The Kingdom of Cambodia
After our very early morning in Singapore we had a short 1hr 45min flight to Siem Reap. Cambodia is very flat so we could see quite a lot of the countryside coming in. The airport is really small but due to the way they handle things it took forever to naviagate.
First we had to fill out the forms to get our visas. There were 9 people in very fancy uniforms behind the counter and you handed your application, your passport and your $20 visa fee to the first person and they handed it down the row with each person looking at and/or stamping something and then finally the last person called you up to actually get your passport back. Pretty funny.
Next, we stood in the immigration line for over an hour. It was a small flight and 2 people working the desk but they were easily the slowest people on earth. Finally, someone came in and told them to hurry up and opened another line and we actually started moving. We got our taxi driver to take us to a couple of hotels and unfortunately our first 3 choices were sold out so we ended up at the River Star paying an exhoribant $20! The room was sort of dark and just ok but our choices were a bit limited and it was a good location so we went with it.
Our first afternoon we just wandered around the market and streets and took in the sights. Cambodia is one of the poorest nations in the world and after the very recent conflicts they are just slowly starting to recover.
A brief history for everyone unfamiliar. Cambodia was a very prosperous country in the early-mid 19th century which was when the temples of Angkor were built, etc. Even into the early 20th century Phnom Penh, the capital, was called the Paris of the East, etc. However, years of civil war culminated in 1975 with the takeover by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge regime. The Khmer Rouge was vicious and managed to torture and kill between 2 and 3 MILLION people during their 4 year reign of terror. Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1979, ending the Khmer Rouge stronghold but then occupying the country, a few years later and a horrible famine struck killing hundreds of thousands more. Finally, in 1989 things started to turn around although it wasn’t until the early 1990’s that the UN peace treaty was signed. There have been Khmer Rouge uprisings as late as 1997 but things have been calm for a few years now.
The population is made up of mostly children. Almost 40% of the country is under 14years of age. The poverty is difficult to see and understandably, western type services are not quite up to date. However, the people try hard and are very friendly. They will certainly try and scam you in most cases but when you consider their circumstances you can understand their desperation. There appears to be no garbage service we can see and it is quite filthy but we’re really enjoying our time here. Next blog on the amazing sights of Angkor!
Signing off from Siem Reap – J&R
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