Cambodian Kindness

We began our Cambodian adventure in Phnom Penh (pronounced pa-nom pen). As our bus cruised into the center of the city, I noticed that Toyota Priuses were everywhere. After checking into our hostel, we walked to a night market for dinner, and we sat on straw carpets and ate Khmer (pronounced Keh-may or Kah-my) noodles as we watched the sun set.

Throughout our week, we observed that Cambodians were the happiest and friendliest people. We met several people with big smiles and kind words. Cambodians don’t speak Cambodian; they speak Khmer. The country has an ancient past of a thriving empire that included parts of what are now Thailand and Vietnam. More recently, Cambodia had a violent and deadly past with a communist regime. Ruled by Pol Pot, the regime destroyed more than a quarter of the population. Despite its devastatingly sad recent history, the people seem strong and joyful.

Although cities were outlawed and emptied out during Pol Pot’s government, Phnom Penh is now a booming modern city. We visited a colorful temple and the monarch’s palace. We tried the famous dish called Amok, usually fish in a perfectly-spiced lemongrass sauce and is usually served in a banana leaf alongside rice. We also tried Lok Lak, a beef dish in sauce served alongside rice. We are in love with Asian food.

Cambodia was originally the ancient Khmer empire, and during the 9th-12th century, the capital was in a city called Seam Reap. The kings during this era showed their power by building temples. Some kings built Hindu temples while some built Buddhist temples, and some kings even built temples that combined both Hinduism and Buddhism. Even today, we learned, Buddhism is the religion of 97% of the population, but it is infused with deep Hindu traditions.

These temples are artistic feats of genius, creativity, and beauty. They are built from sandstone carried by elephants from a nearby mountain. Each temple was dedicated to a certain god or person, and each temple had astounding etches of priests, gods, stories, and buddhas.

We visited 11 temples over two days in the old capital. There are approximately 80 temples in the Seam Reap area, but Angkor Wat is the most famous because it is considered the largest religious structure in the world. Many of the temples have been restored after centuries of decay. However, one of my favorite temples was Ta Prohm, where they did not remove the trees that overtook its walls and buildings during the restoration process. Because of this, there are beautiful trunks, limbs, and roots intermingled with temple walls. Another favorite was a temple called Neak Poan, which the Khmer people would visit if they were in need of medical healing. To visit the temple, we had to walk across a long bridge over water. We walked through woods and then saw the temple, gorgeously sitting in the middle of a pond. It was a tranquil and gorgeous setting; we saw some pilgrims praying and washing themselves in the water for ritual cleansing.

We were so lucky to visit Cambodia, with its flavorful food, beautiful ancient past, and kind people.