Colors of cambodia special by martin bradley

Lotus The Blue

Arts Magazine

COLORS of Cambodia

A special tribute to all the hard working staff children and volunteers attending Colors of Cambodia an Arts and children NGO in Siem Reap, Cambodia

Lotus The Blue

Arts Magazine

COLORS of Cambodia special http://colorsofcambodia.org/ # 270 Mundull 1 Village,Sway DongKum Commune,Siem Reap District, Cambodia. 3

The Blue Lotus Arts Magazine Colors of Cambodia Editor: Martin A Bradley

email: martinabradley@gmail.com TBL Published December 2016

Lotus The Blue

Arts Magazine

Welcome to

The Blue Lotus Arts Magazine.

This is a special edition featuring the NGO Colors of Cambodia. It is intended as an introduction to all the good works that Colors of Cambodia do in Siem Reap, Cambodia, helping the Khmer people through bringing art and art materials to their children. Colors of Cambodia has a gallery which is used not only to promote artworks by teachers ans students, but also functions as a small (free) art school. Colors of Cambodia has outreach to four schools around Siem Reap where art teachers from Colors of Cambodia take art materials (free), to instruct Khmer children in arts and crafts. Colors of Cambodia also facilitates sponsorship for over 150 Khmer children to go to school to imrove the lives of the children and their impoverished families. Now read on

Martin Bradley (Founding Editor)

The Blue Lotus Arts Magazine is an entirely free and non-associated publication concerned with bringing Asia to the world, and the world to Asia

COLORS of Cambodia During a trip to Cambodia in 2001, American artist Bill Gentry found himself in awe of the artistic history of the region. However, he also noticed that most of the children in the Siem Reap's impoverished villages had never had the means, or opportunity, to enjoy art. Bill founded Colors of Cambodia in 2003 to introduce art materials and art education to the children of Siem Reap, Cambodia. Over time this has developed, through the donation of materials, art mentoring and classroom teaching, to give an all round art service to the children of Siem Reap. With thanks to the dedication and hard work of numerous volunteers and art mentors, the children we work with now have the chance to discover their artistic abilities and a wonderful world of creativity and colour. Colors of Cambodia has full time teaching staff and several volunteers assisting in the Colors of Cambodia Gallery, as well as teaching art in local schools. Our Gallery is located near the old market near Pub Street, in downtown Siem Reap. Advanced art training classes are also available to children showing a special talent and the desire to progress. Art classes for visitors to Cambodia are also available. Our Team Founder Bill / CEO Teacher Honey / Project Manager Teacher Phany / Manager Teacher Sokoun / Artist Teacher Martin / Social Work Volunteer

Colors of Cambodia provide free art education to local children, schools and the underprivileged. Helping the children of Cambodia find their own path to a future of fulfilment. Colors of Cambodia collaborates with local schools and organisations who are also committed to changes for Khmer children.

Art classes at the gallery Colors of Cambodia is also an art gallery featuring art by our students and teachers. Proceeds from sales of the students, teachersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and our founderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s works return to assist students and schools. Advanced art training classes are offered to children showing special talent. Advanced teaching in drawing and painting is available to assist students for higher education, and later a possible career in the arts. One long term goal of Colors of Cambodia is to be able to offer scholarships to worthy students.

Art classes in local schools Art Classes are provided by Colors of Cambodia's teachers to local school as their are no classes offer in the Cambodian school curriculum.

Art workshops Colors of Cambodia workshops are a two way process whereby facilitators share knowledge, expertise, and experience to enable and encourage workshop members to brainstorm their creativity and imagination. In workshops teachers and students improve their knowledge, share ideas with others and learn from other presentations. Workshop facilitators have come from all parts of the world to give their time and expertise free, including America, Britain, Malaysia and Singapore.

Art talks Frequent Art talks in the Colors of Cambodia Gallery have been provided by Martin Bradley, who has shared different aspects of art production and art history over the past few years. Talking about art helps you to think critically, develop strong reasoning skills, pay attention to nuance, and explore new ways of interpreting the world. This encourages our teachers and students to look carefully at their work and to gain different perspectives on their work. It also creates and an opportunity for related art-making. 9

Sponsoring Sponsoring may take many forms, from financial aid to equip Khmer students for school to the donation of art materials which Colors of Cambodia has always given freely to interested students in Cambodia. Another way to assist Colors of Cambodia with its mission to bring art to children in Cambodia who otherwise would have no access to art, might be to buy our book - " A Story of Colors of Cambodia". All proceeds from the sales of the book go to Cambodian children via the Colors of Cambodia NGO. Helping suggestions: i)

Sponsoring a Khmer child to go to school (USD 40 per year, per child) If you are considering to be one of our sponsors please check out our website where you can find more information about our current projects. ii) Sponsoring art materials and stationary You can purchase items, such as those below, in Siem Reap, and contact us for collection or send it to our gallery. Art blocks Water colour paper (for advance class students and teachers) Acrylic colours Canvases Water Colour Colour pencils Wax crayons, etc 12

Volunteering Another way of sponsoring is by volunteering. Volunteering is an opportunity for you to have a truly rewarding experience during your Cambodian adventure. You can gain unbelievable psychological and spiritual rewards by giving of yourself, and investing your time for the wellbeing of the children in Siem Reap. Please see opportunities for volunteering below: Art teacher to teach in Colors of Cambodia art gallery and local schools Art workshops to our advance class students and teachers

Art Talks & Art History see website. Distributing schooling items for in September see website English and Music teacher see website 13

Colors of Cambodia A Non Government Organisation (NGO) bringing Art free to Cambodian children

A small NGO bringing big benefits by Martin Bradley I looked out from The Sun eatery on Street 11, Krong, Siem Reap, past the ageing and barefooted tuk tuk driver, to the September rain, glad of its coolness. The rain lent a sheen to those Cambodian roads, and the overall tropical miasma. Dave Brubeck, taking five, memorably drifted through, muted only by the sound of the heavy rain and my slurping at an ubiquitous flat white. In front, and to the left, stood Pub Street, that infamous tourist trap, dampened by Siem Reap weather and all the better for it. David Bowie and his Starman replaced Mr Brubeck. Despite the rain, two young workmen had continued to rebuild the opposite pathway, laying first red bricks then a protective metal cover, which was topped off with concrete.The adjoining shop-lot had changed hands yet again. Gone were the outside trestles laden with fresh fish and piled with ice, in the requisite Nuevo Khmer cuisine style. Instead, there were distressed bricks and a predominance of red panelling. A Chinese restaurant perhaps. Two doors down from The Sun was Colors of Cambodia, the gallery. It was laden with parcels of all sorts. Founded in 2003 by the American artist Bill Gentry, Colors of Cambodia has evolved to give art tutelage, free, to Khmer students. As an offshoot, Colors of Cambodia also seeks sponsorship for Khmer children to go to, continue or return to school. With numbers exceeding 150 sponsored students, Colors of Cambodia annually buys school uniforms, shoes and school equipment with international sponsorship money donated by numerous sponsors, hence the parcels. Without that assistance, many struggling families would not have been able to afford the items necessary for their children to go to school. Those children, without education, would have little choice but to continue an agrarian existence, while those who had been their peers enter college or university, in Phnom Penh. Colors of Cambodia has always been a boutique NGO, bijoux, but big in heart. The new manager, Phany, is a success story in herself. She has grown, drawing and painting, with Colors of Cambodia, first (with her twin sister) as a young child, later as a teen and finally as a vibrant young woman. Originally taught by Colors of Cambodia teachers, who had themselves been taught at Phare Ponleu Selpak (another charity art and circus school 18

