses.


And the cyclo drivers are really amazing guys. With weather-worn faces, tatty clothes and spindly lanky legs, many of these men live in the elements 24 hours a day. What is an income-generator during the day serves double-duty as home and bed at night. Simply park your moto on a sidewalk under a tree and instantly you have your home for the night. Many of these men are rice farmers who come in from the countryside to earn a few thousand riel a day ($1 to $3) during the dry season. Rarely any English spoken here.

Funny enough, I’ve had more than one experience where I thought I’d explained well enough where I wanted to go in my pigeon-Khmer and my cyclo driver didn’t get it. He smiled, nodded and started pedaling away, but had no idea where he was taking me! Better to have a paying fare going somewhere than an empty seat. I love these guys.

Monday morning I go to Battambang, which is near the lake, about five hours by bus. I’ll step out my door at 6:30am and hail a tuk-tuk. He’ll take me to the bus station where I’ll catch my ride in air conditioned luxury. Sort of. When I arrive at my destination I’ll step off the bus and hop on a moto and zip to my hotel. I’ll step out of the hotel at 1:45pm to go to my appointment. At 2pm we hop on the back of a moto and head out to the village for a twenty minute ride. That’s a taste of how accessible transportation is in Cambodia, even in the villages. So there you have it, a salute to the men (literally) who keep things moving in Cambodia. Enjoy more pix of motos, cyclos and tuk-tuks here.

What about the monks?

Advice freely given: don’t fly two transglobal flights within one week! I’m a pretty seasoned traveler, but leaving Phnom Penh on a Wednesday night and flying to Knoxville – then returning exactly 167 hours later the following Wednesday – some 70 hours of travel/connect time, proved to be a bridge too far. I’m pretty clever with planning flights that work, but sometimes drop out on the human being who has to survive the ordeal. Jeeeze!

I’ve decided to tell you some stories about life here in themes. First up, I’ll tell you about the ubiquitous Buddhist monks. By no way am I an expert about Buddhism and monks mind you - far from it. But I do want to tell you about what I have observed.

Cambodia, like its neighbor Thailand, is 95% Buddhist, Theravada Buddhism to be exact. About a millennium ago the Khmer Empire was Hindu, but that all changed with the emergence of Buddhism in the region. All the fabulous stone wats (temples) were refashioned and Buddha-cized. End of story.

I’ve been told that it used to be a tradition for all boys between the ages of 12 and 16 to leave their families to take on the monk’s austere lifestyle and study Buddhism for two years. This was sort of a coming of age thing for all young men in Cambodia. It was a way for them to study their faith, to become formally educated, and to learn discipline. Sort of a military service without the guns. I’m thinking, wow, what a thing for a young guy to do. The discipline it would take and the humility it would foster.

And then along came the Khmer Rouge with their punishing form of austere communism. Pol Pot and “Angkor” decided that Cambodia needed to go back to the Stone Age by de-Westernizing and becoming a great self-sufficient rice producer. No need for education or schools, no religion, no Western influence, no cities. So, along with the thousands of educated people slaughtered were the peace-loving monks. Gone were the saffron robes and Buddhism from Cambodian lifestyle. Monks were either purged, went underground, or escaped across the Thai border.

As soon as the Khmer Rouge disappeared, back came the monks and Buddhism began flourishing everywhere again. Except this time the tradition of all boys entering the monkhood for at least two years was no longer. Shame.

I don’t know what monks do all day, but I do know they live and study together at their respective wats. Clearly a monk’s lifestyle is purposely unworldly. As I understand it, their only possessions are a saffron colored robe, a pair of sandals and a gold umbrella. That’s it.

One thing they must do daily is support themselves by asking for alms. I usually see them in pairs on their assigned routes stopping briefly at homes and businesses. One carries the shoulder bag into which money donations are stuffed and the other carries a multi-tiered metal catering device to hold food offerings. Occasionally a much younger “apprentice” boy follows along carrying either the bag or the metal food containers. Each donor bows as they make their offering, then kneels with head bowed and hands in prayer position to receive an oral blessing from the grateful monks.

I must say, it is still an eye-catcher for me when I see the bright orange saffron robes. A few wear gold robes and yet others wear burgundy ones. I think it might have to do with their stature within the wat. Many times a day I’ll see them walking along or propped on the back of a motor scooter. They seem to be steadily busy, never in a rush, but always moving at a calming and steady pace, the sight of which instills calmness and steadiness in me. Interesting how that works.

I’ve uploaded several photos of monks I’ve taken since I’ve been here. I hope you’re as touched by their presence as I have been.

Graduation Day

Today's posting is a bit different and for a very good reason. It's Monday after a whirlwind trip from Cambodia back to Tennessee. My son Tyler graduated from Appalachian State University with a degree in English and a minor concentration in Sustainable Development. So where else would I be than in Boone, NC?

19 family members came from Texas, North Carolina, Louisiana and Tennessee (oh, and Cambodia!) to honor Tyler's achievement. We all ate lunch at a Japanese hibachi restaurant, attended two receptions and witnessed the graduation ceremony. We took lot of pictures!

Let me tell you a little bit about my son. Tyler has been a very bright light in my life. He has a sparkling personality, brains the size of a whale, and a compassionate heart. When he finds his passions, and he has many, he has laser-like focuses and brings an insatiable curiosity and creativity to bear. His positive attitude and generally joyful temperament are contagious, which add to his powerful leadership abilities. He's absolutely lovable.

Tyler wants to make a big contribution in his life - he's a big player. For instance, one day he proclaimed, "Dad, I want to be the Secretary General of the UN." I don't know if that is where he's going to end up, but it wouldn't surprise me. He has a huge vision for the world and a heart of service.

On Tyler's immediate horizon is his forthcoming job as an English teacher in Japan. The JET Programme. This famous program is designed to improve the spoken English of Japanese students. He can spend up to five years there, completely immersed in Japanese culture and language, living in a rural area and teaching at the local school. This is an amazing opportunity for Tyler and a very bold, courageous step. We'll miss him terribly, yet fully support his life-changing journey. I've thought more than once about staying in Cambodia so that we can be relatively close. We'll see... If you'd like to send Tyler a note his email address for a little while longer is: tr61670@appstate.edu

I must say, it was somewhat strange being back in Knoxville. 30+ hours of flying with four connections along with an 11 hour time difference, it has all been a bit surreal. Plunging back into the mainstream of my life has been a bit shocking actually! Interestingly, I found myself feeling much more agitated and tense than I have over the past two months. I don't think I can attribute it all to fatigue or jet lag. There is a palpable difference in the pace of my life in each place. Hmmm...

So today I get back on an airplane to travel over the top of the world (literally over the North Pole) and return to my other home for right now. I leave today at 7pm, spend the night in NYC and then fly out the next day, arriving in Phnom Penh on Wednesday evening at 725pm. Jian, my sort of regular moto driver (motodop) will fetch me. I wish I would have had more time to spend with family and friends. I'll be back sooner than I probably can imagine.