17.06.2004

By the river

Posted by justin

After an afternoon visit to the Royal Palace we decided to retire to the Foreign Correspondants Club, where old journo hacks gather round the bar overlooking the river to discuss unfolding events in Phnom Penh.

We just tsk tsk'd the price of beers and the quality of the nachos like the well-heeled western zillionaires we clearly are round these parts before high-tailing it down to a supermarket to grab some of Cambodia's finest amber liquid. We were on a mission to hang out with some locals.

Three rivers meet right in Phnom Penh, including the Mighty Mekong. The majority of Phnom Penh's beggars seem to meet down here too. Land mine victims abound and the depth of poverty seems to penetrate even the darkest Gucci sunnies.

Like most third-world countries across the planet, it's the plight of kids that gets you. Of course, many a Westerner has a gag reflex when they hear words such as these. We're all over those damn bleeding-heart do-gooder trendy-cause "Save the Children" types until, of course, you see the children they're trying to save.

As we sat by the river this gathering group of serious little street kids attempted to ply their trade in sympathy for the dollar. We knew from our Official Crowded Planet that giving out dosh only encourages the parental view that a dollar earned is better than a kid learned.

So we bought them food instead, and practised Khmer and English, and whipped out a hacky sack and kicked and played and before long we succeeded in making them forget about their primary mission. The street-wise maturity melts away fast when you offer them fun instead of money, and before long they were laughing and playing like the five and ten year olds they are.

We must have spent a good three hours down there as they squeezed our skin, entranced by the hyper-colour effect, as the little girls gathered around the new goddess Danielle, and as they all took turns kicking and throwing the hacky sack.

When we pulled out the digital camera it was all over. They demanded photo after photo - as soon as it was taken they would rush us and hustle for prime viewing position. Once the preview screen lit up - well - they thought it was an absolute riot. A rollicking, side-splitting, uproarious event the likes of which had never been seen before. It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip so far.