I fired my moto driver Nureak at 2 PM. Yes, the one that I thought was so great yesterday. And I was very nice to him even though I just wanted to throw him on the side of the road, steal his moto, and drive away. I guess I just wanted to get back at the hotel safely and I doubt Cambodians would take my side over his. So once I got back to the hotel safely, I told him to fuck off.
All of Siem Reap is extremely rural despite the tourism and that is one of my favorite things about it. I am still not afraid of traveling alone and I don't think the Nureak meant harm. But none of his passes were welcome. He crossed the line completely when he took me to some remote place and suggested that I try driving the moto there. Well, I've wanted to drive the moto but that was all I'd agreed to. He kept saying he loved me so much and started touching me. It made me feel so sick. And goddamn, since we were off somewhere remote, there was nowhere to go. I couldn't throw him off the moto or beat him up. So I firmly let him know that was not okay but kept my cool. To be honest, I wanted to make sure I could go back to the hotel safely.
I think that was the best choice.
I understand that there is always going to be staring, cat-calls, and unwanted attention. What I cannot tolerate is unwanted physical harassment. I do not, do not, do not want to be touched at all.
It's making me feel so disoriented and angry. I am getting out of Siem Reap 6:45 AM tomorrow morning. To be honest, this leaves a very unfortunate stain on my experience of Cambodia but I am not worried about the rest of my travels and I am still very positive about this summer. I still have faith that there are good people out there and that there are great rewards of being a lone female traveler in the world.
This article was a big encouragement for me to read. And it really comforts me to know that there are many people at home who love and care about me very much. I miss you all especially a lot today.
P.S. Why is it so useless to be American? Visas are harder to get than when I used to be Korean and the visas actually cost more. And the U.S. embassy has no resources addressing events like this. The Australian embassy has extensive information dedicated to women travelers.
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2 comments:
sewon i am so proud of you for being a brave and strong lady! that whole driver incident seems so scary and could have turned out horribly, but you should be confident in yourself since you handled that situation so well! i don't know too many people who have that kind of grace under pressure and can protect themselves when something unexpected and frightening happens!
yes sewon- you are so strong. I am proud that you kept your cool and most importantly kept yourself safe. keep that grace and a strong mind- i miss you!
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