The Sun eatery on Street 11, Krong, Siem Reap

One white van, had once more been laden with parcels, packages, and copious bags of fresh bread

in the north of Cambodia) in Battambang, hardworking Phany now teaches the future Colors of Cambodia teachers, as well as still teaching art in four local Siem Reap schools, on the behalf of Colors of Cambodia. The following day I was early. You could tell that the rains of the last two days intended to hold off. By 9am the temperature was already 27c, the day bright and the roads dusty. I had looked across the road at a plethora of scooters, Scoopy, Honda NCX, interspersed by well used tuk tuks, their drivers smoking and chatting. I had the crazy notion of shouting out "take me back to Gotham City, Batman" but I didn't. I was an unshaven stranger there, with perhaps my metal health already in question, I had no cause to raise further doubts or concerns. Siem Reap seemed to be constantly renovating. An odour of glue had drifted in from next door, overpowering the smoke from a fellow customer's cigarette. I had never been into glue-sniffing. That was a pastime of later generations. My generation took cannabis, opium, cough cures that tasted foul but if you drank enough it got you high. Smoking dried banana however, didn't, despite what Page 4 of the Michigan Rag (Vol 1, Issue 20, 3/27/1967) in its article 'Pick Your Load Banana or Toad?' mentioned. Pity, as Cambodia has a lot of bananas. The previous night's Hard Rock Cafe, Angkor (established 2014), was an experience. I 'd not been to a Hard Rock since London, Covent Garden. Covent Garden had been a fruit and veg market since 1654. I had arrived, all hopeful and reasonably innocent, in 1967. International Times (IT), my first experience of how a newspaper works, had its headquarters there. No editor, net even a jurno I, but a lowly street seller for IT and Black Dwarf. The whole concept of Hard Rock Cafe had expanded since its first UK opening in 1971, on Old Park Lane, it's now in Cambodia. It was an interesting experience. There was a live local band belting out ACDC and one Led Zeppelin and, of course, the obligatory Hotel California, on which I make no comment. I wasn't there for the music, just to treat the hard working Honey to a little R&R, a little alcohol and something which included meat being mildly burnt, accompanied by chilli side dishes. It had suited the moment. That day, while I was contemplating an iPad keyboard, Honey had taken her troop of Malaysian volunteers, on motorcycles and in tuk tuks, to local Khmer schools. They visit on a twice yearly basis. There they had been disseminating school uniforms, shoes and exercise books, among many other things. It was the yearly handing over. One hundred and fifty four schoolchildren had been given the accoutrements for them to go to school for another year. The tuk tuks, and one white van, had once more been laden with parcels, packages, and copious bags of fresh bread skidding and sliding down pathways which could hardly be called roads, to out-of-town schools. School was officially out. It was holiday time. However, the sponsored children, the newly sponsored a little bemused, had come to school to collect their gifts from their Malaysian sponsors.

They returned home the richer, ready to start school the next term. The children of one school (of the four schools visited that trip), painted inside and out with orange and white, formed six lines on the steps and on the dirt outside their classroom. They were being photographed en masse. Previously they had been photographed individually, their images recorded for their sponsors. Teachers from the school, and from Colors of Cambodia, raised their thumbs in the now international salute to join in with the children. The Malaysian volunteers were joyous to see so many children’s smiling faces, happy with their new shoes, new school uniforms and smaller parcels of schooling equipment, rulers, pencils, crayons etc.The children were happy to know that they are cared for by so many strangers. Inside. On the blackboard. Someone had written, in Khmer and English ‘THANK YOU’, with two figures smiling big smiles, a Khmer boy and a girl, representative of the school’s eternal thanks to Honey and Colors of Cambodia for their annual help. This round of giving repeated another three times, with different schools around the rural Siem Reap area. As well as delivering the goods to schools and children, Honey visits children at home. It is challenging as many children live in outof-the-way areas, beyond the main city of Siem Reap, accessible only on foot or on motorcycles. It is necessary, regardless of heat and rain. Four home visits per trip is the maximum, due to time restraints. The sponsored children and their families live in simple accommodation. Compressed earth forms floors inside homes which are comprised of simple wood and thatch. Some are slightly raised against the annual flooding, and have tentative wooden slat flooring inside their green corrugated tin walls and ceiling. Trodden earth forms pathways where small, scrawny, black or white Cambodian chickens scratch in the dirt around the simple houses. Children and their families frequently live in small compounds, green plastic netting separating small banana orchards from the main living area. One mother weaves small baskets to help the family budget, while also helping her husband tend their small, but sufficient, area of rice paddy. These people’s homes have few belongings, scant furniture, a few shelves at best. Clothes are tumbled onto makeshift racks. They comprise of a few lengths of wood cobbled together,a simple frame with a top.On the wall may hang a school bag given a previous year by Colors of Cambodia sponsors, raised away from the ground crawling insects and wandering chickens. Homes are surrounded by as many vegetable, fruit and spice plants that their climate allows, aubergine, banana, papaya, lotus and water spinach (trokuon) growing in small ponds, which also breed dengue mosquitos. Seeing the children at home is heart tugging. It reminds Honey and her team why they do what they do in a foreign country. A place where they barely speak the language, yet give as much as they can give to make those lives a little better, every year.

New shoes, new school uniforms and smaller parcels of schooling equipment, rulers, pencils, crayons etc

Khmer school children prepare â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Thank Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; notes for their sponsors

One hundred and fifty four schoolchildren h to go to school for another year. The tuk tuk laden with parc

School books heading for sponsored children in Khmer schools

had been given the accoutrements for them ks, and one white van, had once more been cels, packages...

New school uniforms for sponsored children in Khmer schools

The sponsored children and their families live in simple accommodation. Compressed earth forms floors inside homes which are comprised of simple wood and thatch. Some are slightly raised against the annual flooding, and have tentative wooden slat flooring inside their green corrugated tin walls and ceiling. 28

Happy Malaysian volunteers satisfied with a job well done

Inside Colors of Cambodia Gallery. Children of all ages are taught art with free donated art materials

Children, and teachers Honey Khor (from Malaysia) and Phany Phanin Futago (from Cambodia

Singapore volunteer print teacher Foo Kwee Horng

Colors of Cambodia has a regular supply of professional (international) artists willing to share their talents

New artwork by teacher/manager Phany Phanin Futago

New artwork by teacher Sok Oun

Morn Pisey from Angkor

Khmer artist Morn Pisey, born in 1992, is from the northern Cambodian city of Battambang. He previously studied with the free art school Phare Ponleu Selpak, in Battambang, for two years, before leaving for Siem Reap where he studied at Colors of Cambodia for another two years. He continues to exhibit at Colors of Cambodia.

6 days in

Cambodia by Martin Bradley

A few hazy, smoggy days have passed here in Kuala Lumpur. The smell of smoke from Indonesian fires is in the air. We dare not open doors or windows, nor put our washing out. We miss the clear air of Cambodia, but not the heat. I pick up the Siem Reap Angkor Visitors Guide, cover art by Space Four Zero (aka Sticky Fingers aka Julien Poulson). It is the 52nd Edition, September 2015 to November 2015. I smooth the top right-hand corner which has become slightly dog-eared, and dream a little about our journey. It wasn’t momentous, not awe inspiring or life changing, but it did build upon other journeys we have made to Siem Reap, Cambodia. On this last occasion we took with us a collection of young Malaysian adults, school children mostly. We also were accompanied by some adults, mothers to the children and some without children. Then there was us - Honey Khor and I, her husband. Honey has been making the trip to Siem Reap for eight years. I for only three. Together we have visited five times, taking art materials, clothes, shoes, pencil cases and bits and pieces for the school children in Siem Reap, and some for the children who frequent the Colors of Cambodia gallery too. It is always a surprise and delight how much we are welcomed there. It is always a surprise to see how busy Honey is, doing this, doing that, organising this and organising that with no complaints; always with a big smile on her face. And people, me included, respond to that. We respond to her and her dynamism, her obvious love for what she does, and her warmth towards the children. There is no doubt that she is very special, and that we are all honoured to know her and accompany her on these trips to Cambodia. There will be another trip this year. One in December. Thirty adults will fly from Malaysia to Siem Reap, with Honey organising. However, I want to share a little about the recent trip. The one that still lingers on my mind and in my heart…….

