Club – Traveling Mark

How a Prostitute Works

Ha really needed to make some money so she can buy food for her daughter, but because she was an alien in a foreign country, her options were slim. All she was left with was prostitution. Because I had evenings reserved to getting some computer work done for myself, I had to leave to her to look after my job during which time she said she would go back to the Temple Club and “work” the way prostitutes “work”. Because Siem Reap is not a sex tourism destination, chances were that she would just spend the night looking pretty but not scoring any paying customers. I knew very well how prostitutes work and how they get treated and was not happy knowing Ha was going to put herself up on the market again, but this was her only option at the moment. I told her she could come stay the night with me again after “work”. I had actual shower and could keep the room at a comfortable temperature level. Plus the beds were comfortable so at least she could get decent sleep.

Ha gave her daughter good byes and lay her in wooden plank bed to sleep. Then we left for the Pub Street so she can promenade herself at the Temple Club and so I can sit in the Khmer Family Restaurant and do some work on a computer. Again, I wasn’t too happy Ha was forced to sell her body out, but I didn’t have the funds to support two more mouth myself and she didn’t have any other options either, so work of a prostitute it was.

This was a rather sticky situation, but I did all I could to offer assistance. I provided Ha with shower and sleep facilities at no charge, took her out for meals with me and bought treats for her daughter. I think I made their tough lives a little bit better without resorting to giving them the money.

I was done with my work at around midnight and briefly popped in the Temple Club to meet Ha and see how her night went. I was ready for the possibility that she may not be there – which would indicate that she may have scored a “customer” and is “working” to earn money. Horrible feeling but it was the fact of her life at the time.

Oddly enough, I went through all of the Temple Club and didn’t see Ha anywhere so I left. I was sort of happy for her, hoping she scored a whale who would pay her a lot of cash for her “services” but at the same time I was sad to have to go home alone. Even though she did not do the “work” with me, I enjoyed her company and loved talking with her.

Photo: Temple Club Where Ha Went to Work as a Prostitute

As I was about to leave the line of Tuk Tuk drivers at the beginning of Pub Street, I felt someone jump on me. Warm embrace and lovable laughter gave Ha away. She said she’d been at the Temple Club whole evening but no luck scoring any customers. She didn’t see me either, but one other girl who also works at the club noticed me and remembered me from previous night. Knowing I was looking for Ha, she let her know that her man just went through the club obviously looking for someone, but hasn’t found her so he left. She must have thought I took Ha with me the night before to have sex with and was looking for her again to do the same thing this night as well. Being a nice fellow-prostitute, she let Ha know and that’s how she caught me just before I would have disappeared in the gloomy darkness of the street that leads to the Prom Roth Guesthouse.

This was good news. I really didn’t want any men abusing this wonderful girl and at the same time I wanted to enjoy her company myself. On top of it, I wanted her to get decent sleep and be able to take decent shower so I was glad she didn’t score a customer that night. But that also meant that she wouldn’t have any money for her daughter so I would have to support her somehow. I was gonna do it like this:

Get up reasonably early in the morning to see whether it’s a nice sunny day again. If the day was going to be nice, I would sit on a bike and ride to Angkor to visit the ancient temples at last. Because the entrance fee to Angkor Archaeological Park is very expensive, there was no way I could also take Ha with me. This meant that if the weather was nice, Ha would have to go her own way while I’m at Angkor. We would still meet in the evening, but wouldn’t be able to spend the day together.

Whereas if it rains, we would just go ahead with an alternative program which wouldn’t involve me going to Angkor, because I wasn’t gonna waste $20 for not even being able to take a picture of any temples because when it rains in Cambodia during rainy season, it really comes down.

Either way, I would take Ha to have a breakfast with me and would buy large meal so she has left-overs to feed her daughter with. This way I would still support Ha and her little girl without giving them money directly. I needed to eat before heading to Angkor so this step would be unavoidable and since she was spending the night with me, she could come along.

This plan went pretty well, except from one thing – we were forced to get up much sooner than I would have liked. Because Pchum Ben festival was still underway, Preah Prom Rath temple which was just outside my window started playing really loud Khmer music out of their old loudspeakers. Music was so loud, we were virtually wide awake shortly after 6am. I have originally appreciated the fact that Prom Roth Guesthouse is so close to one of the main temples in Siem Reap, but the fact that you won’t get enough sleep because of proximity to that temple made it a bit crappy.

