Cambodia - History and Culture

History and Politics

Prisoner Room
Genocide Museum

Cambodia is a country with a checkered and tragic past unparalleled to any country. A thousand years back it had the rule of the Khmer kings, the largest Empire during its time. And in the 1970s, it was the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot, one of the most cruel despots that the world has ever seen. Today the story of the Khmer Rouge crimes is well known. Two million Cambodians, one-quarter of the nation's population, were killed during Pol Pot's three and one-half years in power. Eighty percent of Cambodia's teachers were killed and 95 percent of the doctors, along with almost everyone else who had an education. Cambodia, as Pol Pot liked to say, was returned to year zero.

Cambodia since the fall of Pol Pot has been dominated by the rivalry of three factions. 1st was Hun Sen who had taken refuge in Vietnam and was installed by the invading Vietnam as Prime Minister. Next was Sam Rainsy, who was supported by the west but who had limited support on the ground. The last one was Norodom  Ranariddh, who was the son of King  Sihanouk  and tried to use his position to create influence among the people.

However Rainsy and Ranariddh lacked the personal dedication, perseverance, and understanding of postwar Cambodia to compete effectively against Hun Sen. Hun Sen as head of the Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) controlled all the officials on the ground and ensured that he won all elections to date. Cambodia in essence is a single party state under total control by Hun Sen who is now the President with his son being the prime Minister. Among the opposition, Rainsy is in exile and Ranariddh died in 2021.

From conversations I had with people, most Cambodians don't like the Vietnamese and Chinese and 90% of people are against the CPP.

The country is riddled with corruption and with Chinese money coming in for the last few decades, there is a constant pressure between development and maintaining the pristine environment of Cambodia for future generations. 

Economy and Infrastructure

Cambodia is around 180000 sq kms which is almost the size of Karnataka state in India but has only 25% of its population at 17 million. The person capita GDP is around 1875 dollars which is half of Karnataka. It's therefore a lower middle income country like Vietnam and India. 

Phnom Penh City

Cambodia’s economy grew at an average annual rate of 7.6 percent between 1995 and 2019, driven largely by tourism, manufacturing exports, real estate, and construction, making it one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Post Pandemic, growth has slowed down and it is expected to be around 5.8% in 2024.  In the ASEAN region, Cambodia is tracking as having the 3rd strongest GDP growth in 2024 (behind Vietnam and India). It is the only economy in the region expected to grow stronger in 2025.

The highway infrastructure is good and well maintained. The broad highways of Thailand gave way to mainly 2 lane roads. Some upcountry roads were dusty at places due to no proper kerbing. The countryside was filled with rice fields unlike the corn fields I saw on the Thai side. 

Infrastructure in cities like Siem Reap and Phnom Penh is good and well maintained with pavements, proper drains and sidewalks unlike Indian urban cities which have a lot to be desired.

Bank QR Codes

One unique characteristic is that all prices are both in USD and the Cambodian Riel. The primary transactional currency is the US dollar with the Riel being used only in small amounts with a value of 2000 Riel to the dollar. Dollarization emerged spontaneously because public confidence in the Riel eroded due to the Khmer Rouge's destruction of all infrastructure and subsequent mismanagement of the economy. The hyperinflation of the 90s worsened the situation and currently only 5% of deposits and loans are in Riel.  The price of goods is more expensive than Vietnam and Laos considering its economy and I would put it as equivalent to India and slightly lower than Thailand.

Digital infrastructure is also good with mobile and internet coverage and QR code payments are used everywhere unlike Vietnam which is a cash economy. Even small vendors had a clutch of bank QR codes which reminded me of India although there is no unified payment interface like UPI here. 

The Central Bank has now launched a blockchain based system called Bakong. While consumers can still choose to pay using a banking app, if they scan a KHQR code, the payment backend now goes via the Bakong blockchain payment system and participant banks all support the new format. However from what I saw, a clutch of QR codes still continues.

Culture

Cambodia today is heavily influenced by their Hindu past. One of our guides shared this interesting story when we chanced upon a wedding during the tour. It was the legend of the Indian king. I researched the story further. 

