The Deceivers (23 page)

The Frenchman shook his head. “I find it amazing how many ways humans have devised to kill their fellow man. Thank God there are people like you who are willing to go into the danger and defuse it.”

“You can thank the rats and dogs and bees, too.”

“I've heard of dogs being trained to sniff out explosives just as they sniff out drugs, but what's this about rats and bees? The only thing I know about rats is they carry the plague and poor people eat them.”

“The giant pouch rat from Africa gets to the size of a cat, over two feet long including its tail. It's the largest rat in the world. In some countries it's a source of red meat.”

“Are they like little kangaroos with pouches?”

Kirk shook his head. “They have these hamsterlike pouches in their cheeks. They stuff their pouches so full of date palm nuts, they can hardly squeeze through the entrance of their burrows. These rats are intelligent, social animals.” He glanced sideways at the schoolteacher. “Smarter and kinder than some of the two-legged animals I've dealt with.”

“For a certainty. And you use these creatures like dogs to sniff out the land mines?”

“Yes. Like dogs, they have a superior sense of smell. They can be trained reliably with food-reward incentives—you associate the smell of the explosive with a food award like a peanut. And they're typically too small to set off the mines.”

“So how does a rat actually find a mine?”

“We put a bunch of them on long leashes with handlers holding the reins and have them sweep back and forth. The rats will stop and sniff and scratch when they detect a mine. We mark the spot on a grid and come back with a metal detector. Depending on the terrain, sometimes we just run my bulldozer sweeper over. But I won't do that unless I'm sure there are no tank mines in the field.”

“As a teacher, I would be fascinated to know what it takes to train a rat?”

“Rats begin training at the age of five weeks when the kids are weaned from their mothers. A positive reinforcement method known as clicker training is used. When the animal does something right, the trainer clicks a small, handheld noisemaker before giving the rat a piece of banana or peanut as a reward.”

“Like Pavlov's behavioral experiments with dogs.”

“Exactly. Behavioral conditioning. It's similar to how dogs are trained in obedience schools. We also use bees.”

“Bees as in … honeybees?”

“Yes. Bees have a very sophisticated sense of smell. They're cheaper than dogs and rats and I'm tired of losing animals. They have a ninety-eight percent success rate and they can be trained in a few hours. A hive of fifty thousand bees costs less than a hundred dollars. The giant rats cost a couple thousand each. Dogs are much more expensive.”

“Certainly bees can't be trained to locate land mines with peanuts and a clicker noise.”

“No, but they're also conditioned with food. Most land mines leak explosives into the environment and the bees are conditioned to associate the smell of explosives with food. A sugar-water feeder and traces of explosives are set up near a bee colony. As the bees feed, they associate the explosives' odor with the food source and will swarm an area where they detect the explosives. They'll search for hours, or even days, with appropriate reinforcement. Another good thing about them, they also train each other. If multiple hives are needed in a large area, only one hive needs to be trained.”

“All this work, danger, and misery because of war.”

“Not just war. A lot of mines came after the wars and the Khmer Rouge. Even after the Khmer Rouge fell, some of the generals kept their armies and their territories. They laid mines around their gem quarries, valuable timber stands, and munitions dumps to protect them. Drug dealers use minefields to protect their crops and hoards. The bastards who bury these things don't just kill humans, but animals. Work elephants step on them. If they survive, their handlers will outfit them with metal shoes so they can continue working.”

“It's so sad,” the schoolteacher said, shaking his head. “Land mines being planted to protect criminal activities. People hobbling around with feet blown off. Elephants wearing steel shoes so they can continue working on stumps. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and wonder if I am still on the planet I was born on.”

24

“I see Kirk's SUV up ahead,” Chantrea said.

Finally
. I was getting a little paranoid driving in land mine country. The two boys on top of the car had jumped off earlier.

A battered white Land Rover with a faded U.N. insignia was in the clearing along with a truck and trailer. A bulldozer was on the trailer.

“Is that Kirk's SUV?”