Colors of Cambodia

Angkor sunrise

Day One

We had been gone from Siem Reap for one whole year. It was our first day back... I was all lathered up, with a minuscule bar of soap in my far from minuscule hand, under a passably hot shower and in a not terribly large bathroom. It was then, while I was soaping, that the electricity went off. Suddenly, the bathroom was pitch black. There was not the faintest glimmer of light anywhere. I froze. The unseen water continued to flow over my hirsute body, gradually getting colder and weaker. For a second or two I just stood, stunned. I was wondering just what the hell had happened. To say that it was a frightening experience was to belittle my feeling of mild claustrophobic dread. Near to panic, I sought to steady myself against a wall, and to think. In that darkness, under that, by then, cooling water, time stretched into a limitless future. Over time, which seemed like centuries, I managed to rinse myself off and stood still, praying for the lights to come back on. I expected that they would, any minute. They didn't. Tentatively, moving slowly, reaching out, I began to feel along the walls, trying to find the shape of the bath. Holding my growing desperation under control, I eventually found the bathâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s edge and slipped a nervous foot down into the depths to find the bath mat. It was there, damp from the shower's overspill. It was a welcome landing. Slowly I edged myself from out of the bath, dripping, and groped along another wall to find a towel. I found, and dropped it. I began my search again, found the towel's edge and pulled, heaving a huge sigh of relief as I did so. I had wild imaginings of rescuers coming to fetch me, and my embarrassment of being naked to receive them. The towel was the first step. At least I could be dry and semi-decent when they came, if they came. The entrance, and therefore the exit to the bathroom still remained a mystery. Grumbling, mumbling, I carefully towelled myself down, and dried myself off. No air-con meant that the room was warming rapidly. As I dried myself from the shower, I perspired with the effort. It seemed a never ending task. Stumbling, stubbing my previously injured toe (a rather long and boring story), cursing, I felt along the towel rack, along that wall to, yes the door and its handle. I opened the bathroom door. There was a faint glimmer of light, from the corridor, seeping under the hotel room door. I stood, getting my bearings, adjusting to the light. I made my way to the chair which held my clothes, and began to dress. With no trumpets to herald my escape, I dressed and went downstairs to speak with the reception staff. They followed me back to the hotel room (2002) where Shamini Flintâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Inspector Singh (A Deadly Cambodian 57

â&#x20AC;&#x153; Viva Restaurant

“

We had been gone from Siem Reap for one whole year. It was our first day back.

“ 59

Crime Spree) could not have done a better job of investigation. It appeared that the intermittent electrical problem was caused by a electrical mis-connection from the key-fob insert. Not wanting to be called for a second, or a third, time the most apologetic staff suggested another room. It was smaller, with a similar view of the opposite building's yellow brick wall. Swings and roundabouts, I said OK.* While I was being treated to a hotel room blackout (with The Eagles' Hotel California lyrics "You can check-out any time you like, but you can never leave! " playing in my head, my dear wife (the Malaysian artist Honey Khor) was out with her team of volunteers, in Siem Reap's Old Market, buying school bags, crayons and stationary for Khmer school children. Those items are not viable to purchase in Malaysia because of the weight cost by air. They were for the next day's school visit, and subsequent visits throughout that week by Honey and her posse of volunteers. On the brighter side of our Yin Yang day, the Air Asia plane journey for that annual visit to Siem Reap had been largely uneventful. It was made so much smoother by the Check-In kiosk attendant turning a metaphorical blind eye to our luggage allowance. He waved through our extra luggage and that of our gaggle of volunteers for Colors of Cambodia. He even enquired what was Colors of Cambodia, as we were piling box upon box onto his conveyor belt. That kindly official saved Colors of Cambodia many, many US Dollars. A big THANK YOU therefore goes to Air Asiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s compassion and understanding. On arrival (some hour and a half later), the shock of the Cambodian Visa pricing (up from 20 USD to 30 USD) was slightly deadened by the brand spanking new Arrival Hall and Customs areas. It was quite obvious who was paying for all that - we non-ASEAN visitors. Those born in ASEAN countries (i.e. the rest of our party) got in free. That evening, the evening of what was still our first day, Honey (and sixteen intrepid Colors of Cambodia volunteers) busied themselves unpacking/re-packing the boxes and bags full of goodies they had brought over from Malaysia. The Colors of Cambodia Gallery (# 270 Mundull 1 Village, Sway Dong Kum Commune,Siem Reap District, and incidentally just down the road from the infamous Pub Street - where it all happens at night in Siem Reap), was sweatingly hot. The small ceiling fans just could not cope with my foreign bulk, and were not strong enough to offset the baking heat of a Cambodian September. In that Colors of Cambodia gallery, Malaysian mid-teens mixed with Khmer students of a similar age, and the adult volunteers helped Project Manager/Teacher Honey Khor with her tasks. Before our arrival, Phany (once Colors of Cambodia's student, and now the de facto manager), had organised the delivery of white and blue school uniforms, sewn by local 60

Colors of Cambodia Manager Sophany with slippers for school children

Honey Khor with volunteers and art materials

The Yellow Sub

Khmer young women (from another local charity - Life & Hope). It was all in readiness for the week's visits to local Khmer schools, enabling those 170 sponsored children to return to school. For a while, that evening, Honey and I entertained the Malaysian group with a quick slide-show, catch-up concerning Colors of Cambodia. I included a little history both of Cambodia and of Colors of Cambodia within the slideshow gradually melting like some cartoon snowman, under the heat. It was a free sauna as I dripped into my white Khmer cotton shirt (one of many purchased for the purpose, from Siem Reap's old market) and onto anything within reach. Q & A and introductions over, we marched the foreign ensemble towards an evening meal at the Viva Mexican restaurant, as most of us were staying above, in the Viva Hotel. After downing a 'bucket' (carafe) of frozen strawberry Margaritas, and some long awaited Tex Mex food, artist Honey Khor and I, accompanied by Malaysian sculptor Maxine Xie Xian Xin, skipped out on the rest and treated ourselves to coffee and chilli chocolate cake (with ice cream) at Siem Reap's Beatles theme pub, Yellow Sub (9A The Lane, Siem Reap, Siemreab-Otdar Meanchey). Since the early 60s, listening to Radio Luxembourg and scribbling the names of the members of this new group into the bottom of my bedside draw, I have been a sucker for anything Beatles related. The Beatles themed Yellow Sub, which incidentally is yellow decorated on the outside, plays the sort of music I adore. “Bradley, Bradley”, called part owner/manager Singaporean Charnjity Singh,”I didn’t know you were in town”. I explained our mission and we drank Singh’s coffee and ate Singh’s cake to the drifting tunes of Iggy Pop, The Stranglers and, of course, The Beatles. Various framed Beatles albums stared down from the walls and, admittedly, I was a little sad knowing that John Lennon and George Harrison would never again beguile us with new material. You would have thought that, by now, I would have gotten over the band's break up in 1970, and the subsequent deaths of those two band members. But no.

Malaysian volunteers helping with school uniforms and slippers

Day Two

Of course, being a writer, sometimes it is as necessary not to be part of the action as it is, on other occasions, to be part of it. After a quite curious breakfast which seemed to belong to no one country in particular, I forswore the invitation to re-visit Thai Zo school, the nearest to Siem Reap town centre. While Honey, teachers, students, mothers and sculptor were off delivering uniforms et al, I dragged my overheated, and quite weary, bones around Siem Reap, walking, camera in hand, to capture some of the delights that I had overlooked on my previous journeys. This action was not without a measure of guilt of not helping my dear spouse, but I reminded myself that each gives in their own way, trying badly to assuage my guilt. The day was, characteristically, hot. I dripped into my third white, Cambodian cotton shirt in two days. I reminded myself that it was the rainy season, though there was no rain, and it was, to repeat, blazingly hot. 'To hot for me' remarked one friendly German tourist as we had sat in the Nai Khmer restaurant the day before, eating brunch. And it was too hot for me too, though I neglected to say so at the time. I kept to the shade and tried, desperately, to avoid as much sun as possible. In my naivety I sauntered into a bookshop. There, I was fully prepared to be blasted by an extremely welcome chill of air-con. Blast, there was no air-con. I had been conned. I dripped my way around Monument Books seeking Harriet Winifred Ponder’s Cambodian Glory. It wasn't there. I bought two others (Benoît Duchâteau-Arminjon’s Healing Cambodia One Child at a Time, and Andy Gray/Sao Sreyma’s Home a Cambodia Story) and dripped my way back out. The level of tuk, tuk sirs had lessened (slightly) on that trip, but the number of disabled purveyors of tat and child sellers of postcards had increased many fold. Drawn, no doubt, by the increasing numbers of tourists. Like many countries, India included, in Cambodia it is almost impossible to turn away from people seeking aid, or alms, but you simply cannot, and it is probably wise not to, give to everyone. Better to give to one of the many charities, like Access Siem Reap or Grace House Community Centre, who can make a real difference to land mine victims. And then it rained. It rained not the miserable drizzle of the English countryside, but the full-on Monsoonal rain of tropical Cambodia. The rain quickly cleared the streets, preventing internet signals and instantly drenching unaware tuk, tuk drivers. I looked out from the Viva; and over a pot of Lipton's tea gazed past the gathering Malaysian Chinese volunteers to the romantically hazy streets enjoying the cool, the rain had finally brought. 69

Khmer masks

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

Of course being a writer sometimes it is as necessary not to be part of the action as it is on other occasions to be part of it..

