Cambodia Travel Guide - The Cambodian life Style
The rural society
There is not a traveler of the past who has not described at length the charm of the Cambodian plain, the mirror of its rice fields where the sugar palms are reflected, its small peaceful villages buried in coconut or mango trees with dark foliage and dominated by the bright roofs of their pagodas under the sun. This aspect of classical Cambodia has fortunately largely survived the wars; it is identical from north to south, from east to west, over the entire expanse of the flooded rice fields. But one can not forget the other regions and other very different villages, strongly particularized and even more picturesque: villages on the banks of the Mekong, floating villages on the lakes, villages in the mountainous regions. However, there is a certain unity in the settlement of man, i.e. his habitation, his tools, his way of life, his customs.
Rural society is composed of a great majority of small owners who exploit their own lands, rice fields, or the banks of the river and rivers. The average agricultural property is from 1 to 4 hectares for the flooded rice fields and from 0.50 to 1 hectare for the very rich lands of the Mekong and Tonle Sap river banks.
By necessity, the rural population has no choice but to live sparingly, in many cases, even stingily. Their diet is essentially based on rice, dry or fresh fish, vegetables, fermented fish sauce and a little meat. When a peasant can afford it, he sometimes gets drunk. He is also an inveterate smoker (it is not uncommon to see children of a few years old with a cigarette in their mouth). His agricultural production, together with the resources of fishing, used to allow the peasant to live quietly, but now the reality is sometimes different... The village market plays an important role insofar as the Khmers can sell their excess production there and acquire the everyday consumer goods that they do not produce: clothing, spices, salt, tobacco...
A habitat adapted to the environment
The Cambodian house, traditionally built of wood, raised on stilts two to three meters high, covered with tiles or thatch, belongs to the so-called Austro-Asian type. It is perfectly adapted to the natural conditions: very well ventilated, it is very healthy and cool in all seasons. Built on stilts, it is (relatively) protected from humidity in the rainy season, and the family is safe from insects, rodents, and other snakes. The search for building materials does not pose any particular difficulty in wooded areas, but it is more problematic in those with a high population density and few forests; the inhabitants then replace wood with woven bamboo.
A smiling people
It is almost unanimous: at all times, but also by everyone, Cambodians have been considered as one of the most charming people in Asia (also on the podium: Laotians and Karen of Burma). An art of living made of great simplicity, of a lot of naturalness, but also of a lot of nonchalance, has, in the past, seduced more than one visitor. At the time of the protectorate, the relationship between colonized and colonizers was never the same as in neighboring Vietnam. So frequent in Cochinchina, the "corrections" administered to "disrespectful natives" have never been used in the kingdom of the good King Norodom. It seems that the benevolent indifference, the high stature, and the smile of the Cambodians have irremediably anaesthetized any desire to bring the colonial administrators to heel. Today, the country is, of course, deeply marked by the appalling tragedy from which it is just emerging. The Khmers bear the physical and mental scars of this tragedy: indelible psychological trauma for many, a lowering of the average height of the population, a cruel lack of education for the younger generation that grew up in the "Red Rice Field", the list is long... Westerners who lived in Cambodia before the war, as well as Cambodians who fled their country before the catastrophe, often have difficulty adjusting to the new society that has emerged. Ignoring even the most basic rudiments of their culture and religion, many Cambodians have no other reference than their family clan and no other value than the dollar that supports this clan.
Morals and social facts
The dollar is king
With the opening up of the country and its double-digit economic growth, Cambodia is facing an influx of cash. As a result, not only has purchasing power increased, but Cambodians have also seen their ability to take on debt soar. Banks do not hesitate to give loans for real estate, a car or a motorcycle. All this at extremely high interest rates. If the risk of a speculative crisis is quite high, Cambodians don't care about it and take full advantage of this new consumer society. The attraction of novelty, the taste for kitsch and the pride of success make the richest Cambodians not hesitate to show off their fortune. Thus, they do not hesitate to show off their big, air-conditioned cars with tinted windows, whose indispensable options are the huge stuffed dog installed on the back deck, the license plate surrounded by electric garlands, and the hairpiece on the steering wheel. The generalization of Smartphones has also spread the internet in almost all parts of the country, and young Cambodians have access to the standards of our global world. And these young people understand that in order to have access to the American dream, they must have pockets full of dollars.
