Podcasting since 2004; Conversations, conflicts, adventures and monologues from around the world.
Going back a few days, this vlog entry is from my first day in Cambodia. It includes footage from my arrival via Tuc-Tuc, to me Royal Palace visit.
On that note, I’m off to the airport for the long long flight back to Amsterdam. It has been, well, overwhelming to say the least. A fantastic experience that has left me profoundly happy and hungry for more journeys like this one.
He asked me not to blog about our conversations, so I’ll make a decent effort not to. But I can’t help but aknowledge that even out here in Cambodia, I manage to ride around late at night on the back of a motorcycle which belongs to someone I worked with all the way back in New York City. To say the world is small would be an understatement. That’s all I’ll say on that specific case.
Today I had the great pleasure of meeting up with Cambodian bloggers, or cloggers as they affectionately refer to themselves. Took Mr. LEe and I some time to locate the venue, but once there it was a very familiar café atmosphere with wifi. And as luck would have it, not only did I get to sit down with Tharum, the first blogger in Cambodia, but several of his friends and fellow bloggers were there as well. Together with Virak, Kuji, and even this man, we sat and discussed the upcoming Cambodian elections and the lack of a viable opposition party that can defeat the ruling party. I think it was Tharum who said “It used to be that before an election people worried about the stability of the country afterwards, now nobody worries and expects any real change.”
As my new friends explained and become very clear to me, the world of personal publishing and citizenjournalism is quite large in Cambodia. Although outside of a few cities, few people have real internet access, in the places where it is available, many people are writing about different topics, and a surprising many are doing so in English!
As we drank iced tea and ate some cake, I had that feeling that although I’m sitting in Phnom Penh, I could be sitting anywhere in the world, and that indeed these bloggers and I share a common culture, language, and understanding of both the possiblilities and the responsibilities that can come with being our own media, writing our own stories, and just being active players in the growing world of internet communication.
Cambodian bloggers: I didn’t get to meet you all and join the boatride this sunday, but to my new pals who sat with me today, THANKS, and I will be back and we can pick up where we left off.
It is not easy to go to a country like Cambodia and develop an ecotourism project that involves preserving forests while generating income. Many obstacles will appear, not to mention the amount of people who simply don’t believe it can be done right. Katie Matlack has been working on one such project, and on one recent afternoon we sat together in a park in Bangkok, to discuss that project.
We discuss:
Music:
Beep Beep Beep Beep…. no streetlight so my motorcycle driver just noses his way into the intersection in the exact style of every other scooter, SUV, tuk-tuk, rickshaw, and bull-pulled-wagon. I’ve got one hand on my pocket making sure my camera doesn’t come loose, and the other on Mr. Lee’s back, we’re both sweating like crazy in the midday Cambodian sun.
Me: Whats that plume of black smoke coming out of that house Mr. Lee?
Mr. Lee: Oh that house with the smoke, thats, Crematory.. how do you say.. our dead people..
Me: Oh. Crematorium. They’re very busy today.
We zoom past the national museum, where earlier he had brought me to see the many Buddhist statues, I never saw so many arms in my life. To our right are a series of open garages or perhaps storefronts, each spilling out into the street with artwork. They looked like oil paintings.
Mr. Lee: How many languages you speak Mr Mark?
Me: 5. But they are all European. Nothing fun like Thai or Khmer.
Mr. Lee: Wow. I can only do English, Thai, Khmer. Maybe I learn another one.. like Portuguese haha!
I pop out of my evening snack at Friends, the café run by street kids who are taught how to be professional restauranteurs. Some of the finest service I’ve ever known. Mr. Lee is laying back on the saddle of the motorbike, hat tipped over his eyes, the motorcycle guy’s nap pose.
Me: Why do you work as a motorcycle driver?
Mr Lee: I used to have airport job. Everyday had to work, always in the office. No freedom. With motorcycle, I’m free, I can go where I want. But yes.. money is bad.
Me: Freedom, yes, freedom from a job, I look for the same thing.
He drops me off at the lovely guest house I’m staying at. Doesn’t say a word about money, it is very obviously up to me what I should pay. I hand over some american dollar bills and he gives me a smile. Tomorrow, I take you to Killing Fields. Indeed it is what most tourists do in Phnom Penh and it is certainly what I’ve been looking foward to, if one can look foward to walking on the dead. Mr Lee tells me he’s off to have some beers with his uncle. Make nice dreams, he tells me.
Ryanne and her partner Jay have made it their goal to spread the word of videoblogging around the world. Lately that quest has taken them to India, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand. In this program I take some time to talk to Ryanne about the journey and how she see’s the state of video online in relation to south Asia. And of course we’ll talk about the future. (pardon the occasional audio clitch, I liked the interview too much to let that that skype problem stop me)
Her Projects, which you should check out, are:
Ryan is Hungry – on Sustainability and the environment
Ryanedit – personal vlog
ShowInABox – for people wanting to start videoblogs
We Discuss:
– The Journey to south Asia
– Journey to India
– Things in Vietnam and censorship
– Representation of South Asia on the internet
– Function of having people tell their stories online through video
– prospects for the future
I’m still not fully recovered from several days of wedding, but thankfully I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with pioneer videoblogger Ryanne during her travels (with Jay of course) in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand.
Instead of listing the large amount of reasons I recommend her posts, I’ll just say that it is inspiring to see my colleagues in the world of podcasting travelling and speaking to new audiences about what we do and why… and how it can be useful or interesting for them. Furthermore its not about making money or selling a product of any kind… it is about making the big world a more connected place where people communicate and understand more about each other at home and abroad.
Anyway I digress, watch Ryanne’s vlog entries during this fantastic journey. I hope one day.. nee.. I promise that one day I too will go to Asia in the same spirit that they have.