 The Khmer wedding ceremony has been inspired by the beautiful legend of the marriage of the first Khmer prince Preah Thong and the Naga princess Neang Neak. Preah Thong was an Indian prince, who set sails to the east to find his own land. One day, his ship approached an island. The prince  decided to moor the ship and got off to explore that island. In a full moon night, Preah Thong accidentally caught a strange sight, when the ocean's surface suddenly rippled and there was a group of people emerging from the underwater. They were princess Neang Neak – the daughter of the Naga King, and her maids and servants.

The prince and princess fell in love with each other at the first sight and they went to Neang Neak's underwater kingdom to ask permission from her father. After the Naga King approved, a big wedding celebration was held for three days and three nights. The king then used his magic power to swallow the water to form the land that is now known as Cambodia and presented it to the newlywed couple. From then, Preah Thong and Neang Neak started to build their own kingdom and lived together happily ever after.

Many Khmer wedding customs and ceremonies are believed to be influenced by the marriage of these two legendary figures.

While India has a historical cultural connection, today it is China which is  gaining influence over Cambodia through the BRI trade. There are currently over 100 Chinese educational institutions in the country and more than 100,000 Cambodian learners. Around 280 Chinese teachers and 1,900 volunteers are being sent to Cambodia annually. China's vocational education and training (VET) model is also being used to align education with economic needs and support Cambodia's goal of becoming a regional manufacturing and service hub.

 Meanwhile France is also trying to influence its erstwhile French colonies through a common agenda. In the recent 2024 Francophonie Summit in Paris, Cambodia was officially selected to host the next Summit, which will bring together 84 member countries and 26 observer states in 2026.

The only news I saw about India is how dubious firms involved in fake recruitment job offers are trafficking Indian nationals to Cambodia and other nearby countries and making them to carry out cyber crime and other illegal activities from scam centers operating in these countries. About 1000 plus Indian nationals have been rescued and released by Cambodian authorities over last 3 years as per the Indian Embassy in Cambodia.

Bangkok - Enroute to Cambodia

Overall Plan

I planned to visit Cambodia in July and decided to fly to Bangkok and then travel to Cambodia by road. This was because I was not sure how long I would stay in Cambodia and wanted the option of traveling in Thailand on my way back. I did a stop over in Bangkok for a few days and while I was there, met up with two of my ex colleagues who were currently working in Bangkok. 

Sukhumvit

I stayed in the Sukhumvit area which is a lively place and where all the major hotels, restaurants and entertainment options were. Food options are plenty and include excellent Western, Thai, Burmese, Indian, middle eastern, Ethiopian, Chinese and Japanese restaurants. I and a big fan of Adam Gottschalk who is a journalist-turned-chef and runs the OTR channel on YouTube. In one of his programs, he had covered Burmese food and I wanted to ensure that I ate at least one Burmese restaurant. One of the first things I did was to visit ThaNaKa Myanmar Restaurant and taste its food. I tried the picked tea leaf salad which was flavorful and crunchy and had Pork with sour Bamboo shoot curry with rice. It was wonderful and reminded me of North East Indian food. 

I was told Bangkok had over 20 lakhs Indians who had settled when the king had given them land near Sukhumvit at very low rates. Now this part of the city has become the main area and very expensive. These Thai Indians can be differentiated from their Indianized names. I asked my friend about his experience working in Bangkok. He said that today there are people from across the world working here including Indians. The school system is very good where the medium of instruction is Thai and there are also international schools. In many ways like India, society favors respect and politeness for individuality and creativity. Therefore while Thais are good at Tourist and services related activities, the level of innovation and use of Technology within the country is limited. Most technology companies are mostly from Singapore and Indonesia. 

City Pillar and Wat Pho

The city Pillar is where the foundation of the city is kept in the form of a Lingam and is common across Thailand and Laos. Both this temple and Wat Pho which is one of the important Wats in Bangkok are just outside the royal palace area and I spent a few hours in both these places. I had visited the Royal Palace and the Emerald Buddha temple several years back and I decided to give it a miss.

The city pillar was set up by Rama I, the founder of the Chakri dynasty and the city of Krung Rattanakosin or Bangkok. The shrine also has five guardian spirits including interestingly Chao Chettakup or Chitragupta who is an assistant to Yama, the God of death and keeps a record of all the deaths of a person. 

