Last week I had decided to take a break and visit a country I have always wanted to. The place was Siem Reap in Cambodia, where I spent a few days admiring its magnificent temple ruins and soaking in the city.

Cambodian civilisation was at its height during a period called the “Angkorian period” between 802 and 1431AD. During that period, the Angkorians built many temples, the most famous of which is “Angkor Wat” (one of the seven wonders of the world), which is bigger than the Forbidden City. Angkorian kings also ruled over an area comprising of most of Thailand and Vietnam, making it the most advanced and largest civilisation in South East Asia.

What amazed me was not only the temples, but also the amazing lushness of the Cambodian countryside surrounding them. This isn’t Florence or Paris, for example, where as soon as you step out of a church or building you are plunged back into a city. In Siem Reap, when you leave a temple, you are greeted by stretches of tropical forests, natural sounds and wildlife, much like how it used to be almost a millenia ago. I could go on and on about this place, so I won’t, save to say that if you want to put some perspective around your own existence today, you should visit this place and compare how they lived 1000 years ago with where we are now. I think you will be surprised.

Unfortunately, Cambodia today is not where it was back then. Why? Because it takes a leader to build a nation but it also takes a leader to destroy one. Cambodia is now the second most corrupt country in the world and is stuck in a vicious cycle of poverty unable to graduate from subsistence agriculture (its main industry), where farmers live from hand to mouth, growing what they eat, and only eating what they grow. Their crops are still susceptible to weather changes, and the only thing they got going for the future are reforms to help increase agricultural productivity - so that they can grow more than they eat, and be able to sell something to generates surplus savings. The only other 2 industries (which are tiny at the moment) are production of garments and tourism, neither of which will grow quickly enough to replace agriculture. If you wanna know what the city itself is like, just imagine a place like Penang about 40 years ago. Perhaps it is this similarity that gives me such a strong affinity with the place.