Cambodia – What was it like in 1997 when I first visited?

Very different

The first time I arrived

Cambodia was a place I always wanted to visit so in 1997 I decided to. Especially because of its terrible history. So in 1997, I decided to visit and boy was it a shock. Looking at a lot of it  I felt heartbroken. Especially as the nearby countries like Thailand and Vietnam made Cambodia look so third world. I was in shock as Cambodia was full of potholes, piles of plastic bags and dirt all over the roads. There were chickens with hardly any feathers, dogs with half their fur missing and cows so skinny. I was surprised they could walk.

Also, there was a huge amount of poverty. People were living in tin houses. Children would wander around without any shoes and covered in dirty clothes. That’s if they had any on. Those that had clothes on the clothes looked like I had sewn them up. I am not very good at sewing. Also, there were sick animals everywhere, which broke my heart.

The kingdom of wonder

Boy did I wonder

I only went to the beautiful Siem Reap and Phnom Penh on that trip. Just on the outskirts of Siem reap is the amazing temple called Angkor Wat which is breathtaking. Angkor Wat temple is part of a temple complex at Angkor. Which was built in the 12th century by King Suryavarman II who reigned 1113–c. 1150. The vast religious complex of Angkor Wat comprises more than a thousand buildings, and it is one of the great cultural wonders of the world.

I fell in love with Cambodia the moment I arrived and as a result, I went back again and again. The second time I went I took a bus from Bangkok in Thailand to Sihanoukville in the south of Cambodia in 2001. The moment we entered Cambodia the bus trip had me in fits of silent laughter. Cambodia was not what was making me laugh. The bus was making me laugh, the way it threw us from side to side.  

Trying to read a book was impossible

Cambodia

Trying to take photos was entertaining and forget even trying to sleep. Red dirt filled the roads, and so did huge potholes. A journey of 6 hours took 11 hours. We were on one of the oldest buses I have ever seen. It had windows but they didn’t close, thus every window was open. Red dust would be coming into the bus for the whole journey.

It would get too hot on the bus, but they could not close the windows. Not that the air con worked. Over time the windows have stuck at the bottom and there was no way to close them. This showed how old this bus was.

When we got to the river

The bus stopped and all we heard was

“Wait.”

I assumed by now that the driver only knew a small amount of English. As many people kept getting up off their seats balancing along the corridor of the bus to try and ask him questions. But you could tell by their faces he never answered.

The next minute a lady came and said

” Get off.”

Once we were all off she pushed us onto a boat or what you would call a boat. This boat was two boats tied together with some string and barrels underneath to keep them floating. On the top were some planks of wood, to make a platform.

The Ferry

Surprisingly we all managed to get on and to our surprise so did the bus. Cambodians are genius at building things out of anything to make something work. There is no health and safety here but everything works, for a while that is. Until it needs fixing again.

What made me laugh most of all was when we were told to get on the bus, the second the bus was on the boat. It never felt unsafe, even though it probably was. It made sense as then the driver could just keep going.

So off we went again. Over the 11 hours, we stopped at three rivers. Thus climbed on and off the bus many times. One time even a heavy goods vehicle got on the ferry with us.

Sihanoukville

When we arrived in Sihanoukville and got off the bus I felt we looked like we had just come from Mars. We were so red and could hardly walk. I felt like I had just done a massive workout at the gym. I also felt so sad looking at the street dogs and cats and I knew I had to help them. 

We managed to find a hotel for $4.00 a night, walked in had a shower and went straight to bed. We must have been asleep in about 10 minutes.

Sadly, I do not have many photos to show you from my first trip, as my DVDs and laptop were stolen. But I still have all the beautiful memories. If you are thinking of coming to Cambodia please research the history before you arrive. It will make you look at the country in a whole different way. You will discover your empathy.

Don’t forget to check out the beautiful islands of Cambodia.