Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Wrestling with Reality

More temples today, bringing our total templeton activity to somewhere around nine or ten. They each have their own style and flavor, some old and abandoned, some restored and adopted. We took the tuk tuk on an hour and a half trip out of town to visit some of the more outlying temples, whose names escape me. The driving in the open air along Cambodian dirt roads really exposes you to the poverty in this country. Within 10km outside of Siem Reap, you're not going to find electricity in homes or running water. Many naked children running around dry fields with pigs, ducks, buffalo and chickens in tow. We're in the dry season, so all animals are looking fairly paltry with ribs showing.

Also, the driving in a metal box attached to a motor scooter is a good way to give yourself ulcers. When a car or bus wants to pass, it is a courtesy laying on the horn as they blow by you going 70 mph or so. Our tuk tuk probably maxes out at 30mph. This intermingled with traffic coming the other way, bikes, buffalo, children and anything you can imagine on the road just is a free for all. Cambodia is unique in that they've adopted a neutral stance on which side of the car the steering wheel is on. You've got a fifty-fifty chance of getting the correct one coming at you from the opposite direction. I would guess that it might be because of all the foreign delegations who come to the country offering diplomatic assistance with the health and the landmines.

We found out that there are three different political parties in this kingdom. A socialist party called Cambodian Peoples Party, a democratic party and the political party of the king. Aren't these all mutually exclusive? Why does this king need a political party, isn't being king enough? The king here cannot hold a candle to his Thai counterpart. Haven't seen a single picture of the king, other than the one outside of his palace. He'd feel really awkward in Thailand when seeing the adolation they have for their monarch. I'm not sure why a socialist party exists in this country either, they've seemed to have moved beyond that somewhat.

Lastly, wrestling. One really bizzare aspect of Cambodian society, and for that matter, all of South East Asia, is their love of American Wrestling. Morning, noon and night you'll find men and women, young and old, centered around television sets to watch degenerates in tights roll around on the ground. There is even a 'Wrestling' brand red wine (poorly pictured), but whether it increases testosterone, I'm afraid to try. I haven't had this much exposure to wrestling since I was 11 years old. I asked our guide who his favorite wrestler was and he giggled and said he likes the same ones his daughter likes. What is it about wrestling that gives it such widespread appeal? It could be the larger than life characters, thier over the top expressions and glistening man-boobs. One doesn't need to know much english to figure out who the bad guys are, or what the plot is. You'll find everywhere that kids and teenagers are wearing t-shirts with their favorite wrestling stars. If soccer is the world game, wrestling can't be too far behind.

posted by ncawthon at 8:40 PM