Destination Discovery

For Cruisers Who Have Done It All

By Kevin Revolinski

Next Stop: Cambodia...

From its highpoint as a formidable empire that dominated Southeastern Asia centuries ago to its tragic history with the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia has quite a tale to tell. A land still looking to define itself for the future, Cambodia is just starting to wake up to tourism. Nightlife is blossoming along the quay in Phnom Penh, while the temple ruins of Angkor continue to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Even the tragedy of civil war serves its place in tourist attractions as somber educational experiences. Cambodia has sat in the shadows of Thailand and Vietnam long enough and now emerges as the unadulterated Southeast Asian experience.

Get Your Bearings

Cambodia is a tropical land with waters at its heart. About 75 percent of the country is occupied by the basin of its large central lake Tonlé Sap and from north to south the mighty Mekong River flows through lowlands that turn to a rice-fertile soup during the monsoon season. To the east and west small mountains make up part of the border with Thailand while Vietnam borders to the east, Laos to the north, and the southern coast offers pristine beaches along the Bay of Thailand.

In recent history Cambodia has been nearly synonymous with the bloody 1970s regime of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge; the years that followed were turbulent until the peace in 1998. Recent trials for former Khmer Rouge members are steps toward putting that past a bit further behind, but savvy travelers have already looked beyond and have seen a young and unjaded people with a beautiful land and an even deeper history as the powerful Khmer Empire more than 1,000 years ago.