“Yes. Something he picked up after it was stolen or maybe abandoned by the U.N. Looks like they're finished.” She pointed to a group of men off to my right down a path cut through the dense growth. “I'll get the lunch I packed out of the back.”

Kirk waved to us as Chantrea parked the car to the left of his Land Rover.

I couldn't help but notice as I got out of the car a small object inside Kirk's vehicle. Crudely wrapped with newspaper and tied with string, it reminded me of wrapping I saw at the Russian Market. Some of the stalls there had boxes full of small relics that were unwrapped and visible to the eye, while other pieces were still wrapped in newspaper. My paranoid brain interpreted the wrapped package as booty from temple looting.

I looked around while I waited for Chantrea to get the food. She had told me the area that Kirk and his men were working on used to be a fertile rice field but abandoned decades ago during the civil war. Several mines had recently been discovered here.

The whole area was overgrown and heavily forested with trees and brush. As I gazed at the dense overgrowth to my left, something caught my eye. The longer I looked the more I was certain it was a temple, hidden behind the growth of the thick brushes and trees.

“Here.” Chantrea handed me a small baguette with slices of spicy chicken and pork wrapped in foil.

“Thanks. Look over there,” I said excitedly, pointing to the area. “I think it's a temple.”

I wondered how many of these treasures were hiding in Cambodia, camouflaged by vegetation and jungle, still undiscovered.

“It is,” she said as she took a bite of her sandwich. “There are thousands of relic sites in Cambodia, most of them covered by jungle or brush just like this one.”

“Makes for open season for looters, doesn't it?”

“Exactly.”

I moved closer to the area to get a better look. “Can we get to it? Has Kirk cleared it for mines?”

“I wouldn't go there even if he did. This area is filled with snakes.”

I stopped in my tracks. She gave the answer so quickly, I wondered whether she was telling me the truth or if there was another reason she didn't want me to see it. My gut feeling said it was the latter but I remembered my guidebook saying that the country had many varieties of poisonous snakes.

“We'll find more accessible temples to look at.”

So far on the trip we hadn't stopped at any.

It occurred to me that Kirk had the perfect job for obtaining and smuggling antiquities. He went to places where no one else did and his missions were not questioned because they were sanctioned by the government. Even better, no one looked over his shoulder since what he was doing was too damn dangerous.

“Let's go talk to Kirk,” she said.

My feelings about Kirk were still mixed. I was definitely attracted to him but he had also lied to me. I was determined to find out what he and his pal Bullock were up to. I was sure he hadn't seen me spying on them at the market, but by now Bullock could have told him he saw me there.

Kirk finished his business with the crew by the time we reached him.

“I see you two made it safely. Enjoy the ride so far?” Kirk directed his question to me with a grin. He had a pistol in a shoulder holster.

“Absolutely. I feel like a real urban adventurer. I've seen lots of rice fields, people, animals … and bad roads.”

“There are worse, believe me. You definitely stay off them at night.”

“Speaking of roads, I think we should head out for Siem Reap now,” Chantrea said, “before it gets too dark.”

“You're right. Let's plan on having a nice Khmer dinner in Siem Reap. On me. I'll follow you two,” Kirk said.

*   *   *

“WE'RE MORE THAN
halfway to Siem Reap,” Chantrea told me when we got back into her car. “It'll still be daylight when we get there. None of us likes to travel rural roads at night. Along with the banditry, there are all kinds of animals, kids, and motos with no lights that pop out in front of you.”

So much for the road trip being safer than flying. Now I was sure it was arranged to keep an eye on me. “I take it we'll go to Angkor Wat tomorrow morning.”

“Actually, I've arranged for both you and Kirk to stay at the site. It's just a few minutes from town.”

I didn't question why we were staying on the temple grounds instead of at a hotel in Siem Reap. Who wouldn't want to stay at one of the most incredible places in the world? But I was curious about the sleeping arrangements.

“Is there a hotel at the site?”

“Only the kind with a canvas ceiling.”

