"Cambodia, the Heart of Darknes ..." a Cambodia Travel Page by Rodan44

In four short years from 1975 to 1979, Cambodia was transformed from a relatively peaceful and pleasant kingdom that most people had never heard of into an infamous symbol of death and dispair that sent shudders throughout the world.

During the American-Vietnam war, the U.S. conducted massive bombings throughout eastern Cambodia in an ultimately futile attempt to stop North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops from using Cambodia as an attack route into South Vietnam. The withdrawl of the U.S. from Vietnam marked the beginning of the end for Cambodia. At nearly the same time that the North Vietnamese were marching into Saigon, an even more radical communist army, the Khmer Rouge, were marching into Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia. On orders from the ruthless Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, all inhabitants of the city, as well as those of all other cities in Cambodia, were forced to leave all their worldly possessions behind and march into the countryside to forced labor camps. Those who could not make the arduous journey were either left to die or killed on the spot. Once there, families were permanently separated according to sex and age, and most would never see their loved ones again. Cambodia had effectively become one giant concentration camp from which none of its citizens were spared.

Four years later, when the Vietnamese army finally forced the Khmer Rouge out of power and into hiding, the world got its first glimpse into the horror that Cambodia had become. Two million people, one quarter of the country's total population, were now dead. Virtually all educated people and Buddhist monks had been systematically exterminated, as the Khmer Rouge saw them as a threat to its authority. Extreme malnourishment and hard labor had weakened the survivors to the point where they resembled mere shells of their former selves. There was no longer any economy, as currency was outlawed, all industry had been abandoned, and the Khmer Rouge had siezed ownership of all property. Nothing remained except desperate poverty, hopelessness, and thousands upon thousands of land mines scattered throughout this devastated country.

Cambodia's descent into darkness is made even more incomprehensible when one considers that from the 8th to the 13th century this land was home to the most powerful empire in all of southeast Asia, the Khmer kingdom. At its peak, Khmer power and prosperity was greater than any kingdom of Europe at the time, and its territory encompassed most of present day Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, and Burma. The great Khmer kings were reveared as gods by their subjects, and they commissioned massive stone temples to be built in honor of various Hindu gods, the most spectacular of which were found in their mighty capital of Angkor, near present day Siem Reap. Khmer art and culture flourished during this period. Eventually Khmer power waned in the region, and the increasingly powerful kingdom of Siam routinely invaded and seized Khmer lands, eventually forcing the abandonment of Angkor and establishment of Phnom Penh as the new capital. The great monuments of Angkor were slowly consumed by the jungle and remained hidden from the outside world for centuries, until French colonists uncovered and documented them in the 19th century.

Presently, Cambodia remains one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, almost entirely dependent on foreign aid. Cambodia's current elected leaders are woefully inept and corrupt, running the country more like an authoritarian regime. Though only a bad memory now, the scars left by the Khmer Rouge will remain for generations to come. Despite all this, one of Cambodia's recent success stories and brightest hope for its future is its blossoming tourism industry. The magnificent temple ruins of ancient Angkor have been restored and are now drawing increasing numbers of adventurous foreigners to admire their beauty and grandeur.

Please visit the Cambodia page on my personal website to see many more high quality photos from this destination.