Cambodia

Back in Norway after our 2 week long vacation in Cambodia. Why do you want to go there? Pople in Norway asked, and in Cambodia we were met with the same question: Why have you come here? Well, we chose to visit Cambodia because it was a country we did not know to much about, actually hardly anything, and because we thougt it would be a very different country from our own. We were not disappointed! I have learned so much about the country.
The history of the country is horrifying, but even though the sadness is close in time, people seem happy and smile. For us Norwegians they appear very fiendly and talkative. Asking questions about whatever we were curious about was easy and we got insight into everyday life I had not hoped to get beforehand.



OMG! The traffic... I don't know where to begin to describe it, I think one just have to experience it. In the beginning I did not understand much, but I think this must be some of the main rules they are thought at there driving schools:

• Do not stop unless you absolutely have to
• Take all possible short cuts
• You must never give way
• Use the shoulder of the road at every opportunity

I can't say I got used to the traffic, and I would certainly not drive myself (for my crossing the road in Phnom Penh was challenging enough), but I was not scared to death the whole time at the end.


What I notice first in a new country is the contrasts comparing with Norway. One of them was the extreme amount of littering everywhere. Luckily it seems as there is a cultural change starting, but this young country do not seem to have the systems to handle all the garbage yet. I hope they do get it so the litter doesn't ruin the beatiful country.


In Norway most people live in the city, but in Cambodia most people live on the countryside. Some argue that the people living on the countryside are more happy and have more say in their own life than the people living in the city who is corrupted by money. For me, living on the countryside, I can related to that as people in for instance Oslo seem stressed to me.


Well, this was some of the main impressions I got. After visiting a country with so much bigger challenges than what we face at home it is difficult to find motivation for reading political papers. While we discuss whether or not to have wolves in Norway, they are working to take care of their wild tigers and this is a country with a lot less resources than us. And of course we expect them to do so. Sometimes I feel ashamed.