Ghosts of the past

Day 138 of the project, 
Krabi, Thailand

When someone brings up Cambodia, the first image that comes to mind is of the Angkor ruins. And rightfully so, as the sites in Angkor National Park are some of the most stunning in the ancient world. Angkor Wat is the most famous, but each site is distinct. My personal favorite was Banteay Srey. Translated to the Citadel of Women, the intricate carvings and pinkish-brown sandstone are absolutely sublime in the late afternoon sunlight.

However, Cambodia's more recent history is darker; its second claim to fame is genocide. Pol Pot came to power in 1975 with the aim of creating a perfect agrarian society. The Khmer Rouge drove everyone into extreme farming labor. Any intellectual--defined as anything from being a professional to wearing glasses--or opponent was arrested, tortured and killed. His regime was eventually pushed out in 1979 after war with the newly established Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It is worth mentioning the US government (along with the UN) recognized and supported the Khmer Rouge because of its opposition to the Vietnamese.

This darkness is clear in present-day Cambodia. There are over 300 sites of torture or mass graves in the country. In Phnom Penh, the most famous is known as the killing fields. No detail is left out in the audio guide. At the end, a memorial with glass walls reveals the bones of 8,000 people executed on site. The collection grows each year after the annual floods unearth new fragments. The experience is graphic, nauseating, enraging and heart-breaking. It must be seen and heard, though comprehension is virtually impossible.

Aside from the monuments, there are subtle yet visible scars on the Khmer society. The population over the age of 40 is noticeably and unnaturally smaller. Cities feel more chaotic than in neighboring Thailand and the infrastructure is straining to keep up with population growth. Land mines in rural areas are a very real and present danger. The riel is so inflated that most people deal in US dollars. There is a perceptible melancholy that seems to be mixed with the urban smog.

It is not all doom and gloom. There is a spark within the generation just coming of age. In recent elections, the early twenty-somethings delivered a bit of a shock by voting in a sizable minority party for the first time in decades. Entrepreneurial Cambodians are finding creative ways to entertain tourists and build businesses. International NGOs are present in large numbers and actively work with locals to improve the quality of life.

While these slivers of hope exist, the jury is still out on Cambodia. Will the country come together and thrive in its expanding tourism industry? Will the newly elected reduce the corruption that hampers growth? It will come down to the people and whether they can rise above their past to build a future.