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Ghosts in the road

5/31/2017

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Over the last few years, I've told you a lot about Cambodia: the warm people, the beauty, the fun times, and even those that are less fortunate who need our help. But after a while, it's hard not to become desensitized to the poverty and conditions, especially from their horrific past during the Khmer Rouge.
 
On this recent trip back to the Kingdom of Cambodia, I was lucky enough to spend an afternoon with an Australian gentleman who had spent many years in Cambodia.


In fact, he was a young soldier for hire working for the United Nations in 1992, when the international community came into the country to help stabilize the political situation, improve conditions for the people, and set up free democratic elections.
 
This man told me a lot about what Cambodia looked like back then, when it was completely lawless, chaos ruled the land, and everyone walked with eyes down and mouth closed, still in shock after the genocide they’d just suffered.
 
He told me that back then, the now modern and thriving city of Phnom Penh was just a shell, and everyone got around on bicycle. The only vehicles were United Nations white trucks, but there were a few motorbikes, although most people were armed. He told me that the truthful joke from that era was that if you wanted a ride on a motorbike, you just waited at an intersection until someone with a motorbike drove up; you shot them; took their bike; and went on your way.
 
He also told me about one mission his UN peacekeepers were on that required them to make a long drive through the wild countryside from Battambang to Phnom Penh. They were traveling in their UN Land rover at night, going cautiously and slowly over dirt roads.
 
At one point, they came upon fallen trees across the road, blocking their way. But when they came to a stop and opened the doors to get out and see if they could get around or move the trees, they realized that they weren’t alone.
 
From the midnight mist of the jungle, they saw shadowy figures rise up, their skinny silhouettes revealing that they were carrying AK47s. There were three, and then seven, and soon, they were surrounded by almost twenty ghosts with machine guns.
 
The Australian soldier knew they were in trouble, and they weren’t optimistic about their chances trying to shoot it out with a small squad of outlaw Khmer Rouge soldiers or pilfering bandits, but they decided to play it cool and try to talk their way out, since the UN was universally known and well respected in those days.
 
They got out and said hello in Khmer. The machine gun wielding shadows moved in. But when they got closer, they were surprised that the figures were all women - with some small children. They were so skinny they were skeletal with slightly distended bellies - which was common in Cambodia in those days, and dressed in rags. The women were nice and meant them no harm, and helped them clear the road so the UN truck could go on their way.
 
As the soldiers drove off into the night, they saw the armed apparitions sinking down into the road again, as if it was swallowing them up,
 
The image always stayed with him, and he never understand what they were all doing on the road that night, or why they rose up from it, but there were hundreds of more precarious and notable situations to witness in Cambodia in those days.
 
It wasn’t until much later, when the young soldier wasn’t so young anymore and living back in his native Australia that he happened to tell the story to an old military doctor there.
 
The doctor nodded his head at the story and the details about the road, and told him why they were probably there:
 
They were suffering from stomach and intestinal worms, a condition rampant in those times as people drank bad water and ate some horrible things, if they ate at all, with no medicine available.

The worms made their bellies ache terribly, keeping them from sleeping at night. But the paved road held radiant heat from the daytime sun all night. So the women slept on the pavement - bellies down - because the warmth it emitted calmed the worms and eased their pain a little.
 
That's how the soldiers found these women when their UN truck rolled up, rising like ghosts in the road.

***
You can read more about my recent return to the Kingdom of Cambodia here.




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Something remarkable about Sunflower orphanage in Cambodia

5/28/2017

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​One of the highlights of my trip back to Cambodia was reconnecting with a few of the charities that I’ve helped there. More than just fundraising and advocacy, these people are my friends, and I’m honored to know them. I’ve told you about Sitha and Sreymom at the Children’s Improvement Organization orphanage, as well as all my sisters at the Connecting Hands Training Café. But I got to visit a new charity this trip, and I saw something that was truly remarkable.
 
