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. 

Cambodia: Stepping Back in Time

While Cambodia shares a border with Vietnam, in many ways it seems to exist in another world. In Vietnam, I sensed a super-charged energy and noticed a distinctly western veneer. Cambodia, on the other hand, had a more easy-going and traditional personality. Keep in mind, of course, that this impression is based solely on the 5 days I spent in the city of Siem Reap, a base for tourists exploring the ancient ruins in the surrounding area.  

There’s a good reason why Cambodia didn’t seem as crowded as Vietnam. Compared to Vietnam’s 97 million people, the population of Cambodia is a mere 16.5 million. The same was true for the traffic. Siem Reap had its share of cars, motorbikes, and romorks (motorcycle-powered rickshaws), but the volume didn’t compare to what I’d experienced in Vietnamese cities. At last, crossing streets wasn’t a panic-inducing exercise. 

Traveling by romork in Siem Reap  

One characteristic Cambodia and Vietnam have in common is the climate. In February, the temperatures are hot and it doesn’t rain. In fact, when our flight from Saigon landed in Siem Reap, the air practically shimmered with the heat as we walked across the tarmac from the aircraft to the terminal.

Thank goodness our hotel, the Treasure Oasis, offered a respite from the blazing mid-day sun.  In addition to an excellent air-conditioning system, the Treasure Oasis offered traditional décor accented with Khmer art and handicrafts, inviting areas to lounge after exhausting hours of sightseeing, and a spacious poolside dining area where we enjoyed selections from the lavish daily breakfast buffet. 

A place to relax in the Treasure Oasis Hotel

Unlike Vietnamese, which uses the familiar Latin alphabet, Khmer (the language of Cambodia) is written in a distinctive script that developed in southern India and Southeast Asia in the 5^th-6^thcenturies CE. Fortunately, many signs and restaurant menus were also written in English because I couldn’t decipher any of the squiggly curlicues. And our Cambodian tour leader, Vuthy, was usually on hand to translate. More and more Cambodians, realizing the importance of tourism to the country’s economy, are starting to learn English. 

Above photos taken in the area near our hotel
(note the Khmer script)

I was eager to come to Cambodia primarily because, over the years, I’d seen visually stunning photos of Angkor Wat, the world’s largest religious monument. However, I had very little familiarity with Cambodian history when I first arrived in Siem Reap. Nearly 2000 years of history was too much to absorb during my five days in Cambodia. So once I returned home, I spent some time going back through travel guides and Vuthy’s handouts, and consulted online resources, in an attempt to make sense of what I’d seen. 

All of the ruins we visited dated back to the era of the Khmer Empire, at one time the dominant kingdom in Southeast Asia. It was consolidated by King Jayavarman II in 802 CE. Jay2 (my nickname for this ruler) established a dynasty and built the city of Angkor as his capital. In fact, Angkor means “capital.” At one time, the city had a population of 1 million people, making it larger than many European cities of the same period. The Khmer rulers commissioned both Hindu and Buddhist temples between the years 800-1200 CE as both religions were practiced during this time. After several centuries of off-and-on warfare against the armies of neighboring Vietnam and Thailand, the Khmer Empire came to an end in 1431. 

We spent much of our time exploring ancient Angkor, an enormous area located about 10-15 minutes north of the modern city of Siem Reap. Today, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a 155 square mile national heritage park.  Archaeological work is still going on and access is tightly controlled by the Cambodian government. Within the park, we visited several sites, including Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm. 

The earliest site we visited, however, was outside the boundaries of the park, about 20 kilometers north of Angkor Wat. Banteay Srei (aka Citadel of Women), which dates back to 967 CE, was not a royal temple; it was built by a counselor to the king. Unlike the temples within the park, this Hindu structure is relatively small in scale. Its towers are dedicated to Vishnu and to Shiva. The bas reliefs tell stories from the Hindu epic poem, the Ramayana. What makes Banteay Srei so remarkable is that nearly every square inch of its pink sandstone surface is covered with amazingly intricate carvings. Since the carving is quite deep, the delicate details retain their sharpness even after 1000 years of weathering. 

