Inside stories
Joana Mollet, Destination Expert.
I always think that the best way to get under the skin of a country is to talk with the local people and nowhere is this truer than in Cambodia. In a country that's known for its turbulent past, it's only by listening to events as the locals tell them that it's possible to get an idea of how this happened and its effect on modern life.
And so I find myself at Bakong Temple a smaller and lesser known site in the Angkor area. The afternoon light is turning golden as we climb the up to the highest tier of the temple and look out over the treetops. My guide who has deftly navigated me through the most famous and impressive monuments, understands that this is a moment for quiet contemplation, a time to just stop and appreciate the moment.
At some point Kim begins to tell me that during the time of the Khmer Rouges, he and his mother would come to this very temple in the moonlight, to search for mangos in the surrounding forest, before daybreak came and others came to forage. They would walk for three hours through the night to get here and return exhausted with a sack load they would eat or trade for food. I look down over the canopy and imagine a time when visitors came here out of desperation and not leisure.
As he continues to tell of his father's disappearance, a peaceful silence seems to descend upon the place, and I notice that I'm not the only one transported by his voice. A French couple and two others have taken a seat on the stone wall and are quietly listening. Denounced by a neighbour, Kim's father was taken from the fields one day by a group of teenage Khmers. His mother, who had been a tailor before the regime, fed her five children by slowly trading off her stash of plastic buttons. For years, they hoped that he would return but like countless others, he was never seen again.
It's strange to hear all this against the majestic backdrop of Cambodia's glorious past. Built in the 9th Century, Bakong has witnessed the peak of Angkorian civilization and survived the unspeakable events of the Khmer Rouge era to emerge as a platform where a group of people from around the world are listening to a quiet eyewitness account of the events of the past.
Everywhere in Cambodia, people are willing to share their stories with you, and they are stories of hope and normality as well as tales of the country's haunted past. A few minutes after I took his picture, the young monk in the photo opposite was busy practising his English on me. Like many Cambodian boys, he came to the monastery to complete his education as his parents were unable to pay for schooling. He studies Buddhist teachings as well as everyday school subjects and gets up at dawn everyday - something he doesn't enjoy much, he says. Grinning, he tells me he loves to play football with friends in his spare time and of course he knows all about the UK - he's an avid fan of David Beckham and his Manchester cronies.