Beside a Wat (temple)

Siem Reap at night

From somewhere a rock refrain began, a quite unnecessary sound track. The roads quickly became streams, polystyrene boxes were swept along by newly formed currents. Expressionistic evening lights reflected romantically off rain drenched polished surfaces. As evening drew dramatic curtains to sight, colours became more pronounced, brighter, contrasted, framed and mounted by the Cimmerian backdrop. Tuk , tuks, now enclosed like mini hearses, rode on tenterhooks past Viva. For a moment we all were stranded, unable to walk to Colors of Cambodia Gallery. Therefore, in a very Malaysian way of looking at life, it must be time to eat. When in doubt, eat, it is the Malaysian way. With the expectation of more food later I ordered a Quesadilla (a wheat or corn tortilla filled with a savoury mixture), chicken because my dear wife does not eat beef, for her own reasons. Honey had continued her preparations for the morrow. An early start was muted. A trip to Samamki school, an hour's drive away from Siem Reap. Tractor trailers had been hired to take the seventeen Malaysians, plus goods and materials to dispense at the school. Meanwhile, on the evening of the second day, Malaysian sculptress Maxine XXX taught a little sculpturing to ten Colors of Cambodia students. Eager, bright, young faces watched intently as Maxine demonstrated. It was a wining first for the gallery. Maxine had captured those watchful minds.

Down the restaurant laden alleys in Siem Reap

The infamous Pub Street

Pub Street is evolving

Some schools Colors of Cambodia visits are off the beaten track

Day Three

On that third day, while Colors of Cambodia volunteers, parents and young adults underwent their exhausting tractor trailer trip to dispense their much needed items, I had traversed the varying delights of Siem Reap's covered Old Market. There was an intriguing half-light in that market, reminding me of other times, other markets; the Medina in Tunis or the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. I trundled the Old Market’s tunnel-like lanes and squeezed past clothes purveyors calling out to me, threatening me with T-Shirts emblazoned with elephants. I escaped the many invitations proffered, including one by a young girl who offered herself. I have a suspicion that she was either jesting, or very, very, desperate. In the market gloom, broken only by naked low hung electric bulbs highlighting grapes, guava or bananas, beggars begged, pork sellers sold every porcine aspect; ears, heads, the usual chopped flesh and of course offal. Sausage sellers sold intriguingly red sausages and cornucopias of fish, dried and spatchcocked. It was as authentically Khmer as I was going to get in Siem Reap, a town constantly overrun by tourists. Somewhere, on a very long scale from creaking roadside stalls selling baguettes (a left over from French ‘protection’), to dinky little middleclass eateries costing an arm and a leg, there was my return to the New Leaf Eatery (formerly Book Cafe). New Leaf was hiding at Group 10, Phum Mondul 1, Svay Dungkum, 306 Street 9, Krong Siem Reap, at the side of Wat Preah Prom Rath (Cambodian temple), and just off Street 9, opposite the rear of Sky River (a small mall). While Colors of Cambodia continued its worthy work to one of the further flung schools around Siem Reap, I returned to my quest to find either Siem Reap, or myself. I proved to be a tad more elusive than I thought, and had to settle for Siem Reap which, as it turned out, proved equally as difficult. The New Leaf had changed little in the time I had been away. It was just as quiet, just as hot, just as real laid back as it was on my last visit. I always have such high hopes of fellow ex pats, believing them to be welcoming, warm, delighted to see fellow countrymen. It is a self delusion. While I am generally disappointed by their unfriendliness, perhaps they too are disappointed by mine. It is the same in Malaysia. Maybe it’s because ex pats tend to have wanted to get away from others of their race, and therefore are disconcerted when they are tracked down in there lairs, as it were. On a previous trip to Siem Reap I had interviewed one French multiple restaurant owner who had confessed to not liking the French. I had felt none of the bonhomie in The New Leaf that I had in the Yellow Sub. But then, the Yellow Sub is run by a Singaporean Indian. In Siem Reap, pavements are a mixed blessing. Mixed in the sense that many pavements are broken. Some are blocked by piles of earth, bricks or 85

Traditional teaching methods hold sway in Cambodia

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I returned to my quest to find either Siem Reap or myself. I proved to be a tad more elusive than I thought and had to settle for Siem Reap which as it turned out proved equally as difficult.

rubbish, while others act as car and tuk, tuk parking spaces. Pedestrians are forced onto busy roads and end up dodging varying forms of vehicular ambulation, in order to survive. Siem Reap still has that frontier town feel to it, and maybe thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s its draw. Five and six star hotels/restaurants rub expensively pristine shoulders with five USD dorm hostels, blocked pavements and rubbish strewn streets. It is a town trying hard to make up its mind which direction it should be going in and, in that, has its own kind of charm amidst the baby powder scams and increasing tourist traps. Later that afternoon I briefly met Honey Khor. She led her charity posse back from the Cambodian wilds to Common Grounds (coffee and cyber cafe), in the Old French Quarter, Krong Siem Reap. A reddened, somewhat scorched Honey enthused about their trip, one I undertook with her a year hence. Maxine had taken some party clothes, masks etc for the local school children to have fun with. She took children's photographs and sought somewhere to print them out, to give back to those Cambodian school children. It was practically a five hour journey, yet still some of them continued to Colors of Cambodia Gallery for yet more giving of themselves. Fearlessly, I walked back to the Viva Hotel in search of an afternoon nap.

Day Four

The fourth day threatened rain. It gave up to produce a beautiful blue sky, and all the heat you might just want to get that tan, if getting a tan is important to you. While Honey and her merry band, not of Pranksters (a la Ken Kesey) but of Malaysian volunteers, shot off to Khnar Cha school and later to the flooding lake, I ended up walking to the café Common Grounds( billed as ‘An American café in the heart of Siem Reap’). It was in the Old French Quarter, Krong, Siem Reap, at the rear of the Angkor Children's Hospital (where Colors of Cambodia has been commissioned to paint a second mural). Somehow, The Little Red Fox Espresso, one of the many coffee joints now jousting with each other for customers, being open air and having a group of customers sitting around the doorway, just did not take my fancy on that very hot day. I desperately needed air-con, Wi-Fi, and quite possibly a bit of quiet, to write. Well, I got two out of three. The constant 'blending' of ice, plus whatever had taken a particular customer's fancy, provided a nonquiet backdrop to my earnest efforts. I got little done. Honey and I had frequented Common Grounds daily, during one of our previous trips. It was in those sweat inducing days while we were painting the first mural, in the Out-Patients Department of Angkor Children's Hospital and old habits, seemingly, are so very hard to change. I ordered a Chai Latte. "Sorry sir, no Chai today”. “OK I'll have a lime and passion fruit." Siem Reap is Buddhist, all very laid back, still, despite the hordes of tourists who continued to pile into the nearest access point to Angkor Wat, disseminating their USDs like WMDs. The Malaysian (Sri Madhu) Colors of Cambodia volunteer visit (of 2015) is a very long way from the Beat Poet, Allen Ginsberg's visit to Angkor Wat, "June 10th, 1963, Siem Reap, Cambodia.". Ginsberg would not have recognised the tourist ridden, multiple construction, ultra materialist Siem Reap, for it is a far cry from his one week in.... "Siem Reap, which is outside of Angkor Wat, a town outside of the ruins." Mentioned thus in Montreal, Canada, just before Allen Ginsberg read his poem ‘Angkor Wat' to Art Students, in 1969. With thanks to the internet and WiFi, I was there, in Common Grounds, Siem Reap, listening to that very same poem, recorded at that event, with all the sur reality that entails. The evening saw me acting the fool at Colors of Cambodia Gallery. Ostensibly I was presenting a slide show of Cambodian Modern Art for the students (Cambodian and Malaysian), in reality I performed my usual song and dance routine as I attempted to widen the horizons of my (mostly) young audience.

