Cambodia

This blog is long overdue and for that I apologize. I have recounted most of my summer adventures but have yet to recount my experience in Cambodia. Cambodia has been a country that I have been interested in since 2004 when I attended Arkansas Governor’s School. I heard a guest speaker who used to be a child solider under the Pol Pot regime. Her name was Loung Ung, and she has written two books about her experience as a child solider; First They Killed My Father was the book that I chose to read, and highly suggest you give it a read!

Describing this trip will be hard because if you do not have a good grasp on Cambodia’s history, most of the significant cultural sites we visited will not mean too much to you. I will try to give a brief recap of their country’s history, as it is important to why we went.

History

The Khmer Rogue reached Phnom Penh and took power in 1975. The regime led by Pol Pot, changed the official name of the country to Democratic Kampuchea. They immediately evacuated the cities and sent the entire population on forced marches to rural work projects. They attempted to rebuild the country’s agriculture on the model of the 11th century, discarded Western medicine, and destroyed temples, libraries, and anything considered Western. Over a million Cambodians out of a total population of 8 million, died from executions, overwork, starvation and disease. (www.wikipedia.org)

Cambodia used to be a thriving Kingdom in Asia and had the some of the top education and the most beautiful temples in all of Southeast Asia. The country was used as a “neutral” zone for the United States during the Vietnam war, and due to this we invaded and fought on a lot of their land despite not actually being at war with them. Millions of landmines were planted in the countryside, which still remain today, and have become a large problem for the people of Cambodia. Many children think they look like candy or toys and try to pick them up, which you can imagine does not end well. Due to this Cambodia has a large population of amputates. UNICEF has designated that Cambodia is the 3rd most land mined country in the world, and their health care is not of the best quality to deal with all of the ramifications of this statistic. In addition to their facilities not being adequate, 50% of the population is under the age of 20, putting a rather large strain on the adults and elderly to continue working in order to provide for their families. Needless to say Cambodia has more than their share of large problems. Cambodia's monetary system is also a bit messed up due to high inflation of their currency. This problem stems from a corrupt government, banking system, and corrupt police officials. Therefore they actually use U.S. currency over there, which made buying things very convenient for me. There is so much more to their history and I could go on forever, but I don’t want to bore you!

Although Cambodia does have its fair share of problems, the country is BEAUTIFUL and full of a rich culture, amazing people, delicious food, and beautiful temples. I hope you do not get the impression that Cambodia is a desolate country because it is filled with so much hope and a general joy for life. It was a great trip and I highly intend on returning their one day! More than likely to work….

My Trip

I went to Cambodia with a fellow missionary, Christie. Our trip lasted a total of 11 days, and 3 cities; Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Kep. We took off early from Tokyo and flew to Bangkok where we had a layover. We were able to enjoy mango and sticky rice while waiting at the airport for our next flight, very relaxing and gorgeous airport if I do say so myself.



Upon arrival in Cambodia we found our hotel in Phnom Penh for the night. It was rather late when we finally got there so we decided to just stay in the hotel and sleep for the night. The next morning we boarded a bus and headed up to Siem Reap where we would do the temple site seeing tours. The bus ride to Siem Reap was….bumpy to say the least. The road conditions in Cambodia are not the best, although I found the ride to be very fascinating. While driving from one city to another we were able to see a lot of the country side of Cambodia, and to see how people actually live their lives, and what real houses in the majority of the country look like. It was really interesting for me.

Upon arrival in Siem Reap we checked into our hotel, The Kool Hotel. The staff there was absolutely fantastic! We were greeted with cool towels, tea, and a friendly staff member to welcome us and to go over a map of the town. Our rooms were great, clean, and spacious. We had all the accommodations you could ask for. The hotel also had a great place to eat and a pool out back!


The next day in Siem Reap we toured Angkor Wat and many other temples in the general vicinity. They were beautiful! Due to the Khmer Rogue the majority of the Buddha statues were decapitated, which was rather unfortunate. These temples are very old so the mere fact that they are in the decent condition they are in was impressive to me. While touring Angkor Wat, we did hire a tour guide because I was very curious to know the actual history of the temple. Angkor Wat for example for built in the early 12th century for their King Suryavarman. This temple was originally built as a Hindu temple and dedicated to the god Vishnu. Then as the country progressed and changed the temple became a Buddhist temple, which it remains to this day. The temples were beautiful beyond compare and these pictures do not do them justice.















The next day unfortunately I got sick, probably from not being as careful with the water I consumed as I should have been…oh well. So I rested for a day and hung out at the hotel. We also did our fair share of souvenir shopping and I purchased some beautiful paintings, which I think were grossly under priced. But I attribute my shopping there as helping stimulate their economy, so if you think about it, I was really just trying to help them out. (Pretty good justification, right?)

After Siem Reap we boarded yet another bus and headed to Kep via Phnom Penh. This travel was a bit more difficult than we had expected. We were under the impression we could get a bus or a shared taxi…which proved to be false. We had a bit of trouble trying to find a bus going down there. But after awhile of searching and talking with several companies, and consulting my handy dandy Lonely Planet Book we found a bus that had open seats. This bus ride was B-U-M-P-Y and caused my stomach to turn a few times, which is a rather hard thing to do. Granted, we were the last ones to buy tickets so we were seated at the back of the bus which probably didn’t help either.

We did not have accommodations in Kep, which I was a little worried about because I am very much a planner and type A personality so I was a little concerned. However there were two other foreigners on the bus who we quickly befriended and they gave us advice on where to stay and we ended up at a rather nice bungalow! It was great. God was taking care of us! This portion of our trip was rather relaxing, we swam, walked around the island, watched the crab farmers, and overall just relaxed pool side. It was a mini vacation within our larger trip.





After a few days in Kep we ventured back to Phnom Penh. While in Phnom Penh we spent out last 4 days there and toured more of the depressing history of the country. We started our tour by touring the Killing Fields. The Killing Fields was the location where the majority of the people in the city were killed. It was rather depressing; I will include some pictures but am leaving out the more graphic ones as I do not think this forum is the best place to share those images. If you wish to know more about the history of this location, please ask. One things that makes this site so depressing is that the majority of the graves have not been excavated, and therefore during rainy season remains from the graves make their way to the surface. This was a very somber experience for me, one that surpasses all other horrific locations I have been (Nagasaki, concentration camps, etc.)





After touring the Killing Fields we moved to S.21 or Tuol Sleng. This is the former high school in Phnom Penh which was used as a prison/ torture facility before people were moved to the Killing Fields. Yet another sombering experience. Seeing all these places and knowing the history about Cambodia left me with many questions about my life, their history and the state of their country. With the vast majority of their adult population have been killed, they are lacking many educated, doctors and teachers. Without these important people it makes it rather hard to develop a country.




Cambodia was a very eye opening experience, and very humbling. I realized how many things I have taken for granted, and how lucky I am to have what I do. God has blessed me in so many ways I never thought about before. The country of Cambodia is beautiful country, with beautiful people and full of life. Their history would make anyone depressed yet they have tried to move past it and rebuild their country the best way they know how. I could write easily 5 more pages about Cambodia, but considering how long this entry already is, I think I’ll end it here. I highly encourage everyone to research and learn more about Cambodia and learn what you can do to help! If you have any questions regarding my trip or the country, or anything at all PLEASE do not hesitate to ask! I love talking about Cambodia!!!