Kampuchea HO!

Well Vietnam was a trip; we didn't want it to end. We came for 4 weeks and stayed for 6---there's just too much to see in one month! But we made it out to a magical land known to the world as Cambodia, which has called itself Kampuchea through centuries of powerful dynasties. It's a land of beautiful beaches and impenetrable jungle, super friendly people and dogs to match, a history of great architectural achievements and unfathomable genocidal horrors, with red-dirt roads and the most intricate temples you could shake a mango at.

Cambodia has been inhabited for over 6000 years, perhaps continuously. Recorded history came with Indian trade in the first few centuries CE, when pre-Cambodian dynasties ruled over the Mekong and were a mighty force of trade between India, China, and Indonesia. As a result of these various influences, the people adapted their early animistic beliefs (ancestor-worship and pan-spiritualism) to include Hindu gods and later Buddhism as well; now all these many beliefs can be seen in the elegantly adorned temples, old and now. The Khmer Empire ruled from the 9th-15th Centuries and constructed some of the world's most amazing temples in their capital, Angkor, which is 57 square miles and supported a population of up to one million people, the world's largest pre-industrial settlement complex. 

Kampot sunset---undoctored photo!

Cambodia's power weakened as Vietnam and Thailand vied for power and land, slowly shrinking their empire until the French came in and dominated the area, which lasted until 1953 when they sought independence under King Sihanouk. That was fine until 17 years later when the military overthrew the king, who then supported the communist Khmer Rouge, who eventually won and set out to make an agrarian society. They systematically murdered anyone who knew anything: politicians, military, lawyers, doctors, nurses, teachers, students, anyone with glasses, anyone with money. They marched everyone out of the cities and forced them to do hard manual labor all day with very little food. Nearly a third of the population died (2 of 7 million) by the end of their 4 year reign. Despite this, Cambodians are cheerful and optimistic people though they're still recovering from it.

Durians in the Kampot market.

So in we waltz with our American dollars dispensed from Cambodian ATMs because the largest denomination is 10,000 reil (for REAL!), about $2.50, prepared to meet some very poor people. Although this is true, there are far more cars on the road than in Vietnam, where everyone is on motorbike (often loaded up with unbelievable stacks of anything: beer cases, tables, bicycles, live pigs). We stayed in Kampot, a beautiful little French colonial town on the river with lovely architecture, very nice people, and a gargantuan sculpture of a spiky durian in the town square. People's knowledge of English here is phenomenal. The market is incredible, with all kinds of fruits I'd never seen, which we tried and loved, and a huge section of living and dead sea monsters, which we eschewed due to the overwhelming aroma.

We met a man named Bun Long and rode in his tuk-tuk, which was actually an elaborate carriage attached to a motorbike, to a series of nearby caves. One of the caves had a Hindu temple in it that was 1300 years old! Outside the cave I climbed to the top of the cliffs using the immense network of gnarly roots clinging to the rocks, all the way to the top where wild monkeys viewed us with curiosity (typical monkey). We climbed deep down into another cave, descending into a hole and sometimes leaping 5 feet down into the darkness. A group of 4 happy-jumpy-singing-dancing fun little local children took us deep down where BATS would swoop past our heads in the darkness and we could play stalactites like a xylophone! To get out we had to wriggle through this tight area, squirming on our stomachs to reach the light again! Our walk down the slope revealed these red ants that made nests by curling leaves into a sphere---crAzy!

The next day we biked the 10km to the Kampot Zoo! This is the 4th zoo we've been to since we got to S.E.Asia and definitely the most intimate, though not the best by any means: the cages were usually quite large but usually cement-floored and lacking branches for monkeys. We got there and saw, sadly, the crocodile's cage was full of styrofoam and plastic bottles, which people carelessly threw in when they were done with them because littering is unquestioningly common here. The orangutans were very nice and we fed them mangos and bananas and I laid down, not feeling tip-top, and watched them play with the palm fronds Sarah gave them for an hour. This zoo also had a binturong, like the one I held in Bangkok (see first blog entry), and it ate my banana whole---peel and all.

We meandered through the zoo and found a playful leopard that would roll around and bat things with its legs like a house-cat (but with HUGE claws!). We both petted it (and we petted a shArk in Vietnam!). Then an escaped monkey wanted to eat all my fruit and I had to fend it off with a rock, which I would display to him, eliciting a sudden look of unabashed astonishment every time. The tiger roared though and scared the monkey away as a bunch of Cambodian kids ran screaming (I wonder what they did to it---probably something though). The last animal we saw was a huge, very nice cage set up in pristine replication of the natural habitat of a litter of puppies: doghouse and all. Then we gave the orangutans some coconuts we found on the ground and biked back home.

After Kampot, we headed to a nearby island, Ko Tonsay (Rabbit Island), for some idyllic beach relaxing. After the disappointment of the overdevelopment of the formerly-untouched Phu Quoc, we had to have our authentic bungalow experience. So we slept right on the beach and hung our hammocks on our little porch under the thatched roof (very necessary as the rainy season is beginning now) and spent our days swimming, reading, and having a merry time. We've found an inverse relationship between the number of people around and the number of people we meet: in a city like Saigon we met no one, on a tiny island like Rabbit Island we met almost everyone. So people would find out we were Americans and we'd cheers over beers Osama bin Ladin's death.

One night a group of people who live in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, came for a work team-building retreat and invited us to their dance party! It was so fun, learning the Cambodian dances and talking with them about Cambodian development, since they work for an NGO (non-governmental organization) that helps farmers develop their land and manage their affairs.

Then we got sick with some weird tropical flu that's going around and have been recovering for the last 5 days with sore muscles, headaches, and many naps. Not so bad on the beach though, with everything we need just a few flips of the flops away. But we're feeling better and area headed to Phnom Penh tomorrow!

(originally written 9 May 2011)

Photographic proof of Cambodian fun: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.904185153725.2398067.18403674&l=25116f3e04