Cambodia: country of joy and sadness

It was getting late, a crowd of Japanese tourists got on their white golf carts to get away as fast as possible to the safety of their hotel. The temperature finally began to be tolerable. In just a short moment the darkness fell down completely, like an apple from a tree. Now it was very dark, the lack of public lights allowed to see the stars and even the temple commenced to make very scary noises to create the right atmosphere. Equipped with a headlight, my adventure in Angkor Tom only started.

Having spent some time in Cambodia I had plenty of the time to think about the life and everything. By that moment when I was alone in this temple, a glorious piece of architecture in middle of a forest, I had seen perverse samples of the events connected with Khmer Rouge in Phnom Penh. At that particular moment in Phnom Penh it had hardly moved me; our history lectures, Hitler, and few visits to Oświęcim made me rather detached from all the horrors of this kind. It is probably a natural defense of a human brain.

After that I had spent some days in beautiful and a bit greener rural areas of Battambang. I still have this vivid picture of a woman in her maybe 50s smiling at me with hardly 4-teeth and huge smile while offering me to taste a huge beetle. I didn't refuse, I might have even enjoyed it if so many people weren't laughing at me :-).

But, a week later, under the imaginary shadow of the temple, being impressed by the Khmer civilization living here thousand years ago and imagining this huge city alive, strange sadness suddenly dawned on me. Realizing that this woman probably experienced the Khmer rouge. She must have worked like a slave for years when she was just like 20. Realizing how horrible it is to punish the nation in this way. Just killing all hopes and ideas.

The horrors of concentration camps are for my generation a thing from history books which has never touched us directly, even our grandparents now forgot. Here it's basically still a reality, a freezing reality. How long it might take to recover? In Europe it took several decades but there were "only" the Jews the main target.

In Cambodia it was anyone who thinks. Number of deaths is estimated somewhat in between 1 to 3 million. To put it in context, the population of Cambodia before was around 7 million. Imagine how huge impact on the nation it is to literally exterminate top third of the nation, targeting nation's intelligence and ingenuity.

Cambodia has been taking off since the end of last millennium, GDP has grown annually over 7% with exception of 2009, the year of crisis. Yet, the standard of living is far below the region; even in comparison to its "poor" neighbors, Vietnam and Laos, the difference is significant. And if you happen to travel from Bangkok to Phnom Penh, I guarantee you will be struck.

Single office building is now being erected above Phnom Penh; there is hardly one shopping mall. They have huge problem with infrastructure and currency. Paved roads are seldom and traffic is slow. There is no public transport: no buses in town, no trains at the moment. Yet, you may find two people offering you a moto-ride on each corner of the capital. All that together with incredible heat somehow defines the slow-paced life in the country.

On the other hand, surprisingly Internet infrastructure is exceptional. Internet can be found where there are no roads. There is even quite reliable Wi-Fi on tourist buses. Sometimes, you notice even evidently poorer part of population with Samsung smartphones.

Strong influence of Japan and Korea is immediately obvious. Cars, tractors, and ubiquitous motorbikes are exclusively Toyota, Mitsubishi, and Hyundai. Supermarkets have only imported goods often from Korea, probably often run by Korean owners. There are huge developer project financed by these countries: for example this Korean road of friendship in middle of nowhere.

Many see a potential in the country and I must admit that I haven't encountered as nice people as here anywhere else throughout the SE Asia. That might be a good sign!