Wrapping it up in Phnom Penh

Over the past two days I've really taken to Phnom Penh and Cambodia in general. The tropical climate is beautiful (maybe a little hot at midday), the food has been phenomenal (I'm addicted to amok and Khmer curries) and the people are friendly and outgoing. Phnom Penh has a great riverfront area, cafe culture, arts and architecture and the Buddhist monks bring a sense of tranquility to the city. This, however, is a country in recovery mode. The people here have been to hell and back thanks to the Khmer Rouge.

I spoke with an interesting man in the park this morning. There is so much poverty and so many people begging that you have to tune it out it a bit. You can't buy what everyone is selling or hand out money to every beggar....there are just too many. However, the man this morning caught my attention. He didn't beg. He didn't pull on my arm or stand in my path. He simply asked if I'd like to sit down with him. He was kind and soft spoken, not pushy and his English was impeccable. Many of the people on the streets here have learned a few lines in English in order to be more endearing to the Western passers by, but this man was different. So I sat down with him and listened to his story. True or not, it was an interesting story and he deserved my few bucks just for being a pleasant conversationalist. He had come into the city from his village to find work but no one would take him because, at 60, he was too old to hire. I asked him where he learned to speak English....he responded that he had learned much when the American soldiers were in Cambodia for the war in Vietnam but mostly, he had had private tutors. Before the Khmer Rouge, his family had money and he had been educated. I only chatted with this man for a short time and then gave him a few bucks for his bus ticket home (or whatever he chose to use it for). It wasn't until later in the day, after I had visited the Tuol Sleng Musuem(recounting the many atrocities of the Khmer Rouge) that his story really sunk in. Again, whether it was BS or not, it made me think. The man I met had somehow been educated, lived a stable, hard-working, happy life and then one of his own countrymen, rose to power, took away his freedom, instilled fear and distrust in the people and sent the entire country into a seemingly endless downward spiral. After nearly 30 years they are still recovering.