The dancing road to Cambodia

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Some may think that a 5hr drive in the back of a pick up truck over dusty and bumpy roads is not the best way to arrive in a country. But, for me, the drive through the oh so lush Cambodian countryside to Siam Reap from the Thai border was an amazing way to see rural Cambodia. Later referred to by our local guide as 'the dancing road' because you bounce around so much due to the many, many pot holes.

At the end of that drive you'd be forgiven for thinking that Cambodia is the most idyllic place on earth. Although the rural communities are in no doubt very poor everyone had a smiling face and a welcoming hand to wave. Pigs are ferried around on their backs (apparently this puts them into a state of euphoria) on motorbikes and children swim and splash, seemingly without a care in the world, in rivers near the road.

From this scene you would never guess that Cambodia suffered millions of deaths during the Pol Pot years and that 60,000 people have been injured or killed by landmines. And this is not ancient history, but something that happened during my lifetime.

Landmines are still a huge problem for Cambodia and at the landmine museum you can see first hand the damage they do - several children with missing limbs live there. It's run by an amazing man who was recruited into the Khmer Rouge at age 13 to lay mines. He now devotes his life to removing mines and does this without any safety equipment or specialist tools. Although it costs $5 to lay a mine to remove one costs $500 - many of the mines removed in Cambodia bear the 'made in' stamp of western countries.

Unfortunately, the darker side to Cambodia doesn't end there. Our guide in Phnom Pehn matter-of-factly told us about babies being boiled alive and eaten during the rule of the Khmer Rouge. A bit far fetched you may think, but a visit to Tuol Sleng (the prison the Khmer used in Phnom Pehn) and the mass graves outside the city quickly makes you realise that was just one of many horrors that occurred in Cambodia. The experience was all quite surreal if it hadn't been for the blood still stained on the prison floor and the bones and fragments of cloth under foot at the grave site.

Having said all this Cambodia is an amazing and beautiful country and somewhere that is recovering fast - with a 20% growth in tourism each year. Arrive at Angkor Wat to watch the sun rise and it's easy to see why. The temple is utterly hypnotic and although I was surrounded by Japanese tourists I still felt as though I'd just stepped out of the jungle and discovered it for the first time. Now is the time to visit Cambodia - another few years and I think it will be on its way to becoming like Thailand.

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Photos

Angkor Wat at dawn
Angkor Wat at dawn

Landmine warning
Landmine warning

Just a few of the thousands killed
Just a few of the thousands tortured and killed at Tuol Sleng