Cambodia
After Vietnam we headed west, and into Cambodia.
After Vietnam we headed west, and into Cambodia.One common and extremely irritating fact of life of travelling through Asia is the touts; notably those operating on behalf of hotels and guesthouses.
%%Could not get body element policy for VersionedContentId(1.7367.UNDEFINED)Their prime hunting ground is buses full of travel-weary backpackers whose transport has just pulled into town. Upon disembarking our vehicle - following a journey of some eight hours from Ho Chi Minh City, across the border and into Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital - our introduction into the country was to be greeted by a particularly vociferous group of around 30 men, all vying with one another for our attentions in desperate attempts to persuade us to come and look at their accommodation. As these are invariably the cheapest, nastiest, and inconveniently located establishments on offer – the better places don't tend to resort to such methods of enticement -, it's best to say 'no thank you' once or twice, ignore the incessant sales pitches and questions as to where you're staying, put your head down and force your way through the melee. Having achieved this no small feat, the traveller is free to search for accommodation at their own leisure.
%%Could not get body element policy for VersionedContentId(1.7366.UNDEFINED)Once we had found somewhere, we went for a walk around the city. I tend to prefer to do this before sightseeing or engaging in the activities on offer as I find it to be a quick, effective method of becoming acquainted with new surroundings and people. The first striking thing about Cambodia is its poverty. Vietnam is poor by Western standards but not to the extremes here. It is also moving in the right direction with relatively well established and stable infrastructure, as well as growing industry, commerce and economy. Cambodia has no such cause for optimism. Listed 129 out of 177 nations on the UN's Human Development Index, investment - both foreign and domestic -, is grossly inadequate, as is the abundance of opportunities for which to invest in. Unemployment, homelessness and hunger are commonplace, and this is brutally apparent upon walking around Phnom Penh. Entire families can frequently be seen living in flimsy cardboard structures on sections of pavement amidst rubbish and debris which appears to be very rarely cleaned up. Indeed, in many areas, the streets are filthy, leading to increased cases of sickness and disease amongst those unfortunate enough to live there.
%%Could not get body element policy for VersionedContentId(1.7365.UNDEFINED)Of course, the most distressing aspect of such a situation is the plight of the children, many of whom are orphaned or simply abandoned to the streets. They can be found across the country and are highly visible in tourist areas where they eke out an existence begging and pick-pocketting. Sitting down to a three-course meal can feel like an extremely guilty pleasure when you are being watched by starving little urchins, clothed in dirty rags and literally staring longingly at your food. We prefer to eschew giving them money as to do so encourages a dependence on begging – and they are usually forced to hand over much of the proceeds to local criminals – so we carry around chocolate bars to hand out, which seems to be appreciated.
%%Could not get body element policy for VersionedContentId(1.7364.UNDEFINED)Non-Governmental Organisations are active in Cambodia, but as with everywhere their presence is required, there are not enough of them, much of the work they do is counter-productive and corruption is rife. Government welfare programmes are largely non-existent. Such misery serves as a vivid reminder of just how wealthy British life is when compared with global norms.
One of the most memorably and affecting aspects of this trip to date was a visit to the Killing Fields of Cheung Ek and the Prison Museum. To put these into context, it is first necessary to understand a bit of the recent history of this country. Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge was in power for around three and a half years in the late 1970s, and proved themselves to be one of the most evil, despotic regimes the world has ever seen.
Espousing vague notions of Marxism, their stated aim was to turn Cambodian society into some rural-based collective. What they achieved was a brutal campaign of terror inflicted upon their own population. Citizens were forcibly moved from towns into the countryside where they were overworked in conditions so appalling that death through exhaustion was commonplace. In order to enforce their stronghold on power, any citizens deemed to be of a potential threat to the ruling elite were rounded up, frequently tortured, and then executed.
This was done to search a large proportion of the population as to be perhaps without parallel in world history. When the Khmer Rouge came into power, Cambodia's population was seven million. After less than four years, the regime had killed two million and a further one million had died of starvation or exhaustion. The target was generally the middle class; people wearing glasses were even considered a threat in that they were assumed to be intellectual. The result is now an indelible scar on the nation and an all-too visible generation gap with an obvious lack of people over the age of 40.
The Killing Fields was one of the places where people were executed and then buried in mass graves. Excavation of the bodies took place in the 1980s and there is now a display of the skulls of the victims - around 8,000 of them. The graves are left as they were and there is also a tree with a notice board next to it that reads "Tree where people were hung". Another reads "Tree where children were tortured". The entire site, the skulls especially, is the most awful thing I have ever seen.
From here, we went to the Prison Museum - the prison where people were held before being taken to their execution. As with the Killing Fields, walking around this place where so many people had their humanity so despicably taken from them through torture and sadism, is a very haunting experience. The other thing that will remain with me is thousands of pictures of the individual victims, usually from the shoulder up, upon their arrival at the prison. I spent a long time looking over their faces - some look defiant, some angry, a few hating, a few disgusted, some upset, some mystified, some already beaten, most simply afraid or petrified. Men and women are represented in roughly equal numbers and most people seem to be aged around 18-30. There are also children, some of whom only toddlers. Only 12 people who were put in this prison survived.
We spent one month in Cambodia and, despite the heartache, did have an enormously enjoyable time. The jewel in the country's crown, some would say within the whole of South East Asia, is the temples of Angkor. A sprawling complex of ancient structures some 800 years old, their scale and beauty is breathtaking. Also of note is the beach town of Sihanoukville; one of those picture postcard paradises where the days drift into weeks. There are a number of places that through a captivating atmosphere and natural beauty simply entice the short-term visitor to become a long-term one.
The most remarkable thing about the country is the attitude of its people.
Despite their history and current disadvantages, they carry themselves with their heads held high and a smile on their face. Before we came here, we were led to believe them to be embittered and hostile. In fact the opposite is true and they were incredibly friendly and welcoming - practically everywhere we went they would go out of their way to greet us warmly and insure we were enjoying ourselves in their corner of the world. When the time came, it was with heavy hearts that we left Cambodia behind.
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Friday 03 September 2010
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