Some new friends of mine took me on a 30-minute tuk tuk ride outside of Phnom Penh, where we found the Sunflower Family orphanage. It’s a small center that houses and helps about a dozen children and teens. What’s interesting is that all of these kids are HIV positive, almost all of them contracting the virus at birth. We spent a hot, dusty afternoon at the Sunflower home, taking a tour, playing with the kids, and talking to the gentleman who runs it. I was happy that we’d brought about $100 worth of rice, cooking oil, chicken scraps, detergent, soap, and other staples for the center.

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Although there never is enough money, they find a way to persevere, as a family. (I noticed that they were raising ducks in a dirty, waterless pen, and I was told they raise them for food.) The roof may leak during the rainy season, but they still have a humble computer room, where they also teach basic English lessons on a white board and work three donated sewing machines.
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I was really impressed with Sunflower, and everyone there looked happy and healthy. I’m going to do my best to help them out. But there was one thing I found remarkable, and worth noting:
 
The center wasn’t just inhabited by the HIV positive kids that lived there, but kids from the neighborhood. In fact, there were dozens of kids, playing a physical game of soccer in the dirt road, playing with dolls on the floor of the family room, and just sitting and chatting on the swings. A grandmother from the neighborhood sat in the shade with us outside, coddling a little one.

After a while, I had no idea who lived there and who didn’t.
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It turns out that Sunflower has a deep connection with the community it’s in, and the local parents are happy to send their kids to play with the HIV positive kids there. Those neighborhood kids knew no difference, of course, and loved having extra friends and playmates to hang out with.
 
Our fear sure is learned, isn’t it? Some of the kids at Sunflower were orphans in the true sense of the word, but most of them had been shunned and cast out by their families because of their illness, left to live on the streets if it wasn’t for the orphanage. But here, they’d been adopted by the surrounding community; with love, as some their own.

They don't even have a website or Facebook page yet (I'm going to do that for them), but contact me if you'd like to help the kids at the Sunflower orphanage.

-Norm  :-)

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A Wicced surprise

5/27/2017

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I knew I was coming back to Cambodia to visit, and my airline tickets were booked months in advance. But I kept it a total secret so I could surprise my homie there, Kalvin “Wicced” Hang, who I hadn’t seen in about a year and a half.
 
So I did set it up with one of our mutual friends, Johnny, who made sure Wicced would be in a certain bar after work.

When I ninja’d (is that a word?) in behind him and pretended to bump into him, the look of surprise on his face was priceless. I had my tuk tuk driver film the encounter. 


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Wicced was like a little brother to me when I was living in Cambodia, and has a pretty unique story, as he’s one of the original Deportees, or “The 300” as they sometimes call them.
 
Right after 9/11 (like HOURS after), the U.S. government started cleaning out the jails and prisons and deporting Asian Americans under the auspices of national security. Thousands of guys (and some girls, too) were handcuffed and put on a plane with little or no notice, flown to Southeast Asia with air marshals guarding them, and abandoned in the airport.
 
These prisoners were of Filipino, Laotian, Vietnamese, and especially Cambodian (Khmer), origins. When it comes to Wicced and the rest of the Khmer deportees, they have an interesting background.
 
As Cambodia was devastated by the Vietnam Conflict (the U.S. “unofficially” dropped millions of pounds of bombs on the Cambodian countryside to deter Vietcong supply lines, as well as planting millions of landmines in the ground there), hundreds of thousands fled the country. That trickle of humanity became a flood during the brutal regime of the Khmer Rouge.

Most of them ended up in refugee camps in Thailand, some of them living there for decades despite the fact that the Khmer Rouge was defeated in 1978. But the refugee camps were full until 1992, when the United Nations came into Cambodia and stabilized the political climate. People re-entered Cambodia, walking into the bombed out and empty ghost towns where they grew up.

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When they were living in the camps, the lucky ones could get paperwork and a ticket to the U.S., or Canada, etc. They entered the country legally and lived with Green Cards – which means they were (and still are) permanent resident aliens.
 