The morning we set out for Angkor Wat was hot, as I expected. I was hoping for a blue sky, but a shroud of gray refused to lift. As the distinctive towers came into view through the trees, their edges blurred into the gritty atmosphere. 

Angkor Wat (“wat” means temple complex) was commissioned by the Khmer ruler Suryavarman II in the early 12^thc, at a time when the empire had expanded greatly. The massive sandstone blocks used to construct Angkor Wat were cut from quarries many miles away, and were floated by raft on the canals to the site. It took 30,000-40,000 workers about 37 years to complete the project. In fact, some historians believe that the cost of building the complex led to the decline of Khmer power. 

At the time Angkor Wat was built, Hinduism was the state religion of the empire and Surya2 dedicated the temple to Vishnu. The temple, with its enclosures and towers, is surrounded by an extremely wide hand-dug moat. The design is thought to be a microcosm of the Hindu universe. The temple itself consists of a series of stepped terraces, which form a large pyramid of three levels, each enclosed by a gallery. 

A lot of steep climbing was involved to reach the second and third levels. Carvings, including nearly 2000 apsaras(sculptures of heavenly dancers), decorate the galleries. 

In addition, magnificent bas reliefs, running nearly 2000 feet long, decorate the temple’s exterior walls. They depict scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, two Hindu epic poems. At one time, the major reliefs were covered with gold. 

Towards the end of the 12^thcentury, during the reign of Jayavarman VII, Angkor Wat became a Buddhist temple. Hindu statues were relocated and statues of Buddha were erected. A long period of religious strife that began in the early 13^thcentury may have contributed to the eventual downfall of the Khmer Empire. 

Our group returned to the park one evening at sunset to look out across the moat for a final view of Angkor Wat. There were no spectacular colors in the sky, just a haze that got darker and darker. Dragon flies flitted among the water lilies as we sat sipping Cambodian rice wine (vile tasting stuff) and snacking on roasted peanuts and strips of dried meats (crocodile, water buffalo and snake). 

Angkor Wat (viewed from across the moat at dusk)

Jay7 is often considered the greatest of the Khmer rulers. Peace and prosperity prevailed during his 40-year reign. During that time, a large number of temples, both Hindu and Buddhist, were built throughout Cambodia. Jay7 commissioned the building of the new capital city of Angkor Thom (meaning “great city”), just north of Angkor Wat. 

To enter the city of Angkor Thom, we walked across a causeway lined with 54 carved stone figures. The South Gate is flanked by towers with four faces pointing in each of the cardinal directions. The temple, usually called the Bayon, is located at the exact center within Angkor Thom. 

The Bayon was originally a Buddhist temple, and its nearly fifty stone towers were carved with monumental faces of the Buddha. The gold-plating on the towers has worn off, but the faces are impressive nonetheless due to their immense scale. 

Other decorations include several apsaras, i.e. dancing figures. 

In addition, we admired the beautifully carved bas reliefs which depict historical battles as well as scenes of daily life. 

About a hundred years after Angkor Thom was begun, a successor to Jay7 converted the Bayon from Buddhist to Hindu worship, a reflection to the ongoing religious discord in the kingdom. Elements of both faiths are visible today, notably several Hindu lingas (representations of Shiva) and a statue of the Buddha that measures 3.6 meters (nearly 12 feet) in height. 

Ta Prohm is another temple complex completed during Jay7’s ambitious building spree. The king built this sandstone monument, located just east of Angkor Thom, to honor his mother. What makes Ta Prohm so interesting to visit nowadays is that it remains largely unrestored. In other words, it looks much as it did when it was discovered early in the 20^thcentury when the jungle had overtaken the abandoned structures. Walking through the site, we had to climb over piles of rubble and massive tree roots that snake across the ground and up the ruined walls. I learned that some scenes from the 2001 film Tomb Raiders were shot in Ta Prohm. 

From the 13^thcentury onward, the Khmer empire continued to shrink and weaken. By the mid-1800s, the once-glorious empire was just a small Buddhist kingdom whose independence was threatened by neighboring Thailand and Vietnam. In 1863, France established a protectorate in Cambodia and the country essentially became a French colony. The French finally granted Cambodia its independence in 1954. 

I’ll tell you about today's Cambodia as well as the country’s more recent history in my next post.