This same thing has repeated every day for the rest of the Pchum Ben festival. I’m not an early bird and I work until late at night because I find working at night more productive and more creative. But with the noise from Preah Prom Rath temple early morning for a few days straight, this was becoming excessively difficult.

Regardless, I was excited to go see Angkor Wat at last. The weather was gorgeous and I knew this was the day. I was woken up sooner than I would have liked, but I was excited to go see my most desired site in the world so I sprung out of bed, shook Ha to get up too, we got dressed and headed to Wat Bo area to have nice traditional breakfast in one of the locally owned and operated restaurants. I had to say my good-byes to Ha right after, but that was only for the day. I knew I was gonna see her again in the evening so I did not waste any more time, and rode off north, towards Angkor Archaeological Park.

Meeting Ha (Vietnamese Name)

Even though I wasn’t too fond of the Temple Club, the night after I had checked out their Free Apsara Dance upstairs, I went to get a little glimpse of what it’s like in their main area downstairs. I took my laptop with me to get some pictures posted on this blog and since visible sign advices everyone walking down Pub Street that the club offers free WiFi to its patrons, I was curious as to the reliability and speed of the wireless connection.

The music they play at the Temple Club is atrocious. I was already there so I just switched my “ignore” button on, started up my laptop, ordered a beer and got right down to working totally oblivious to everyone and everything around me, including that crappy mainstream music. Things were going smoothly, I got lots of work done, visitors to Siem Reap that filled the club enjoyed their time without bothering me so it all seemed like one fine night. I was just about done and ready to wrap things up when I lifted my eyes that were fixed upon the laptop screen for over 2 hours and noticed this really cute, petite Asian girl standing behind my shoulder with a grin, checking out what I had on my screen. It was pretty loud there so whatever I would have said would not be heard, but since I was done with actual work, I scooted over to make room for her to sit on a bench next to me so she can see the pictures from my trip so far.

Skimpy dress the girl was wearing along with obvious make up job left very little for guessing. Besides, Temple Club is notorious for abundance of prostitutes looking for an easy buck from fly by tourists who represent the majority of Temple Club’s clientele. I must have attracted her attention by completely ignoring everyone and being locked onto my laptop not even as much as lifting my brows up to see what was going on around me. I have never in my life been with a prostitute before but I was curious about what they were like. I wanted to meet with one and talk to her about why she does that, how she finds it and if she’d do something else if she could. So many questions, so much curiosity and here it seemed like my opportunity has arrived. However, I had all of my red flags on high alert though, being fully aware of the fact that HIV prevalence rate among prostitutes in Cambodia is extremely high. It’s also high among general population with 1 in 75 people being infected, however it is estimated that at least 50% of Cambodian prostitutes are bearers of an HIV virus or already suffering from AIDS.

I knew damn well that I have never paid for sex before – not even while I was in (reasonably) safe countries so risking it in a country with such high prevalence of HIV would be plain stupid. I realized that if I were to try what it’s like with a prostitute, I should have done it before, not now that I’m in Cambodia. And this is the type of message I tried to pass on to the girl who just sat beside me to take a look at pictures on my laptop. I asked her if she would like anything to drink but seeing that there was a major language barrier, I just mimicked the act of chugging a beer down my throat to make her understand. She showed me that she still had her Coca Cola she was happy with so I put my wallet away.

We attempted a little communication and even though it was a bit challenging, she did have some understanding of English language so we could actually speak. I explained to her that I understand she was a prostitute and that I had no issue with that, but I firmly expressed that I was not going to get sexually involved with her because of fear of HIV and my own belief that there are better ways to hook up with members of opposite sex. I actually loaded Microsoft Word (TM) and wrote the following to make myself clear and easy to understand:

Money = NO
Sex = NO
Drink = YES
Talk = YES

I was hoping my message would be clear and this was exactly the way it was understood. She was happy with the drink she still had so there was no need for me to buy her another one but I made sure she knew that I would be happy to pick up the tab for our next round. But most of all there had to be an understanding that all I’m paying for are drinks and not any form of “services” she may be offering. The girl was OK with that and explained that business was slow tonight so she’s just gonna take the rest of the night off. We ended up staying until the close and had a very interesting conversation. I have learned that her real name was Ha even though she has originally introduced herself as Minnie (probably her hooker name she chose because of her petite build). I have also learned that she was Vietnamese and that Ha was a Vietnamese name, not Cambodian. I have heard that there are many Vietnamese prostitutes in Siem Reap so this information didn’t raise any additional questions.

