|
A day trip to Cambodia - one of the 10 poorest nations in the world (you might also know it as Kampuchea). Cambodia is the country that the US were secretly bombing during the Vietnam war, it is right next door. The legacy of this is still very apparent even though we visited the other side of the country.
Never before have I seen so many people missing arms and legs - from the landmines still planted all over the country, also birth defects are common allegedly due to the heavy spraying of agent orange. The Cambodian people could not be blamed for hating westerners.
But it is the complete opposite.....
The people that were involved in the service industries were very nice (and believe me I do not travel 5 star). Cambodia reminded me of the first time I came to Thailand in 1996. The people would stop and stare in wonder - as I walked through the casino every single person stopped and looked at me.
It is no wonder either, the Cambodians as a whole were shorter that the Thais even, as can be seen here.
Cambodian Girls and Conan
You can rest assured that I have been doing my studies and next chance I get I am off to Phnom Pehn, the capital of Cambodia for a month long visit. I have found a gym and have a fair idea of where I will stay.
Cambodia is still a lawless country, pretty much safe only if you are on your toes. Gun ownership is the highest per capita in the world and you can hear gunfire at night regularly. It is dangerous and it is the wild west, or wild south east in this case.
The people are still suffering not only from the US secret war, but more so from their own 'popular' communist leader - Pol Pot, you might know him from such films as 'The Killing Fields'.
Pol Pot killed all intellectuals, including school teachers, those able to speak more than one language, Ethnic Vietnamese and Chinese - in all about 20% or 1.7 million of his own population. He evacuated the cities and forced the Khmer people back into a subsistence peasantry lifestyle.
His military forces were only officially defeated in 1998 when Pol Pot died under house arrest by his own political party after the Vietnamese finally got to the point where something had to be done and they invaded and overthrew this mad man. There are still landmines that the Khmer Rouge laid all over the country too.
The ridiculous thing is that the Khmer Rouge where supported by both the Chinese, the US, and the UN.
It seems the only people standing up and saying that Pol Pot was a horrifying leader was the Punk band The Dead Kennedeys
This had left scaring on the people and the landscape.
This place is so different and I would say 'uncivilised' I cannot wait to go.
UPDATE: I traveled overland by bus to Phnom Pehn, Cambodia
PS This has always been one of my favourite songs by the dead kennedys
|