Wat Pho was built by King Rama I and contains his ashes. It has the largest collection of Buddha images in Thailand including the famous reclining Buddha. It was also a Center for public education and has illustrations and inscriptions for public instructions. 

The best time to visit these places is early morning before the day gets hot and the tourist crowds start pouring in. Before going to these places, I stopped for breakfast at the Trok Mor Morning Market which is near the Palace and has got great street food. 

Wat Arun and Souksiam

While exiting Thailand back to India, I made it a point to go to Wat Arun or the Temple of Dawn which I had visited a few years back but at that time it was being renovated. It is an impressive structure on the other side of the Chao Phraya river and is very popular for photo shoots. Dedicated to Aruna, the charioteer of Surya God and the father of Jatayu, the temple is very impressive with its colorful tiles and the towering 200 ft spire of the main pagoda. 

It's a day well spent traveling along the river and the best way to do it is to buy an all day river pass on the tourist blue boat at Sathorn Pier. One can hop in and out of the various sites. One of the stops I made was to Iconsiam, a stylish mall and one of the best places to taste Thai street food from across all regions in an airconditioned Souk called Souksiam. I would highly recommend it to every visitor. 

City Parks and Art

Bangkok is a world class city with great food and entertainment destinations. What I also liked was its many parks where you could go for a morning run or evening strolls. I loved going to Lumphini park for my morning runs and Benchakitti during the evening where there is a beautiful lake, walkways all across the park and a main Amphitheater where there are free shows on Saturdays.  

If you love art and antiques, River City Bangkok is the place where I spent half a day wandering around its wonderful art galleries and antique shops. I bought a modern painting from MT Gallery which has a decent collection.

Before exiting, I had to make a stop at Thaniya shopping Center which is a mall just for Golf equipment and accessories. It is a customary place for me and my friends to visit when in Bangkok and a great place to shop for Golfing gear.

 

 

In and around Tawang

 The Road to the Tibet Border

The road to Tawang from Chug Valley took around 6 hours and we took the Sela Tunnel instead of going up the pass. We would cover Sela Lake on our way back. Passing by JaswantGarh War Memorial, we reached our homestay late evening.

Tseten Homestay is a lovely place located at the entrance of Tawang Town about 3 Kms before the Market area. This would be our base for the next 2 days as we explore Tawang and its nearby sights. Next day morning, we decided to travel to the Indo-china border as there was a possibility of rain the day after and we didn't want to take the chance.

Way to Holy Waterfalls

There are various border points and most tourists go to the Bumla Pass which is the route the Dalai Lama had taken to escape to India. However, we travelled up to Chumig Gyatse Holy Waterfalls, where recently a border road has been built. 

The Holy Waterfalls has significance in that it is a sacred place in Arunachal Pradesh which was blessed by Guru Padmasambhava (also known as Guru Rinpoche by the Tibetans), the great yogi and tantric master who lived in the 8th century AD. It is also the location where the Yangtse clash took place between the Indian Army and the Chinese People's Liberation Army on the night of December 9, 2022. Violent clashes took place between the two armies which confronted each other with nail-studded clubs on a ridgeline above the waterfalls.

At the Waterfalls

To reach here, we travelled towards Bumla pass, then 6 kms before Bumla, one takes an eastward turn. The scenery around the lake and the pass (at an altitude of 4,200 meters) leaves you spellbound. Of course, one encounters a heavy military presence, due to the proximity of the border and the constant Chinese belligerence. 

The drive goes past Panga Teng Tso lake and we stop for a bit at Gribtsang Tso (Nagula Lake). Then after driving through the high plateau, one reaches grazing grounds and further ahead a thickly forested area with extremely old and tall pine trees. From there, we can see the gorges further down with the river flowing below after which sharp turns on the road high above climbs up to the ridge.

Chug Valley and Bishum-Phudung

Chug Valley

The Chug Valley is about 10 Kms from Dirang and offers an unique experience of Monpa culture and its culinary practices. Once we reached there, we were greeted by Lekyi, a Monpa woman from a neighbouring village who took us around the fields and the valley. 

We first went to see a Chuskor which is an indigenous technique of Monpa community to grind millets and grains by using flowing water to run a wooden turbine. We then got to know about making Mon Shugu which is a traditional handmade paper used in Monasteries and prayer wheels. All around were fields where we could see oranges, kiwis and other seasonal fruits being grown. 

