by Keith Hillman

Created on: May 07, 2010   Last Updated: March 29, 2011

Nothing I’d read or heard could possibly have prepared me for what I was to experience during my visit to Cambodia. Pictures, beautiful as they were, could never have portrayed the sights I was to see. Words no matter how eloquent could ever have described this fascinating and intriguing country or its people, a people who have suffered unspeakable atrocities and came out of a civil war just twelve years ago.

As part of the Angkor Empire from the eleventh century, Cambodia endured sustained attacks from the Vietnamese which ushered in a long period of decline. In 1863 it became part of French Indochina. Following Japanese occupation during World War 11, Cambodia gained independence from France in 1953.

 In April 1975 the communist Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh and evacuated the city. Most of the population was sent into the country to work on the land and in paddy fields, but many were held in prisons by Pol Pot. More than 2 million Cambodians died from execution, forced hardship or starvation under his regime.

In 1978 the Vietnamese drove the Khmer Rouge into the countryside and started a 10 year occupation setting off 13 years of civil war. A UN sponsored election in 1993 calmed things down, but factional fighting in 1997 ended the first coalition government.

The Khmer Rouge surrendered in 1999 and their remaining leaders still await trial for crimes against humanity. Elections in 2003 led to a new coalition government. National elections in July 2008 were relatively peaceful. 

We started our trip in Siem Reap, a bustling city where new hotels and modern shopping malls are springing up all over to cater for their new invaders, tourists! But alongside the world’s banks and glossy apartment blocks sits the old heart of the city with its ancient market and winding river. A walk along its bank and out of the city took me to a barrier which was put in place to hold back the rubbish would otherwise have flowed into the city. And beyond the barrier the banks are lined with shacks which sit above the water on stilts. These are the two faces of Cambodia of today.

But the reason for Siem Reap’s new found popularity starts a couple of kilometres outside of the city in the area known as Angkor.150 years ago the French discovered in the jungle the remains of some the most spectacular buildings on the planet. They uncovered no less than 18 temples and walled townships. The largest of these is Angkor Wat. Built in the 12th century, it

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>