About Cambodia

GEOGRAPHY

Kingdom of Cambodia, a country in Southeast Asia in the southern part of Indochina, covers an area of 181,035 square kilometers and has a population of 13,124764 million (2003 est.). The country extends 440 kilometers from north to south and 560 kilometers from west to east. This shape makes Cambodia for tourists easy to navigate and poses no difficulties for the development of tourism.

Among the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Cambodia ranks eight in land size and seventh in population. Its geographical location makes Cambodia an easily accessible to tourism destination for travelers in neighboring countries and other parts of the world.

The Kingdom of Cambodia is bounded on the northeast by the people's Democratic Republic of Laos, on the east and southeast by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and on the west and northwest by the Kingdom of Thailand.

The coastal boundary of Cambodia is 440 kilometers with medium depth tropical sea, rich in aquatic creatures that are good for aquatic business. In addition, there are beautiful, uninhabited islands, virgin beaches, white sand and fresh air, which are also good for tourism.

The country has a tropical climate-warm and humid. In the monsoon season, abundant rain allows for the cultivation of a wide variety of crops. This year-round tropical climate makes Cambodia ideal for developing tourism. Travelers need not fear natural disasters such as erupting volcanoes or earthquakes, and the country is not directly affected by tropical storms.

Cambodia can be visited throughout the year. The climate distinguished by four major seasons. The most pleasant is the cool-dry season from November to February during which temperatures are cooler (average 20-28º C.). The hot-dry season lasts from March to May (average 30-35º C.). From June to August is the rainy season, during which temperatures are relatively cool (average 22-30º C.). And from September to October is the cool-wet season (average 25-30º C.).

Situated at the confluence of three great rivers - the 'four arms' of the Mekong, Tonle Sap and Bassac - Phnom Penh is the commercial and political hub of Cambodia . It is also the gateway to an exotic land...the temples of Angkor in the west, the beaches of the southern coastline, the ethnic minorities and jungles of the northeastern provinces.

The French influence can be felt today in the city, a legacy of a 90-year period that saw the construction of many lovely colonial era residences for French administrators. However, Phnom Penh's era of modern development and planning took place after independence in 1953, with the addition of tree lined avenues, gardens with fountains and several distinctive monuments reflecting the city's new found sense of freedom. The city offers several cultural and historical attractions including the Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda and the National Museum.

Angkor, a few kilometers to the north of the town of Siem Reap, is indisputably the most famous, most enormous, most impressive and most important attraction not only in Cambodia, but in all of Southeast Asia, and maybe even in all of Asia.

Compared to Angkor the old Royal Palace of Bangkok, the Shwedagon Pagoda of Rangoon or the Citadel at the old Vietnamese Emperor's town of Hué fade. Compared to Angkor many of the attractions, monuments or archaeological sites of other places appear small, if not irrelevant. Angkor is truly overpowering.

In its dimensions Angkor is best compared to the Egyptian Pyramids. But Angkor is far more than merely an agglomeration of huge geometrical structures. Despite its enormous constructional dimensions, it is ornamented in detail like Notre Dame of Paris and tells of an ancient art of architecture and sculpturing on a level of the Acropolis of Athens.

From the early 9th century, after the first independent Khmer kingdom was founded by King Jayavarman II, until 1431, when a large part of the population emigrated a few hundred kilometers to the Southeast, Angkor was the capital of a Khmer state, which in its prime covered the major part of Southeast Asia from present-day Myanmar to present-day southern Vietnam, from today's southern Chinese province of Yunnan deep down the Malayan peninsula.

Numerous structures in the plain of Angkor are worth a visit . The most interesting structures certainly are Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom with the Bayon.

Cambodia's official language is Khmer. French is still taught in schools and universities. English increasingly predominates. The official religion is Theravada Buddhism, which is also practiced in neighboring Laos, Thailand, Burma and Sri Lanka. Theravada Buddhism is the religion of virtually all of the ethnic Khmer, who constitute about 90 percent or more of the Cambodian population. Buddhism originated in what are now north India and Nepal during the six century B.G. Theravada Buddhism is tolerant, non prescriptive religion that does not require that each individual take full responsibility for his own actions and omissions.

