March 17th 2025, Siem Reap, Cambodia

This afternoon I went on a 16km cycling tour through the countryside of Siem Reap. I learned some cool stuff and think it is worth sharing. First we went to a temple just outside the city. At this Buddhist temple there was a temple from the Angkor period. The guide explained to us that the temple is a Hindu temple. He explained as Cambodia is almost 100% Buddhist, their traditions and culture are a combination of Hinduism, Animism and Buddhism. Animism is the oldest in Cambodia and most influential in the daily lives of the people. In the 1st century India brought over Hinduism. Theravāda Buddhism entered Cambodia through Sri Lanka and Burma, while Mahayana Buddhism came via India and China around the 5th century.Early Khmer kings practiced both Hinduism and Buddhism together, building temples for both religions. Still today Cambodians whenever they see a Hindu temple pray to the associated Hindu G-D. Temples dedicated to Vishnu are oriented west because Hindu tradition says thats where he resides in the cosmos. Cambodians bury their dead facing the west. After visiting the temple we saw the sunset overlooking a rice field and lotus flower field. Our guide then started to explain modern Cambodia to us. 85% of Cambodians live under the poverty line. The main source of income and the biggest export is still agriculture. Education is a huge problem and over half the population cannot read. Ever since the Cambodian genocide the same government has been in power. The government is one of the most corrupt in the world and is holding Cambodia back. Remember when I said Phnom Penh was impressive with high rises and such. Our guide told us that the Cambodian elite and Chinese. In Phnom Penh you see many Land Rovers driving around actually. I was quite confused why. China owns the Siem Reap airport and the Phnom Penh airport. They are loaning huge sums of money to Cambodia. It does not seem like Cambodia will be able to pay it back. Cambodia is still reeling from the brutal genocide here. The genocide from 1975 to 1979 was one of the deadliest atrocities in 20th century, orchestrated by a radical communist movement, the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot. It resulted in 2 million deaths, a quarter of the Cambodian population. Cambodia gained independence from France in 1953. In the 60s they tried to remain neutral but were drawn into the Vietnam War. The US secretly bombed Cambodia (1969-1973) to target North Vietnamese forces hiding there. This destabilized the country and inadvertently fueled support for the Khmer Rouge. In 1970 there was a coup and civil war. In 1975 the communist Khmer Rouge took power. Once in power Pol Pot wanted to create an agrarian, classless utopia, eliminating urban life, capitalism, and intellectualism. That is so dumb bahahaha. Anyone associated with former government, intellectuals, professionals, or even wore glasses was targeted for execution. The Khmer Rouge waged border attacks against Vietnam and then Vietnam invaded in 1978. By 1979 Vietnam created a government. The Khmer Rouge retreated to the jungle and waged guerrilla war until the late 1990s. In 1991 a peace agreement was signed and in 1993 Cambodia held elections, restoring the monarchy. Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system, but in practice, it has been dominated by a single party for decades. After the war there were only 100 teachers for a population of 4 million! You can see why it has taken them so long to recover and they are still not recovered. Ok that's enough. He also showed us lotus flowers and how they are used for offerings to Monks. The stems of the lotus flower can be eaten and inside the stem they make silk from them!