We then went up to the Village Gompa. In the Center of the fields was an impressive sitting statue of Guru Rinpoche or Padmasambhava, the founder of Tibetan Buddhism. 

After walking through the fields, we went up to the old village. Enroute, we met some locals who were dry roasting corn to make it into a snack (Kakung) and we stopped to watch and taste it. 

The old village was a quaint collection of original Monpa houses. We were led to a 100 year old house for lunch and it was an unique fusion dining experience blending traditional Monpa cuisine with contemporary culinary techniques. Run by a group of ladies from the village, this curated experience turned out to be one of the top highlights of our trip.

Shergaon and Sherdukpens

The Travel Route

Every year I pick up a state in North East India and go for a visit through Chalohoppo, a travel experience company based out of the North East. Last two years, I had been to Nagaland and Meghalaya and this year I chose West Arunachal Pradesh. September was a good time as the Monsoon would be receding and it wouldn't be too cold. I reached out to two of my friends from College who joined me and we booked our slots and flight tickets. 

The 3 Musketeers with Ashiq

Three other women solo travelers were in our group and I was happy that two Trip Leaders who I had met in my earlier travels were joining us. One was Nick Doley who is from Majuli, Assam and Vikho was from Nagaland who I had met during the Nagaland trip 2 years back. We also had Pawan who was from Manipur and joined Chalohoppo recently. Ashiq was our driver whose patience and happy disposition was crucial for a smooth drive through the long roads of Arunachal. 

The plan was to drive up from Guwahati entering Arunachal and moving alongside Bhutan's eastern border to Tawang. Enroute we would be staying at Shergaon and Dirang before reaching Tawang, our final destination. We would also be going to the Indo-Chinese border from Tawang on one of the days. The overall round trip was for 8 days.

Arunachal Pradesh - Land of Tribes

Arunachal has a huge diversity of population and about 23 major tribes and 100 sub-tribes live in the state. To categorize the cultural spheres broadly, West Arunachal Pradesh is populated by the Monpas, a tribe who follow Tibetan Buddhism. In the lower areas near Shergaon, there is a Buddhist Animist tribe called Sherdukpen. Central Arunachal Pradesh is populated by the Tani tribes who are a Sino-tibetan ethnic group and migrated from their homelands into Arunachal and Assam. They are animists and have their own religion called Donyi-Polo. The Eastern part of Arunachal is populated by the Mishmi tribes who are predominantly animists.

Bandung and Overall Impressions of Indonesia

Amidst Volcanoes and Plantations

July 2024

Bandung is in West Java and the drive from Semarang took around 5 hours. The highway roads were very good and time flew by pretty fast. The cost was around IDR 300000 which is around USD 20. 

Bandung is a city with narrow roads with heavy traffic which reminded me of Bangalore. The weather is also milder as it is in the plateau at a height. I had booked a place at G10 guest house which was run by a lady Inge Francisca and her husband. She was half Chinese and had made up the place very well with a beautiful terrace and a small pantry.

JL Braga which is the main street in Bandung and the high street was a 20 minutes walk away and the most people could do was spend time there especially in the evenings. The weekends were very lively with food, music and all of Bandung hanging out there. 

Padang Food

In general, liquor is not available in any of the shops in Java and one had to go to specific bars to have a drink. One gets used to not drinking and soon I found it normal to go weeks without having a drop of liquor. In a way it was refreshing and I made it up for it by drinking lots of Coffee, I suppose. 

Near the guest house was a Warung Suko Mananti which had some great Padang food. It is run by a friendly family and service was very good. The daughter was normally at the counter and she had finished studying communications at the nearby university which was a few meters away.

Padang is a cuisine of the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra. Padang uses coconut milk and spicy chili and has three main elements: gulai (curry), lado (chili pepper) and bareh (rice).I took Tempura, Rendang (slowly cooked beef), chicken, jackfruit, boiled cassava leaf and had it with iced Jasmine tea. It was absolutely delicious and felt like home. After that I visited the place a couple of times and experimented with all the varieties that were available.