Traditional arts and crafts are abundant in Cambodia. Scuptures., paintings and curving done with great care and attention. One can view such antiquities in market place, shop or museum.

The variety of arts and crafts are large in range and include such item as: silver and gold jewelry, wicker furniture, fine hard wood furniture, silks, marble sculptures, leather ware and much more. There is a sharp eye for detail here and much of the products will be intricately carved especially the furniture, sculptures etc.

Rice and fish are the basic foods enjoyed by Cambodians. Delicious noodle soups are available at cafes. Fresh seafood is plentiful at Sihanouk Ville. In major cities a wide range of culinary fare is on offer including; Chinese, Thai, French, Korean, Japanese, Indian, Vietnamese and Middle Eastern.

Getting In / Out

Travel to Cambodia has never been so exciting. Travelers can get in and out of Cambodia through flights, boats, and land from the neighbor countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. The number of direct flight from neighbor countries to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap Angkor Wat International Airport are increasing day by day. Also there are direct flights from Singapore, China, and Malaysia.

Visa can be obtained at the following points of entry:

Airports

• Phnom Penh International Airport
• Siem Reap International Airport

Cambodia-Vietnam border

• Bavet International Check Point
• Kha Orm Sam Nor International Check Point

Cambodia-Thailand border

• Cham Yeam International Check Point
• Poi Pet International Check Point
• O'Smach International Check Point

Application for an entry visa requires:

• A completed visa application form
• Passport valid at least further 4 months
• One recent photograph (4x6)
• Appropriate visa fee
• Supporting documents for business and official visas

Visa fees

• USD20 for Tourist visa
• USD25 for Business visa

Cambodian History in Brief

An ancient legend says that once upon a time, many centuries ago, Kaundinya, an Indian Brahman priest, had been given instruction in a dream to take a magic bow from a temple and to embark on a journey. He did so and went to Cambodia, where a local queen Soma, daughter of the Naga king, launched an attack on the Brahmin's boat. With the aid of the divine bow, Kaundinya repelled the attack and persuaded the defeated queen to marry him, introducing Hindu customs, legal traditions and the Sanskrit language and creating a royal dynasty. As the Chinese annals are considered as the most reliable ones the name of the state is known from them. The modern reading of the hieroglyphs used to describe the Kingdom's name as Funan', but at the period of the state development such hieroglyphs should be read as Ba-Phnom („main mountain“, or „father mountain“), that was the first Khmer Kingdom, and the oldest Indianized State in the Southeast Asian region providing to the Cambodians the cultural ideas that would be in a practical use for the centuries.

But that is still debatable who founded Funan', and that is very unlikely that the empire was founded by Indian traders because they would likely not have had the knowledge needed to start an empire. It is thought that Funan' existed before the Indianization but gained political power and territories through trade and cultural exchange with India.

In fact, archaeological data has revealed that the area we now call „Cambodia“, was inhabited by human beings at least 40,000 years ago. Cities developed along Mekong River and the coast in the centuries before and after the birth of Christ. Indian and Chinese pilgrims and traders passed through these cities, and the elements of Indian culture, in the meantime, took root among Cambodia's elite, and by the 5th and 6th centuries several Indianized kingdoms sprang up in southern Cambodia.

The Khmers, who are believed to be vassals of Funan had reached the Mekong River from the northern Menam River via the Mun River Valley. Chenla, their first independent state developed out of Funan, absorbing Funanese influence. And their king, Ishanavarman completely conquered the kingdom of Funan during 612-628. He chose his new capital at the Sambor Prei Kuk, naming it Ishanapura. But at the start of the 6th century, the kingdom broke up into many principalities. Pushkaraksha, the ruler of Shambhupura announced himself as king of the entire Kambuja. The Chinese chronicles proclaim that in the 8th century, Chenla was split into Land Chenla and Water Chenla. During this time, Shambhuvarman son of Pushkaraksha controlled most of Water Chenla until the 8th century which as that is presumed the Malayans and Javanese dominated over many Khmer principalities.

