Cambodia (An Introduction)

In the middle of last year I spent over three weeks in Cambodia, a small country in South East Asia sandwiched between Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. The two things that the country is most famous for are probably Angkor Wat (pictured below at sunset) and Communist leader Pol Pot.

It was Angkor Wat that initially attracted me to the country. I’ve got a great fascination for ancient religious structures, perhaps fostered by repeated viewings of the Indiana Jones movies as a child. Indeed, while I was climbing around a couple of the more jungle-covered temples, Ta Prohm (from Tomb Raider) and Beng Mealea (pictured below and featured in the film Two Brothers) I whistled the Indiana Jones theme incessantly.

At first I was going to go only to the Angkor Wat area of Cambodia, , but in the end I spent a week total in a couple of other places, including the capital Phnom Penh. I’m glad I did, because I was lucky enough to get a glimpse of life in Cambodia and also meet some of the people. I think going to Cambodia and only visiting Angkor Wat would have been like going to Australia and only seeing the Gold Coast.

So over the next few weeks I’m intending to write three posts about Cambodia each covering an area of sex, religion or politics in the country, either past and present, that I observed on my trip there. Stay tuned.

But while you’re waiting, here’s the Indiana Jones theme song. The trumpeter screws up the beginning a little, but the rest is super. What an awesome piece of music.