More on Cambodia

Several decades ago Phnom Penh was one of the most cosmopolitan cities in SE Asia, a cultural and commercial epicenter for the region. With the advent of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in the mid-1970s, however, the city was emptied and effectively stagnated for the next several years. Today it shows characteristics of both ages: Wide tree-lined boulevards are crossed by dirt alleys strewn with garbage; the trendy river- and lake-front tourist ares offer an exception to the dilapidated buildings and crumbling walls of much of the rest of the city; and that bottle of water you buy may be from a relatively affluent corner store proprietor or a dirty, ragged small child.

Just south of the city lies the largest killing fields of the Khmer Rouge, a one square kilometer patch of dry brown earth where thousands of political prisoners (read: one-fifth of the population) were removed from trucks and savagely murdered. The ground is pock-marked by giant craters that not too long ago held hundreds of dead and dying women, children, old men, and everyone in between. A four-story monument stands at the center of the compound, silently offering a gruesome reminder of the land's former function: human skulls, piled high and surrounded by shabby torn clothing once worn by their bearers. The site is at once sobering and shocking and maddening and pathetic.

Several hours northwest lies Siem Riep, a dusty but bustling town that serves as the base for exploring the ancient temple complex of Angkor Wat. The ruins are a source of great national pride, and rightly so. Giant temple walls carved with Buddha faces and ornate patterns, tall sandstone spires, and all in the middle of the jungle. This place is deserving of a separate post, so I'll leave it there.

More than any other coutry in SE Asia, I feel like Cambodia is a place that rewards persistent travelling. It is easy to get annoyed by the aggressive (at times disarmingly so) street vendors, and one learns to disregard begging children as a parentally endorsed scam. But with some patience and good humor one finds much more. The population comprises Khmers - dark-skinned ethic descendants of the ancient indigenous tribes - as well as Cambodians of Chinese and other Asian ancestry. Unlike Thailand, Lao, and Vietnam, however, the native tribes are not minorities living in remote villages in the hills, but represent a significant ethic sub-section of the population in the cities as well as the countryside.

I wonder, like in Vietnam, at the welcoming attitude of many locals I meet. Given the region's recent past, I can't help but assume that I would encounter a general disdain for a traveller such as myself, especially representing as I do a country that sponsored much of the conflict in this part of the world.

I wish I had more time to pass in Cambodia. It is so different than the rest of the landmass, in terms of landscape, commercial development, ethinicities, and probably much more that I won't encounter. It is a fascinating place to be winding down my travels, and one that I will be sure to visit again.