Wicced was born in one of those refugee camps, and came over with a Green Card, too. So did all of the deportees, spending their formative childhood years living in the U.S. When they were deported to Cambodia, most of them had never even stepped foot inside that country.
 
They were left to their own devices, with no money, no jobs, and most of them didn’t speak the language or have family to take care of them. Despite what you might think, the officials and police at the airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia didn’t welcome them with open arms, and instantly they had people trying to shake them down for money or else they’d be thrown in an immigration prison for an indeterminate amount of time. So they’d often just have to make a break for the exit, running from the police and only safe when they hit the street.
 
But things didn’t get easier from there. As Wicced has told me, many of the guys ended up on the streets, and some resorted to crime just so they could eat, or started doing drugs to ease the pain and confusion of their new situation. After all, they were separated from the families – many of them removed from their wives, girlfriends, and children back home – and could never go back.

“About half of us made it,” Wicced says as he explains that many of the guys got simple jobs and worked their way up, assimilated to the culture, and made a new life in Cambodia.  “And half didn’t.”

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Despite all odds, some of the guys, like Wicced, became respected community leaders, both in the Khmer business community (he has a good job with the Phnom Penh Post, the largest newspaper in Cambodia). Others channel their raw and rare experiences into poetry, art, nationalism (like Khmer Loves Khmer) and even open up charities to help their brothers and sisters (Tiny Toones). 
 
Now, thanks to Wicced and many other forefathers of the Deportee community in Cambodia, new arrivals are met at the airport, with advice, resources, money, a place to stay, and a chance at getting a simple job and transitioning into modern Khmer society. That chance is invaluable.
 
He’s also the definition of loyal – probably to a fault. Wicced is the guy you call at 4 a.m. if something is going down. He’s incapable of forgetting his roots, abandoning his people like society cast them aside.

But now in his 30s and a lot wiser than his hot-headed gangbanging days, he also has cautious hopes for a different future, something he alludes to more and more in our private conversations over the years.

Wicced works tirelessly to advocate for his community of deportees. That’s a major role, as every year, thousands more are sent over from the U.S. So he represents his people at international refugee workshops, human rights conferences, angles with the media, writes letters to U.S. politicians and cozies up to the Khmer elite and cocktail parties, all trying to affect change.


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Whether in a business suit or on the street, tattoos and scars carefully covered or proudly on display, Wicced plays the modern day Moses, championing to bring his people home.
 
But don’t get it twisted – a lot of these guys were bad dudes doing bad things. But they were living legally in the U.S. with Green Cards, and joined gangs just like everyone else in their violent, disenfranchised neighborhoods. There was no lawful and legal explanation for their deportation; and there still isn’t.
 
In prison, they were always outnumbered, and had to be viciously fierce and. Their prison tattoos still stand out, even since they’ve been adorned with new, fresh ink in Cambodia. They came from pretty rough places like Long Beach, California, Stockton, California, Philadelphia, PA, and Lowell, Mass. – all tight knit Khmer communities to this day.
 
They were Crips, Bloods, and a whole lot of other gangs and sets I know nothing about, but they had to squash all of that once they got to Cambodia. They needed each other to survive, now, as it was literally them against the world.  Sometimes, when they’re at their functions or parties and drinking (which is almost any day that ends with “y”), those beefs and hostilities from the planet of American they used to live arise. But it always gets worked out with help of their elders (who are only in their 30s) and respected leaders. It has to be, because they can’t afford to be divided.

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But they’re still pressured by families (Wicced is married to a U.S. woman and they have two beautiful little girls, but all three live stateside now), friends, and their former gangs back home, often dragged into conflicts a world away. So the Deportees find themselves in an impossible situation, straddling both worlds but trying not to get pulled apart. Their plight is one of the most complex human conditions I can imagine, 
 
And the world has taken notice (other than the U.S.), with increasing attention paid to their cause. In fact, just when I was leaving Cambodia after my relaxed an enjoyable 10-day stay, the Cambodian government announced that they would refuse any more deportees from the U.S., essentially shutting the door on more Khmer-American refugees.
 
