Cambodia affected me in a way no other country ever has. I only knew a few things about its history and culture, mostly from my friend Sokhom, who is Canadian but with Cambodian parents. It wasn’t until this summer that I had a chance to learn a little more of their history, as all I knew was that there was a terrible war and genocide sometime after WWII. And of course, I knew that I had to see Angkor Wat, the ruins of a thousand year old temple, in the running for one of the modern World Wonders.
But that was about it. Coming in from crossing at the border with Thailand, what I found was a beautiful country, on the road to recovery after the ravages of war and a terrible genocide. If you want to learn more about the Pol Pot regime and the Khmer Rouge genocide, read here. I recently learned that Cambodia was not only recovering from the Communist devastation, but also the effects of a government coup in 1970, the Vietnam War, (and the mostly unheard of American bombings of Cambodia in pursuit of North Vietnamese forces who had crossed the border) the previous Japanese occupation until 1945, and the French occupation both before and after the Japanese. Colonialism hadn’t been kind to this little country, though the French occupation arguably prevented Thai and Vietnamese forces from officially overtaking the monarchy. In other words, Cambodia has been in a constant struggle for the past few centuries, caught in the middle of different nations vying for power.
However, you wouldn’t guess Cambodia’s tragic history by chatting for more than thirty seconds to anyone you meet in Cambodia. Allow me to provide an example. Cambodia is desperately dependent on tourism as a source of income right now, therefore the number of tuk tuk drivers and shopkeepers outnumber the tourists who need or want them, especially in the low season. Though the frequent call of “Lady, tuk tuk?” or “Lady, come have a look?” tended to get grating after a while, I knew from experience that the best response is an acknowledgement, a smile, and a “No, thank you.” Well, Cambodia is the first country I’ve ever been in where tuk tuk drivers actually smiled BACK at me and said “okay, thank you!” either out of politeness, or out of genuine thanks for the acknowledgement. This is only one of many examples of kindness and courtesy I experienced during my week in Cambodia.
My first stop in Cambodia was Siem Reap, the cute little tourist town (actually the second largest city in Cambodia, only the ‘tourist triangle’ seems small) built along the river, as the jumping off point for future tomb raiders like myself. I gave myself a couple of days in Siem Reap before seeing the temples, due to weather and recovering from a cold. So, my days were spent wandering the shops and markets, enjoying coffee and Cambodian food at little cafes, and reading up on some of my history. One of my favorite expeditions was to the Angkor National Museum, to see its impressive display of Angkor remnants as well as learn more about the Khmer people, the name Cambodians give themselves. Ankor Wat, and most of Cambodian society prior to the 13th century, was actually a Hindu temple, thanks to influences from India and Sri Lanka, which settled in Cambodia due to sea trading in the early millennium. It was interesting learning more about the ancient Indian mythologies and texts, much of which I learned about when I was traveling in India. I was especially struck by the stone steles engraved in Sanskrit, a testament to how much of the world as we know it today was shaped by so many exchanges of culture and ideas, hundreds of years before our time. After the museum and a quiet evening by the river, I was ready to see the temples.
Angkor Wat day. After asking a tuk tuk driver out of the blue on the street (I tried to find a guy who wasn’t calling out to me) if he could take me for the sunrise the next morning, I found him waiting nice and early for me at 4:45 AM to make the trip, then stay with me for the day. The temples are only about 15 minutes from the city center, and while it’s suggested travelers take a bike out for a pleasant day at the ruins, I would have had no idea where I was going in the dark, and didn’t want to risk missing the sunrise. Instead, my guy took me straight to the ticket booth, where I not only paid my $20 entrance fee, but also had my picture taken and printed off on my own little day pass. After that, it was a few kilometers to the entrance, where I was dropped off and my guy went off to hang out with his tuk tuk friends until I was finished. Hopefully he got some more sleep.
I followed the crowd with their flashlights (smart!) and soon I could see the famous looming five peaks shining against the dark blue sky. I was here. Everyone veered off to the left, to get a view from the pond, which appeared to have magical reflecting power. From there, I spent almost an hour watching the beautiful sunrise through the clouds, illuminating the temple with the moon still shining high above. I was blessed with a beautiful morning, considering it was the rainy season, and was in awe of the magnificence of the temples in person. They didn’t look huge from where I was, but they were certainly majestic, and I couldn’t wait to get closer and explore.
