"My First Encounter With Kampuchea..." Cambodia by coceng

I've been to Europe;
I've been to The Middle East...
Isn't it time for me to see a country in Asia (The continent where I live in) ?
So Cambodia, here I come !!

Why Cambodia ?
To see Angkor Wat of course !
That's an easy answer...

I first read about Angkor Wat when I was 13 years old.
In History lesson of course.
I still remember that I felt stupid to memorize of those Angkor Kings' names & their years of reigning Angkor.
Why would I bother ?
I failed in my knowledge of Angkor history in school...
(I was brilliant in Maths though)

Now that I could travel, it's only time would tell when I would be seeing the so-called Angkor Wat.
Bought a guidebook on Cambodia; Not that I would like to see the whole of that country but it'd make a nice read in getting to know the country in some ways.

It was by reading through the pages of this Cambodia guidebook that made me remember something about the country.

I was 15 or so; My sister had a female friend. Her name is Rawiah.
She's from Kampuchea.
We also call this country as Kemboja.
In Malaysia then, we called her & her family as 'refugees'.
The word 'refugees' to us was - People who run away from their own country, normally because of war.
One day Rawiah following my sister back to my house (as they would be going back to school for the afternoon activities later).

I didn't speak a word to her, not even a smile.
It's not nice in those days for a boy to smile to another girl...
Yes, not even to our sisters' friends !
To me, she looked like a Chinese girl.
She's 13 years old but looked like she's 18.
Something about the way she talked made me feel that way...

My mum invited her to have lunch with us & they had a conversation afterwards.
Me, I was just listening to all her stories.
I didn't mutter a word, neither asking any question.

My mum asked her how was life in Kampuchea.
Rawiah said, "It's a hard life !"
She told us that her family was not a poor family but her father had his own business.
They had a good living.
Then, the 'war' came.
Khmer Rouge killed many many many people in Cambodia !
Rawiah & her family had to run...
It was a horrible time for her & her family.
Her father had to melt their gold chains into beads & use these beads to make their escape.
It's a long process for her & her family to finally arrive in Malaysia & settled in Melaka.
They rent a house.
At night, the whole family would sell cloths at the night market.
During the day, her mother would be doing selling cloths from house to house.

Rawiah said thanks to Malaysian goverment, she & her siblings could enrol to the local school...

Half hour conversation ended.
Rawiah & my sister packed their stuffs & rushed back to their school for their afternoon activities.
I remember telling my mum that it was such a sad story...

NOW, Rawiah is married with kids.
They settle here maybe don't ever want to go back to Kampuchea.
She continues with the cloth selling business that her father started.
She has her own house, owns a car.

I told my mum that I would be going to Kampuchea, a few weeks before I started my trip.
My mum retorted back, "Why !? Even Rawiah doesn't want to go back there !"
We both laughed.
I said I wanted to see Angkor Wat; Not exactly to see Rawiah's former country....
My mum just smiled & said, "Don't forget to send a postcard !"

NOW, I am back from Cambodia.
I don't want to see Phnom Penh.
I only went to Siem Reap because I wanted to see Angkor Wat.
Only Angkor Wat & the surrounding temples...
Definitely one of the ancient wonders of this planet !

I came back with lots of photos that would make your eyes go tired in seeing them all (I don't ask you to).
As tired as I was (with a tinkling feeling...) when hopping around these temples !
My mum will be seeing these photos.
Again, it would take her weeks to see them all.
I hope Rawiah will see these photos.
But I doubt these photos would make Rawiah going back to her former country anyway.
I hope my history teacher will also see these photos.
If she's still around ! Ha ! Ha !

No more war whatsoever in Cambodia.
Khmer Rouge is no more.
Polpot is dead !
Although the active landmines are still scattered around in the remote jungle in Cambodia...
Cambodians are happily welcome people from all over the world, to see the heritage that their ancestors left behind.

If there's only ONE reason to come to Cambodia...
Then Angkor Wat is a MUST in everybody's travel list !

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What Do I Think About Cambodia ?

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Remember, I only stayed myself in Siem Reap & seeing the surrounding temples.
In many ways, Cambodia has a similar feel as my country, Malaysia.
The people, the faces, the way of living, the traffics...
It has the atmosphere of Malaysia in the 70's !
I like that.
Very much.

Going out to the countryside, the green paddy fields scenery is so beautiful I could shed a tear or two !
Again, that reminds me of my childhood memories as well.

The water buffaloes, rivers flowing out onto the roads, naked kids running around, bathing themself in the muddy puddles;
People bargaining at the day markets, smell of fish, smell of meat, smell of drainage water (with a bit of urine-smelled as well)...are some scenarios that you could never miss if you go to any countryside in South East Asia !

That's why I will never go to Singapore, they bannished the last village ages ago !

I like Cambodia !
I just avoid meat...
Not that it's not safe but it's not cooked as the way I want it to.

Judging from the big flows of tourists now...
I wonder how Cambodia would look like say in 10 years time.
Maybe it's good for its people but I sure glad that I went to see the temples now.