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On Time Spent in Cambodia
From Phnom Penh to Siem Reap
The moment I crossed the border from Vietnam into Cambodia, the dry and dusty landscape stirred something in me. The passing homes and villages, the smoke rising from fields and the flow of people reminded me so very much of Tanzania, the place I had called home for the last year. If I focused hard enough, I could pretend we were driving West on the right side of the road.
Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, is sprawling — an ecosystem of urban swell and village ways of life. Over the last couple of decades, the city has witnessed expansive growth. I woke up in the mornings and walked to the corner where I would get a steaming bowl of num banh chok — a pile of rice noodles, yellow fish-gravy, and freshly cut Cambodian herbs, plants, and flowers; add to it as much spice as your heart desires, and it is a classic Cambodian breakfast that I could easily eat every day for the rest of my life.
After filling up on Khmer noodles, I would walk from this bustling little corner to the Starbucks down the street. Phnom Penh, and Cambodia as a whole, is a young country, and as you walk around the city, with the palm trees looming overhead, you can feel this. There is a warmth and youthfulness emanating from the people — this youthfulness seems foundational to modern-day Cambodia. The average age is twenty-five…
