First impressions of Cambodia

I am now on my third day in Cambodia, and honestly, my first impression right now is RAIN. ...actually, maybe that's not quite my first impression, although it very rainy today. To back up a bit, I sold my motorcycle in Ho Chi Minh city a few days ago to a British backpacker. It took 5 days of having it on the market for it to sell, and if I had been willing to accept any of the numerous low-ball offers I received from almost every Vietnamese guy we met, I would have been able to sell it on the first day. After selling my bike at 11am, I booked a bus to Cambodia at 12pm, and by 3pm was happily on my way to Phnom Penh.

Goodbye motorcycle -I'll miss you!

Vietnam has been wonderful in many ways, but after spending almost a month and a half exploring the country I became accustomed to certain aspects of the country that are distinctly Vietnamese. Coming to Cambodia served as a big reminder of the cultural differences and differences in how tourism is viewed by the locals.

Without further ado, some initial impressions of Cambodia:

- Honking prevalance. Or rather, lack thereof. In Vietnam, the locals honk to tell others they are there when passing someone; they honk when turning; they honk when pissed; and they honk while happy. They honk when driving the wrong way up a highway; they honk to show off their custom horn and they honk because everyone else is honking. After experiencing the absolute noise and chaos of Vietnam's roads and highways, it was a real shock to arrive in Cambodia to relatively quiet streets.

- Entire jugs of draft beer for a hefty $2.

- Everyone (almost) speaks good English. Apparently English is a bigger focus in schools here than it is in Vietnam, and this very noticeable upon even a few minutes here. As much as I enjoyed the adventure of trying to learn a new language, and as much as I appreciated (ha!) greatly increasing my skills in both gesturing, using picture dictionaries, and Google Translate, there is also something very refreshing about speaking English to people in the tourism industry.

One of MANY examples.

- Entire restaurants dedicated to happy pizzas (Ganja-fortified, for the unitiated). Most of these restaurants have large, clear signs out front detailing what it is exactly that they sell, and there is zero shame in their advertising standards. Many even have this in their names -"Happy Herb Pizza" is one such example. I knew that Cambodia was fairly lawless when it came to drugs, but I wasn't really expecting it to this extent. It's almost more rare in tourist areas to find restaurants that do not have drug menus than those that do.

- Friendliness of the people. The Cambodian people survived one of the most horrific genocides in recent history, and it was less than 40 years ago. When I look around it blows my mind that many people here still likely remember the genocide or were affected by it. Two million people were murdered by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime, a full one-quarter of the country's population. As the Lonely Planet reports, the Cambodian people have been to hell and back but "thanks to an unbreakable spirit and an infectious optimism, have emerged with their spirits and smiles still intact". From my very preliminary encounters with the people here, this sounds very accurate. The street peddlers have left us alone when we said we weren't interested, and even wished us a pleasant meal. When you ask someone (like a tuk-tuk driver) to give you a minute to think, they actually stop pressuring you for a moment and do so. People look you in the eye, smile, and even start up conversations without trying to sell you something. I think there is a greater appreciation of or awareness of tourists here than there is in Vietnam, and I have found it very noticeable right from the beginning.

- Quality of rooms. Although it is possible to stay here for a measly $2/night, you definitely get what you pay for. Even for "nicer" rooms, I think that the quality of what you get for your money has decreased a bit compared to Vietnam. That being said, other things (like food at a restaurant) are cheaper.

- Greater amounts of people begging. This is the poorest country in South East Asia, and it is noticeable. Although it is nice paying rock-bottom prices for everything, it's a complicated issue and makes me wish I could do something.

 

Anyways, I just wanted to write down a few thoughts for now. I'm spending the next few days in Koh Rong, a 3 hour ferry ride from Sihanoukville, with 4 Brits who I met in Vietnam. It's not a very fancy place, but one of the most beautiful beaches I think I've ever seen (and there's 27 more beaches on this same island!!). It's raining like crazy today so I think the rest of the day will be very laid back but hopefully I'll be able to get some jungle trekking, diving and beach time in soon. Till later, friends!

 

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