What????? Cambodia??????

When i told my friends and colleagues, I am going to Cambodia for a holiday, to say people were shocked would be an understatement. That too, alone with a group in which i knew nobody. Even though the truth is, i ended up going there not bcoz of an informed choice i made but more due to reshuffling of my holiday dates. But it turned out to be a great experience after all coz not only did i learn about Cambodia but i found a few things about myself.

I didnt know much about Cambodia before going there. Just to give you a brief, it is among the poorest nations of today. A monster named polpot, who himself was a foreign educated individual, took over the reins from 1975 to 1979 and turned their society upside down. Having come across communist philosophies, he wanted to turn the country into an agrarian and labour oriented society. All people who differed with him were killed brutally and mercilessly. Schools were closed and turned into torture chambers. Banks, universities, hospitals were destroyed. Monetary system was abolished. Military, educated people were killed so that they couldnt protest against him. Their king ran and hid in China. Older generation got killed so that they wouldnt have problems accepting his way of thinking. Youth got killed so that they couldnt take their revenge. The ones who lived were sent to the farms to toil away. Starvation, diseases added to their apathy. More than 25-30 lakh people lost their lives out of 80-90 lakh people. One third of the population wiped out. Mass graves of skeletons are still being found till date (more than 20,000). So nobody really knows the actual number of deaths. Our guide told us, there isnt a single family which has all its members alive. You can google pol pot or khmer rouge to know more.

Anyway, in 1979, with Vietnam's help, they finally managed to topple him over. Vietnam ruled them for the next 10 years. Vietnam, having their own problems, the situation didnt improve. But i guess the only saving grace was it didnt deteriorate further. Mr monster and his party still kept trying to regain control and kept guerilla warfare on. Only after his death in 1998, have Cambodians been able to breathe peacefully. Their king came back and past 12-15 years there has thankfully been an effort at revival.

Anyway my point about this history lesson is how much we take our freedom, life for granted!!!! Freedom to walk on the roads, freedom to voice our opinions, freedom to carry out our respective professions, to breathe without the fear of death looming over. What did the ordinary citizens of Cambodia do wrong apart from having the bad fate of being born in that country. When we agonise over our problems at work, at studies, at relationships, in life, shouldn't we just stop and count our blessings. We have a life which we can call our own and only we can decide its course.

I need to make a special mention of all the people i met there. Inspite of all the pain and suffering they have been through, they still smile and do not try to earn by evoking in you a sense of pity. They earn their living with dignity and do not expect any charity. They have built genocide museums etc to show you what they have been through but i didnt feel like they were marketing their grief. Tourism now is their biggest source of revenue. Cambodia is the 4th most popular global travel destination. Though its not because of this part of their history.

Angkor temple complex is the reason tourists are flocking to Cambodia. Angkor wat, angkor thom etc are 11th century temples with beautiful carvings. Surprisingly these are hindu temples with entire stories of ramayana, mahabharata carved across the walls of the complex. Even though, its century old, the complex is just out of this world. I realised how low my mythology knowledge was. The guides there knew more about hindu mythology than me. Would have loved to spend more time there to learn. Highlight was watching the sunrise at Angkor wat. It was a moment which will be etched in my memory forever.

I thouroughly enjoyed the experience. As for my learning. I was skeptical about doing a trip alone. I always thought you need friends, family to go on a vacation. But i realised thats nor necessary. A truly satifying experience can be felt even without anybody to share it with. Also the added bonus was, i got to make new friends along the journey who were as interested to explore the world as i was. I look forward to many more enriching experiences.

Ciao and cheers to anybody who spent time reading through this.....