A Chinese Traveller

One of the people at the guest house who I happened to meet was a Chinese girl who was currently working in Jakarta and had come down for the weekend. Her name was GuanShiren and she had grown up in Schenzen. Her English was pretty decent. She recently had visited UAE, Kazakhstan and after that experience decided that she would open up her own company in the future where she would source goods from China and sell to other countries. To hone up her experience, she accepted a job offer from a Chinese company to do similar work in Indonesia. The work life balance in Jakarta was surprisingly much better even though it was a Chinese company as in China, work was by the 996 system which is work from 9 am to 9 pm 6 days per week.

Guan and I went to the Bandung central area where after a cup of coffee, she went off to do some shopping (apparently Bandung is famous for its high end brand shopping deals) and I went off to have dinner and loiter around in the crowd.

Another Volcano

One of the mornings, I took a bike and visited the Tangkuban Perahu volcano which is to the North west of the city. It is an hours bike ride through the winding busy highway and the road goes all the way to the top of the crater from the entrance (after a fees of 200000 IDR for foreigners). If you go early in the morning, you will be rewarded with a clear sky, sunny views of the volcano and no crowds. After spending half an hour walking around the rim, it was time to come back.

To the South of Bandung is the well visited White crater and further South East is the Barut area and Kawah Papandayan, but that has been kept for the next visit to these Highlands.

In one of the morning walks at Tegalega gardens in Bandung, I came across many vendors selling Idli like cakes sweetened with a topping and made over open wood fire. Similarly in the morning, everyone seems to be having fried snacks called Gore gan like Tape Gorang (Fried fermented Cassava), Tofu, tempeh, banana, corn, cassava etc. It quite tempting to stop by and have a nice oily snack. If only it was accompanied by Kadak Ginger Chai! 

The Bandung Conference

Bandung became famous in the world map when it hosted the Asian and African countries in what is known as the Bandung Conference in 1955. Many Asian countries were getting independence from the colonial powers and the Bandung declaration is valid even today. It was also instrumental in giving birth to the Non Aligned movement. One of the days, I went and spent some time at the Bandung Asian African Conference Museum. It's a well kept museum with photographs and documents from the conference and the hall itself where in 2025, the 50th anniversary was celebrated.

Whoosh Bullet Train

Finally it was time to leave Bandung. I said goodbye to my host Inge and headed out to the station to catch Whoosh, the Fast Bullet Train to Jakarta. There is a free feeder train from the station which takes you to Padalarang. The train then takes 30 minutes to reach Halim station in Jakarta with a top speed of 350 Km/Hour,a journey which normally takes 1 1/2 hour. Ticket cost was a reasonable 200000 IDR which is around USD 12. It was an impressive experience and testimony to the growing infrastructure and confidence of Indonesia as a Nation.

Overall Impressions of Indonesia

As I left Jakarta for India, I reflected on what I had perceived Indonesia to be when I started my journey and my impression since. I had expected a Nation like India but more conservative with a Muslim Majority and having issues in terms of infrastructure and jobs. What I found was instead refreshingly different. The Islam that it has is liberal and  syncretical with elements of Hinduism, mystical beliefs, old age animism and spiritualism.

Though mosques are ubiquitous and all across the country you can hear the Azan at various times of the day, worshipers are not on the face or the act of worshipping visibly public. The largest mosque in Jakarta is very modern and has been designed by a Christian, a direct proclamation of the kind of Islamic Nation that the country wants to be.

There are so many ethnic groups (over 1300) and the country has been influenced over centuries by traders from India, Arab states and colonial powers which is reflected in their language and food. All across the country, you can see Sanskrit/Pali words and their language has words from Sanskrit, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch all pointing to the fact that this is a not a Mono Cultural Nation like China, instead it is a thriving multi cultural country like India. 

Women wear the Hijab more than probably the previous generation, but it is not mandatory and women have more freedom to express themselves both at home and public spaces. Java is a fertile land and even with its high density of population didn't feel overwhelming like India. The train and road infrastructure is world class and its cities are in much better shape than the Indian cities. People are friendly and many speak English especially in the urban areas. I came back with a better appreciation of the country and its people. 

Nothing can match a slow journey to soak in a culture and to understand the soul of a Nation.

Videos

Bandung	Bullet Train to Jakarta