It was a trivial back-page piece of news for most of us, but a seismic shift in the geography of possibilities for Deportees like Wicced.  
 
Respect. And safe travels, little brother.
 
 -Norm

​P.S. Here is a BBC article on the plight of the Deportees, and one by the New York Times.

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25 Facts about Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the world's largest religious monument

5/27/2017

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1. ​Angkor Wat is an ancient temple complex in Siem Reap, Cambodia in Southeast Asia. It’s the largest religious monument in the world, spanning more than 248 square miles (400 square kilometers).
 
2. Most of this complex is remarkably well kept even today, although plenty of ruins and buried structures remain. New temples are still being unearthed discovered every year!
 
3. The temple was constructed in the 12th century (1113 to 1150) by the Khmer King Suryavarman II.
 
4. Angkor Wat was originally a Hindu temple, although it was later converted into a Buddhist shrine in the 14th century, which it remains today.
 
5. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, however, it didn't make the new list of Seven Wonders of the World.

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6. ​Constructed by the Khmer King Suryavarman II, it was built as a Hindu temple, although the temple was converted into a Buddhist shrine about 200 years later, in the 14th century.
 
7. The main Angkor Wat temple was designed as an accurate replica of the universe, as they knew and saw it, an “earthly model of the cosmic world.”
 
8. The central tower, the temple’s highest point, symbolizes Mount Meru, a holy mythical mountain that stands at the center of the universe in the Hindu pantheon, home to many of their Gods and deities. The maze of enclosure walls surrounding the central tower symbolize obstacles that human beings must bypass on their path of enlightenment, and the smaller towers represent other Hindu Gods.
 
9. Even the extraordinary moat around Angkor Wat had meaning, with the water representing the Cosmic Sea, from which all creative energy and life springs, according to the Hindu religion.
 
10. In Khmer (the Cambodian language), Angkor Wat means  “City of Temples” or “City Temple.” In fact, the temple was built within Angkor, then the capital of the Khmer Empire. 

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11. ​The population of that city is believed to have been about one million people, making it the largest city in the world pre-Industrial Revolution
 
12. Building Angkor Wat was such a massive undertaking, that it’s still not fully known how they managed the task with basic tools and no machinery. But we do know that it took 300,000 laborers (with the help of 6,000 elephants) 37 years to construct.
 
13. Although nothing remains of it today, a wall once enclosed the entire temple, city, and royal palace at Angkor Wat, covering 203 acres (820,000 square meters).
 
14. It took 5 million tons of sandstone used to build Angkor Wat, which had to transported from a quarry in the Kulen Hills more than 25 miles away using an intricate system of canals. Just to dig out the enormous moat, more than 1.5 million cubic meters of sand and salt had to be removed and carried away.
 
15. Interestingly, the bricks that make up Angkor Way were bonded together with a vegetable compound – not the traditional mortar – which allows for a much tighter fit.


Helicopter tour of Angkor Wat 

Taking a helicopter ride has been on my bucket list forever, so I splurged ($99 for 8 minutes!) and took a tour of Angkor Wat by air. It was breathtaking! The pilot was a little too hungover for my liking, but the two other passengers were super cool!

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​16. The Cambodian people are still very proud of Angkor Wat and their rich heritage. In fact, the monument has been displayed on the Cambodian national flag since 1850, and also appears on their currency (the riel). By the way, Afghanistan is the only other country to include a national monument on its flag.
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17. Angkor Wat suffered from looters for decades through the Khmer Rouge (as well as bombs dropped all around it), and that is why many of the statues are now headless, decapitated by ransackers and sold to private collectors.
 