We talked a lot and enjoyed each other’s company. But as we kept talking, I kept growing more and more suspicious of her. She sounded like a normal person. This was not the type of talk I would have expected from a prostitute. The fact that she gave up on “working” in favor of an intelligent conversation was already a hint enough but as the night progressed, the entire prostitute/john relationship was completely wiped off and instead there was a Canadian tourist and a Vietnamese girl with quite a touching story to her.

Ha told me she was 23 and had a 4 year old daughter. The reason why she was at the Temple Club was to try to make money to buy her little girl some food. Fabricated sob stories of this sort are an everyday thing utilized by scamming Cambodians because they work well with tourists. But with a bit of wits you can tell they’re lying and all they want is your money so they are ready to say whatever it takes to get some from you. It was entirely different with Ha. The sincerity of her eyes and voice were undeniable. There was something very wrong about her selling herself out and I could tell right away that she has not tried this type of “work” many times, if at all.

I asked where her daughter was now and she told me she was with her cousin who is looking after her. She also said they lived in a shed without shower, in the dog house kind of attachment to her uncle’s house because that was all she could afford. The night was coming to a close, so I offered her to come home with me. I had two beds in my room and whether both beds were occupied or not, it was gonna cost me the same. I offered her an option to sleep on an actual bed, instead of on wooden planks and use actual shower, instead of bathing in the rain puddles in rice fields. I have once again stressed that I won’t be interested in “hooker” services, but I did have a bed available and we have just become good friends, so I wanted to offer my friend some help that didn’t cost me anything.

Photo: Wearing Slutty Outfit, Ha, the Vietnamese Prostitute Rested on My Bed

As we walked towards my guesthouse, we continued to talk undisturbed by loud music. Ha was very grateful for being offered a sleep in a decent bed and a shower but felt obliged to deserve it. She didn’t want any money from me, but she wanted to “pay” for my hospitality with the only think (she thought) she had to offer – her body. I have assured her that this is not necessary and insisted that she takes as much time in the shower as she needs and so she is not afraid to make my room her home. I trusted her beyond recall and she’s never let my trust down. She was not a prostitute. She had no business being one. She didn’t deserve that. Something was terribly wrong about this who ordeal. I have just met an innocent person on the first night of her life trying to sell her body for money. I was after a story and I got a life changing experience instead.

Ha slept on one of the beds, I slept on another. I left the air conditioning on so she gets the pleasure of not having to sleep in scorching heat at least for the night. This night turned out nothing like I would have ever imagined. I was tired and fell asleep quickly. We woke up to a beautiful sunny day which was just what I was waiting for to start my Angkor Wat exploring adventure. After a week of mostly rainy weather, a cloudless, sunny day was a breath of fresh air. And I woke up sharing the room with a beautiful, young lady from Vietnam. Say good morning, Ha!

Photo: Vietnamese Girl Ha on the Evening We Met Wearing Makeup

Apsara Dance Siem Reap

I didn’t know much about Cambodia before I came to Siem Reap but being here, I learned about Khmer Classical Dance called Apsara Dance early on. They say no visit to Cambodia is complete until you have attended a traditional Apsara Dance performance and since Siem Reap is the heart of Cambodian tourism, many tourist venues offer Apsara performances on a daily basis.

Photo: Dimly Lit Stage with Lights Shining at Apsara Dancers from the Bottom on Temple Club

Apsara Dance has been part of Khmer culture for centuries. This fact is evident from thousands of bas-reliefs found on the walls of ancient Angkorian and pre-Angkorian temples. This artform suggests that Apsara dancers were not mere ritual performers that entertained people during the Angkorian period. They were also believed to have been the messengers to divinities.

I have already been in Siem Reap for a week and have already had an honor of seeing an Amateur Apsara Dance, but wanted to also attend an actual Apsara Dance show which would be performed as it’s supposed to be – with choreographed story and traditional Khmer costumes. I kept my eyes open and went to enquire with several venues in Siem Reap about their Apsara Dance shows.

This was my last night at Two Dragons Guesthouse so I rode my bike to Apsara Theater because it’s in the same area (Wat Bo) to enquire about their admission fees. From what I was told by other people, Apsara Theater is the only air conditioned theater in Siem Reap and their shows are said to be the best in town. Unfortunately, they are also very pricey. At the time of my enquiry, the admission fee was $38 which included supper. The best show in Siem Reap or not, this price was out of my range. I wanted to see Apsara Dance, but I didn’t want to spend over thirty dollars for it. In Cambodian terms, this is a lot of money. It’s an equivalent to charging $1,500 for a show in Canada.

