Cambodia beggars belief

The beggars were waiting outside the golden gates of Cambodia's opulent royal palace. One minute we were discussing the serene beauty of the palace's golden Buddha, studded with 9584 diamonds; the next we were swamped with rags, ravaged bodies, dirty outstretched hands and desperate faces.

First there was a man hopping about on one leg waving postcards. Next came a boy with no legs propelling himself round in a wooden cart. Then several mothers carrying fearfully thin babies.

Within moments we faced a forest of waving arms and a sea of faces urgently murmuring, "Moneee, moneee, moneee."

One of our group, more sensitive than the rest, tried to hand a few small notes to a couple of the most pathetic supplicants and was almost swamped by others crying, "Mee, mee, madame, mee, mee."

She had to be rescued by our guide who later lectured us not to give out money. If we wanted to help, he said, we should offer food or cartons of milk, because any money would almost certainly go to the beggars' unseen minders and be used for alcohol.

After we reached the air-conditioned tranquillity of our bus I watched in embarrassed horror at the disturbing scene outside, and was intrigued to see one deformed boy return to normality when all the potential donors had gone. But there was no doubt that most of this tragic throng lacked limbs.

The contrasting scenes either side of the palace walls provided a dramatic reminder that Cambodia, once one of the richest and most powerful countries in Indo-China, has been reduced by decades of civil war and years of blatant corruption to being one of the poorest.

Phnom Penh, the capital, still has the magnificent temples, the royal palace and the artefacts in the National Museum to tell of its glorious past. But it also has swarms of beggars and areas of appalling poverty.

The palace, part of which is still lived in by the king - these days merely an ineffectual figurehead - is magnificent, far more impressive than, say, the stolid grey walls of Buckingham Palace.

This is what palaces look like in fairytales, with golden walls, strange, twisting spires, magical beasts created in precious metals, gardens with sculpted trees and tinkling fountains, and pavilions full of golden ornaments, silver utensils, precious jewels, magnificent crowns and glowing, silken clothes.

Most stunning of all is the home of the gold and diamond Buddha, the silver pagoda, so called because its floor is made of 5329 solid silver tiles, though most of them have been covered with carpet to prevent wear and tear.

The pagoda is full of marvellous artworks made from precious metals and jewels, mostly statues of the Buddha but also elaborate dance masks, ornaments, furniture - including a golden litter used by the king on coronation day - jewellery and a collection of miniature stupa, including one from Sri Lanka containing a relic of the Buddha.

Presiding over this incredible display is the Emerald Buddha, actually cut out of crystal and dressed in garments of gold, a little hard to see as it sits high on its glittering throne, rather outshone by some of its more gaudy neighbours.

Other buildings in the palace compound include:

* The Royal Treasury building containing the crown jewels, plus a superb display of royal costumes with different colours depending on the day of the week.

* The Throne Hall, a beautiful building lined in teak, containing the royal throne, carved from teak and used only for the coronation. Most of the remaining contents were reportedly looted by the Khmer Rouge.

* The Royal Residence, another symphony in gold, securely closed to the public behind its lofty iron fence.

* The beautiful Chan Chaya Pavilion, built as a home for the now-disbanded royal dance company, which also serves as an entrance to the palace for official guests.

* The so-called Iron House, built in Egypt in 1866 as accommodation for the French Empress Eugenie for the opening of the Suez Canal, and later given by Napoleon III to the Cambodian king. These days it contains the royal portrait gallery but unfortunately its floors are considered dangerous (rust?) so it is closed to the public.

The palace provides a dramatic demonstration of the wealth and artistic talent of the ancient Angkor Empire that was the forerunner of modern Cambodia, especially when you consider that many of the greatest treasures were destroyed or plundered during the civil war.

The same could be said for the National Museum next door, which contains an incredible collection of Khmer sculpture, dating back nearly 2000 years, much of it salvaged from ancient buildings attacked during the fighting.

These include stunning statues of Shiva and Vishnu, dating back 1500 years to when Hinduism was the dominant religion, some beautiful Buddhas from around the turn of the millennium, and a charming statue of Jayavarman VII, probably the mightiest of the Angkor kings, in a surprisingly humble pose, head bowed in thought.

The serenity and power of these carvings somehow makes the poverty in the streets outside all the more poignant.

Not that all Kampucheans are sunk in a pall of gloom. Indeed, our guide jovially pointed to baskets of crickets, silkworms and spiders on sale in the streets, and explained that the revolution had allowed people to discover new tastes.

"Because we have nothing else to eat we have to learn to like what is there, so we learn to like spiders."

What, someone asked him, did spiders taste like then? "Aaah," he paused to think of the right word, "they taste like crap."

We chuckled, and at just the right moment he added, "You know crap. Freshwater crap. It tastes like that."

There are many positives in modern Cambodia. There has been a gradual improvement in the economy, and there are excellent programmes being offered by non-government organisations.

If you want to help the beggars, rather than giving them money it is better to help an organisation such as Mith Samlanh Friends - whose sponsors include Save the Children New Zealand - which provides programmes for street children.

To get a taste of what the programme offers, try the Friends Restaurant in Phnom Penh, which not only offers great food at amazingly cheap prices but also provides jobs and training for street kids.

The waiters and kitchen workers are all street kids, many of whom go on to good jobs at restaurants when they finish their training, and the kids also produce the pictures on the walls, the menus and the superb cookbooks the restaurant has on sale.

Next door is a shop, Friends 'n' Stuff, selling craft work, paintings, posters and T-shirts made by the kids.

The organisation also runs a fancy French restaurant, Le Cafe de Centre, a manicure service, Nailbar, as well as providing schools, boarding houses, drug and HIV/Aids programmes, sports teams and health advice.

Friends' brightly coloured headquarters in the heart of Phnom Penh might not be as elegant as the National Museum, but its work in building for Cambodia's future is every bit as valuable as conserving what remains of the country's past.

GETTING THERE

Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines flies 19 times weekly out of New Zealand direct to Singapore. From Singapore, passengers can choose from 14 weekly flights to Phnom Penh or from daily flights to Siem Reap on Silkair, the regional airline of Singapore Airlines. For more information on Singapore Airlines services visit www.singaporeair.co.nz

GETTING AROUND

World Expeditions' regular 11-day Best of Laos and Cambodia trips, which start from Luang Prabang, cost $2290 (not including airfares to and from New Zealand, visas and some meals). As well as two days in Phnom Penh, the itinerary includes three days in Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat and the other temples of the Khmer empire, three days in the ancient Lao capital of Luang Prabang, the modern Lao capital of Vientiane and the town of Vang Vieng on the Mekong River.

FURTHER INFORMATION

World Expeditions can be contacted at 0800 350 354 or www.worldexpeditions.co.nz