World According to Khemra

I spent my Chinese New Year vacation in Siem Reap, Cambodia, to see Angkor Wat. It was, as usual, a last minute decision with the consequences being last minute high prices and last minute convoluted itinerary: I had to fly from Shanghai to Shenzhen to Kuala Lumpur, with an overnight 5-hour layover at the LCC Terminal (with me sleeping on a bench outside, waking up with mosquito bites up and down my arms), and then finally to Siem Reap. It was the same on the way back, but I spent the night in Kuala Lumpur and managed to eat about 4 meals in 12 hours, mostly at the Jalan Alor hawker street.

In Siem Reap, I did the usual temple stuff: the Grand Circuit and the Petit Circuit, 2 sunrises at Angkor Wat and a sunset at Phnom Bakeng temple. I did most of the temple visits on my own, but went on the Petit Circuit (basically Bayon, Banteay Srey, Angkor Wat) with a tour guide, because I wanted to get explanations of the history of the temples and the temple carvings.

My tour guide was Mr. Khemra, a 20-something ex Angkor Wat monk, ex laundry boy, ex casino cashier and ex Angkor Wat ticket controller. He wasn’t much of a tour guide. I think he learned his tour guide shpiel from Lonely Planet. And he has an achievement oriented approach to temple-ing -- see temple, climb temple, next temple. I would have enjoyed it more on my own.

But Khemra was a fascinating guy to spend a day with. The following, in Q&A format for your easy reading, is a rough transcription of my 12 hours with Khemra:

You were a monk at the Angkor Wat monastery? How did that happen?

I was orphan, my father killed by Khmer Rouge, my mother got married again when I was 7 years old, we are very poor so she sent me to live in the temple. My grandmother was already a nun at the temple because she was old and no-one to take care of her. So I went to the temple with a letter from my mother, my master asked me a few questions, and I stayed for 15 years!

Why did you leave? Was your master angry with you?

I wanted to see the world outside of the temple. You know some people become monks because they cannot survive outside of the temple, they are orphans and uneducated and come from a background like mine, and temple life is all they know. I want to experience more, I think I have the ability to survive outside the temple.

My master was not angry. When I told him the reason he encouraged me to leave. I still see my master almost everyday.

What did you do after you left the temple?

First, I went to live with my aunt in Siem Reap. I worked as a laundry boy at a hotel. Then I worked as a cashier in a casino near the Cambodia-Thailand border, after that I was a ticket controller at Angkor Wat. When my English improved, I got my tour guide license.

I only make US$200 a month, this only allows me to pay $40 a month for a room, pay my grandmother’s debt to the bank that she took out to pay for my tour guide license, some English books, and maybe 1 or 2 nights a month when I go out for fun. [Ed.: more on these nights out for fun, later…] I always worry about my future. I have no education, I learned everything from monks at the temple, and studied English on my own. I go to English school only when I save enough money. I want to get better at English, and go abroad, and find a European girlfriend!

Do you like being a tour guide?

Yeah very good, I like meeting people from all over the world. What do I think of the people I meet? --

Japanese: very good girls, many Japanese girls like Cambodian guys, yeah very good.

Thai: very very bad people, they think Angkor Wat belongs to them, if Prime Minister says go to war with Thailand, I join the army tomorrow!

Korean: bad people, no respect, always talk talk very loud in temple.

Chinese: very good to make money, every store in Siem Reap owned by Chinese people. Chinese girls, yeah very good, skin like white jade!

Europeans: yeah very good, I want to find European girlfriend! Oh I cannot stand Scottish customers, they talk so strange, last time I got Scottish customers I had to tell them to shut up at lunch time, I have to meditate at lunch time or else my head explode.

It’s only 4:30 p.m., how did we finish so fast?

Temples are the same, except maybe Banteay Srey because they make it from pink stone. All other ones, same thing, built by King Javayaman or one of his sons, either Hindu or Buddhist, sometimes both, no-ones knows exact story, you can read Lonely Planet, I buy for you for $7, $7 is Cambodian price but $20 for foreigners, I can buy for you for $7, yeah very good!

I take you to hotel, you take shower, I pick you up and we drink beer ok?

Do you tell your master about your life?

Of course, I tell my master everything, he tells me to enjoy life. My master only tells me to be honest, that’s most important. When I tell him about beer and pubs, he laughs.