Once I got into the ruin sites, right away I found my favorite part of the whole day: the bas relief carvings that was over 1 km long in total, wrapping around all four sides of the temple and depicting eight different scenes, either from ancient Hindu tales or from the King himself. They were preserved and intact, so well that it was hard to believe they were carved almost a millenium ago.
The rest of the morning was spent climbing – yes, climbing – on ruins, marvelling at the sheer size and structure of the temples. I’m sure in the future people won’t be allowed to actually walk all over the huge blocks, which had been transported from far away for the construction of the temples, but for now it was fun. After Angkor Wat, which actually isn’t that big and you can see all of in a few hours, I also went to Angkor Thom, which is what is left of an ancient walled city, former pride of the Angkor civilization. Inside the walls the traces of a city could still be seen, with toppled over blocks and stones, but the highlight was the Bayon, in the center of the city. The Bayon is famous for its dozens of giant stone faces carved in the temple blocks. Some say the face is the face of the Buddha, some say it is the face of the rather pompous King Jayavarman VII, who built the Bayon. Either way, the faces were a little creepy, but mostly cool. 
Aside from the Bayon, my favorite part of the walled city was just wandering around through the forest, in between crowds of Asian tourists, and stumbling upon my own little pile of stone ruins. I felt like an adventurer who was discovering pieces of the past, bravely venturing where no one had dared to go before…but of course that wasn’t true. I saw some of the famous ruins from Tomb Raider, including the tree that had grown its roots right in the middle of the temple, causing the stone to break. After many hours of wandering, taking pictures, and skirting around tour groups, the rain came just as I was finishing, my cue to head back to Siem Reap. The experience had been fascinating, and far more mind blowing than I was expecting. I concluded that it was the coolest place I had ever seen in my life. 
I left for Phnom Penh that night, and arrived at 7 am the next morning. After immediately checking in to my hostel and taking a much needed shower, I headed to the Vietnamese embassy to drop off my passport in hopes of receiving a visa for Vietnam. I was meeting my friend at 2, so decided to spend my morning at S-21, otherwise known as Tuol Sleng, a former high school that was turned into a communist headquarters which held prisoners until they were taken to the Killing Fields to be executed. Here's where things are going to get a little heavy.
This was not an easy visit. I had immersed myself in an extremely informative book about the Killing Fields the afternoon before, so I knew most of the basic outline of the story. I'm going to throw some history at you here, but I think it's important to know and learn about, much like the importance of studying the Holocaust. Basically, the way I understand it is this: shortly after Cambodia's fairly prosperous decades after liberation from the French in 1953 under King Norodom Sihanouk, things started to go bad when the Vietnam War began spilling over into Cambodia and Laos. Namely, the Americans started secretly bombing Cambodia in hopes to subvert Viet Cong and Northern Vietnamese forces from using Cambodia as their route from north to south. Hundreds of civilians were killed and many villages destroyed in the wake, which Pol Pot and his Communist forces, the Khmer Rouge, used to rally much of the countryside against the National Army and the 'imperialists.' As a result, the Khmer Rouge grew larger and more powerful until they finally reached the city limits of Phnom Penh and 'liberated' the capital on April 17th, 1975.
Thus began a four year reign of terror as civilians were forced out of the city and their homes to be relocated in the countryside and forced to work in labor camps. Families were separated, children parted from their parents, and every day people were taken away from the camps, never to be seen again. Their crimes? Being intellectuals- doctors, professors, engineers, basically anyone who wasn't a farmer and therefore not a member of the 'bourgeoisie.'
That's where Tuol Sleng, or S-21, comes in. Many of the prisoners, who could also be charged with false accusations of being enemies or spies, were incarcerated in S-21, usually to sign a false confession and await their death sentence.The classrooms of the former high school were turned into prisons, torture chambers, and confession rooms. Today the building remain largely unchanged, with traces of bloodstains remaining on the walls and floors. I won't describe any more for you, but just know that, to borrow the phrase of author Edward Gargan, "I left Tuol Sleng shaking."
