Life Is Like That

This shall be the first post regarding my Cambodia trip last month. In this post, I prefer to share with you all some interesting facts I came to know during the trip. Some of these interesting facts I heard from my driver cum tour guide, some of them I got from friendly locals we talked to inside the bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. All these facts reflect the culture and ways of living of Cambodian people. Read on, would ya?

1. Ethnic Chinese consists of around 10% of Cambodia’s current total population. The percentage would have been greater if not for the Khmer Rouge genocide from 1975 to 1979.

2. Cambodia has a long war history with Thailand and Vietnam. Most locals still blame Vietnam to have played some parts in Khmer Rouge genocide. In recent years, Cambodia has a long dispute with Thailand over the ownership of Preah Vihear Temple which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008.

3. Siem Reap is Cambodia’s main tourist destination due to its location near the Angkor Wat. In fact, I also found out that Cambodia has nothing much to offer except for the Angkor Wat after my Cambodia trip.

Siem Reap International Airport

Siem Reap International Airport

The famous Smile of Bayon

4. Khmer Rouge genocide is the darkest moment in Cambodian history. An estimated 1.5 million people or one-fifth of the country’s total population were killed. I was told almost all educated people as well as their families were murdered, starved and tortured. This is certainly one of the biggest crimes against humanity in mankind history.

Inside a torture chamber in S-21 Prison

5. US Dollar is widely used in Cambodia, only for notes while coins are not accepted. 1 USD equals to 4000 Cambodian Riel generally. Cambodians earn very little on average. From conversation with a local lady, a university leaver would not earn more than USD 250 per month regardless of his or her position in the company. A school leaver earns not more than USD 150 per month, teacher earns USD 50 per month, police earns USD 70 per month, and male labor at construction site earns USD 5 to 6 per day while female labor earns USD 2.5 per day (1 USD = 3.1432 MYR).

6. Due to starvation and not enough food during the Khmer Rouge rule, Cambodians turned to spiders, crickets, grasshoppers and other insects for food. Even today these creepy insects are favorite snacks for locals especially during rainy season. I was told a scoop of fried spiders costs 500 Cambodian Riel while a scoop of other insects costs 300 Cambodian Riel. Dared to try?

Spiders!

Can you tell what this is?

7. Because of low salaries, corruption is very common in Cambodia. This has led to high crime rate in the country. We were traveling inside a friend’s car on the street in Phnom Penh one night. We saw a guy shoved a rag in a girl’s face and tried to pull her into the dark. The girl did not fight at all so we believe she had been knocked out by most probably chloroform on the rag. Ironically, there stood a few policemen just a few hundred meters away! It all happened too fast that we felt bad not to stop it the next day when we recalled the incident. So my advice to all female travelers, do not walk alone on the street at night in Cambodia!

8. You would see a small shrine placed in the front courtyard of each house in Cambodia. The door of the shrine faces the entrance to the house. Cambodians believe this brings luck and wealth to the family.

Placed in front of the house for good luck

9. Car plate system in Cambodia is very simple, i.e. 1 for motorbikes, 2 for cars as well as 3 for buses and lorries. Unlike in Malaysia, Cambodia does not have different car plate systems for different locations in the country.

Motorbike

Car

Bus

10. I was told hollow bricks are used to construct almost all buildings in Cambodia. This is to save cost. Furthermore, there is no skyscraper in Phnom Penh, the country’s capital city. The skyline has been kept low to avoid overshadowing the Royal Palace. The tallest building in the country currently under construction in Phnom Penh is the 42-storey high Gold Tower 42.

Hollow bricks

That is all I want to share. There is so much fun to know the culture and ways of living in every new place you visit, isn’t it? It is this passion which keeps driving me on to travel to new places no matter how poor I am and how occupied my life is!

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