18. Before the 1800s, few Westerners had witnessed the splendor of Angkor Wat. But the first Western eyes to have witnessed the monument belonged to Antonio da Madalena, a Portuguese monk who visited in 1586.
 
19. But it was French explorer Henri Mouhot who brought accounts of Angkor Wat to the Western world by publishing details of his visit in his mid-19th century book, Travels in Siam, Cambodia, Laos, and Annam.
 
20. Angkor Wat is also a huge draw for tourism, with approximately 2.1 million foreigners coming to Cambodia to see the temples each year, accounting for about half of Cambodia’s total tourism.

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21. Unfortunately, the common people of Cambodia don’t really see a benefit from those tourist dollars (outside of creating jobs, etc.). That’s because most of the profits from Angkor Wat (it’s about $37 for a day pass now – up from $21 only a year ago) go to Sokimex, a mega corporation run by a Vietnamese businessman.
 
22. Sokimex is so powerful (and corrupt) in Cambodia that only about 28% of the profits from Angkor Wat even go back to the temples, yet alone the nation’s people, with the majority of funds to restore and maintain the temples coming from foreign aid.
 
23. Part of the movie Lara Croft, Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie was shot in the smaller temple of Ta Prohm within the Angkor complex, recognizable by the vines and tree that overtake the temple walls. In fact, Paramount Pictures rented the temple for $10,000 a day for seven days to film there.
 
24. Jolie became enamored with Cambodia and its people, eventually adopting children from that country, deeply involved with charities there, and directing a movie, First They Killed My Father, about the Cambodian genocide.
 
25. But Jolie wasn’t the first famous American woman to take a shine to Angkor Wat. Jacqueline Kennedy actually took a special trip just to see Angkor Wat during the Vietnam War, putting herself at risk to fulfill her lifelong dream.
 
***
Norm  :-)

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Your June 2017 Postcard from Norm: Return to the Kingdom

5/26/2017

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Return to the Kingdom  of Cambodia

From 2014 to 2016, I lived in Phnom, Penh, Cambodia and last month, I returned for ten days. I've documented some of my most memorable experiences for you here.

25 Facts about Angkor Wat

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Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia is the world's biggest religious monument, built in the 12th century as a Hindu temple but later adopted by Buddhists. It also was the center of the mighty Khmer Empire, with one million residents in the 14th century, making it the largest city in the world before the Industrial Revolution. An image of Angkor Wat is also portrayed on Cambodia's flag and its currency, and scenes of the movie Lora Croft, Tomb Raider were shot inside the temple.

​Here are 25 facts about Angkor Wat - including footage of the temple from a helicopter! 

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A Wicced surprise

​I knew I was coming back to Cambodia to visit, and had booked the air tickets a month in advance. But I kept it a total secret so I could surprise my homie there, Kalvin “Wicced” Hang, who I hadn’t seen in about a year and a half.
 
So I did tell our one mutual friend, Johnny, who made sure Wicced would be in a certain bar after work. When I ninja’d (is that a word?) in behind him and pretended to bump into him, the look of surprise on his face was priceless. I had my tuk tuk driver film the encounter: 
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You'll definitely want to read more about Wicced and the plight of the Deportee community in Cambodia. 

Remembering Anton

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A big part of why I returned to Cambodia was to honor our fallen brother and friend, Anton Cavka, who passed away there in 2015, within hours of my arrival from the U.S. to meet him. 

Now, a year and a half later, I wanted to make sure that Anton was not forgotten. So I attended a Wat (temple), as is the Buddhist ritual. In a ceremony for the dead, a Buddhist monk was offered food, drink, coin, incense, flowers, etc., which he blessed in the presence of some of my favorite photographs of Anton. According to tradition, these things will find their way up to Anton in heaven, so he will be comforted and know that we’re thinking of him.

For this reason, it was an emotional return to Phnom Penh. But I know it’s what Anton would have wanted, and it felt good to pay tribute to his memory. I’m sure Anton is smiling down on all of us today.

