Cambodia
A country that suffered more in its dark history than most other places on earth. The
Cambodian (auto-)genocide at the hands of the
Khmer Rouge under
Pol Pot between 1975 and 1979 was one of the very worst crimes against humanity ever. And that was on top of years of suffering previously – from post-colonial chaos (Cambodia used to be part of
French Indochine, together with Laos and
Vietnam), civil war, and from being dragged into the
Vietnam War (although a neutral country it was massively carpet-bombed by the
USA, one aspect that helped the Khmer Rouge get strong enough to eventually seize power).
The country still hasn't recovered, although it is now making progress in the slow and painful process of coming to terms with its past. And tourism is helping a bit with this too. Ancient cultural sites may draw the biggest crowds (Angkor Wat in particular), but a couple of (really quite extremely) dark tourism sites, especially those in the capital Phnom Penh, are also popular with foreign visitors. Others are way off the beaten track:
- Cambodia 01
- Cambodia 02 - Angkor Wat
- Cambodia 03 - temple dancers for tourists
- Cambodia 04 - relics from more permissive days
- Cambodia 05 - Angkor Wat
- Cambodia 06 - angry stone-masonry
- Cambodia 07 - Angkor Thom Bayon
- Cambodia 08 - Banteay Srey
- Cambodia 09 - Ta Prohm
- Cambodia 10 - Ta Prohm, THE famous image
- Cambodia 11 - Beng Mealea
- Cambodia 12 - inside Beng Mealea
- Cambodia 13 - Koh Ker
- Cambodia 14 - Koh Ker Prasat Thom
- Cambodia 15 - Sampor Prei Kuk
- Cambodia 16 - country life
- Cambodia 17 - landmine warning signs by the roadside
- Cambodia 18 - Japanese mine detecting jeep
- Cambodia 19 - mines cleared, cow is at peace
- Cambodia 20 - Phnom Penh
- Cambodia 21 - Phnom Penh independence monument
- Cambodia 22 - Phnom Penh Royal Palace
- Cambodia 23 - Phnom Penh Royal Palace
- Cambodia 24 - icky food at Phnom Penh Market
- Cambodia 25 - tarantulas make a Cambodian snack too
- Cambodia 26 - Phnom Penh FCC
- Cambodia 27 - Phnom Penh waterfront
- Cambodia 28 - Phnom Penh street scene with elephant
- Cambodia