We are still in Cambodia with the two Canadian girls, Caley and Jenna, who we met up with for a second time in Saigon (Vietnam) after initially meeting them both at Halong Bay.

Cambodia is very different to what we have seen to date. It is certainly the poorest country we have been to so far but the people are very friendly, the sights we have seen have been interesting and enjoyable and the weather has been hot and sunny.

So, what have we done?

Well, as you are aware we arrived in Penom Penh, the capital of Cambodia approximately 10 days ago.

For me, and I think I am correct in saying for Jamie and Jason as well, this part of our trip has been the most emotional so far.

A bit of history first.

The Khmer Rouge was the ruling political party of Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 and they are mainly remembered for the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million people (estimates range from 850,000 to 3 million) under its regime, through execution, starvation and forced labour.

Following their leader Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge imposed an extreme form of social engineering on Cambodian society - a radical form of agrarian communism where the whole population had to work in collective farms or forced labour projects. (Courtesy of www.wikipedia.com)

During our stay in Phnom Penh we went to visit The Killing Fields, a large area of land where millions of people were tortured then killed by the Khmer Rouge.  Along with another visit to the S-21 museum, a former High School converted into a prison under Pol Pot’s regime, the sites we saw and stories we read were simply too emotional to describe and are memories that will live with us for the rest of our lives.

Also in Phnom Penh we spent over 2 hours at one of the local orphanage’s where we played with the children and helped them learn English. For all of us this was the most fulfilling part of the trip so far.  Bringing smiles to all of the faces of the 15 children who stayed there is priceless and so rewarding.

From Phnom Penh we travelled by boat to Siem Reap, the second largest city in Cambodia.  Again the images of such famine, poverty and such desperation for money has made me very depressed at times but simply having a joke with a child and making him smile does ease the pain.

Despite all the apparent problems in the city, the people are very warm, loving and caring.  It is hard for us but so much harder for them.  They have a great community spirit but sadly corruption at the highest level does not allow for much change. 

During our time in Siem Reap we have visited some quite spectacular temples, including the famous Angkor Wat Temple built for King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city.

We also watched the sun set at the Bayon Temple and the sun rise at 5 a.m. at Angkor Wat.  Both very enjoyable, although the clouds could have been a little friendlier for us!

After celebrating Jason’s 25th Birthday this Saturday, we are getting a bus back to Phnom Penh on Monday before flying out to Bangkok on Tuesday.

Take care,

Jay

p.s. A $1 dollar note may buy a rose or a postcard, but putting a smile on a child’s face is priceless.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 31st, 2007 at 9:21 am and is filed under SE Asia, Cambodia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.