My trip to Cambodia started with
a face palm moment. I walked up the immigration official in Hyderabad airport.
I handed my passport and my boarding pass and informed him I was going to Phnom
Penh. He drew a blank face and asked me where I was going. I changed my answer
to Cambodia. He still drew a blank face. I "informed" him that it was a country south of Thailand
with on-arrival visa for Indian Citizens.
He said why are you going there? Business? When I said for a tourist visit, he
asked what's even there to see. He was one of the many who asked me this
question.
The first thing
you notice about Cambodia is the heat. You cannot ignore it. The
sun pierces and stings you even when you aren't in its direct sight. I
regretted my jeans jacket which I wore to wade of the plane air-conditioning,
and my jeans and my attire in general. It is
shorts season throughout the year in Cambodia. There are many
things which are alluring about Cambodia. It is dirty, dusty, it rains
without warning, Remork, or more
popularly known as tuk-tuk drivers chase you the moment they see you -
But, the people are the best thing about Cambodia.
Visa System in Cambodia at least
in Phnom Penh airport is so darn weird but not inefficient. Like many Asian
countries, it had its own set of rules which you will be totally unaware thanks
to an ever-present gap in communication.
While I found it extremely easy to get a visa in the airport, I did hear horror
stories from fellow travellers about the process at Thai and Vietnam Borders.
As a general rule, go for e-visa instead
of an on-arrival if you are crossing
borders at these places.
Once you successfully make it
out of the airport and get used to the heat, you will start to notice too many
things at once. Cambodia is an assault to your senses. The sights, smells,
sounds and sensations overpower you. You wish that you had 3 more sets of eyes
just so you get 360 degrees view. In short, it is as vibrant and colourful as
India.
As an Indian, I couldn’t help
but draw comparisons between the two nations. After
all, Cambodians believe that they
are descendants of Indians. It is believed
to formed through the marriage of an Indian Brahman named Kaundinya to a
Naga princess whose father ruled the sunken lands of Kambuja. True to
their origins, Nagas are ever present even till date in most of the buildings
and are a very big part of anything Khmer.
Angkor is nation pride here in
Cambodia. It is also their bread and butter. Angkor and it’s surrounding
temples see about an average of 2-3 million per year. It is the biggest
industry in Siem Reap region, giving employment to most of the local people.
The government takes unabashed advantage of this and promotes till you get
tired of it. From Beer to Flag, you cannot ignore the magnificent Angkor.
But, Cambodia is so much more
than Angkor. I met a lot of travellers who are just in Cambodia for it and scram to neighbouring Thailand or Vietnam.
Cambodia is probably the most ignored destinations after Laos in the South-
East Asian countries. No wonder the immigration official was totally unaware of
its existence. Thailand and Vietnam always manage to steal the thunder in the
region. I was really tempted when one of my friends whose backpacking in the
region wanted me to leave to Cambodia to travel to Vietnam cause he was
insisting it is definitely a better place than Cambodia, or so he heard from
others.
As a person, personal
preferences usually take precedent, but as a traveller,
it is important to have an open mind about few things. Yes, probably sunrise
over Machu Pichu might not equal that of one near my house in New York,
but both evoke different emotions. If one is of grandeur, the other is a sense of belonging. I feel the same about
countries, we might have personal preferences of what we like and dislike but,
each country has its own charm and beauty waiting to be discovered and
explored.
The natural and man-made
diversity in Cambodia is quite extraordinary. One side you have the Angkor, its
transcendence humbles you and the other end you have these endless white sand
beaches which are isolated and gives you enough space for private thoughts and
contemplation.
Cambodia is also plagued by its
past. It wears its scars proudly and shows them to the world so that we learn
from it. In span of 4 years, from 1975 to 1979, it had lost about 25% of its
population. About 1-3 million men, women, and worst of all children (Numbers are
still shaky cause evidence is still being uncovered) perished in hands of Khmer
Rouge. Educated elite, teachers, doctors, lawyers, artists – pretty much everyone
needed to make the country a better place killed in the haze of a mad man, POL
POT. Imagine an entire parents generation more so specifically educated
generation didn’t survive, what kind of world would you be living in?
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