Lankar of Callisto

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It was early afternoon when we landed at the Siem Reap airport just north of the capital city. We had to wait in interminable lines to collect our luggage and to go through passport examination and customs inspection. Eventually we emerged under a darkening sky to be greeted by grinning pedicab-drivers who shrilled out the names of hotels, vying with each other for our trade. We selected one cheerful little man from the line who greeted us in a comical mixture of French and Cambodian.

“Bonsoir, lok!”―which meant “good evening, mister”―he called. I think Noel was attracted to him because of his smile, which was gleaming and colorful. I mean that quite literally, by the way, for his teeth were inlaid with gold and plaques of red carnelian. The Cambodian natives, it seems, regard white teeth as bad luck, and while the poor peasants color them by chewing on betel nut, those who can afford to do so have their teeth set with gold fillings or with semiprecious stones like lapis or carnelian, or even with jewels.

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