Cambodia - a Land of Contradictions

Chiang Mai, Thailand

March 27, 2010

Cambodia - History Old and New

Wow, Cambodia! From thousand year old temples to a country relatively fresh out of civil war. From the richness of the culture to the scrabbling poverty.

When we arrived the immigration person waved us all by the immigration check desk but Paul - normally each person has to stand in front of the immigration official and get their passport looked at and a photograph taken. Now Cambodia did have the photo equipment (working?) but the official specifically waved us through but Paul. When the passport person finished stamping all the passports he looked up at Paul and while smiling said what sounded like, "Tip?" very quietly. He repeated it several times while smiling and basically not moving his lips. Try to say, "Tip," without moving your lips - it's a challenge. Paul just kept saying, "What? What?" and shrugging his shoulders. The official finally gave up and waved Paul through.

Cambodia is a country relatively recently out of civil war - 20 years have passed but it's present. From seeing land mine victims to memories shared by people we met. One man we met in Cambodia, my age, said when he was eight the Khmer killed his father and his mother was sent off to the fields to work. He and his brother and sister were put in an orphanage for several years until the Vietnamese kicked out the Khmer when he was reunited with his mother. What a different life I was leading then - going to school, plenty of food, a roof over my head, and a happy family.

The same man also told us that while he had turned in his AK47 and some bullets recently he kept a bunch of bullets just in case. He said guns are easy to get but not the bullets. He went on to say that he has lots of friends who are keeping guns hidden in their homes in attics, behind walls, under floors, etc.. He explained that AK47s from Russia are much better than those from China as they are much lighter. Can't imagine having to know which gun is lighter to carry around!

When we left the country the kids and I got waved straight through customs again and kept Paul behind and this time the official hung on to the passports as he said what sounded like, "Something for me?..." Paul and his magic got us through. Not something you'd find in the U.S. at all - a different culture.

However, 99% of the people we met were sooooo nice! Everyone was so warm, and welcoming - going out of their way to be helpful from drivers, hotel staff and our English guide. We had a great time chatting with a waiter at the hotel. The Internet connection was best in the outdoor restaurant and the waiter was just fascinated by our computer as he had never used one before. So as we worked on the computer we shared how we were calling and emailing home.

Angkor Wat, the mystery and beauty of it and the surrounding temples in the enveloping trees, and the people of Cambodia are an amazing testament to human capabilities, including that in the face of ongoing conflicts, that the temples are still standing (with a few bullets holes here and there) and, after losing half their population - estimates vary from 1 - 3 million people killed in the war, that the people are so kind and welcoming.

We would definitely go back and wish we had planned on staying longer. But we really wanted to go to a elephant conservation area in Thailand that only lets in 25 people a day and they only had one opening that would work for us so today we flew back to Thailand and early tomorrow morning are off to spend the day with elephants.

Much love,

Jackie