28andChange

Combodia is perhaps the most charming place I’ve visited on my limited tour of Asia. It is also, in many ways, the saddest place I’ve visited:

Charming:

• Lively city life (Phnom Penh)
• Breathtaking beaches (Kep)
• Monumental history (Angkor Wat Temples)
• Warm welcome by beautiful people (all of the above locations).

Sad:

• Killing fields
• Kids with little postcards and charms begging, “Please, buy from me.”
• Kids pointing at the water or snack in your hands asking, “Can I have?”
• Tens of adults on a single corner offering the same service; a cacauphony of “Guide book, sir?” or “Tuk Tuk, Sir” or “Painting, sir?”

What, then, to make of it all?…

I’m no historian

I’m not a historian, and I don’t pretend to fully understand all the intracacies of the genocide in Cambodia’s recent past (or much of anything about its distant past).

That said, from the little I learned, a couple of things are apparant:

• Dividing families and turning a people against itself through extreme violence has to breed insecurity and distrust.

• Eliminating the country’s religous leaders, political leaders, and thought leaders certainly leaves a country searching for identity and direction.

It’s not hard to conclude then that Cambodia’s recent history has set the country back quite a bit.

I’m no expert on developing countries

I’m not an expert on developing countries and do not have much insight into Combodia’s forward progress.

However, my time in Cambodia introduced me to many people dedicated to speeding its development and progress. I fell in with a crew of ex-pats from places like India, France, Britain, and the U.S., who are all working alongside native Cambodians at Non-profits, NGOs, and socially minded for profit businesses.

Again, I can’t speak to the success of these organizations and I have no well-informed stance on the role foreign ex-pats should play in working with native Cambodians to develop the country. Still, this group is clearly a presence in Cambodia, and I must say that their passion to be of service is inspiring.

I do know people

One thing I do know is people, and the people I met in Cambodia left me impressed and hopeful.

The Cambodians

Before arriving in Cambodia, I spent all of 20 hours in Bangkok, which was long enough for me to get hustled into believing that the Grand Palace was closed and my afternoon would be best spent looking at Thai silks and diamonds.

The hospitality and authenticity of the people that I met in Cambodia was a refreshing change of pace.

• Phoe was our Taxi driver while touring the Angkor Wat Temples. Phoe came packed with a cooler of water bottles and an arsenal of stories about various topics like how rice is grown, the importance of education, Cambodians’ perspectives on other Southeast Asian countries, the effects of Khmer Rhouge, and politics in Cambodia today. When we were in the cab class was in session.

• Cambodia Mom as my ex-pat friends affectionately call her does everything from cooking and cleaning to costume design. While I was there, she gave a group of us a course in cooking traditional cambodian dishes like Fish Amok and Green Curry. She was constantly in motion and never stopped smiling. Cambodia mom didn’t do as much talking as Phoe, yet I learned just as much from watching her in action.

The Ex-Pats

Getting to know the ex-pat community in Cambodia was an unexpected blessing. I suppose people who travel to a developing country to live and work, self-select for the qualities that made my new ex-pat friends so endearing.

They were:

• Intelligent
• Adventurous
• Quirky
• Engaged

Parting Shot

I can’t speak to how well or how fast, Cambodia will develop. However, if the quality of the people that I encountered there (natives and ex-pats alike) is any indication, the country is well on its way.

posted: 10 July 3
under: Travel