Cambopedia

And yet Kevin Sites of the Hot Zone is here and there, doing journalistic reporting on a number of aspects of Cambodian life–from the past to the recent development.

River of Tears

For Cambodia’s fishing families, living on the Mekong River may be rent free, but it still has its costs. PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - When you live on a wooden sampan boat on the Mekong River, the daily hardships of life are sometimes emphasized in cruel and unforgiving ways. Meysma, 25 and a mother of four, was on her family’s boat boiling water to make rice when she turned away for just a moment.

Counterculture

While most Cambodian artists feel compelled by the market to reflect their culture in saleable ways, one is bucking the trend and being rewarded for it. PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - To make a living as a fine artist in Cambodia the choices of subject matter are clear: the temples of Angkor Wat or Buddha. These are what artists must paint, draw or sculpt because that’s what people with disposable incomes, mainly tourists, will buy.

Known to many for its fame in many other things, Battambang also offers beautiful lanscape of life on the river.

When I went to Cambodia last month, I took a boat ride from the temples at Ankor to a little city called Battambang. It was interesting to see the villages, some floating on the river, and the people and how they travel. The boat with all the people was part of a 3 boat caravan apparently going to a wedding. Some people were singing and partying on the first boat. The big tower on the other picture is a contraption used for fishing.

If you are not a first-time traveller to Cambodia, it is no surprise that Cambodian children at tourist sites are able to talk to you in your native language, English, Chinese, French, Thai, Japanese, or even Korean. They, of course, set their sight to learn the languages to make a living, selling souvernir gifts, or even tend to be your guide.

A road too long to education:

In the last few days of our journey, we rode to the south of Cambodia to visit these other orphanage and village school projects coordinated by Thy and other local volunteers. As part-time university students and full time teachers at local schools, these young volunteers in their mid-20s had manage to find 1 hour teaching in the villages every day to help their less fortunate country people…
As a boy growing up in the fields, he had worked very hard, until one day he came first in the whole province in the public examination, and until he speaks English so well he is now a university student of English Literature and the head of an English centre in Sihanoukville.

For few day in Phnom Penh, where are some of the most interesting places to visit? Places to visit may include, if you wish to feel both the past and present of the Cambodian capital, The Killing Fields (Tuol Sleng or S-21 Prison), The National Musuem, the Royal Palace, The Russian Market, and The Royal Palace.

So for the last 2 days i’ve spent the day on the back of a hired moto taxi exploring sights such as S-21, The Killing Fields, The National Musuem, the Royal Palace, The Russian Market and seeing Phnom Penh in general. To give you a general idea, the prices for these rides range from 3USD to 5USD for almost the entire afternoon. You go to the sights while your driver waits outside or if they speak English, for a little more you could get them to ask as sort of a tour guide…
My last stop of today was the Russian Market, I guess something left over from the USSR era when the Russians provided Cambodians lots of aid. Anyway, the Russian Market is massive. You can buy anything from T-shirts, to silk, to jewerly, to toothpaste, to motorcycle parts, dead chickens, and squid. Sort of like an Asian super center Walmart but slightly more dirty and “Asian”. You could easily get lost exploring the place as I did. I ended up coming out on the otherside and had to walk around the entire building ignoring beggers and touts until I found my moto driver. I wasn’t in the mood for buying anything but I managed to buy a couple t-shirts for 1.50USD/each. Not a bad deal and that may have even been too expensive. I am running out of room in my backpack for t-shirts. I need to start throwing some stuff out or sending it back.

Traveling is all about planning. Making a trip to South-East Asia is probably one of the most exciting experiences as within the region visitors will enjoy exploring some of the great places in the world. From Indonesia to Malaysia to Singapore to Thailand to Vietnam to Laos, and of course to Cambodia.

I began my Cambodian vacation in Siem Reap, the town that serves as the launching off spot for the Ankgor temples and ruins. Angkor/Siem Reap is one of the hottest tourist spots in Southeast Asia, and it shows. The central part of town is booming with fancy buildings/bars/restaurants and there seem to be hotels going up all over the place. Siem Reap is a nice town and I wish I had had more time to spend exploring it…
I traveled to the National Museum (which is just fantastic), the palace, riverfront, Wat Phnom, Tuol Sleng, the killing fields, and some markets while I was in Phnom Penh. I had contemplated whether or not to go to Tuol Sleng (the former school where the Khmer Rouge tortured and killed tens of thousands of people) and the killing fields for many reasons – what if it was too overwhelming/overpowering for me? Then afterwards I would have no one to talk to about it (traveling alone) and might have a hard time adjusting. I also could rationalize that since I have studied so much about recent history in Cambodia and Southeast Asia in general that I was already far more well informed than the average tourist and thus didn’t need to see everything to know what happened there. But I realized that I had an obligation to the Cambodian people to see these things.

Commercial flights have been developed in past recent years in South-East Asian countries. Taking flight from Chiang Mai, Thailand to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, is getting easier.
Chiang Mai to Cambodia:

Tomorrow in the wee hours of the morning Christy and I will be catching a flight to Phnom Phen, Cambodia. A country still trying to emerge from it’s history of war and political unrest. A county where in the late 1970’s Pol Pot was the leader and ordered the killing of more then a million of his own people. A country that doesn’t have a single ATM in the entire place. Cambodia will be a challenge for us but I know the chellenge will be worth it to see a land that is still largely untouched.

Cambodia is no Malaysia. What are doing in Cambodia? Do you Khmer/Cambodian food and cheap stuff?

The food is good — I’m eating a lot more haha. 2 servings of rice and being more adventurous than usual with food tasting. Kenny’s tried frogs and god knows what else. I haven’t reached that level yet hah. Loads of pictures to show you all and even more stories to tell…
Oh and all the beef and pork is strangely tough. Don’t know what they feed the cows and pigs here. Scenery on the way from Battambang to Phnom Penh was nice. Loads of nonsense to see. Better than Malaysia hahahaha.

After spending some time in a country travelers have visited, one thing so memorable they bring home is: travel experience. Some travelers describe their trip in their travelogue, the others may capture pictures and video.

Anything goes here in Cambodia, and as long as you keep your eyes and ears wide open, you’re in for a wonderful experience! Cambodia was cut out from the world for far too long and I felt fortunate to be there…
No matter the hardships of travel, as long as there’s a shower and a can of coke, all is not lost. I marvelled at the can of coke which I drank one hot afternoon at a cafe near Angkor Wat. Not that I’m a Coca fan (that’s what people call cola in Cambodia - coca)…

Is it difficult to spell the name of the Cambodian capital city? Would you say this: Phnom Phen or Phnom Penh? Phnom Penh has its history. That is the most interesting thing to read.

The first place we stayed in in Cambodia was it’s capital, Phnom Phen. This city is just overflowing with history, most of which many aren’t even aware of. From 1975-1979 approximately 3 million educated Cambodian people were killed by the Khmer Rouge Regime. Surprising that this could have went on not so long ago and yet not many people even know about it. We went to the Killing Fields where many of the people (women and children included) were taken to be killed and buried in mass graves.

It might be a unique experience to sightsee Battambang town by cycling. For now it is possible. Looking for personal transport as in the Netherlands?

During my visit to Battambang in January, I literally bumped into the half dozen cyclists who were on the first-ever Pepy Ride in Cambodia. They were resting - well, they were actually trying their hand at a cooking class at the Smokin’ Pot restaurant - after many days on the road as part of their five week trip visiting schools and orphanages and spreading the Pepy message, ‘Protect the Earth.