Learning Journeys: Cambodian Capers

Prologue

Welcome to a new series of stories and illustrations from around the world, which I plan to collate in a book 📖.

“Learning Journeys” stories will describe my travels from a dual perspective: physical and self- developmental. I hope you recognise or find inspiration in some of the themes and observations.

I’ll start with Cambodia.  The country which has made the greatest impression on me, and inspired a huge amount of learning and change.   

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Sketch by author: Preah Khan temple, Angkor, Cambodia.

Why Cambodia?

Growing up in the UK in the 1980s, I heard a bit about Cambodia on the news. I saw images of starving children a world away.  I felt sorry for the people and got involved in a TV appeal to raise money.

But I had no idea what was really happening. That it wasn’t a famine caused by weather but deliberate starvation of people by their own government, in addition to other forms of torture and killing.

How Britain and other Western powers were complicit in the civil war which was linked to the Vietnam war, American foreign policy and secret bombing. 

Little did I know I would find out quite a lot about all this two decades later. From those who had survived it.

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Fast forward to 2003.  I'm newly married and my husband and I are craving adventures. We'd like to find an alternative challenge to the corporate ladder and our gilded cage in London.

So, we decide to quit our jobs and go freelance.  He as a journalist seeking to become a foreign correspondent. Me as a consultant, wanting to help smaller companies in a developing environment. And to explore other interests such as languages, writing, drawing, design and sustainability. 

We wanted to find a spot on the globe somewhere interesting and under-reported to set up an office.  Somewhere with a lot of history but slightly off the radar now.  Somewhere affordable to live and grow a business from scratch.

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How about Cambodia?  A country struggling to develop, post-conflict.  With a young, ambitious population.  Influenced by China, supported by international non-governmental organisations. Occupying a small but significant geo-political position.

Interesting idea, but I was initially a little doubtful.  The murderous Khmer Rouge regime was finished and the last travellers to be kidnapped were in the 1990s. But that seemed uncomfortably recent. 

I also knew there would be issues around general safety standards, (tropical) diseases and healthcare in particular.  And what would the culture be like?  I wondered if it might be quite stressful living there.  I imagined Phnom Penh a bit like Dehli - intense, vibrant but polluted and full of challenges for a foreigner.

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My husband had been to Cambodia a few years earlier, to report on disability sport for the BBC.  Cambodia’s standing volleyball team had qualified for the Sydney Paralympics. And the country was pioneering the production of affordable and easily-made prosthetic limbs, which could help potential athletes in other least developed countries.  Due to the war, there are a high number of amputees in Cambodia. Even now, landmines and unexploded ordnance remain a widespread hazard.

He told me he had been bracing himself for an uncomfortable environment, but had actually found the country extremely pleasant, relaxed and friendly.  With lots of delighful places to eat and drink. And beautiful places to visit, including the spectacular site of ancient civilisation, Angkor.

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Why not Cambodia?

I was sold.  It was all we needed. 

Cambodia offered the right mix of challenge, danger, opportunity, culture and beauty.  We started making preparations, selling things, clearing up and getting packed.

The learning journey was about to begin.

Life is a journey full of changes and everyone’s map looks different.