FW: Cambodian Impressions

I 'm certainly going to miss Cambodia - i'm constantly surprised by how different all of the different countries over here are. They are all heavily influenced by each other and by the west (the parts that i'm exposed to especially) - To me, Cambodia is different from Vietnam and Thailand in that it's such a tragic country. The two most significant things about the country are the Angkor temples, which are a symbol of how great the Khmers used to be, and Killing Fields, a symbol of how terrible they can be and the country is still recovering. The poverty is much worse than Vietnam or Thailand and for most of them it seems hard to imagine how their lives could possibly improve. I constantly hear the western description, 'they're so poor but they're so happy' - as if money is the root of all unhappiness in the world, but these people are not happy BECAUSE they are poor, they are happy SOME of the time IN SPITE of being poor. I don't imagine many of them are very cheerful when they're starving (and many are over here), when they're in agony because they can't get decent dental or medical care, and it really can't be much fun seeing thousands of westerners flooding through your town spending on one night on the town what you would spend in one week. I can only imagine that very righteous jeolous anger must be building up in their hearts over their plight - maybe i'm wrong about it - maybe they're better people who don't car about such things bui find it hard to imagine that anyone could be happy with their plight - there is a big differece between being poor and being in poverty or abject poverty.
Still, i'm certainly going to miss the insane roads, the creative sales techniques, tactile waitresses and the hundreds of naked children who run through town like miniature streakers at the cricket. And the food, i'll miss that too.