Mekong region in 1997: Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia

Cambodia 

If you are superstitious, you should not fly to Phnom Penh on Friday, 13th.

And if you believe what's in the paper, you should not go to Phnom Penh at all. Ad in a English language newspaper in Cambodia. „Your life is worth more than USD790" - true only for the numerous expats, not for the Khmer.

Landmines are not a problem when you visit Cambodia as a tourist - but they are a major problem for millions of Cambodians. Travel on the first car trains is free, because it's the first to blow up when a mine was laid. It's all a legacy of Cambodia's horrifying recent past, when app. 1.7 million people died during the four years Pol Pot completely transformed Cambodia into an agricultural society with no money, no intelligentia and no cities. Phnom Penh was evacuated within 24 hours.

The „Tuol Sleng Holocaust Museum", located in a former torture prison, is a place every young man and woman whould go to at least once in his or her life. It's the definate proof that man is capable of doing anything. The whole museum is full of faces - like the Nazis, the Communists documented their genocide with cruel precision. Thousands of faces - faces which say more than a thousand words - almost hunt you in this museum. Some of their spirits are in the last room, where a map of Cambodia is made out of skulls and bones...

The night after the pre-coup fighting in Phnom Penh - which I observed along with dozens of journalists and other foreigners from the balcony of the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) - I encountered this teenage soldier of the guards of then-co-prime minister Ranaridh. A few days later, Ranaridh was ousted from office by his opponent Hun Sen. Thousands died in the fighting, maybe also this boy who has probably never been to school.

The thousands of skulls found in the mass graves of „Choeng Ek" outside Phnom Penh are looking at me from the glass tower they're in. There can be no more powerful reminder of Khmer Rouge rule in Cambodia than this. The spirits of the tortured, the spirits of the killed, seem to be present, looking at me and reading every thought in my mind.

A general showing journalists where the fighting took place. While I couldn't understand most of what he said during the improvised press conference, mostly in Khmer, I did realize that this guy was angry - really angry. When generals start to shout, they are normally not in charge anymore.

Contrast: A reminder that Cambodia has seen better times and is home of an incredibly rich culture. The ruins of Angkor Wat. Around the year 1'000, Angkor was the biggest city on the planet.

Below, one of the highlights of this trip. Nature and culture can be opposites in today's world. The ruins of Ta Promh show what happens when culture is left over to nature. There seems to be a kind of a symbiosis now - but there is no doubt in my mind that - in this case - the jungle will eventually be stronger.

The tourists came to see temples - now he's showing them his missing legs, taken away by one of Cambodia's seven millions of landmines. The melody he's playing on this traditional instrument is a sad one. So is the expression in his face - if you look closely. Joan Baez: „Is there no tomorrow, no tomorrow in Cambodia? People of Kampuchea, Kampuchea, Cambodia....."

Well worth a visit are the floating villages on lake Tonle Sap - here near Siem Reap. To visit your neighbour, you take the boat. Sometimes you see two boats next to each other with people just chatting - or drinking. Floating hospitals, floating police stations and a floating pub - „Video Karaoke Bar".

The woman below went to the floating market. Note how her little daughter is visibly enjoying the breeze. It's hot in June in Cambodia. If there is any hope for Cambodia, it lies in her generation.

Text and pictures by Marcel Stoessel.