It’s time for me to write a brief assessment of Cambodia.
My visa expires today. I’m leaving the country on Sunday. Officially, this is called “overstaying.” It looks like, according to Cambodia, I’ll be here three days longer than I’m supposed to be.
Personally, I would have been happy to stay even longer.
There are many interesting things about Cambodia—things I’ve only just begun to explore.
The Rain
I arrived right at the end of the rainy season (May–October). According to the rulebook, rain is an almost daily occurrence; however, it only lasts for a few hours, and afterward, there’s hardly any trace of it left—at least on the streets.
In practice, this held true. It really did rain almost every day—not just during the day, but often at night, sometimes even all night long. Yet, there’s hardly any sign of it on the streets because it’s so hot that the roads dry up very quickly.
In Kampot, I could still see traces of the rain here and there, but here in Sihanoukville, not really. Since it’s a coastal city, the water drains away toward the sea. In Kampot, by contrast, water would linger in many places for a short while—forcing you to navigate around it on the roads.
I wouldn’t have bothered writing so much about the rain, were it not for one thing that made it particularly notable for me.
The rain was incredibly loud. It fell with an intensity unlike anything I had really encountered before. There were several times when it caught me off guard during the day. Fortunately, I was always under cover. Somehow, I never once got soaked. Honestly, I don’t mind that things turned out this way; I think I would have been drenched to the bone if I’d been caught outside in a downpour like that.
My favorites, however, were the nighttime rains—especially over the last few nights. The roof of my room is likely made of thin sheet metal—I can’t tell for sure because of the drop ceiling. In any case, the whole room made me feel as though I were right at the heart of the storm. It was an incredibly thrilling experience! The rain gets so loud at times like these that I can’t even hear my own thoughts. I’ve never heard a sound quite like it! I got to thinking—I’ve been to plenty of loud (metal) concerts in my life, but the power of nature speaks in a completely different register. The energy I felt in those moments easily outshines even my wildest concert experiences.
I truly hope I’ll be able to get tickets for more of these “storm concerts” in the future.
Orderliness
I have already written about another aspect that is new to me in this country.
Although there are messy areas in every city, the streets are, on the whole, much cleaner than in, say, Vietnam or Laos. In this city—where I am currently living—I come across public trash bins at almost every turn. This means I don’t have to carry my rubbish for kilometers just to dispose of it in the proper place.
Naturally, it would be unwise to draw sweeping conclusions based on experience with only three towns. That said, I did travel for several hours across the country to reach my current location, and during those journeys, I observed the same things I now encounter in my daily life here.
The People
The kindness of the people in this country continues to impress me. I have mentioned this so many times over the past year, yet I must admit that I never tire of writing about it—and, even more so, I never tire of living amidst it.
Sometimes, people are pleased by what I represent: I am a “wanderer”—a source of income. Yet, if there is even a small opportunity for us to get to know one another, I feel that they come to value me as an individual, too—for everything that I am. It makes no difference to me what the underlying reason for a smile might be; we smile at each other, we pay attention to one another, and in those fleeting moments, we find joy in sharing the experience.
Perhaps there is no real need to evaluate any given country at all. This entire tidal wave of experiences—which has been a part of my life for many, many months—accompanies me throughout my journey. It weaves itself into my everyday life. It contributes to my happiness. From time to time, it reaches out to me, spanning across countries and destinies. It embraces me, transcending time.
What else could I possibly say after all this?
I am grateful for my life, and for the fact that I have had the chance to get to know this country, too!
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