Cambodia gives you lots of things to process. It reminds me of India, but I think that having experienced a bit more of the world, we are a little more able to make sense of what we're seeing.
Sometimes I am just awed by the beauty here, like at the Ta Phrom and Bayon temples. Then I can suddenly be jolted into present reality, when the lady selling books is holding a sign that says, "I am not asking for your charity, just the opportunity to do business with you", and the man next to her has one saying, "Ï was born in 1972, just before the Pol Pot regime, so I never went to school. Now I have 4 children and I want them to go to school. I can only support them by selling books. So if you have pity, please buy my books."
It is such a contrasting mix. Crowds of kids flock around us wanting food and water. The government spends money making impressive statues and gates, while land mine victims shuffle round on the filthy footpaths trying to sell postcards. Parents sell their teenage daughters to the sex industry, and Asian tourists stay in 5 star hotels (which, coincidentally, discretely offer the sexual services of young, slim Cambodian girls). The markets do a roaring trade in spiders, crickets and water bugs (yes, to eat - they're a much cheaper protein source than meat), and one of humanity's most inspiring temples still has land which needs de-mining around it. Most kids get to go to school, which is quite impressive as 40% of the population is under 15. But they only have school for 2 hours a day - 1 hour of Khmer and 1 hour of English. Some of the Angkor Temples are being restored by foreign countries. And foreign aid is paying for landmines to be removed. But it has taken 9 years and only 8% of land has been cleared.
It's puzzling, tiring, interesting and impossible to judge.
Today we saw the photographs, graves and skulls of thousands of people who were imprisoned, tortured and murdered in the Khmer Rouge genocide. There is not a single family living in Cambodia today who has not lost a member to the crazy Pol Pot regime.
No other country has a history quite the same as Cambodia. And I don't think any other country is facing quite the same problems.