Several upscale hotels have big signs outside their main entrances advertising Free Apsara Shows however upon enquiring, I found out that while their shows are free, visitors are expected to order dinner which typically starts in a $20 range and seems to go up to infinity. This wasn’t an option either. I knew there was gonna have to be a free Apsara Dance show somewhere in Siem Reap in an establishment with reasonably priced food. And I found it in a club I wanted to avoid due to bragging sign that they are recommended by the Lonely Planet – Temple Club on Pub Street.

Photo: Apsara Dancer in a Traditional Khmer Dress

Free shows at Temple Club start at 7.30pm so I got there at around 7 to catch a decent seat. I had my telephoto lens mounted on the cam but my battery was running low. I expected the place to be overcrowded for the show, but it wasn’t. There were many people, but it was nowhere near full, which I have enjoyed immensely. It gave me the opportunity to move freely and find a decent spot for pictures and I didn’t have to spend the show kneeling so people behind me can see. I came to realize that even though this is a free show, they are running these free shows every night so it’s not a rare opportunity for anyone, hence attendance is hefty, yet not overwhelming.

I’ve order the fish from the menu which cost $5 – so far the most expensive meal I have purchased in Cambodia, however the taste and presentation made it worth it. If the way your food is presented on a plate makes for the restaurant, then Temple Club is the winner. And taste didn’t lack in any way either.

Photo: Apsara Dancer from the Free Show at Temple Club Upstairs

The show started by a three member Pinpeat Orchestra setting up their instruments on the side of the stage and playing traditional Khmer music for about 20 minutes. I was already done with my dinner so I just enjoyed the tunes. After about 20 minute musical intermezzo, a voice from a person on a microphone in a hidden spot announced the dance and introduced it briefly by explaining what it’s about. He said that rather than just being a dance, an Apsara Dance always conveys a story and told us what this first story will be about. Similar audio guidance was introduced before each new number.

A single girl in a traditional Khmer costume came on stage slowly pacing her way from the back towards the front of the stage with little impressive about her, but an amazing hand movements. Additional 4 girls joined her later during the song for a synchronized, yet slow paced dance. Apsara is very slow. The beauty and magic is not in speed and neck breaking stunts. It’s in an amazing sense of balance and posing. Faces of Apsara Dancers bore blank, emotionless look throughout the show. The emotions were expressed through an absolutely mind-boggling movement of their hands and fingers.

Photo: Finger Movement - the Staple of an Apsara Dance

When you watch Apsara Dancers perform a number, it all seems very easy because the dance doesn’t involve any tossing, jumping, spinning or otherwise dangerous routines. However it is not easy at all. There is a great deal of flexibility and unsurpassed balancing in the most unimaginable positions. But most of all, Apsara Dance is a showcase of how much can be told through the movement of fingers. If you are a hand person, the dexterity of their fingers will blow you away.

I have enjoyed the free Apsara Show provided by Temple Club immensely. I didn’t stay until the end because my camera battery died and I was getting eaten by relentless mosquitoes. I had to go back to the guesthouse and apply a thick layer of Muskol to be able to go back outside for a beer (which also helps to keep mosquitoes away by supplying the body with B Vitamins).

The only negative about the show had nothing to do with the show. Pub Street is the “to be” place for all tourists after dark and that’s precisely where you would find them in the late hours. Because of that, Pub Street also attracts countless touts and other locals looking to score some hard cash off of tourists. There is a band that performs outside and their loud bells sound too distracting and take away from an enjoyable show. It’s unfortunate, but Pub Street is all about who’s gonna be louder. It spoils the experience a little but performers have no control over it and are definitely not to blame. Other than this one negative, I have nothing but the positives to say about the Apsara Dance in Temple Club.

My stay in Cambodia was slowly becoming complete. I have already seen the Apsara Dance, but still had the biggest adventure ahead of me – exploring the temples of Angkor Wat and the rest of the Archaeological Park. I had my mountain bike which was gonna serve as my sole means transport and was going to move to a guesthouse that was both close to Wat Preah Prom Rath where I was teaching English and it was on the road that lead directly to Angkor. The only thing I needed was a day without rain.