Khmer school children value their education

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The huge s the va serpen fallen o over th in a square curved ro looked Dra stoneAs frail as this harder life crushi 98

snake roots aster nt arms octopus he roof courtyard oofcombs agon-back-scaled s stone is r wooden ing them” Excerpt From: Angkor Wat, in Allen Ginsberg. “Collected Poems 1947-1997”.

Lara Croft tree at Angkor

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Traditional rural transport

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Day Five

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It was the fifth day and the Viva Hotel restaurant had a black mark that day. My breakfast bacon was halved in size, while the proffered mushrooms (as part of the set breakfast), were nonexistent. British actor Gary Oldman might agree with my upset as he once said; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;My favourite meal would have to be good old-fashioned eggs, over easy, with bacon. Many others, but you can't beat that on a Sunday morning, especially with a cup of tea.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; I had coffee. I dreamed of breakfast at the Nai Khmer, just a few yards down the road, but dare not order another breakfast. The day and I started ill, and slid down to become sick. Members of the group and I suffered from a gastro bug. Not being as stalwart as some, I spent most of the day in the hotel room incapacitated and intermittently writing. Colors of Cambodia chief muckamuck and Founder, the American artist Bill Gentry, arrived from Singapore. Honey and Bill played catchup, organising, re-organising, agreeing, disagreeing to changes big and small to the organisation that Bill had began in 2003. Bill greeted the Colors of Cambodia's Art teachers, Phany, Ponlue and Sokoun who have been some of that organisation's success stories. In Social Work I was trained to empower and enable those I worked with. Bill and Colors of Cambodia have successfully set up a scheme whereby children come at an early age, learn art and eventually become teachers themselves. The three current teachers were all previously young students of Colors of Cambodia, who have successfully made that transition. That evening, Bill, teachers, volunteers young and old ate together in a spirit of benign acceptance and genuine bonhomie.

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Breakfast at Nai Khmer

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I dreamed of breakfast at the Nai Khmer, just a few yards down the road

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Day Six

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America, with its all pervasive Coca Cola culture, continues to swamp Cambodia. It is so damned difficult to find real Cambodian coffee anymore. Viva Hotel has the Italian Lavazza coffee. When asked, no they didn’t have local coffee but suggested I went into the Old Market. Still trying my luck, I ordered what was billed as 'Cambodian Coffee' at La Boulangerie, and got a thin, very thin, American coffee. Drink by drink, pizzeria by pseudo bloody pizzeria Cambodia is being squeezed out of Siem Reap. Where once real, sweet, thick Cambodian coffee was freely available on stalls along the streets, and more especially at the Night Market (Angkor Night Market St, Krong Siem Reap), now this thin, bitter coffee the Americans like so much is foisted upon visitors knowing little better. Cambodian culture is being suppressed by the tourist dollar, children beg for powdered milk and adults lust after Samsung and Apple products. It is sad to see the rush to consumerism, to materialist Capitalism which has already brought the ordinary people in the West to their knees. It is now dragging this ancient race to destruction too. Tourism, unchecked, will do as much damage to Siem Reap as Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge had. Back at the Gallery (Colors of Cambodia that is) I am confronted by teacher Ponlue, handsome T-shirt painter and teacher who, as it turned out, was my saviour. Ponlue walked me down from the Colors of Cambodia Gallery to the Old Market. There, sitting outside, and almost indistinguishable from the market itself were a trio of practically identical tricycle street vendors. Two out of three sold fruit or fruit drinks. One, and that was the important one, sold authentic Cambodian iced coffee all sticky, sweet and full-on taste, none of that namby-pamby, dish-wash water so-called cafés are serving. My straggly bearded face lit up. It was as if the haze had been lifted from Kuala Lumpur, or some biblically named beautiful angel had appeared before me proffering eternal salvation. The local Cambodian coffee is in fact a misnomer. It is Vietnamese coffee laced with condensed milk, and cooled with twice its capacity of tube ice. There is something similar in Malaysia but bitter, and different coffee beans, and beans means not Heinz but the world of difference in coffee taste. It was the final Cambodian evening. Colors of Cambodia prime mover Bill Gentry had gathered to himself a band. It was a duo which expanded to a quartet, for some numbers. As a lyricist, Bill’s songs tended to stay with you long after the final note had drifted off into the ether. They stayed with me. I recognised numbers from his Kuala Lumpur set the previous year, and involuntary hummed along that night and for the next few days as I couldn't shake some tunes out of my head. 111

The Old Market, Siem Reap

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Recycled rice or concrete bags

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Bill and his band, poignantly called Art Will Save The World (title taken from his hoarding above the Colors of Cambodia Gallery), regaled a practically packed house at The Grey Khmer Grill. Bill strummed the chords, percussion was drummed and occasionally accompanied by a serene sax and flying flute. At the start of the set there was a constant stopping and starting, as bouquets of flowers were proffered to the artist/ singer/musician. Hands clapped profusely under coloured stage lighting, whistlers whistled and Cambodian moonlight carousers, caroused. There was a strangely stuffed goat halfway up one wall, behind the bar, which seemed in all its stuffedness to look on, and looking like it had recently stepped from out of a 1912 Bock Beer advert. That bizarre goat’s horns devilishly curled like Art Nouveau vines watching the beguiled revellers. The Grey Khmer Grill’s ceiling fans, like many others in Siem Reap, were unable to cope with the heat. Their whispers of breeze barely touched our glistening bodies. Bill's mid-American cadences melted into the Cambodian night, I melted into my chair while Bill sang a Country and Western song penned in Phnom Pehn and sung in Siem Reap. The Tropical heat resounded to tales of missed fathers, crying, flying, women and songs of pining love. Colors of Cambodia staff and children took their necessary, or is that unnecessary, photos, waved banners and danced the night away somewhat ecstatically. Honey danced. Cambodian artist Seney, danced. Colors of Cambodia teachers old and new jumped into those flashing, flowing lights, cavorting in support of their founder. It was a fitting end to that September’s sojourn in Siem Reap. A fitting end to the week which metamorphosed ‘a fire that blooms into a flower’ (Bill’s retort before his penultimate number), and a fitting end to all the hard work that Malaysian artist Honey Khor had put in to make it all happen. There was one more, then one more, rocking, rollicking, strumming number to leave the audience on a high. Always leave them wanting more, and Art Will Save the World, did. With the early departure of Maxine, and soon after the rest of our entourage, Cambodia was left to the traders, the tourists and the people who may or may not require saving from their selves, and quite possibly from us too. A sincere thanks to all who inspired my writing about Siem Reap, those who contributed photographs and those who recalled those things I was not present at. Thank you. Martin

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Colors of Cambodia Founder Bill Gentry showing another side of his many talents

