My review on Cambodia.

Here is another review on an Asian country, and as I told you yesterday - Thailand was a bit too much for me taking greed, cultural differences and some few other things into account. After my first 3 weeks I told my friend I wanted to see something else than Thailand, and since my experience with that country was so mixed I was quite clear: "if Cambodia is not better than Thailand, I will pack my stuff and get back to Europe asap."

Cambodia is among the 10 poorest countries in the world, and when that is being said - the ones who are as old as me remember their Prime minister, Pol Pot, who had a vision to reset everything and start all over again on year zero. In this matter he arrested all the intellectuals in the country and had them executed, which is a quite barbaric act to say it mildly. Anyone who has seen the movie the Killing fields can confirm the brutality that was going on there.

The biggest city in the world was once Angkor Wat, which is the symbol in their flag - and since I lived on the countryside outside Siem Reap I payed it a visit. Not only is it the biggest tourist attraction, but what a construction - the main temple is massive and I cannot figure out how many stone cutters they needed to finish it. The total area contains several of temples, and for those of you have played the game or seen the movie Tomb Raider will soon recognize where the creators have found their inspiration from. Take into account, as it is with Machu Picchu in Peru, it is abandoned - and was rediscovered by a French man 200 years ago. Why do people fly from the biggest city in the world - this is a question I am still wondering about?

The Cambodian people are wonderful, not only have they been struggling for decades after this lunatic leader killing his own people a mass - but they are really kind and are extremely different from the Thai people who only wants to take advantage of you as far as you are a white man. I was teaching English for children on the countryside for a month to experience something different, one of the best things I have ever done.

The children was happy in a different way as you see in the western world. They had nothing, but was happy to come and learn English - not like European children who has everything, but are unhappy when they do not have the last version of the Iphone. An incredible experience that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I visited Siem Reap and Phnom penh - and since I unfortenately got robbed there, I had to turn my nose back to Thailand again to pick up a new credit card and to reorganise.

My plan was to continue to Vietnam, heading further to China and back to Europe with the trans siberian railway - however, everything happens for a reason. The Cambodian food is far from as good as the Thai food - but nothing can outcompete the food in Thailand. The nature was a bit more boring, but the price level is extremely low - guess it`s the cheapest country I have ever been in.

Conclusion:

If you have the chance to visit Cambodia I strongly recommend you to do, it is like travelling 100 years back in time - despite that they have cars and mopeds. This people have had a hard time, they are humble and very kind - so treat them thereafter. It is a much easier country to visit than Thailand, more laid back - and as it is with the neighbour country who treat their visitors as a bunch of animals sending them in and out to get Visa - you can renew your Visa inside Cambodia for a fair price. As I told myself that I will never visit Thailand again, I would love to go back to Cambodia. Siem Reap is one of my favourite cities in the world and I could easily live in this country if it wasnt for the temperatures.