Sunday 25 August 2013

Cambodia is much more than Angkor Wat

Most tourists fly into Siem Reap, spend a couple of days traipsing round temples of Angkor Wat at the end of which they've seen barely a fraction of what's there, and fly out again to the beaches of Vietnam or the temples of Thailand.

They miss the rest of the country - and they miss meeting some of the bravest, most resourceful people I have ever known. They have had the worst thing happen to them - a third of their population was massacred by the Khmer Rouge. Now they must rebuild their country, beginning with absolutely nothing. And they're doing it - with courage, and humour, and extraordinary generosity.

I have folders and folders of photos, and finding just a few to show you has been almost impossible. But I've found a few, to give you a flavour of how some people live:


These homes on stilts are common all over south-eat Asia. They look flimsy, but keep nasties on the ground and well away from people when they are sleeping, and flood water can run away beneath them when the monsoons come. They also provide shade on the hottest days.

I have no idea what this woman is cooking, but she was having such fun doing it:


Here are children sorting chillies (spare a thought for them, next time you have a curry):


But it's not all work:


There are beaches, and temples, and jungle. The Tonle Sap - the huge lake that covers much of the middle of the country - is stunning beautiful. Rice grows on the flood plain - a sweet green that fills the paddy fields. There are markets - only one or two with trinkets for tourists, for these are markets for local people, with sacks of spices and heaps of rice,

And when the day is done, you can always sit and contemplate the Mekong:


One day ... I'll go back.

13 comments:

  1. Reading you is a wonderful travel experience and such a temptation to up and go! Thank you as always for a gorgeous post.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just lovely, Jo. I have loved your books and the word pictures you create, but the photos add something as well. It's a bit like seeing someone at last you've been talking to but never met. The images are beautiful and startling in their colour. I can well imagine you want to go back. Thank you from me too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're welcome, Val. it is an astonishing country - with wonderful people.

      Delete
  3. Did I tell you we're planning to go there in 2014? My husband finishes grad school in early summer, so we'll go in the second half of the year. There, and Vietnam. Will perhaps pick your brain a bit more closer to the date. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brain-pick away - I can talk about Cambodia for hours!

      Delete
  4. I just love reading your posts. My hubby was in Vietnam, and in spite of the horrors he experienced there, he told me frequently about how beautiful it was there, and how much he admired some of the people. One of our sons did an humanitarian tour in Thailand when he was in the Army, and he loved it there. (In spite of some of the strange foods he ate to keep from offending the locals.)

    I've been somewhat enamored with that part of the world ever since I read Tom Dooley's story as a kid. (He was a doctor and humanitarian.) And now, thanks to you, I'm getting a new peek at Cambodia.

    I bought your book yesterday, and can hardly wait to read it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. what lovely pictures. I liked the one of the monks with their orange robes...so evocative. What a lot of amazing places you have seen!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Carol - those monks were not much more than boys, but oddly timeless.

      Delete
  6. Susan - I don't know why blogger won't let me reply directly to you. Tom Dooley worked mostly in Laos, and his work is truly inspirational - and I'll be blogging about Laos on Thursday.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jo this is like a behind the scenes shot of Cambodia most people will never see. Thank you. Will get there when I can. Love the pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm glad I discovered you, and that you discovered how wonderful Siem Reap is, even outside of the temples. I am a novelist specialising in Cambodia, where I also run a writing workshop for street kids through an educational shelter in Siem Reap called Anjali House. I spend about 2 months a year there, and have found it to be my home away from home. If you're interested about the program or my novels, which are set in modern day Cambodia, you can read more about it all on my face book page, https://www.facebook.com/sueguiney, or my blog, http://sueguineyblog.blogspot.com , or my website, www.sueguiney.com .
    Thanks,

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love your photos much better than the touristy ones. My daughter taught English in a village in Thailand and I love her photos of the children playing and being taught so natural.

    ReplyDelete