A Final Look at Cambodia Today

Although I spent much of my time in Cambodia immersed in the past, I had some opportunities to learn about modern life and the country’s more recent history. About 80% of Cambodia’s population is rural, and I’m glad we had a chance to observe life in the countryside as well as in the city of Siem Reap. Wherever we traveled, we saw a blending of traditional ways and modern technology.   

Transporting baskets outside the city 

The ubiquitous motorbikes in Siem Reap 

Not far from the ruins of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, a group of us visited a family living in a small village. Like most of the houses in the area, their modest home was raised up above ground level because of the frequent floods during the rainy season. The house was sparsely furnished, and it was clear that much of the family’s activities took place out of doors. While the children sat on the floor and crowded around a small computer screen, their mother showed us how to fold banana leaves to hold the dessert she was preparing for our lunch. The family certainly wasn’t affluent, but they served us a very generous (and delicious) multi-course meal. 

Also, about 20 kilometers north of Angkor, we got a glimpse of life in a palm sugar village. All three generations of the extended family we visited were involved in palm sugar production. When we arrived, we noticed a man practically hidden in the fan-shaped leaves at the top of one of the tall trees. He scampered down to greet us, and wielding a scary-looking knife, sliced off pieces of the large round fruit that he had retrieved. Other family members handed us cups of palm juice and small golden disks of palm sugar. The air was filled with smoke from a large vat of palm sap boiling over an open fire. Numerous products made from the sugar palm were displayed at the family’s roadside stand. 

I later learned that the sugar palm (botanical name “borassus flabellifer”) is the national tree of Cambodia. It can reach 25 meters (82 feet) in height. Since ancient times, it has been used by Cambodians for medicinal purposes, and as a building material (the leaves for roofs and the trunks for construction of houses, animal shelters, and boats). Nowadays, it is often used in the production of crafts items, such as boxes, mats and hats. 

Another day, we traveled to Tonle Sap Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, to observe a unique way of life. Approximately 1.5 million Cambodians live in the lake’s 170 floating villages. Their thatched roof houses are supported on hollow bamboo poles. Vuthy told us that the people move from place to place on the lake during the year, using small boats to tow their houses, as the water level rises and falls. 

Tonle Sap Lake gets 70% of its water from the Mekong River and the remainder from rain during the rainy season, which begins in June. On our way to the lake, we drove past many boats left stranded in temporarily desiccated riverbeds. A layer of reddish dust coated the leaves of the trees growing along the roadside. The flat countryside is a rice-growing area, with farmers still using plows pulled by water buffaloes. 

After we transferred from our van to a boat, we made our way to Mechrey, one of the floating villages, and currently home to 281 families. You can see from the photos that nearly all the houses have antennas and we noticed several cell towers on the shore. The children of the village attend a floating school. Other floating structures serve as shops, a beauty salon, etc. Much of the commerce, however, takes place right on the water, with vendors selling fish, fruit, vegetables and other goods from sampans. We stopped briefly to visit one family and to deliver school supplies and clothing. 

Ready to board the boat

Most of the people who live in floating villages rely on fishing for their income, but their lifestyle is becoming increasingly precarious. Although the children attend a floating school, they generally do not get much education. Life expectancy is low compared to the rest of the country. Additionally, the future of the floating villages is in doubt because the government is planning to build a hydroelectric dam nearby. 

I actually enjoyed the relatively few hours we spent right in the city of Siem Reap. With a population of about 140,000 people, it’s quite manageable in size. As the center for tourists visiting the ancient ruins, it’s a lively city offering a wide range of restaurants, hotels and shops. Anywhere I wanted to go was just a cheap (under $3) romork ride away. 

In downtown Siem Reap, we made a morning visit to the Royal Garden and the Preah Ang Chek Preah Ang Chom (aka Sisters) Temple, one of the most popular places of worship for locals. The majority of the Cambodian people practice the Theravada form of Buddhism. Since the shrine is supposed to bring good fortune to newly married couples, we saw many brides and grooms in their wedding finery at the entrance. Vuthy told us that Cambodian weddings are multi-day affairs, with lavish new outfits required for the bride and groom each day. He also mentioned that the people are very superstitious. They believe that Monday is good day for weddings but they generally avoid Tuesdays and routinely consult horoscopes before choosing the wedding date. 

Before we entered the temple, Vuthy gave us a lesson in how to fold lotus flowers. My attempt didn’t turn out too well, but I still placed my offering in a vase near the statues of the two sisters. There was a lot of activity going on both outside and inside the temple, with musicians seated on the floor playing unfamiliar instruments, and individual worshippers were performing devotions. Whenever I look at pictures from the temple, I think of Vuthy’s rules for temple etiquette: no shoes or hats; cover shoulders and knees; and “no bow-wow” – a colorful euphemism for no low-cut tops on women.