“A tent?”

Chantrea laughed. “We've been experimenting with offering a camping experience to visitors. Many foreigners, especially the Australians and New Zealanders, prefer roughing it. Not exactly luxurious accommodations but you'll have a great view, especially at sunset and sunrise.”

“I'll love it.”

It certainly helped to know the right people. An offer like that didn't come along every day. My father probably would've given his right arm to stay the night at Angkor Wat.

I just hoped the accommodations came with a modern bathroom, a wet bar, and a swimming pool to cool off in after seeing the ruins.

 

U.S. D
EPARTMENT OF
S
TATE

Bureau of Consular Affairs
Washington, D.C. 20520

 

Consular Information Sheet:
CAMBODIA

 

ANGKOR WAT:
The town of Siem Reap and the vicinity of the Angkor Wat temple complex remain officially open to tourists. The Embassy advises U.S. citizens to travel to these locations by air or to exercise caution if traveling by road or boat and to limit their movements to the city of Siem Reap, the main Angkor Wat temple complexes, and the main national auto routes.

25

The ancient temples and ruins of the vast Angkor site, the “Pyramids of Asia,” were located north of the Tonle Sap Lake and Siem Reap, about five miles from the town. We had traveled about two hundred miles north of the capital, most of it with the enormous lake some miles off to the left.

The region—forests and farms—looked pretty much like what I'd seen during the drive from the capital. But nothing prepared me for being waved past the front gate and seeing the ageless edifices of Angkor Wat in the distance, its towers inspired by the shape of the exotic lotus plant.

We arrived at sunset and Chantrea drove me to a spot where I could see the eerie, shadowy temple spires in the fading light. It was magical and otherworldly.

I felt every bit as excited, awed, and mystified as the first time I saw the Sphinx and pyramids outside Cairo.

Chantrea turned me over to Kirk and went off on administration business. She told me she'd take some time tomorrow to show me the complex and suggested I take in the Apsaras performance at the site that evening.

I told her not to bother, that I would rather see them by myself. I didn't tell her I already had a guide in mind.

“We'll have dinner about nine,” Kirk said. “It'll be cooler then.”

That worked out good for me. While Angkor was usually closed after dark, the Apsaras show under lights was scheduled for that evening. I hoped I'd run into Nol's friend, Bourey, when I went over for the show.

Chantrea hadn't been kidding about the tent—that's what was waiting for me at the Angkor site. The actual Angkor conservation park was enormous, miles in every direction. The experimental campsite for tourists wasn't set up next to the temple complex but in a grove of trees several hundred yards away. Strings of bare lightbulbs ran from tree to tree.

A golf cart was parked outside each tent. “For going back and forth,” Kirk said. He showed me a can of mosquito repellant. “The mosquitoes are thirsty at dawn and dusk.”

Five tents, each representing a hotel room I supposed, were lined up in a row. A young couple with backpacks and Aussie accents said hello after they came out of their tent to head for the antiquity site. That's what this tent city was geared for—backpackers, young people who stayed at hostels when they traveled. I was definitely the five-star hotel traveler.

“This is terrific,” Kirk said when he saw the look on my face. “You'll be able to experience the real Cambodia up close. Isn't this much more exciting than staying in a sanitized room in a luxury hotel?” he said, laughing.

“I can't tell you how thrilled I am that I came halfway around the world to camp in a jungle with mosquitoes as roommates. Are there snakes around here?”

Chantrea had assured me there was only a “slight chance” that I'd get bitten by a deadly snake while walking among the ruins at night. After checking my guidebook and discovering that Cambodia wildlife included panthers, tigers, bears, and elephants, along with “numerous poisonous snakes,” her definition of “slight chance” wouldn't make me take a walk by myself at night without a powerful flashlight and some kind of weapon. Too bad I didn't have a gun like the one Kirk carried in a shoulder holster.

“There are snakes everywhere in the world, especially in the tropics. You're much more likely to be annoyed by bugs that—”