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| View from Tuol Sleng. |
But as awful as it was to learn about, it was necessary, to understand what happened, to prevent anything like this from ever happening again. I had one more stop to make before I could move on- following the same path as the Khmer Rouge and their victims waiting to die only 35 years earlier, I headed to the Killing Fields from S-21.
To break the tension, I'll throw out that my ride was much more enjoyable than you might imagine, as I was on the back of a friend's zippy little motorbike (sorry Mom) and got to see more of the city and countryside than from a vehicle, plus I saved 6 bucks for not hiring a tuk tuk driver.
The Killing Fields themselves have actually become quite beautiful, with bright green vegetation hiding the once mass graves where hundreds of bodies had been carelessly tossed aside after a brutal beating and execution (bullets cost too much money to kill with).
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| Surrounding countryside of the Killing Fields. |
After a very emotional and powerful morning, I was ready for a break. I headed back to the Vietnamese Embassy to meet my friend and pick up my visa, (all clear for Vietnam!) then told her we needed to just chat about some normal stuff at a cute cafe or something. She followed my request to a T, suggesting a lovely little restaurant near the riverside of Phnom Penh, where street children are trained to work in the service industry, providing them with job and English skills. The food was excellent and the atmosphere light. It was fun to catch up with my friend, who was leaving that night, though I would catch up with her yet again in Vietnam a couple of days later. We said goodbye and I headed back to the hostel for some much needed sleep, but not before watching a little of Tomb Raider to fall asleep to, worried about the effects of the day's events on my dreams.
I woke up refreshed and ready to continue exploring. The next day started off, as every day should, with a lovely cup of coffee along the riverside of Phnom Penh, a very built up/touristy area with nice cafes and restaurants. I had the day to myself, so I took off to explore the city on foot.
I discovered lovely boulevards, shop lined streets, cafes and restaurants, bookstores, etc. All the typical things you'd expect in a city, but of course it is a city that is haunted by its past. It was heartening to see people - not just tourists - sharing a meal or a coffee, going shopping, strolling in the park - and of course, it's been a full generation now, so there are many young people who didn't experience the genocide with their own eyes. I don't know what the best way to move on from something like that is, but I hope the future generations can continue on trying to find their place in the modern world, as offset by the past as they might be.
My time in Cambodia ended the next day, with some time at the museum, hiding out from the rains, reading more history, and trying to process all that I had seen and learned. Again, no other country has affected me like Cambodia has - I have been struck with a fierce desire to continue to learn as much as I can about what happened in this part of the world - from colonialism to imperialism to communism - and hopefully use that knowledge for something in the future, to give back and help in some way. As always, I'm continuing to learn more than I ever imagined out here, and I can't wait for what comes next. More updates from Vietnam, please continue to enjoy your fall.
P.S. In Phnom Penh, I had an interesting coffee date with a girl that I was connected to through a friend from church in Seoul. She is working at an NGO in Phnom Penh that was focuses on preventing human trafficking. She said that there are hundreds of NGOs, nonprofits, and missionary groups/programs in Phnom Penh and Cambodia, and while they're all working to make a difference, it's been difficult to unite together to all work towards something substantial. I asked about the orphanages and service industry training type non-profits, and her opinion was that although, of course, they were helping children and families off the streets, it should be more important to train them for Khmer skills, so that they don't have to depend on tourism to increase the economy. She also told me about more community-oriented programs that focuses on childcare and education for families, so that they can stay together and the children can be provided for by their own families, not orphanages. It was eye opening and insightful to hear about the other side of a city I was enjoying myself in - of course, I'm fully aware that Cambodians don't eat along the riverside at cafes all day - but it's the behind the scenes information that really makes you think twice about what the country is going through. If you'd like to learn more about her organization and some non-profits she recommended I look into for information or prospective volunteer/donation opportunities, here are some links:
Chabdai: Christians Working Together to End Sexual Abuse and Trafficking
A non-profit based in Siem Reap that sponsors a local school and provides skills for street children:
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