Closed lotus flowers for sale

My attempt at folding a lotus flower

In the Sisters Temple

A small shrine in the middle of the road across from the Sisters Temple 

I always try to visit grocery stores when I travel, and I was delighted to discover the two-story Angkor Market, a large, brightly lit superstore that sold a great variety of products, both Asian and Western, all priced in U.S. dollars. It was no surprise to see jasmine soap, pandan tea, and several varieties of rice for sale. But I could hardly believe that Skippy Peanut Butter, SPAM, and Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Pancake Mix were also sitting on the shelves. And I marveled at the selection of fresh fish and seafood, which included whole red snapper, blue lobsters, and horseshoe crabs. Angkor Market turned out to be a great place to find small gift items. 

There were occasional other shopping opportunities in the city, especially for clothing, jewelry and handicrafts at the outdoor Made in Cambodia Market, located alongside the river, and at Angkor Artisans. Angkor Artisans is a self-described “social business” founded in 1992. They train young people from rural areas in the traditional Cambodian arts and crafts in order to prepare them for jobs and to keep the traditional art forms alive. During a visit to their spacious workshop, we observed master artists and young apprentices at work and learned a great deal about stone sculpture, wood sculpture, lacquer work, silk weaving, ceramics, metalwork and painting on silk. It was impossible for me to resist making a few purchases in their shop before I left. You can go to their website to get an idea of the lovely work produced by Angkor Artisans.

Made in Cambodia marketplace at night

Stone carving in Angkor Artisans

As for the food in Cambodia, it was simply marvelous – flavorful, fresh, and somewhat reminiscent of Vietnamese cuisine but perhaps a little more delicate. I’ve already mentioned that I wasn’t fond of the Cambodian rice wine, but the locally brewed beer was a different story. I generally don’t drink any form of beer or ale, but when we went to the Siem Reap Brew Pub for lunch, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try a flight of Cambodian beers for $3. Of the four varieties I sampled, my favorite was the Honey Weiss wheat beer, made from local wild honey. 

Hors d'oeuvres: fried fish cake and fried morning glory

Cambodian version of chicken curry

A refreshing dessert of tropical fruit and grenadine ice

All seemed peaceful in the country now, but I was well aware of the relatively recent genocide that took place here when the Khmer Rouge was in power. In the late 1970s, under Pot Pot, the government set out to impose Mao-style Communism and return Cambodia to a simple agrarian society overnight. To achieve that goal, they forcibly removed all inhabitants from the major cities and sent them out to work in the countryside as slave laborers. From 1975 to 1979, between 1.5 and 2 million Cambodians died from overwork, starvation, execution, and disease. To put that figure into perspective, it translates into nearly a quarter of the country’s population (and almost everyone with any kind of education). The horrors continued until Vietnam invaded Cambodia and chased out Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. In Siem Reap, we visited the Killing Fields Memorial, a complex built to honor the victims of the genocide.

And while Cambodia’s government is now a constitutional monarchy, all is not perfect. Corruption is rampant. Basic rights, such as freedom of speech and freedom of the press, may exist on paper but not in practice. Poverty is widespread. Still, according to Vuthy, many people take out high interest loans to buy TVs and phones, decreasing their chances of improving their economic condition.

Additionally, most Cambodians have limited access to education and medical care. There is a two-tiered system – excellent private schools and hospitals for those few who can pay for them, and inadequate and overcrowded public facilities for everyone else. Government hospitals routinely turn people away and life expectancy is quite low. Vuthy, told us that by the time he was 20 years old, three of his brothers had died from treatable conditions. 

As a teacher, I was distressed to learn about the current state of state-supported education in Cambodia. Class size in the public schools is large (40-50) and the majority of children don’t stay in school very long. Even highly motivated students are often unable to continue their education at the university level since scholarships only cover tuition, not room and board, which can be very expensive in the large cities where the universities are located. 

Teachers don’t receive the resources they need, and they are often forced to do private tutoring after school to supplement their low salaries. Of course, not all families can afford to pay for these private sessions. One of the saddest things I learned from Vuthy is that few Cambodians learn about their country’s glorious past history in school. The government-mandated curriculum focuses on glorifying the current regime. 

Like the others in my group, I wondered why people put up with these appalling conditions. A group discussion yielded some possible explanations. The first reason is fear, i.e. people are afraid to voice complaints or opposition, knowing that the government will not hesitate to silence them. Another reason is Buddhism, which teaches acceptance. As Buddhists, Cambodians believe in karma and reincarnation. In a country where early death is common and there are few opportunities for improving living conditions, it is natural to cling to these beliefs. 

By the time the trip to Vietnam and Cambodia came to end, I was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. I flew back home from Southeast Asia with a much greater appreciation for the privileged life I lead in the United States.