Of course, what I endured in that bathroom was nothing when compared to the travails of Cambodia itself; the buffeting from neighbouring countries, the devastation of its own civil war when so much damage was done not just to the people, but to the very culture of those people. The blood bath and aftermath that killed a quarter of the Cambodian citizenry and set that country back centuries. The Khmer Rouge (Red Khmers) destroyed the country's infrastructure, its railways and the ancient Khmer identity. And, ultimately, it is the reason why Honey Khor comes to Siem Reap, every year, to help in some small way. Siem Reap, or so I am reliably informed, means 'Raped by the Siamese' (Thailand)', a permanent rampant middle finger to Cambodia's aggressive neighbour. There is a common misconception that the Angkor city temple (Wat) complex was lost and rediscovered by the Frenchman Henri Mouhot. It is a myth. Angkor, in which the Wat resides was built between 800AD to 1300AD and was never lost, never entirely abandoned and therefore never 'found' or re-discovered. Chinese annals dating back to 1296, show that in that year Zhou Daguan chronicled that the Chinese Emperor Temur Khan (who ruled China between 1294â&#x20AC;&#x201C;1307) and his stay in Angkor Thom (then called Yasodharapura). Zhou Daguanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book was titled Zhenla fengtu ji (Account of the Customs and Geography of Cambodia). Antonio da Magdalena (a Portuguese monk) visited in 1586 and later told Diogo do Couto what he had see. Do Couto wrote this up. Japanese inscriptions have been found belonging to one Japanese visitor (Ukondafu Kazufusa) who had been to Angkor and celebrated Khmer's New Year there in 1632. While in 1857, Father Charles-Emile Bouillevaux, who was a French missionary based in Battambang, published his book, Travels in Indochina (Voyage dans l'Indochine, 1848-1856). There had been many others too. Siem Reap, once a defender of Cambodia against the invading Thai (Siamese) armies, had finally succumbed to invading armies of tourists instead. After the devastation of a lengthy civil war, Cambodia had accepted foreign aid to begin to rebuild. Along with the various well meaning NGOs came the tourists. Siem Reap is the nearest stepping off point for the most illustrious Wats (temples) at Angkor. This has become a world heritage site and magnet for lovers of antiquity as well as young and ageing Hippies. Some perhaps, following the trail of Beat Poet Allen Ginsberg's wanderings through Asia.

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School welcome committee

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Talks sharing painting and poetry at Colors of Cambodia gallery Siem Reap 122

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a new look for the Colors of Cambodia charity gallery

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Four Poems for Cambodia by Martin Bradley

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clouds in ten layers brought me inquisitively back to Siem Reap Languidly writing beside drying waters Strolling in heat drenched streets. I became kissed by brief rains Stroked by sun And finally deferred To salad jazz cafes Where Americans and Australians gather Watching motorcycle taxis. Charity hands give thumbs up Blind musician toots flute Anonymous cars pass In dust sprinkled streets Beneath Buddha smiles And sudden sun. We wrangle the difference Between Art and art Citing men who paint ants And men who don't Men who splash abrupt rainbows And men concerned with mimesis. Eventually the debate seems limp Like so many watches When listening to Edith Piaf Sparrow of Paris And seeing the birdless street Outside Srey Cafe. Cambodia you would haunt me Even without Colors Angkor French Cirque Children slipperless and smiling. It would have something to do with the pain The stoic resigned pain That you swallow like so many cold foreign beers.

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A fat man walked Searing heat Sweating Along Khmer river Drawn by gamelan Icarus like Moth like Singeing wings in fires of ethnicity. The large man Sandal clad Behatted Besotted with difference Plodded weighty foot After weighty foot Past sellers of bottled petrol Motorcycle pig passengers Pavement games of chalk and tile. Fishers but not of men Cast thin lines into brown waters in expectation. Motorcycle taxis tooted Cyclists whispered by Tourists lugged Zoom lens

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Weighty straps cutting into Sun reddened fair shoulders Dollars pulling pockets Guilt pulling hearts Offset by tokens of perfunctory generousness. The heavy man ponderous man Dragged his weight Along dust sprinkled roads thinking of Woody Guthrie Allen Ginsberg Jack Kerouac And every kind of Dharma Bum Past and present. The silence of the kingdom Brought thoughts of kamma and metta Saffron robes Hands waving incense Roasted insects French baguettes And delectable markets

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Cambodian sun kisses glistening pate drinks in hairy armed way talks of Kerouac Cambodia beer sinks below unusually white froth penultimate day absorbs Black Magic Woman (instrumental) rub shoulders with Jayavarmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Angkor Orange robed monks flood from temple ease into brick built huts. Frangipani perfumes air water tank dank lone sketcher brushes paper with pen Walls reflect enlightenment sangam pink bag carrying students nestle temple garden tree gives shade.

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Rest in Buddha garden Drink deep of scents Watch children play red balloons Statues smile Trees listen five pm Temple bells ring balloon bursts guy in a white crimson t-shirt Passes It's Siem Reap

I sit peacefully

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much hard work by students and teachers has paid off

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the gallery has been re-painted and re-hung to great effect

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everybody chipped in

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art talk by Martin Bradley

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artworks by teacher Honey K

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Khor (aka Pei Yeou Bradley)

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poetry and song by writer Paul Gnanaselvan

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art discussions by top Cambodian artists

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A Cambodian Affair by Paul GnanaSelvam

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Love implanted, a seed of hope, a seed of kindling, from a forgotten mirage, reincarnate, of a twenty-three man years, rejuvenating, living, vivid, by an old clandestine affair, built of none but dreamstranslucent, luscious, enigmatic, fuelled, the night skies illuminated, dancing to the cosmic rhythms of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, elusively, stalking the foot-prints of Chola, Sailendra and Jayavarma. The moon stood to witness, of sudden dreams, from unbecoming, murkier and foreboding, perturbed at times, old and wavering, disturbed of unruly noises that stirred the forests, by marauding wars, shrill piercing and deafening, and hence, evaporating, dreams halting, and nightmares began. Drifting, floating, resting, the walls of Angkor, opened the fortress of living sandstones, brightened a cloudy night, welcoming, soft as the crickets songs of night, bequeathing, seditious apsaras at play teasing the court musicians, quenching a thirst unknown, dreams rallied, tenderly, charmed, comforted and chiming, chim-ching, chim-ching, chim-ching along ancient anklets and arm bracelets.

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Tickled and eluded, the garuda eyes, revealed sharply not of the prized jewel, but lands plotted and stretched, squared and parched, browning paddy fields, winding dusty roads, lonely, empty, desolate, barren. Your children- grieve, those that loosened your earth, ploughed your fields and worked your oxenfor, peace, nourishment and comfort, there was none any.

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You gave me breath, awakening, the dream within dreams, immersed in the warmth of your breasts, suckled the tits off your sweetness, the amritha, the elixir the gods had labored to churn, and lifted my spirits, for my eyes did not fail, to see and behold, happiness, content and faith, free and abundant. . Everywhere, intriguing smileshands raised, palms clasped, reverentlybenignly acknowledge the Brahman, say I am no differentI am humanpart of you-

part of this cakerawala. Do not despair, do not lose heart. For now, I hear the heavens open, ready to unleash the soft petals of hope, and bring forth the rains of change. Then, look up to the north, your children will play again in the thickets of the forestmemories of pain and suffering gone forever for they will stay, never sold or bought. Then, look to the west, kernels of rice will bow Look to the south, Tender sea breeze will soothe your weary soul. And, at first sunlight, when the morning mist lifts, infused with the blooming champaii, look to the east, for I will come, and dwell with you, within the walls of Angkoronce again.

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Colors of Cambodia Gallery

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buy the book, the calendars or artworks and support this vital charity in Siem Reap, Cambodia

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Phany, Honey and Bill

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A big THANK YOU from team Colors of Cambodia

http://colorsofcambodia.org/ # 270 Mundull 1 Village,Sway DongKum Commune, Siem Reap District, Cambodia. 145

one woman

Every so often a book appears that reveals and illuminates a project that might otherwise remain largely unknown by the outside world: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Colors of Cambodiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is such a book. This is a highly personal and passionate account written by Martin Bradley and illustrated by Pei Yeou Bradley of her encounter with a remarkable art-based project in and around Siem Reap in Cambodia, and how she was drawn into practical involvement with the children for whom the project exists. The book shows how a small NGO run by William Gentry in Siem Reap has been able to reach out to children in local schools, some in areas of great poverty, through the medium of art, and to give them hope for the future in a country that has suffered so much. The children and their families who are drawn into the project prove how art can cross all borders of language and culture. The book also tells of how Malaysian children and their parents have been encouraged to support the project and to become involved with the children and their work.

