Hello everyone !!!

A new day, a new country ! :) After leaving the green hills of Thailand, we headed off to our new country : Cambodia.
8 days in and we're already wondering when we will be able to come back. We gradually fell under the spell of the country. We came to see the temples, we want to stay for the people....

Cambodia came as a bit of a shock after Thailand. Much poorer, less infrastructure, mainly a rural economy & population, the differences are instantly visible. Phnom Penh, the capital is buzzing with activity, most houses and buildings are run down, in the streets the traffic is manic and the mopeds unpredictable (going against the traffic is a widely accepted practice !!), markets stands spread onto the roads, crippled beggars & street kids run around trying to get a few pennies from passing tourists. It takes indeed a little time to get used to this colourful city.

But what you instantly notice are the Cambodians kids. They are everywhere. More than 40% of the Cambodian population is under 15 years old. After decades of wars and half a population decimated under the Khmer rouge regime (more than 2 million people killed), the Cambodians have a country to rebuild and repopulate !
Over the course of 8 days, we've been extremely touched by the life stories of most cambodians we've met and talked to. No matter how old they are, each one of them seems to have a harrowing story to tell....starting by torture, starvation or death under the Pol Pot regime, only 20 years ago. Every family has been affected and everyone struggles to put this horrendous period behind them since no trial has ever taken place after the fall of the regime. Most Khmer rouge leaders and soldiers are still alive, leading a peaceful life in their villages, or worse still having an active role in the current government .... But the situation is complex since most Khmer rouge soldiers were children indoctrintated by the party, trained to torture and kill under orders even their own family members. Who can say how responsible they really are? But what is truly horrific though is to see previous party leaders having today a leading role in the government and stopping any attempts at officially acknowledging that the Pol Pot genocide was an atrocity and at prosecuting the leaders still alive....How to move on without that ??
And the war has also left some nasty reminders all around the country in the shape of active landmines that continue wounding people, particularly kids every single day. So all in all, no wonder you see orphanages and charities for disabled at every street corner...

Yet what we will remember about Cambodia is not this atrocious past but the incredible spirit the cambodians display. Everyone is working so hard to survive and school remains a privilege more than a due....and yet everyone is smiling ! Every single person we met unvariably showed great optimism, determination and ambition for the future. The kids & teenagers are particularly attaching : they're so bright, quick witted, ressourceful, hard working and funny ! They are the true richness of Cambodia. They look towards the future and you can't help but believe that with such a young dynamic & driven generation Cambodia will rebuild itself in no time.
They are truly inspirational....

So as you can imagine, we felt quite emotional over the past few days (although Andy is wondering whether his regular bursts of emotion are not caused by the Larium, our malaria tablets that can cause depression in extreme cases !! :)))
But the whole experience is truly enriching

We're now in Siem Reap where we have spent the last 3 days wandering through the ruins of Angkor. They're stunning !!! We've been hard on ourselves with wake up calls between 4.00 and 5.00 every morning to either catch the sun rise or get to the temples before the tourist hords ! But it was well worth it as trying to get a picture of Angkor Wat without thousands of Japanese in the way proved to be quite a challenge....

Some temples are well preserved like Angkor Wat while others are in crumbles, with tree roots growing all over them (which we love!!), those are very atmospheric !! Some temples are 2 hours away from Siem Reap and completely overgrown by the vegetation. So many tourists don't bother going there. But those are the ones we loved best as we felt like true Indiana Jones explorers climbing all over them and discovering ancient stones carving under the moss...:) But have a look at the pictures, they will speak better than words !

We now only have 2 days left and then we're off to Vietnam to see some more rice fields :)

Take care all of you :))
xxx
Andy and Soph