In the late eighth century, a Khmer prince later crowned as Jayavarman II returned to Cambodia from „exile“ in Java, and began to consolidate the kingdom. In 802, in a ceremony near the site we now call Angkor, north of Cambodia's Great Lake, he declared himself a universal monarch, and founded a dynasty that dominated much of Southeast Asia for more than 600 years, from the 9th century to the 13th century until Angkor was abandoned in the sixteenth century.

In its heyday, Angkor' capital, Yasodharapura, probably housed as many as a million people -- most of them farmers -- making it one of the most populous cities in the world. The city's temples, dedicated to the Buddha or to Hindu gods, are among the artistic wonders of the world. An image of the most famous of these, Angkor Wat, has appeared on every Cambodian flag (there have been five of them) since the country gained its independence form France in 1953.

At its height the Angkor Empire extended from the border of modern-day Myanmar, east to the South China Sea, and north to Laos. The Khmer kings were able to consolidate and marshal all forces to build the most extensive concentration of religious temples in the world, the Angkor complex.

Among the successes of the Angkor Kings (Jayavarman II, Indravarman I, Suryavarman II, and Jayavarman VII) were the construction of large Barays, or man-made lakes, and a sophisticated system of irrigation canals and dikes, which, according to some historians, allowed Cambodia to grow two and three crops of rice a year.

During the Khmer Empire era, a long succession of strong leaders enabled the Khmer Empire to flourish until the 15th century, with the zenith of its influence, might and architectural splendor reached in the 12th century. With a succession of capitals located in and around Siem Reap province, the Khmer Kings exhibited an enormous talent for marshalling the genius of their people.

Among the main features of the late Angkorean era was a widespread conversion to Theravada Buddhism instead of Hindu religion. The beginnings of this conversion have been recorded in temple carvings, where Buddhist feature replaced Hindu carvings.

The legacy of this more than half-millennia imperial flourish included one of the most extensive concentration of religious temples anywhere in the world, the Angkor Wat complex. With the temple complex, the largest religious monument ever built as the most significant and world-renowned legacy of this era, the Khmer Kings initiated a four-century long construction boom of magnificent and unparalleled historic sites.

As the Angkor period ended, being under the aggressive influence from the neighboring younger nations the Khmers lost huge territories and the Cambodia's capital moved south to Lovek, then to Oudong, and finally to the present day capital of Phnom Penh.

The 15th century to the 17th century represented a time of foreign influence, as the country was fought over by the expansionist Siamese and Vietnamese. By the mid-1800s, Cambodia, like most other countries in Asia, was under increasing pressure from European colonial expansion, and in 1863, Cambodia agreed to protection from France. King Norodom signed a Protectorate Treaty, leading to 90 years of French domination over the Khmer people.

In 1945, the Japanese briefly ousted the French protectorate. Having seen the light of independence, King Norodom Sihanouk campaigned tirelessly and in 1953 he succeeded in winning independence from France. King Norodom Sihanouk abdicated the throne for his father and took the reins of government himself as head of state.

After Cambodia gained its independence from France, it entered a short period of peace and prosperity which many older Khmer now look back on as a golden age. By the late 1960s, however, Cambodia was drawn inexorably into the Vietnam War.

While Sihanouk was out of the country on a trip to France, general Lon Nol, Prime-minister that time, issued an impossible ultimatum to the Vietnamese forces to withdraw from Cambodian soil within 72 hours or face military action. On 18 March 1970, Lon Nol requested that the National Assembly vote on the future of the prince's leadership of the nation. Sihanouk was ousted from power by a vote of 92-0, while Prime Minister Lon Nol was granted emergency powers. The new government emphasized that the transfer of power had been totally legal and constitutional, and it received the recognition of most foreign governments. There have been, and continue to be, accusations that the U.S. government played some role in the overthrow of Sihanouk, but conclusive evidence has never been found to support them.