This is a highly personal and passionate account written by Martin B remarkable art-based project in and around Siem Reap in Cambodia, for whom the 146

nâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journey

Our book

And there is the additional touch of magic as Pei Yeou and Martin tell of their meeting and of how he too was drawn into the story, and contributes to it, and of how it changed his life. His sensitive words and poetry add another colour to this unique book In a world in which the news is bad more often than not, this inspirational book tells a story of optimism and success, and of how dreams can become true. Richard Noyce, Artist and Writer, Wales, July 2012

contact honeykhor@gmail.com martinabradley@gmail.com

Bradley and illustrated by Pei Yeou Bradley of her encounter with a , and how she was drawn into practical involvement with the children project exists. 147

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veggie going

in siem reap

Grilled Tofu

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Over many years, many trips, to Siem Reap (guardian of the ancient city of Angkor and its temples), I have approached different culinary aspects of this veritable Eastern delight. This trip I wanted to see what Siem Reap offers people of a vegetarian persuasion. Not Vegan, you understand, as that would have been too narrow a field, but those shunning meat and fish, yet happy with dairy products. With the Western world becoming increasing conscious of their collective lack of longevity, a concern with weight, fitness, diets, and dieting reigns supreme. This diet, that diet, digital watches which monitor heartbeats, calories burnt etc, all are indications of a middle class society frantically enjoying the good life and, simultaneously, morbidly afraid to loose it through death. Concerned individuals drag their bodies to gyms, they walk, or cycle, endless miles but in reality get nowhere. Others head half-way around the world to walk as many miles over rough terrain, under an ancient, sundering, sun their plastic water bottles of unsullied H2O in hand. I was back in Siem Reap for the Christmas and New Year period. Julien Poulson's Cambodian Space Project leapt from the speakers at riverside Sister Srey Cafe. Still a little hypnotised by Srey Thy’s voice, I looked up. A Khmer man walked by. He was squeezing repeatedly on a plastic bottle, sounding like a child’s squeaky toy. He was advertising his presence and that of his cart, collecting empty plastic bottles. Another man pushed a small blue, plastic, trolley down the very same road. He was selling the half-sized baguettes eponymous to Siem Reap. I had, once more, gazed out over my ‘Flat White’ at the tea-stained river and it's busying breakfast streets. Those streets thronged with scooters/ small-engined motor cycles. People hustled to work, school. Tourists sought breakfasts as I had, minutes before. I had stretched sleepy limbs, paid for my Eggs Bene-Licious and re-entered the town (in a very Jim Morrison way). It was easier than I had expected to select a vegetarian alternative. Younger (Western) tourists had brought their fear of death and zest for life with them. Cafes and smaller vegetarian restaurants had sprung up like proverbial vegan, or is that magic, mushrooms, offering veggie alternatives to Siem Reap's already excellent meat and fish fare. Truthfully, I was coming to vegetarianism from an entirely outsider's viewpoint. I'm basically a non-vegetarian who tries to balance his week between eating, and not eating, meat. I have a greater, or lesser, success depending on the day, the week, the weather and my quite obvious capriciousness. For this article I endeavoured to put myself in another's shoes for a couple of weeks, the fit was not uncomfortable. Veggie alternatives are frequently not cheaper than carnivore fare. Extra ingredients are needed to make vegetarian meals tastier. Special seeds (Chia), exotic salts (Pink Himalayan), peppers (Kampot) and costly vinegars/expensive oils needed to boost flagging appetites. A whole business has grown around the embellishment of mediocre fare; adding taste to the otherwise tasteless, yet healthy. Mayonnaise becomes fused with beetroot, guacamole, tahini and hummus reach out from their ethnicities to tickle dulled Western taste buds. Cambodia's Siem Reap is no exception. Fusion food abounds. Khmer and a variety of Eastern and Western foods bed down together to entice and delight. It has become as true for vegetarian alternatives as it is for meat and fish dishes. While there may be oodles of erstwhile vegetarian restaurants and cafes hidden away in Siem Reap (town and province), I sampled only those that I was able to find, and were open at the time. 151

My vegetarian lunch quest was to last as long as I could find vegetarian, or vegan, restaurants in or near to Siem Reap city centre. Therefore one venue a day, hopefully with walking distance of the hotel (Viva Hotel and Restaurant). My journey into Cambodian vegetarianism began thus….. Siem Reap's old town has many intriguing passageways. In one, probably the most accessible, is Chamkar. This small restaurant is within easy reach of the Old Market and the infamous Pub Street. Despite a constant flow of multinational tourists, Chamkar succeeded in effusing intimacy, maybe even romance into the eating experience. Chamkar (the passage) Mondul 1 Village, Svay Dangkum Commune, Siem Reap. Having carefully scanned the menu, I ordered the Cambodian Pumpkin. It was advertised as stir fried pumpkin and pineapple, with yellow curry paste, coconut milk, toasted peanuts and fresh herbs. It was to be a poignant start to my Christmas quest. As it turned out, the food was as good as the access was easy. The meal was a subtle blend of East and West, with East pleasingly dominant on my taste buds. A little outside of the main area, Banlle Vegetarian Restaurant would have been a five minutes walk away, if I hadn't been going there with friends. We were returning from a school visit and it seemed convenient for us all to go and enjoy the food and gardens after a morning’s work. Banlle Vegetarian Restaurant. 26, Wat Bo Village, Slor Kram Commune, Siem Reap The Banlle Vegetarian Restaurant website makes the claim that it offers '100% vegetarian cuisine to support vegetarianism-environment awareness, health and the animals’ right. In order to compile our vegetarian restaurant to the best list vegetarian food we start by creativity menu, using seasonal vegetable, flower, root vegetable, bean, herb….. grown naturally.' Our experience was slightly different. Unfortunately, we arrived at the very same time as a Japanese coach party. They emerged from their tour bus, bustling to get to their designated places, each before the other. For we meagre six, getting the attention of the waiting staff was difficult. Their entire attention was taken over by the larger group of tourists. Eventually, and with a great deal of patience on our behalf, we were waited upon, then served. Our party of six consisted of three Khmer, and three others (two Chinese Malaysians and myself - an overly large person of English heritage). We ordered Vegetable Amok ( a variation on the traditional Amok), Vegetable Curry, Vegetable Kor Ko (basically a mixed vegetable soup), Grilled Tofu with sweet and sour sauce, Vegetable Hot Pot and a variety of drinks, including one coconut and its water. The food was photogenically delectable. But, sadly, all the dishes tasted

Vegetable Kor Ko

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Cambodian Pumpkin

Vegetable Amok

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Wild mushroom and Brie Rice Balls with Sesame, Marum and Beetroot Mayonnaise.

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Honest (veggie) Burger.

watered down and appeared to contain the very same mix of vegetables. The Khmers in our group agreed that the fare was mediocre, all except from the fresh coconut which, admittedly, was cool and spectacular. The gardens were spacious and peaceful, but the food left much to be desired and certainly could not convert me to a lifetime of vegetarianism, or even another afternoon. On the same side of the river, that is the opposite side to the ‘Old Market’, sat Marum. Marum #8A, B Phum Slokram (Between Wat Polanka and Catholic Church), Krong Siem Reap. Marum falls under TREE (Training Restaurants for Employment and Entrepreneurship). They take local youths and give them employment possibilities. There are many such schemes in Siem Reap, especially in the restaurant trade. Some sceptical individual might enquire as to why there are so many of these NGOs/charities operating in a trade known for its cheap labour. We ordered the Wild mushroom and Brie Rice Balls with Sesame, Marum (a leaf used in Khmer and Thai cooking, also called Moringa) and Beetroot Mayonnaise. Despite the menu claiming that dishes were ideal for sharing, the actual dish was minuscule. Luckily, we had also ordered the Lotus, Jackfruit and Coriander Hummus, with Crusty French Bread. The size of the two dishes had the appearance of being starters, but were intended as main dishes. Though tasty, both the dishes were far too small and left us hungry. Marum is a seemingly upmarket, yet training, restaurant. I shan't Labour the point about the dishes' size, but I wouldn't hurry back. Next on a list partly obtained by the helpful Happy Cow - a website devoted to Vegetarian and Vegan foods, restaurants and suppliers, was Vibe. Vibe is near the Angkor Children’s hospital, and situated in an area now being promoted as Kandal Village - an area with cafés, restaurants and art galleries. Vibe 715, Hup Guan Street, Kandal Village, Siem Reap. I went to Vibe alone. My charity minded spouse was off Khmer school visiting (yes, again) with Colors of Cambodia volunteers and teachers. Vibe has seemingly replaced a previous Halal restaurant, just next to Common Grounds, of which I have spoken before. Vibe is not large, and felt as if it were a veggie delicatessen with a few seats for dining. I had ordered an Honest (veggie) Burger, described as - 'Our secret recipe bean and veggie pattie in a wholemeal seeded bun with fresh avocado. Fresh tomato. Fermented cucumber pickles. Salad and homemade roasted tomato ketchup' this, to 155

