Cambodia showed me a side of Asia I haven't seen yet in either Bangladesh or India: a country still struggling from the very deep scars of a very recent conflict, and yet, undyingly optimistic and hopeful for the future. From the first hour I was there, I was shown hospitality from complete strangers that I haven't seen yet in Asia. I felt so much more welcomed here than I had in either India or Bangladesh (except from people I already knew in those countries, of course). There is a calmness, a peacefulness that the people have here that's hard to capture in words. When I arrived at my first hostel, I was welcomed with open arms, as if we were old, old friends even though we had never met before. On the Mystery Tour, BT talked to the rice farmers as if they were his family, though they didn't know each other at all. I suspect this is the result of two things. First, Cambodia is over 95% Buddhist, which I think hugely contributes to the overall calm demeanor of many of the people I've met here. Second, Cambodia is only now starting to pull itself up after being devastated by a dictatorship and massive genocide. I get the sense that among the people that are still here rebuilding their country, there's a sentiment of "we're all in this together."
The scars of war are in ever direction you look here. In the streets, beggars are missing body parts or horribly disfigured. Many of the most prominent tourist attractions or historic sites are direct reminders of Cambodia's genocide. S-21. The Killing Fields. The War Museum. Just to name the few I actually saw. There's still deep dissatisfaction with the government, though admittedly, a non-genocidal government has to be a step up, right? Protests are a common occurrence here and elections are a joke (Update: a recent op-ed in the New York Times talked about the roots of the current protests in Cambodia).
And yet, Cambodia still felt like the most developed country overall thus far in Asia (a gross generalization, I know, and skewed by the fact that I only went to the two most prominent cities in this country). I got the sense that infrastructural issues were ever-so-slightly less of a problem here. To be clear, they're still a huge problem. Roads are certainly in need of more attention. Traffic is a big problem, though not as bad as elsewhere. If you ever needed medical attention here, I think you'd be pretty hard-pressed to find it. At one point while sitting in a tuk tuk stuck in traffic, I looked over and saw a man sitting on the back of a motorcycle presumably headed to the hospital. He was clutching his foot, which was gushing blood, and clearly in a lot of pain. Motorcycle was the best way to get him to the care he needed.
In some senses, it does feel like stepping back in time a bit, though that paradigm is probably less specific to Cambodia and more broadly applicable to the differences between America and many parts of Asia overall. Many people subsist off of what they can grow or catch for the day. Villages do very much feel like little communities that rely on each other to make it through the hard times.
The biggest takeaway, though, is that people seem happy. It would be very easy to understand if there was a sense of depression or hopelessness given this country's past, but that's not what I saw. This country is proud of it's history, both the recent and the distant past. Some of the most beautiful, awe-inspiring man-made structures and naturally beautiful places in the world can be found in Cambodia. And some of the most devastating historic artifacts are here as well. This is a country that proudly puts it's roots on display, as if to show the rests of the world how resilient a people they are. It's an empowering message.
Cambodia still has a long way to go. There are many segments of this society that are oppressed. The sex trade here is far bigger than I had imagined. The wages in general here are as low as you expect them to be. Tourism is a big part of the economy of the large cities. The unpredictability of the climate and constant thread of floods can cause havoc for farmers, homeowners, and squatters alike. But despite it's ongoing political issues, I get the sense that Cambodians have regained their identity and will fight tooth and nail to keep it.
The scars of war are in ever direction you look here. In the streets, beggars are missing body parts or horribly disfigured. Many of the most prominent tourist attractions or historic sites are direct reminders of Cambodia's genocide. S-21. The Killing Fields. The War Museum. Just to name the few I actually saw. There's still deep dissatisfaction with the government, though admittedly, a non-genocidal government has to be a step up, right? Protests are a common occurrence here and elections are a joke (Update: a recent op-ed in the New York Times talked about the roots of the current protests in Cambodia).
And yet, Cambodia still felt like the most developed country overall thus far in Asia (a gross generalization, I know, and skewed by the fact that I only went to the two most prominent cities in this country). I got the sense that infrastructural issues were ever-so-slightly less of a problem here. To be clear, they're still a huge problem. Roads are certainly in need of more attention. Traffic is a big problem, though not as bad as elsewhere. If you ever needed medical attention here, I think you'd be pretty hard-pressed to find it. At one point while sitting in a tuk tuk stuck in traffic, I looked over and saw a man sitting on the back of a motorcycle presumably headed to the hospital. He was clutching his foot, which was gushing blood, and clearly in a lot of pain. Motorcycle was the best way to get him to the care he needed.
In some senses, it does feel like stepping back in time a bit, though that paradigm is probably less specific to Cambodia and more broadly applicable to the differences between America and many parts of Asia overall. Many people subsist off of what they can grow or catch for the day. Villages do very much feel like little communities that rely on each other to make it through the hard times.
The biggest takeaway, though, is that people seem happy. It would be very easy to understand if there was a sense of depression or hopelessness given this country's past, but that's not what I saw. This country is proud of it's history, both the recent and the distant past. Some of the most beautiful, awe-inspiring man-made structures and naturally beautiful places in the world can be found in Cambodia. And some of the most devastating historic artifacts are here as well. This is a country that proudly puts it's roots on display, as if to show the rests of the world how resilient a people they are. It's an empowering message.
Cambodia still has a long way to go. There are many segments of this society that are oppressed. The sex trade here is far bigger than I had imagined. The wages in general here are as low as you expect them to be. Tourism is a big part of the economy of the large cities. The unpredictability of the climate and constant thread of floods can cause havoc for farmers, homeowners, and squatters alike. But despite it's ongoing political issues, I get the sense that Cambodians have regained their identity and will fight tooth and nail to keep it.
