Why am I confused? Cambodia is a mixture of royal palaces, pagodas, high rise apartments, and wooden shacks in the capital city. We took over a five hour taxi ride south from Siam Reap to the capital city of Phnom Penh through green rice fields filled with cows, goats, and signs for a cheap German beer called Ganzberg. Our driver stopped halfway in a riverside rest stop and asked if we wanted to see the tarantulas. We thought it would be an outdoor zoo. Nope! A crowd of women in straw hats rushed up to our taxi with straw baskets full of fried tarantulas to eat! Yuk! No thanks! They might be a little crunchy and perhaps poisonous. We took photos instead from our taxi window. No need to buy any spider snacks! Ugh!
Cambodia is full of many other surprises! After our scenic country drive, arriving in the 679-square-foot capital city of Phnom Penh was overwhelming. There were motorcycles, tuk tuks, and fast cars on wide streets along the river in the center of town. Tall modern buildings stood next to traditional wood stores and tiny huts. There are clearly no building codes. This city was founded in 1372 and became the national capital in 1434 following the fall of Angkor. Cambodians speak their own dialect in the capital city. After the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979, the country focused on re-establishing its social systems and creating new ones to protect, educate and nurture all Cambodians. Cambodia has come a long way since then, with considerable progress in education, children's health and access to safe water.
Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s busy capital, sits at the junction of the Mekong and Tonlé Sap rivers. It's also the cultural, commercial, and political center of the country. It is a scenic walk along the riverfront lined with parks, restaurants, and bars overshadowed by an ornate Royal Palace, a Silver Pagoda and the National Museum. There is also a fancy art deco Central Market. However, the country does have its problems. They use American dollars here and a local currency called riel. We received counterfeit six U.S. $100 bills from local ATM's and stores yesterday. The front of the $100 bill looks normal until you turn it over and it has red stripes. We asked our hotel to call the ATM bank and inform them of our issue with the fake money. They said to bring the bills into the bank with our ATM Receipt. Well, this ATM did not give us a receipt. So our hotel manager suggested we go into the bank and ask them to look at the ATM camera. Maybe tomorrow.
In addition to fake money, Cambodia has human rights, environmental, political, and human rights violations. Add to that the low standard of living and lack of freedom of the media. Any attempt to demonstrate is ended quickly by the police. This explains why we got fake money from the local ATM, I guess. Yesterday, we visited the war prison, Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, located in a former schoolhouse where over 20,000 local people were tortured and imprisoned from 1976-1979. Most did not survive. It was sad and disturbing to see how humans can treat each other. Yet, somehow, this city has revived after losing most of its educated population during the Cultural Revolution. They didn't want the city dwellers to return to their villages to tell them what was happening in the city. So they disposed of the population in the capital city of Phnom Peh. We visited the schoolhouse where 20,000 civilians from children to adults were tortured and killed that still has the remains of the playground still standing. The classrooms became prisons and the walls are now lined with last moment photos taken of the civilians from children to the elderly before they were murdered. How can mankind do this to one another? After the fall of the Kmer Rouge in 1979, the country is emerging and finding their way to a new future.
After these two events yesterday, I woke up determined to look for more positive points in this city today. Their brave children are the future of this country. They are required to attend free public schools from age 5 to 15. They happily flash smiles and greet us as we walk by. My heart goes out to them and wish them a bright future. Some children are begging daily in the street with their mothers, but most are dressed in school uniforms as they ride on the back of their parents' motorbikes to school. Over 97% of children are enrolled in primary school–more than ever before. With one third of its citizens under 15 years of age, Cambodia has one of the youngest populations in Southeast Asia. During the pandemic, schools were closed until the end of 2021. Children were reliant on online materials to continue their studies. However, a high proportion of children aged 12 to 18 years old were engaged in work, both in family businesses and elsewhere. Meanwhile, caregivers were able to offer only limited support for their children’s learning. Today’s five million children have enormous potential to become skilled citizens who can guide Cambodia’s future.
Restaurants are reopening in this bustling city that depends on tourists. Even though the nutritional quality of diets consumed by households has yet to recover to its pre-pandemic status., they are back to preparing exotic, asian meals for the tourists. The prices are cheap with cloth table cloths and French wine. My husband and I went to dinner last night in a cafe in the middle of the city. They had a pizza oven and it tasted like it was made in Italy. The pasta, wine, and lemoncello was authentic and it brought back memories of Italy. We started talking to a French couple at the table next to us. They are traveling around Asia from their home in Southern France. We shared family and travel stories about favorite places we have visited. By the time we had lemoncello at the end of the meal, we were talking about our grandchildren. Before they left, they gave us their contact info. and invited us to visit them the next time were are in France. Well, you never know? It could be sooner than later. Another SE Asian connection.
Cambodia is strugling to meet its survival needs across their beautiful country. There are striking differences betwen the rural and urban areas that we saw during our drive across the countryside. The farmers in the rice fields lack access to clean water, sanitation, healthcare and adequate education according to a recent UNESCO Report. Progess after the pandemic is uneven in Cambodia. We walk by young mothers holding children begging in the capital city daily. At nighttime, they are gone and I worry about where they are sleeping. This beautiful country has come a long way, but needs to continue to focus on education, social systems and nurturing their people. It seems confusing now, but I have a strong feeling that the Camobodians will figure it out.
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