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| Cambodia has been one of the places I have desperately wanted to visit, but admittedly, the most cautious to approach. Francis Ford Coppela's movie, "Apocalypse Now," has long instilled the feeling of danger and death. But, hey, that's just a movie. Cambodia's real "heart of darkness," came at the hands of Pol Pot and his gang of Khmer Rouge rebels, who nearly succeeded in a cultural genocide a mere thirty years ago. A feat comparable to the Holocaust. Although the regime was overthrown, many of the perpetrators are still alive and living, somewhere in Cambodia. |
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| Although, the stories of the Khmer Rouge made me nervous, I decided I couldn't let my opportunity of seeing the famous Angkor temples slip away. From Saigon, Vietnam I took a mini-bus to the border, and then boarded a van, packed with travelers, the rest of the eight hour journey to Cambodia's capital; Phnom Phen. The road was basically dirt and potholes, as the landscape slowly passing by turned flat, dry and was scattered with tired, dusty trees. |
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| The capital has been likened to Asia's "wild west." Dirty buildings and poor road conditions bore proof of the turbulent times the city and |
| it's people have been witness to. Gasoline vendors, outdoor barber shops and other various small business entrepreneurs dotted the sides of the streets, just trying to get by. However, with the obvious poverty and continuous political instability, the native Khmer people couldn't have been more friendly. After decades of violence, they just seemed to be looking forward, towards a more prosperous, peaceful and brighter future. |
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