Since that the civil war between the Sihanouk baked alliance of all anti-Lon Nol forces and US oriented government in Phnom Penh started. And that war culminated in April 1975, when the Communist forces, known to the outside world as Khmer Rouge or Red Khmers, overthrew the pro-American regime and began to devastate the cities. The Year Zero started in the Cambodian history as in the Khmer Rouge era that followed, at least l.2 million Cambodians died of malnutrition, overwork, executions and mistreated diseases following the communist-inspired regime sought to achieve a total communism overnight.

In 1979, the Khmer Rouge was overthrown by the Vietnamese backed People's Republic of Kampuchea. Throughout the 1980s, Cambodia began its rebuilding. In 1989 the Vietnamese withdrew the last of their troops and the government renamed itself the State of Cambodia (SOC). SOC ruled independently until the Paris Peace Agreement of 1991, which created the United Nations Transitional Authority (UNTAC). Supported by the presence of some 22,000 UN troops, UNTAC in May 1993 supervised the first free election in Cambodia history. A new constitution was adopted and in 1993, King Norodom Sihanouk assumed the throne once again. It was 52 years since he had been crowned King the first time. King Norodom Sihanouk still remains a symbol of national unity to the Khmer people.

In l999 Cambodia became a member of ASEAN, and became for the first time, after centuries of isolation, a full-fledged member of the Southeast Asian community.

Now Cambodia is constitutional monarchy. Since October 29, 2004 Chief of the State is His Majesty the King Norodom Sihamoni, the son of Norodom Sihanouk.

Tourism

The Kingdom of Cambodia is one of the world's newest and most exciting travel destinations. After almost 25 years of isolation, Cambodia opened to tourists in the early 1990s, and though tourists numbers have increased every year since, the country is still far less touristed and commercialized than its neighbors. Cambodia's primary tourist destinations - Angkor Wat and the other temples of Angkor near Siem Reap, the cultural attractions in the capital Phnom Penh, and the beaches of Sihanoukville - offer plenty of accommodations, restaurants and other tourist services. Other destinations such as the hill tribe areas of Ratanakiri and Mondulkiri , the remote temples of Preah Vihear and Banteay Chhmar, and quaint provincial capitals such as Battambang and Kampot, are just now being discovered by travellers, and all offer unique glimpses of 'unspoiled' Cambodia.

Cambodia is a land of superlatives. The ancient temples of Angkor Wat, Bayon and other ruins of the Khmer Empire rank amongst the world's grandest and most magnificent World Heritage Sites - easily in a class with Machu Picchu, the Pyramids of Egypt and Teotihuacan. But this magnificence stands in shocking contrast to the Killing Fields, Toul Sleng Genocide Museum and other remnants of Cambodia's more recent history - a time when Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge regime of the late 1970s committed some of the most horrifying atrocities of the 20th century. Yet, the Khmer people, who make up more than 95% of modern Cambodia's population, impress visitors as some of the friendliest and most gentle people they have ever met. The ubiquitous Khmer smile is legendary, as is traditional Khmer hospitality and openness. Cambodia is truly a land of light and dark, of wonder and of tragedy - awe-inspiring, heart wrenching and completely unique.

Over the last three years a record number of tourists have visited Cambodia. From 1 million in 2004 to 1.35 million in 2005 - an increase of 27.4%. Since 2001, the number of tourists visiting Cambodia has increased by 123% - one of the best results of any country within South East Asia. From 1.5 to 1.6 million international tourists are expected to visit Cambodia in 2006 and 2 million in 2007.

This very positive forecast is based on a number of factors: simplified visa procedures, new international border check-points, and a liberal open-skies policy due to the absence of a strong national carrier. In 2005, scheduled airlines from South Korea and Taiwan launched flights from Siem Reap-Angkor; low-cost carriers AirAsia and Jetstar Asia launched service from Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. An important step this year will be the possible opening of a non-stop connection from Dubai to Phnom Penh by Emirates Airlines. It would be the first long-haul route for the country.