Lost on purpose

​“Take me anywhere – someplace where other tourists don’t go,” I told the tuk tuk driver, and that started our journey into the countryside and remote villages outside of Siem Reap. He proudly took me to his own village, where most of the people were dirt poor and lived with electricity for even a single light bulb or a fan. Still, we were welcome with smiles and waves, and he told me it was fine to leave my backpack in the tuk tuk because no one would steal it. He also took me to an immense field of water lilies – one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever laid eyes on – and the shores of a floating village. It was quite an excursion, leaving me grateful that I’d gotten lost on purpose.

Hello again, Phnom Penh

​Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia and one of the most dynamic, interesting, and livable cities in all of Asia. I lived here on and off for a couple years when I was in Cambodia, and it was a thrill to come back and see it all through different eyes. But it was heartwarming that I was the tuk tuk drivers, the kids at the riverside park, and even the lady that ran my favorite street side coconut stand all recognized me instantly. I can write a whole book about Phnom Penh’s history and culture but, for now, I’ll just present you with a few of my favorite photographs from this trip.
 

Something remarkable about this Cambodian orphanage

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​One of the highlights of my trip back to Cambodia was reconnecting with a few of the charities that I’ve helped there. More than just fundraising and advocacy, these people are my friends, and I’m honored to know them. I’ve told you about Sitha and Sreymom at the Children’s Improvement Organization orphanage, as well as all my sisters at the Connecting Hands Training Café. But I got to visit a new charity this trip, and I saw something that was truly remarkable.
 
Some new friends of mine took me on a 30-minute tuk tuk ride outside of Phnom Penh, where we found the Sunflower Family orphanage. I was really impressed with Sunflower, and everyone there looked happy and healthy.

But there was one thing I found truly remarkable about the situation there. Find out what it was here.

Ghosts in the road

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Over the last few years, I've told you a lot about Cambodia: the warm people, the beauty, the fun times, and even those that are less fortunate who need our help. But after a while, it's hard not to become desensitized to the poverty and conditions, especially from their horrific past during the Khmer Rouge.
 
On this recent trip back to the Kingdom of Cambodia, I was lucky enough to spend an afternoon with an Australian gentleman who had spent many years in Cambodia. In fact, he was a young soldier for hire working for the United Nations in 1992, when the international community came into the country to help stabilize the political situation, improve conditions for the people, and set up free democratic elections.
 
He told me a story about ghosts rising from the road one night that stuck with me. I'll share it with you here. 

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10 Reasons why Filipinos should visit Cambodia

5/6/2017

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I want to introduce you to someone I think you’ll really like. I have high hopes that you two will hit it off, and maybe even form a loving, long-term relationship.
 
No, this isn’t like the time you tried to set your Ate up on a date with Boboy from the barangay basketball team. Today, I want to introduce my Filipino traveler friends to the wonderful country of Cambodia.
 
Easily accessible from Manila, inexpensive, safe, and FUN, you'll find the Kingdom of Cambodia to be like your 7,500-island nation in some ways but so different in most. ("Same, same, but different," as they say.) In fact, if you added up landmass of the Visayas and Luzon, it would be about as big as Cambodia. However, there are only 15+ million people in the whole country of Cambodia, while Manila alone has more residents than that! Whoa! You'll also learn that the people and culture are called Khmer, not “Cambodian,” and the country has the longest standing leader in all of Asia, Prime Minister Hun Sen.

​It also has a unique history, from one of the most impressive ancient civilizations in the world to French colonialism and then the tragic, dark period of the Khmer Rouge. But today, Cambodia is awake, alive, and full of amazing things to do and see – and waiting for you! 
 
