It's a Holiday in Cambodia
On tuk-tuks to temples and tombs in Cambodia
As tragic as it is otherworldly, Cambodia is a destination for the truly curious traveller
I’m a little nonplussed when my tour guide in Cambodia tells me he was once a member of the Khmer Rouge. What, the brutal dictatorship of the 1970s that slaughtered more than 2-million of its own people? That wiped out education, money and religion, and forced people out of the cities to farm the land, where thousands more died of starvation? The ones that killed your father? Yes, says Heng Seng Hok, that’s them. Hok was only 13 when he was forced to join the murderous regime that had supposedly been overthrown by then, but was still a deadly guerrilla force operating from the jungle. Hok later escaped to become a temple boy in Siem Reap, and like all older Cambodians, he has extraordinary tales to tell. The country is still working to rebuild itself after those four bloody years, with its recovery helped by an influx of dollars as tourists return to admire the astonishing temple of Angkor Wat. It’s as magnificent as Machu Picchu, as intriguing as the Taj Mahal, and a great deal les...
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