Wrapped Khmer dessert, glutinous rice with mung bean

be on the safe side, I accompanied with Cashew â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;ricottaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; cheese. Unfortunately the burger patty was very dry and crumbly, quite unimpressive and a great setback for vegetarian food. I had also ordered Cappuccino Coffee with coconut milk. Coconut milk is now being used an alternative to having cow's milk, but for me it was a novelty I would, probably, not repeat. Being dissatisfied with the meal up to that point, I ordered Mango and Vanilla Cheesecake, which sounded great on the menu. Unfortunately for me it had dried coconut (which had not been mentioned on menu). I have problems with very dry food but, otherwise the cheesecake was as advertised. The lunch for one person seemed a little expensive, but seems to be the case for veggie restaurants. Continuing the search for vegetarian restaurants in Siem Reap, we took a tuk tuk to Peace Cafe. I had imagined some long lost hippy joint, a la Goa, flowing with kaftans, beads, bells and a strong scent of burning herbs. It wasn't. Peace Cafe River Road Next To Ann Kau Saa Pagoda, Krong. Peace Cafe was, in fact, a very peaceful garden set back from the road, in a more secluded sector of Siem Reap, and without a hippy in sight. Out of an exciting, but poorly presented, menu we chose Banh Xeo Vietnamese Savoury Pancake, Miso Soup, and Spaghetti with zucchini, carrot, cauliflower and aubergine. We followed this with Khmer Sweet Pumpkin Dessert. All were tasty and good value for money, though the Miso Soup was a little low on the Miso. The staff, as we have come to find in Cambodia, were a tad slow. That said, we agreed that it was a place that we might return to. We were staying at the Viva Hotel and Restaurant, so it seemed natural enough to me to want to sample their veggie alternatives. Viva Street 08, Krong, (Old Market Area near Pub Street) While it's not a wholly vegetarian restaurant, Viva did have vegetarian alternatives on its menu. The breakfast menu had a healthy selection of both veg and non-veg, as did the main menu. For breakfast, vegetarians could choose between toast, butter and jam, and French toasts (with honey or maple syrup) or the breakfast burrito (comprising scrambled eggs with potatoes, cheese and salsa wrapped in a flour tortilla). Also on offer were three pancakes with butter honey or maple syrup, or a cheese omelette. Viva restaurant's only problem seemed to be that it cannot decide to give free coffee with the breakfast, or not. One day it does, the next you have to pay. The other downside to Viva, is the erratic nature of its electricity supply. Like the coffee, sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't, leaving me for the second time, in two stays, showering in the dark and all that entails. There seems to be some confusion about Vitking House. There are two such 156

Spaghetti with zucchini, c

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Pumpkin dessert with Coconut Milk

Vietnamese Savoury Pancake

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Deep Fried Tofu

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restaurants in Siem Reap, and another in Phnom Penh. One Vitking House, just across the river from the older town, is called Vitking House 2. It is close to the University of South-East Asia, with exactly the same menu but a more rustic approach, with wooden chalets, trees etc than the second Viking House (also called 2) which is a little further out of town in the opposite direction. Vitking House 2 Taphul Village, Sangkat Svay, Dongkum Krong.

Chilli condiments

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Googleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; gives any number of different addresses for these two restaurants, but the above address is from the business card we obtained while at the first Vitking House 2 we visited. We trod the gravel up to the front door. Even before entering we could see that Vitking House 2 was a larger venue. It had, effectively, three very spacious dining areas, with a large sign as soon as you entered proclaiming 'Vegetarian' all in caps, across a wall featuring a photo of a green field. Underneath that one word ran the legend 'let food be the medicine'. Above was the Vitking House logo, but no indication that we were, in fact, in Vitking House 1 or 2, in Siem Reap. The food was every bit as good as online reviews had said. We had Kimchi Soup, Steamed Dumplings (the only let down, as they were practically tasteless), Deep Fried Tofu (crispy on the outside but silky smooth and soft inside, and great with the sauces provided). Next were Straw Mushrooms BBQ (effectively mushroom kebab skewers) and, for me, the highlight of the entire meal. I confess that it was the tastiest of the vegetarian meals we had that week, and the cheapest. While primarily a restaurant targeted at the wealthier Khmer (the food was priced in Riel), the menu was dual language, and we did see a group of diners of mixed nationalities there. It felt very authentic Khmer, but upmarket and a little out of the way - a Khmer friend of ours had to guide the tuk tuk on his motorcycle, for us to get there. I had spent some time in India, and very much enjoy Indian vegetarian food. Noticing that there were several Indian restaurants in Siem Reap, I thought that I would chose one which had a good write up. A mistake. Maharaja Sivatha Road, Krong Siem Reap, opposite Terrasse des Elephants Boutique Hotel. Like many of Siem Reap's Indian restaurants, the Maharaja had obviously seen better days. The word 'dowdy' was perhaps coined to describe such places. Perhaps it had once been smart, ten years previously, but time had marched on and the management had realised that they received customers no matter how the interior, or the menu outside, looked as it sat, colour faded to blue and yellow and pictures indistinguishable from each other. I took the risk and went in. The Paneer Thali Set comprised of Mutter Paneer (green peas and Indian set curd), Baingan Bharta (roasted aubergine in a curry sauce), Dahl (lentils), Naan (Indian bread from a tandoor), Salad (small) and Rice (white). No pickles, no dessert. I ordered a sweet Lassi which was thin, but nevertheless tasty. To be 159

Pomelo

honest, it was a bog standard affair with no surprises. It filled a hungry hole, but that was it. After recalling some of the excellent Thalis I had had on various trips to India, and my protracted stay in Chennai, I certainly wouldn't rush back to the Maharaja in Siem Reap. Another day another vegetarian restaurant. We had looked at Veg G Table online, and thought it an interesting place to eat. It was to be the final of the week's veggie restaurant quest. We walked about 25 minutes in the increasing heat, and eventually found the place tucked around the back of a quite seedy looking guest house. The guest house appeared open, but the quite unprepossessing 'restaurant' was closed. It was 1 pm, we were out in the Siem Reap boondocks, and hungry. Veg G Table 175 Wat Bo Rd, Krong There was no sign to say that Veg G Table was closed. However, the door and serving hatch, at the back of what appeared to be the guest house, and which we could only assume might be the restaurant in question, were shut. There were no people in evidence. Everything appeared quite desolate. There was no notice on their website to say they were to be closed on Christmas Eve. We were tired, hot and very disappointed. We do not know if Veg G Table are simply closed for the Christmas break, or closed down. There was no information to say either way, not even on the large carrot poster at the front and I, for one, certainly wouldn't rush back to find out. Elsewhere, in the markets, at the homes of local residents we found many exciting vegetarian dishes, including simply cooked papaya dishes to delicious desserts, and were grateful for peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hospitality. There were some disappointments, but overall the veggie quest was exciting and gave me a fresh slant on food available in Siem Reap. Would I visit any of the above again, yes, certainly.

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Caramelised Bananas at Khm

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Sweet Pumpkin at Khmer market

Sweet Mixed Fruit at Khmer market

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Khmer Shaved Ice Dessert with Palm Nut and Grass Jelly - the makings

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this was

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COLORS of Cambodia

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Dusun Pub Books by Martin

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Bradley

blications

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COLORS of Cambodia watch the video by clicking on the image or clicking here

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