| My image of Cambodia was of a recovering country after the long Khmer Rouge Regime, aswell as a rather touristfree location. Well, after these 2 weeks its a more clear picture of what war does to a country and its population (besides the little percentage who profit). You can still imagine the beauty of the people, art and the architecture. | | We started of by arriving in Phnom Penh, which is probably the worst you can do - besides arriving by land from Thailand. You are thrown into the most populated city of this country and see all the poverty just next to the restored Golden Palace. Its a contrast I will keep in mind. We encountered new animals for the first time in the "wild". Elephants walking the streets during rush hour and monkeys walking the electricity wires above the city like lianas.
The street traffic in Phnom Penh is just crazy. Cars, Tuk-tuk's (carts pulled by a moto) Bicycles and overstuffed motos drive, sometimes any side of the road, with confidence, honking the horns all the time and by the "bigger -goes-first" rule. And some weird way that system seems to work. we didn't see any accidents in our time there at all. | |  | Boy selling ONE boat at 5am
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What I found difficult to take was seeing so many people live on a street, and hearing all the stories about street kids who are hooked on sniffing glue and are forced to sell what ever they can to survive, or even worse to please their "employers". That's a reason to try to buy them a bit of food instead of giving these cute faces any money. You also come across many landmine victims, who've lost body parts and are therefore unable to cope except by begging. It's a sad way to live and touched my heart deeply. Unfortunately there is not very much a traveller can do. There are few organisations who try to help disabled people get back to work or try to help the street children of Cambodia. You can try some of these to help and support a good cause:
Seeing Hands massage , teaches blind Cambodians massage skills,
Starfish Bakery Cafe and Casablanca Bookstore in Sihanoukville, helping the streetkids of Cambodia.
And The Cambodia Trust, helping landmine victims get back to work. | | links for Angkor Wat:
our guesthouse in Siem Reap
best travel site for Angkor region (talesofasia.com) |
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