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There is a popular book on the backbacker circuit at the moment. Written by an American journo about Phnom Penh during the 1990s, it's subtitle says it's all - Guns, Girls and Ganja.
Although it's nowadays a safer and more accessible place, and has become a popular tourist destination due to the amazing temples at Angkor Wat; it retains it's edge of craziness, and it's history over the last 30 years probably explains a lot - the turbulance in Cambodian politics over this period makes Germany in the 1930s look positively boring in comparison.
We arrived in Cambodia from the slow boats of the Mekong Delta, and a border post so sleepy in the midday sun that they almost forgot to extract a bribe from us for our visas. We then discovered the unsubtle back surgery that is cambodian bus travel, and eventually came into the capital, Phnom Penh. Behind the dust, the pollution, and the garbage in the street, and Phnom Penh is actually revealed as a stunning city. Scores of pagodas, temples and palaces are scattered around, a scenic lake and river give nice sunset settings, and all this combined with the (obligitory in this part of the
world) French colonial infuence. Since the no-go days of the 80s and 90s, a large number or western style bars, restuarants and cafes have sprung up, and there is a real buzz to the place. Cambodian food is an eclectic mix of Thai and Mekong cuisines, but when we discovered a real english made bangers & mash, it had to take a back seat!
The nightlife in Phnom Penh really is something to behold - the mix of ex-pats, backpackers, sex tourists, drug tourists and drop outs make the evenings good for people watching. After some decent comfort food and cold beer, you can snack on a marajiuana pizza, then go to the nightclub, and guess which of the Cambodian girls squeezing your arse are professional whores, and which are keen amateurs. As I said - it's a crazy place!
THe Royal palace complex was huge, and stunningly impressive - where the royal family still lives, and has done so throughout the turbulent last few decades. They were even forced to live off the vegetables grown in the royal garden during the Khmer Rouges' regime. They got off lightly.
We came face to face with the Cambodias tragic past
the next day when we headed out to the Khmer Rouge extermination camp at Choung Ek, and it's grisly excavated mass graves, and tower of skulls. This is where the so called enemies of the Khmere Rouge were put to death. The period between 1975 and 1979 here was probably amongst the most unbelievable in history. Out of a population of 7 million Cambodians, around 2 million died at the hand of Pol Pots regime. This small communist guerilla army, lead by a devout Marxist, and financed by China, overthrew the government (itself a corrupt militart junta that had seized power in 1970), and then set about converting the country back to the Stone Age. Everyone had to leave the towns and cities and work in the fields - there was no concept of time, money, or family. Everyone with an education was murdered. The idea was to create a agragrian society, but with no foreign aid, and engineers, doctors, teachers etc all dead, the crops failed, irrigation failed, and millions starved to death.
Now I knew most of this before I came, but I was hoping, during my trip to the Killing Fields (and also to S-21, the
former school converted into a Khmer Rouge interrogation and torture centre) to try and answer the question WHY. At least with Hitler's holocaust, or Stalin's purges, there was a reason, no matter how abhorrent, that could help you begin to understand the motivation behind these genocides - be it racial hatred, or the paranoid pursuit of power. But with the Khmer Rouge, you're left stumped. I just cant fathom how anybody could think it was a necessary for families to be split up, how the country could be better off without anyone with an education. And all of these atrocities were committed against fellow Khmers (cambodians). It is simply incomprehensible.
Even more tragic for the Cambodian people is the fact that after the Khmer Rouge was toppled from power by the invading Vietnamese in 1979, the leaders slipped away into the jungles, and maintained a quiet, but powerful infulence over Cambodian politics until their peaceful deaths in the late 90s. Quite how they esacped justice is another source of bewilderment to your average Khmer.
And then there's the continuing legacy of 20 years of civil war. Landmines. The most heavily mined country on earth - these horrible little
things are still around, and kill over a 1000 people a year, and maim many more. Every town is full of legless or armless victims, either begging, or selling drinks.
But despite all this tragedy, the Cambodians just cheerfully get on with life - the street kids smile and play the fool, and the street hawkers are friendly, take no for an answer, and wish you a nice day. Without getting all sentimental and mushy eyed, it really is a lesson for those of us in the West who, relatively, have everything we could desire.
There was one guy, who was injured by a landmine 15 years ago, and had hands blown off. He pushes a cart around, and buys and sells second hand books with backpackers. He makes a handfull of dollars on a good day, and has to provide for his family. But he was just cheerfully getting on with it, and was friendly and chatty, and bartered good naturedly for the books I was trying to sell to him. I thought of my nice flat in London, my sports car, my watch and my regular skiing holidays, and I could hardly look the man in the eye
- I was truly humbled.
And so amongst the tragic recent past of Cambodia, it was time to go and see the legacy of a more prosperous time. A surprisingly comfortable bus ride took us to Siem Reap, the gateway to Angkor Wat. From 900-1250AD, the Khmer empire was amongst the largest in the world, and it's capital, Angkor Wat, was the biggest city on earth, with a population of over a million.
There are dozens and dozens of former palaces, monasteries, temples, and all kinds of grand remnants of this incredible lost city. The jungle reclaimed most of the ruins, and it wasnt until the French re-discovered it that it was known to the Western world. During the madness of the 70s and 80s, it was mined heavily, and only in the last 5 years has it really opened up to Western tourists on a grand scale. There are 5* hotels, Japanese bus tours, and thousands of hawkers selling all kinds of rubbish - but Angkor Wat is big enough and majestic enough to rise above them all.
We spent 2 days rushing around the ruins in our hired tuk tuk, from the well preserved spectacular towers of
Angkor Wat itself, to the tumbledown ruins of former majestic temples. The jungle, in the shape of huge trees and their thick roots were penetrating every nook and crany of many of the ruins, and they make for very atmospheric photos - and hence Hollywood comes here to film any "lost city in the jungle" type scene. In one case, a huge tree is growing on the roof of an old palace. It really is quite a remarkable place.
So after a few sweaty days in Cambodia - (it's 40 degrees plus, and humid - the rains are late) it was time for us to move on, and after another hot, dusty, and tortuously bumpy bus ride, we were off back into Thailand.
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phil
non-member comment
nice to see
Hi there,