Cambodia

Cambodia is one of the poorest nations in Southeast Asia. A country that has suffered terribly in its recent past at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, one of the most ruthless regimes in human history. It is interesting to note that Pol Pot, the infamous leader of the Khmer Rouge, developed his distorted ideology when he was in France, where he made his first contacts with members of the French Communist Party. And communism, be it in its mild or extreme forms, is a product of the West, as much as nationalism, capitalism and imperialism. From 1975 to 1979, the country was ravaged and millions of Cambodians brutally murdered, including Buddhist monks and all else that was seen as belonging to the ‘old world’. In spite of this, Buddhism survived and the great majority of Cambodians continue to follow the religion. The Khmer Rouge razed many Buddhist temples, but the stunning remains of the 12th-century Temple of Angkor Wat and of the other temples within the Angkor Archaeological Complex – erected between the 9^th and 15^th century – on the outskirts of the town of Siem Reap, were left untouched. The Complex, located on the site of the old capital of the Khmer empire, is today visited by millions from around the world. Angkor Wat is a mixture of Buddhist and Hindu buildings and monuments that no traveler in this part of the world, whether Buddhist or non-Buddhist, should miss.

The Silver Pagoda in Phnom Penh