I am staying in a little slice of heaven on the south coast of Cambodia. A little town about 30,000 people where the river and ocean meet. It was about a hundred years ago a tourist hotspot for the French when Cambodia was a protectorate and part of French Indochina but has been derelict since the turmoil beginning a half a century ago and only just ending in this area a decade ago. There was actually still fighting between the Vietnamese and the Khmer Rouge guerrillas in the 90’s. you can see the scars of war and most especially land mine victims all around but you also see the very rapid development and urgency with which the culture is hurdling itself toward new technology and modern life. Kids ride around on pimped out new scooters with flashy cell phones but live without running water or sometimes even electricity. There is development everywhere though, construction is booming and they say in 10 years it will be another Thailand….aka #1 tourist spot in SE Asia (fact is if it weren’t for the civil war and fighting it might already be). Thailand really has it down to a science, you can get anything and go anywhere all designed with travelers in mind ;P Cambodia is on its way there, many of the roads are still barely travel worthy but tourism is fast becoming a main base of the economy. The people are SO incredibly nice and just sincere it is truly refreshing.
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