I’ll give you 10 reasons why Filipinos will love to visit Cambodia here, but I also encourage you to email me with any questions.
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Getting there and around is easy
Filipinos will find that it’s easy to get to Cambodia. In fact, CebuPacific offers nonstop flights leaving Manila and touching down in Siem Reap, Cambodia that only take 2 hours and 55 minutes, saving you a whole lot of time and aggravation by avoiding connecting flights and layovers. The best part is that it costs less than 5,000 Pesos each way! That's about the same as Manila to Dumaguete, Coron, or Caticlan - not bad for an international direct flight, Coron, or Caticlan.!
 
Once you're in Siem Reap, getting around is effortless with charming tuk-tuks you can ride around for 100 Pesos or so, or you can rent a motorbike or bicycle to tour around.
 
If you have more than a few days, you can easily take the bus or van (5-6 hours/250 Pesos – 500 Pesos) to the dynamic and charming capital city, Phnom Penh. (Yes, they have night buses so you can wake up in your destination and save the cost of a hotel room for one night!)
 
Since Cambodia is wedged between its Southeast Asian neighbors, you can also take a bus or van to Thailand or Vietnam for intrepid travelers.

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​Angkor Wat in Siem Reap

The highlight of any trip to Cambodia, Angkor Wat is the largest religious site on earth and a UNESCO World Heritage Site (although not a Wonder of the World – yet!). Construction started on this massive temple complex in the 12th century as a Hindu religious monument, although it later transitioned to Buddhist use. Today, you can witness the sheer magnitude and magnificent splendor of Angkor Wat and nearby temples, including Ta Prohm temple that you might remember from the movie Lara Croft, Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie. You can purchase a one-day pass, three-day pass or week-long pass to enter the temple grounds and cruise around as much as you like, so bring comfortable walking shoes, your sunblock, and your selfie stick because you’re in for a crazy adventure! 
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​Cambodia is inexpensive!

Filipinos will be delighted to find that Cambodia is still very affordable (it’s probably cheaper than traveling around the Philippines!). You can still get a great 4-star hotel with a pool and breakfast for around 1,300-1,500 Pesos a night, and there is an abundance of clean and safe hostels, guesthouses, and accommodations for as low as 150 Pesos per night! You can also find delicious food that’s inexpensive everywhere in Cambodia.
 
The Angkor Wat temple complex – the main attraction in Siem Reap – does cost 1,850 Pesos for a day pass, but you can use that to explore multiple temples in the same area. From dawn until sundown, you'll see some of the most amazingly beautiful temples in the world, taking enough selfies, groupies, and jump shots to last a lifetime!
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​Yummm...the food!

I know that you love to eat! But since mealtime (otherwise known as "all the time") is about trying new, exciting dishes and making memories with friends and family, you'll love the food in Cambodia. In fact, you'll find the best of Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, French, European, Western, Indian, and, of course, Khmer food. You'll also be blown away by how many funky, creative, and fun cafes, restaurants, bars, and street food choices there are. By the way, you can try spider, snake, or even insects in Cambodia! Who's brave enough to take a bite?
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Incredible natural beauty
The Kingdom of Cambodia may be right next door to the Philippines, but it looks so different that it might as well be another planet. Mostly landlocked (except for coastal areas in the south), life in Cambodia is centered around the colossal Lake Tonle Sap and the rivers that feed it, like the mighty Mekong.
 
However, some things will look familiar – regal palm trees, sprawling rice fields, and the endless sun-kissed beauty of “the province.” But you’ll also find floating villages of boat people, tropical jungle, rivers to play in, butterfly farms, pepper plantations, dusty villages with friendly locals, and breathtaking Bokor Mountain and National Park.
 
If you make it south to Phnom Penh, consider another 3-4 hour bus/van ride (that’s nothing for eager Filipino travelers!) to the charmingly surreal river town of Kampot or the super-chill coastal enclave of Kep, where you can lay in a hammock and eat fresh seafood to your heart's content. I really think you’ll love those places.
 
