Cambodia

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Picture a world where you're peacefully taking a Sunday stroll.

The sun is shining, the birds are singing.

Something awkward is going on. Your life somehow seems a slight bit different to what you left it at a night earlier. You feel as though you were beset by some mysterious spell.

In this new town, any sort of vehicle passing by instantly pulls over and offers you a ride to virtually anywhere for a fixed price of one dollar.

Merchants can't take no for an answer anymore. They find it perfectly normal that you should need a dozen one dollar copies of the same guide book (one in every language on offer, that is).

Moreover, the added value of the bamboo flutes to your life is substantialy clearer to them than it is to you, sometimes leading you into very heated debates.

Just about anything you accidentally set your eyes upon in the street is suddenly for sale, and incredibly enough, almost alway at the same price... Take a wild guess.

Does this feel like you've landed in a Smirnoff commercial?

Nope.

You've just set foot into Cambodia. The biggest one dollar store in the world.

I'm ready to bet there are more one dollar bills in circulation in this country than in the state of Wyoming.

I got here from Thailand after a whooping 33 hour ride from hell. I had been warned about the trip so I came mentally prepared to be in pain.

The first thing that struck me as I gazed out of the window of the bus was just how flat this country is. I'd never realized any other place in the world could be as flat as Holland or Florida.

The rice paddies are dried up and covered in dust. Only some small whirlwinds liven up the desolate scenery. It is hard not to notice the devastation caused by the war that has torn the country to shreds under the insane brutality of Polpot's reign of terror.

Cambodians are coming to terms with their clouded past and seem to be fully geared towards restoring the glory of their Khmer ancestors.

The bloodthirsty Khmer reigned between the 9th and 15th centuries and controlled most of what is currently Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. The centerpiece of their empire was the city of Angkor Wat, which served as their spiritual and administrative capital. On its ruins, huge hordes of contemporary tourists come and pay tribute to what centuries unopposed fascism can accomplish with the benefit of slave labor.









The ruins are really breathtaking and probably one of the rare tourist attraction in the world that is really not overrated. To give it even more perspective, I spent five days in the nearby town of Siem Reap, reading the Buddha's words of wisdom in order to come to grips with the deeper meaning behind the genius of the temples builders. This was quite enlightening I should say.


Skiff on the way to Battambang

Afterwards, I somewhat randomly decided to hop on a boat and head down to Battambang, the second biggest city in Cambodia (i.e. the second biggest collection of interwoven dirt roads in the country). The boat trip was very pleasant and offered some very picturesque sights as it was gliding past heaps of floating villages. The river doesn't lead all the way to town though, so the last two hours of the journey were spent on the back of a 4WD pickup truck stacked with locals and painfully cutting through thick foliage. There I was, riding on the bumpiest trail of the planet, wind in my hair, covered in dust from head to toe and with a thousand flies in my teeth.





Battambang road

The town is fairly nice. What is notable about it is that dodgy blokes hanging out in the shade can diagnose your back pain from a mile distance and are kind enough to offer the services of their sister, who happens to work for the best massage parlour in town.

The bars on the outskirts of the city are operated by local mafia capos who really will not hesitate a split second to shoot you. Widespread use of firearms is still an alarming cause of fatalities in Cambodia, so the use of common sense (which seems to be the less common thing of all) is required when wandering around at night.


cambodians

Cambodia did something strange to me. It set me on a mission of eating just about every form of wildlife found in the jungle.I'd met up with Milo, from Ireland, on the boat and walking back to the hotel we decided to fulfill our curiosity as we walked past a stand selling 5 centimeter long cockroaches.

I refuse to dwell on the topic. They don't taste bad. Period.

The next town on the map was Phnom Penh, the capital city. I've only spent the night there by the river so there's little for me to say about it but Kampot, just a few hours south offers some beautiful colonial architecture. French colonialism left a strong mark on the country. The abandoned luxury resort of Bokor has an eerie glow to it. The Bokor Palace, with its breathtaking view, is a gloomy building that seems to come straight out of Stanley Kubrick's interpretation of "The Shining". You can seriously freak out if you decide on spending the night camping in there.

Kep-sur-mer and the nearby island of Koh Tunsay offer a real break from the tourist "superhighway" that cuts through the country and leads the hordes from Siem Reap to Sianoukville. There is very little tourism here, which is a blessing. Why the place is called Rabbit Island is anyone's best guess (probably the work of Khmer having abused the local brew), but it is definitely a place where you can get stuck, grow a beard and follow Robinson's trail. The three local families living on this tiny stretch of sand are lovely, caring, welcoming, but don't utter a word of English. The sign language you have to use sometimes brings you back to the origins of mankind, and cause great laughter from both parties.

I spent a few days just enjoying the disconnected mode along with six great fellow travellers.

Cambodia really blew me away and I was a bit sad to leave the country yesterday. Its people are really wonderfull, and I hope they'll be able to pull their act together quickly and catch up with their neighbor's standard of living, which would be more then deserved in order to wipe away the suffering caused by the insane Khmer Rouge's genocide.

I'm now wandering around in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. The contrast in scenery between the two countries is puzzling. Where on the Cambodian side of the border there is but dust and dryness, here it is green, luxurious and vegetation surrounded by chaotic activity.

So far Vietnamese are treating us more then well, which is not in line with their reputation for arrogance. I must say I enjoy walking haphazardly down the streets where virtually everyone is saying hello, smiling and where children are eager to shake our hands.

It offers me no futile boost of ego; only a feeling of being welcome in this beautiful country. I'm very grateful for this warm Vietnamese embrace.

I wish the best to you all. Cheers.

Rem.

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