Cambodia

Well here I am in the fifth and final country of this jaunt round South East Asia, and quite frankly I can't think of a better place to end on: Cambodia has grabbed me and shook me like no other place, and I've fallen for it, completely and utterly.

I'll be blunt: you really must come here.

We (the four remaining: Claire, Karen, Ewan and myself) pitched up in Siem Reap, in the north of the country at 3am. An unpleasant hour, made worse by the fact that from the Thai border, just 150km away, it had taken us 10 hours to reach our destination.

This is definitely not like travelling in Thailand. Our small poxy bus with broken windows pitched up 3 hours late and hobbled for 3 hours over the worst roads I have seen in Asia – muddy and riddled with potholes. Either side of us stretched miles of untamed grass and rice plants; looking at them I couldnt help but wonder if they were riddled with landmines, a serious problem in the Cambodian countryside. Then at 8pm, some important stick between the 2 front wheels broke in half and we grinded to a halt. Stuck in the middle of nowhere in the dark, some people started to complain but the rest of us were in high spirits. Above us stretched a sky of the brightest stars, unpolluted by any light. We sat on the muddy road and chatted to Lee, a young Cambodian guy who was hoping to become a tour guide, but saving the enormous licence fee of US$1,000 was taking time.

The stick was taken 20km away to a nearby village and returned, welded together. We were off again, and as I said, it was the early hours before the hard road was replaced by a less hard bed.

The following day, we fought fatigue to head out to the main, nay the only reason to arrive in Siem Reap at 3 in the morning: the lost city – Angkor Wat, and the surrounding temples, famously one of the great man made wonders of the world.

And they are amazing. Hard to put into words in fact, so I wont waste your time. All I'll say is that one of the best things is that either through resistance or just lack of development, this ancient site has not yet become a DisneyLand Angkor. You dont get coralled into a tourist group and sent round a predetermind route. Instead you pay an entrance fee to the archeological park and then you're free to wander. Inside Angkor Wat itself, a 900 year old building, there are dozens of small passageways, nooks and crannies to explore. And you can do that without any sign saying "staff only" or "do not enter". I felt like a right Indiana Jones!

Elsewhere in Siem Reap we found great food for thought (and some alright food for the stomach too). On Saturday night we went to a concert held by an enigmatic Doctor/celloist called Beat Richner. This Swiss guy has spent the last 3 decades working in the country, even when it was at its worst, opening Children's hospitals that provide free healthcare. To raise money, he performs with his cello every week and in a bizarre mix of Bach and videos showing the treatment of sick children, he asks old tourists for cash and young travellers for blood. The healthcare system is in such dire need and suffering from corruption as well as international ignorance, you can't help but feel the need to help. The next morning I went to the hospital and parted with some of the red stuff, and felt all the better for it.

We also visited the Landmine Museum, also opened by a brave man who spends his days clearing the country of the last of its mines. There seems to be a no-bullshit approach to museums around here: they don't tell you the awful affect of landmines on people, you can see it for yourself in the disabled children, some as young as 7 or 8 walking around the museum and talking to you. We were shown round by a 19 year old guy called Hak who lost his right leg and his 2 siblings when he trod on a landmine. What makes me angry is that even today, over a dozen countries still produce these pathetic excuses for weapons. The USA has a stockpile of over 10 million.

So it's been quite a rollercoaster week so far and a week that has made we really want to a) return and b) do more to help this country. It's been 30 years since the darkest days under Pal Pot and the Khmer Rouge – 2million people died, and yet just 10 years after peace was restored people are moving on. The friendliness, dignity and optimism of all the people we've met is overwhelming considering their lives so far.

We're in the capital Phnom Penh which I'll talk about soon, but until then, come to Cambodia - you really should!

: 05 Sep 2005 16:27 |  Tags: Travel |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem