A trip to the country

Visiting Cambodia broke my heart while amazing me with its ancient splendor. I kept asking myself, “How could such an advanced civilization (way ahead of Europe a thousand years ago) could become so destitute?” The answer became clear when we visited the Killing Fields in Cheung Ek, the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum and Khmer Rouge Prison S-1, where suspected intellectuals and professionals were tortured and hanged by Pol Pot's brutal Khmer Rouge regime. 
 

A former school, with four buildings, served as prison S-21, where 17.000 

intellectuals and well-educated Cambodians were tortured and

hanged by the Khmer Rouge during the 1970s. The balconies had 

electrified barbed wire to prevent prisoners from committing suicide.

Everyone imprisoned at S-21 was photographed. Many Cambodians

from around the country come to identify their next of kin. 

Bou Meng was one of seven surviving prisoners of war captured by the Khmer Rouge.
Of the seven, only two are still alive. Bou autographed a copy of his memoirs for me.

War with its neighbors, occupation by foreigners, civil war and despotic leaderships have all played devastating roles in Cambodia's present circumstances. Phnom Penh is trying hard to recover from the violence that ended as recently as 30 years ago.

Our six-hour drive northwest to Siem Reap, the provincial capital and gateway to the Angkor region, meant we witnessed the country’s poor living conditions in the rural areas up close. Cambodia falls behind its neighbors with inadequate infrastructure and poverty. There is a high infant mortality rate, unemployment and illiteracy. In the rural areas, medical care and electricity are almost non-existent. Cambodia has plenty of natural resources and could catch up with Vietnam in terms of reconstruction and development, but only if they had a willing government.

Despite the deprivation, the temples at Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Benteay Srei (the Woman's Citadel) and hundreds of statues carved from limestone in the 8th-12th Centuries are architectural and artistic marvels. Still standing majestically near Siem Reap, they are a valuable source of tourist income, giving locals a sense of pride and a means to subsist.

More than 2 million visitors come to see the temples and pay $40 each for a pass that is valid for three days. The guides claim the money goes toward restoration, but I did not see much evidence.

Angkor Thom complex has several buildings, 

carved out from limestone during the 10th century.

A boat ride on Ton Le Sap Lake (the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and a vital source of fish) exposed us to a life lived on the water. Hundreds of shacks on bamboo rafts float on the Mekong River and Sap Lake until the rainy season, when they are pulled onto high, dry land to avoid the floods. 

There is a souvenir shop in the middle of the lake where tourists can spend their money on tea, snacks, knickknacks, and snakeskin or crocodile wallets and purses. Small children draped with snakes around their necks pose for pictures and hustle for tips. Four or five crocodiles are held captive in a cage underneath, possibly for food or leather.

Back at Siem Reap, I had the best 90-minute massage (a combination of deep tissue and Thai) at our hotel for the princely sum of $16. There are 200 hotels in Siem Reap, all fully occupied during the dry summer season. There are only two seasons in Cambodia: summer and rainy.

After dinner at a huge restaurant, where we saw some elegant dancers in native costume, many of us went to the open-air night market to hunt for bargains and spend our dollars. I bought a pair of loose, cool black pants with small white elephants on them (they are more like pajama bottoms) and a cotton blouse of $13 after bringing my Turkish bargaining skills into play, of course.

All in all, it was a great, albeit bittersweet, experience.