Siem Reap, Cambodia

Historians believe Angkor is the largest pre-industrial city in the world. It was the capital of the thriving Khmer Empire between the 9th and 15th century. Hundreds of temples were built during different religious eras. Hindi, indigenous religious cults, and Buddhist ruins scatter miles of arduous terrain.

Natives and enslaved elephants endured hellish treks hauling enormous blocks of sandstone through unforgiving mountains. Roasting humid summers and brutal prolonged rainy seasons wore workers to the ragged edge; sometimes to their death.

The meticulous detail of thousands of religious sculptures are timeless accomplishments of the Khmer people. Endless trails lead beyond well-known Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom sites.

Seam Reap is between mountains of Northwest Cambodia and the largest lake in Southeast Asia, Tonlé Sap. The influence of Hindu-Buddhist Empire rule, colonial Chinese, French Indochina governance blend unique and rivaling heritages.

Rustic rice farm paddies and wobbly stilt villages boarder the city limits. Water buffalo graze freely in fields as youngsters tend to them. Kids roam together freely; often half-naked and fearless.

Seasoned fisherman unwearyingly cast nets into flooded farmland; occasionally netting fish no bigger than their fingers.

Foreign construction and investments are transforming the feel and image of the tragically repressed province.

Cambodia is rebuilding itself after the Vietnam War and Khmer Rouge genocide of the 1970’s. There are estimates that 3 million Cambodians were hideously executed. Countless innocent families were violently destroyed and never reunited.

Every Cambodian I spoke to lost relatives during the Khmer Rouge period. I found the people to be very friendly and amicable. They are striving for peace and freedom from their recent horrific history.