The number of international visitors to Cambodia increased dramatically in the first three months of 2005, up 52 percent on the same period last year. Figures show that the highest number of visitors came from Japan, followed by South Korea, and that most visitors stayed an average of 6 days. Tourist arrivals in 2004 also set a new record by exceeding 1.05 million - an increase on the previous year's 700,000.

The World Tourism Organisation conference held last year in Siem Reap was told that Cambodia's tourism industry was growing so fast that it would soon rival the country's garment industry, which accounts for approx. 35 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). In 2003, tourism accounted for 12 percent.

The estimation teams have been hard at work; the World Bank has predicted that Cambodia's tourism sector will grow further. It is estimated that international visitor arrivals will reach 1.5 million in 2006, 2.2 million in 2008, and 3.12 million in 2010.

January 08, 2007

By Kamarul Ariffin Mohd Yassin

PHNOM PENH (CAMBODIA), Jan 8 (Bernama) — The first sight of Angkor Wat, a magnificent Hindu temple made of stone blocks and intricate stone carvings, leaves visitors awestruck.

More astounding is the fact that the ancient temple has withstood the test of time since the 9th century.A 14-member delegation from Malaysia led by Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai visited the temple during the Visit Malaysia Year 2007 (VMY07) campaign in Cambodia recently.Located in the Siem Reap district, about 308km to the north of the capital city of Phnom Penh, Angkor Wat was once the flourishing Hindu empire of the Khmer people under King Jayavarman II.The temple structure based on Khmer and Hindu architecture took 30 years to complete and was once the Khmer people's cradle of civilisation. But the glorious distant past of the Indochina nation is overshadowed by a more recent dark past. The atrocities during the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979 under Pol Pot saw the annihilation of up to 1.7 million people or 21 percent of the nation's population then.

TOURISM IMPORTANT

The civil war ended in the late 1980's and there was national reconciliation following the United Nations' sponsored election in 1993. Realising the potential of its tourism assets, the new government immediately adopted an open sky policy to lure foreign airlines and tourists. According to the statistics from the Tourism of Cambodia agency, more than 1.4 million Koreans, Japanese and American tourists visited the country in 2005. Angkor Wat remains the jewel of the nation's tourism industry. Several more historical temples like Bayon and Banteay-Srei, and the scenic beaches of Sihanoukville and the French colonial architecture in Phnom Penh complement the travellers' itinerary.

DARK PAST NOW MONEY-SPINNER

The nation's dark past is now being capitalised as a tourism product. The famous 'Killing Fields' of Choeung Ek, located about 15km from Phnom Penh, serves as a grim reminder of the country's violent past. Cheoung Ek is one of the thousands of killing fields in Cambodia and a memorial made from 8,000 skulls of the victims of the genocide greet tourists. As for those keen on shopping, they can expect something different as Phnom Penh still lacks modern shopping centres like the ones found elsewhere in Asia. But the Toul Tom Poung or the Russian Market fulfills any visitor's needs.

Other than souvenirs and Cambodian silk, the market is renowned for rubies, sapphire and emeralds. But there is a setback. The transactions are conducted in American dollars and not the local riel and this often annoys shoppers.

LAND OF OPPORTUNITIES

The rising number of tourists and the political stability over the years has opened up business opportunities for the locals and outsiders including from Malaysia.

Francis Anthony, 61, the WonderWorld Travel & Tours operator here told Bernama: «Though the development here is slow compared to elsewhere in Asia, there are clear signs of more commercial activities and better living standards for its people.»

Anthony who hails from Ipoh, Perak, has been residing here for the past 15 years and is married to a local, Tith Chanthary, 40. Today he considers Cambodia his second home.

«Initially, I started by providing transportation services but it drove me crazy when people started calling for the services way past midnight.

«Then I opened a tourism agency with my wife and we are now promoting Cambodia as a holiday destination to Malaysians and also the other way round,» he said.

He thinks the foreign investment in the tourism sector has largely helped Cambodians to escape poverty. The tourism sector not only offered employment opportunities but also the market for locally-ade souvenirs and precious stones.