A modest people
Contrary to the clichés spread by comparison with neighboring Thailand and to what the red districts of Phnom Penh might suggest, Cambodia is a country where sexuality (especially female sexuality) remains extremely taboo. Couples never show signs of affection in public and having a sexual life before marriage remains very rare (especially in the countryside). Although arranged marriages still take place, young people today remain relatively free: love marriages are common, even if one arranges to fall in love with a partner approved by the family. And even in the intimacy of a couple, a certain shyness reigns: one makes love in the dark, or else wrapped in several layers of clothing, because in Cambodia, one rarely shows oneself naked, even to one's partner. And in this ultra-sexualized consumer society, this relationship with intimacy is not without its share of frustrations. And when you add to that an almost total absence of sentimental or sexual education, the results are catastrophic. Rape culture is rife in Cambodia: according to a 2014 UN study, one in five Cambodians has been raped, and sexual harassment is often experienced on a daily basis by young Cambodian girls.
When the mood is relaxed
Fortunately, the vast majority of Cambodian people have kept intact all the human qualities that made Cambodia the country of the eternal smile and the sweetness of life. The Barang will be greeted with dozens of laughs when he bumps his head against the low prices of the market stalls, and it is also with great pride that you will be received in the family home to gorge yourself to the point of unconsciousness on the richest dishes that poor incomes can buy. If there is one piece of advice to be given to travelers to Cambodia, it is to be natural, open and curious. Cambodians will quickly sense your attitude towards them, love them and they will love you!
Religion
Buddhism is the state religion in Cambodia. It coexisted since the first centuries of the Christian era with Brahmanism, also coming from India, and asserted itself from the 13th century onwards, becoming the main religion practiced by the Khmers.
Buddha
In the middle of the second century B.C., in Kapilavitsu, in the foothills of the Himalayas, Prince Siddhartha of the Cakya dynasty was born. He lived the youth of a prince of royal blood, but four encounters (an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and a religious man) showed him the vanity of his princely life. At the age of 29, Prince Siddhartha Gautama left his father's palace to lead the life of an ascetic in search of the truth. After years of studying Indian philosophy and practicing asceticism, a meditation of several weeks under a fig tree in Bodh Gaya allowed him to reach enlightenment. Having discovered the source of suffering in desire and its remedy in renunciation, he became Buddha and preached this truth for the rest of his life.
"Here are the five rules of your daily life: be compassionate and respect the smallest life. Give and receive freely, but take nothing unduly. Never lie, even on occasions that seem to absolve you of lying. Avoid drugs and drinks. Respect the woman and do not commit any illegitimate and unnatural acts. "
He founded a community of monks, established the rules that freed them from the need to be reborn after each life for new pain and death, and entered Nirvana at the age of 89 in the year 476 BC.
Cambodian Buddhism
Hinayana Buddhism (or Theravada) is the first form of Buddhism. It imposed itself on Cambodia at the beginning of the 14th century, succeeding the Mahayana form, which included the worship of the god-kings of Angkor. The adoption of Hinayana Buddhism must be seen as a kind of collective renunciation of greatness; a whole people exhausted by centuries of war rejected the Mahayana of King Jayavarman VII to adopt a much less demanding form of religion. Hinayana is the expression of original Buddhism. Contrary to the Mahayana (Tibet, China, Japan, Vietnam), it does not believe in the existence of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, but in the historical Buddha, Cakyamouni. In Cambodia, Buddhism is strongly tinged with Brahmanic survivals as well as magical practices inherited from various influences.
Theravadin Buddhist monks are not priests. They do not serve as intermediaries between man and a deity. They do not offer any sacrifices and can leave the monastery and the saffron robe when they wish. A Buddhist monk takes a vow of poverty and must not possess any property. His food and his clothes must be offered to him by the faithful ones in the form of alms. Every morning, he goes around the village to silently beg for his food for the day. He eats only one meal a day and after noon he must abstain from all solid food. He also takes a vow of chastity and must not do anything that would put him at risk of not remaining chaste. Finally, the monk must practice non-violence, not only towards men, but towards all living beings.