One thing I haven't mentioned much is Sihanoukville (the name of their former King) in the south of the country. While it's a hot spot for backpackers and travelers, I don't suggest it for Filipinos. It takes about 6 hours to get there from Phnom Penh (and takes you even further away from your flight out of Siem Reap), and it's attracted a sleazy, unsafe element. While nearby Koh Rong Island is beautiful, you have far more (and better) islands back home. So my recommendation is to come to Cambodia for the culture, temples, and exploring the main city, but skip Sihanoukville.)

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A dark and storied history
Wow, where do I even begin? I can write ten blogs on the history of Cambodia, but suffice to say this – the modern developing nation you see today has one of the richest, most ancient, and interesting histories of any country in Asia. However, Cambodia was also home to one of the worst genocides in human history, with the Khmer Rouge killing almost a quarter of the total population of their own country in the months between 1975 and 1978.
 
History buffs will experience all of that – pride in their ancient civilization, the surprisingly-European influence in art, architecture, food and culture from French colonialism, scars from the Khmer Rouge’s atrocities, and today’s hopes to heal and build a modern society. 

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Filipino tourists don’t even need a visa to visit Cambodia!
I know the process of applying for a visa can be long, expensive, and frustrating for Filipinos. But here's some amazing news, straight from the TourismCambodia.com website:

Visa Exemption
The nationals of the Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, Myanmar do not need a tourist visa and may stay in Cambodia for 21 and 30 days respectively.



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Experience Buddhism
While the majority of people in the Philippines are Roman Catholic and Christian, Cambodia is predominantly Buddhist. Filipinos will be delighted to experience such a cultural, historical, and yes, religious contrast. You'll find that Buddhism, its temples (Wats), and its people, very welcoming. From Angkor Wat to the temples and pagodas around the picturesque royal palace in Phnom Penh to gonzo celebrations like the water festivities for Khmer New Year, Filipinos will love being immersed in a Buddhist society. 

Plenty of pasalubong to take home
Everywhere you go in Siem Reap or Phnom Penh, you’ll find stalls, stores, and night markets selling t-shirts, wood carvings, handmade jewelry, local art and crafts, designer brand (knock-off) clothes and purses, hats, refrigerator magnets, postcards, silks and other exotic fabrics, spices, and just about every other gift you can imagine. For 1,000 Pesos and some smooth-tongued haggling, you'll return home with a backpack full of pasalubong that will even make your sometimes-complaining  (and still single) Ate happy! ​

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Connect with great people
My Pinoy friends will have one frustration in Cambodia, as people come up to them on the street and start speaking Khmer all the time, thinking they are from Cambodia. But the good news is that people are generally friendly, happy, and open to foreigners in Cambodia. Of course, English isn't their native tongue, but anyone that works in tourism will speak enough English to get by and interact, and you'd be surprised how fast the younger generation (like kids on the street) are learning it.
 
Likewise, you'll meet some AMAZING fellow travelers from all over the world while you're in Cambodia, making new friends for life who might even invite you to their home countries.
 
I’ve found that in some places (like Thailand, etc.) the country is beautiful but I leave feeling like I’ve lacked a meaningful connection to the country and its people. But in Cambodia, there are endless opportunities for an authentic human bond and even friendships, enriching both of your lives.

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My favorite thing to do when I visit Cambodia is get involved with local charities. I have a few that I REALLY trust, believe in, and have been helping for years, like the Children’s Improvement Organization orphanage in Siem Reap and the Connecting Hands Training Café in Phnom Penh. But be careful – you’ll fall in love with the kids and these people and not want to leave!

​
***
 
For these 10 reasons, I promise you that Cambodia will remain in your heart long after the stamp in your passport fades!
​
 
-Norm  :-)
 
Disclaimer: I am not Filipino, but please don’t hold that against me – nobody’s perfect! 

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    Norm Schriever

    Norm Schriever is a best-selling author, expat, cultural mad scientist, and enemy of the comfort zone. He travels the globe, telling the stories of the people he finds, and hopes to make the world a little bit better place with his words.   

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