Laughing and Learning on the Bumpy Road to Discovery
By Laura Ellerby, 2-time OAT traveler
As part of our OAT trip to Cambodia (an extension on our Discover Thailand adventure), my sister and I were taken to a non-touristy neighborhood of Siem Reap in order to take a ride on an oxcart. Here in the traditional area, all of the streets are dirt lanes and all of the houses are constructed out of wood and held up by stilts. “To provide a more temperate environment and to keep out the predators that can harm you,” was the explanation our Trip Leader, Sang, gave us when we inquired about the architectural customs in this district. When I asked what “predators” he meant, he nonchalantly responded, “Tigers, elephants, snakes, scorpions, and centipedes.” And we thought that land mines were the most terrifying bugbear to avoid in Cambodia!
Our oxcart driver, Tron, was a congenial man with an enormous smile. His oxen were well groomed and had big gentle brown eyes. The cart itself was crudely fashioned out of wood and had two large wheels, much like an old Spanish carreta. Sang told us that the oxcart is “Cambodian ten-wheel drive.” When he saw our quizzical expressions, he explained that during the rainy season when the land is inundated with thick mud, there is no modern vehicle whatsoever that can negotiate the tenacious muck in order to get the rice fields planted.
In spite of Tron’s attempts to make our ride comfortable by placing layers of Chinese blankets on the bed of the cart, the ride was jerky and jarring. We had to hold on to whatever parts of the cart we could in order not to feel that we would be jettisoned out at each small bump in the road. Tron would turn around, check on us, and chuckle.
He rewarded our discomfort by stopping at his parents’ house. Here we saw perhaps the rarest sight in all of Cambodia: people with gray hair. It is a sad testament to Cambodia’s bitter past that there just aren’t that many elderly people. Because our Trip Leader Sang did not go on the oxcart ride with us, there was no one to translate. We had a great time using sign language and facial expressions to communicate. I saw a string of what looked like large snail shells hanging from a tree, so I pointed to them in order to inquire what they were. Tron and his father erupted in ribald laughter. My sister and I laughed, too, because their mirth was so infectious—even though at the time we had no idea what was so funny. It wasn’t until later that I learned that they were probably laughing at me. When I had used my forefinger to point, I had inadvertently used a very lewd and inappropriate hand gesture.
This is one of the many unexpected, serendipitous, unforgettable experiences that a traveler can expect to have on an OAT trip.
Discover Cambodia with OAT on these adventures in Asia.