When You Think of Cambodia

Just what comes to mind?


Well, let's start with the genocide of the Pol Pot Khmer Rouge regime. An unspeakable atrocity, with some 2 million murdered, roughly a third of the population at the time. It wasn't exactly a party for those who survived, either.


Instability followed the 1979 Vietnamese invasion, until the mid 90s, when strongman Hun Sen was able to fully assert control over the political life of this country. So stability is relatively recent. And by and large, it remains something of a backwater, certainly seeming so to me after arriving from go-go sophisticated Saigon.


The visa regime here is liberal to say the least. While the world community has taken Cambodia's stability and development quite seriously, with all sorts of NGOs, volunteers and other do-gooders setting up shop, the fact that pretty much anyone can come and stay, in a country beset by staggering poverty, is basically an invitation for all sorts of nefarious types as well.


It should be obvious that such was not the intention. More than any other place I've visited, Cambodia welcomes outsiders. Other places are like, "Hello, hope you like it and spend some money; enjoy your stay". Cambodia is: "Welcome - come and share this beautiful country with us". Really. It is quite heart-warming. People are genuinely friendly, and between that and the rather large and permanent community of expats, it has been wonderfully easy to meet and make friends.


But I had to get the genocide stuff out of the way first. I visited the infamous S21 interrogation prison, which, most cynically, was a converted secondary school. The same day, I also went to Choeung Ek Memorial, the so-called Killing Fields, which was basically an extermination center. There was a tower with skulls of victims, where you can pay your respects, and around the grounds, there were a series of pits where victims were buried in shallow graves. A few mass graves remain as well. It was eerie and gruesome.


Then I went to the king's palace. Not as spiffy as the one in Thailand, at least it was more cheerful than the genocide stuff.


US dollars are the de facto legal tender in Cambodia, and prices are most reasonable. Phnom Penh has the feel of a provincial capital, with only one mall and no high rises. Filled with classical and neo-classical Khmer architecture, it exudes no small amount of charm.


Cambodia is my last country, before Dubai and America. I'm content to just chill and reflect on an amazing year of travels.