Fact File
Country name: Conventional long form: Kingdom of Cambodia. Conventional short form: Cambodia. Local short form: Kampuchea
Area: Total: 181,040 sq km
Terrain: Mostly low, flat plains; mountains in southwest and north
Population: 13.5 million
Age structure: 0-14 years: 37.3%, 15-64 years: 59.7%, 65 years and over: 3.1%
Life expectancy at birth: Total population: 58.87 years male: 55.92 years female: 61.96 years
Ethnic groups: Khmer 90%, Vietnamese 5%, Chinese 1%, other 4%
Religions: Theravada Buddhist 95%, other 5%
Literacy: Definition: age 15 and over who can read and write total population: 69.4% male: 80.8% female: 59.3% (2002)
Capital: Phnom Penh
Languages: Khmer (official) 95%, French, English
Government type: Stable multiparty democracy under a constitutional monarchy established in September 1993
International airports: Phnom Penh & Siem Reap
Currency : Riel (US$1 = 4000 Riel) - US$ are used for most transactions with Riel used as small change.
Climate:
Mondulkiri has a cooler climate than the rest of Cambodia:
1. April through October - hot and wet in the day and cold at night.
2. November through December - light showers but generally cooler, particularly cold at night.
3. January through March - dry and hot in the day and cold and dry at night.
At an average elevation of 800 metres, it can get chilly at night
Getting to the project
Your first night will be in a hotel in Phnom Penh on a Saturday. Volunteers will then travel by car to the project on Sunday. The journey is on a combination of surfaced and dirt roads, travelling through amazing small Cambodian villages, a sight that many visitors to the country never experience. The journey takes 6-8 hours depending upon the condition of the road. The journey takes you through a full array of Cambodian countryside from rice paddy to forest to mountains.
Visas - A passport with at least 6 months validity is required. A 30 day tourist visa is available on arrival at the international airports and at border crossings with Thailand and Vietnam, a passport photograph is required. The tourist visa can be extended for only a further 30 days in Phnom Penh allowing a 2 month stay in Cambodia. For longer visit's a business visa is required, 30 days on arrival but can be extended indefinitely.
Mondulkiri facts
Sen Monoron has one ATM machine for visa card withdrawals through ACLEDA bank. There are a number of restaurants and bars in the town mostly catering for local food with a few Western restaurants catering for the tourists. Transport in Sen Monoron is not a great concern as the town is small enough to walk around. There are motorbike taxis to use or volunteers can hire motorbikes or cars if they require.
Health and safety
Mondulkiri is situated on the famous 'Ho Chi Minh trail' which was used by the Vietnamise to reach the South of Vietnam. As a consequence, this area was heavily bombed between 1969 and 1975 and the area still has unexploded ordinance. Although things have drastically changed due to the dedicated work of organisations such as CMAC, visitors to the area should be aware that UXO's exist in Mondulkiri. It is believed that the area will never be fully cleared in the same way as UXO's are still being found in Europe from the 1940's. There are virtually no land mines in this area of Cambodia.
For your vaccinations you will need to consult a doctor for up to date information. Due to the protected forest location there are a number of potentially dangerous animals that you should be aware of, although are very unlikely to encounter.
Buddhism
The predominant religion in Cambodia is Buddhism although the Bunong traditionally have their own religion. Buddhism is a rather flexible religion which teaches that nothing is eternal and everything in the world is subject to change, only aging, sickness and death are certain and unavoidable. Buddhism has no unique creed, no single authority, no single sacred book. It focuses on the potential of the individual to obtain enlightenment or 'nirvana'.
Buddhism was founded from the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, born in 566BC on the Indian - Nepalese border. He was from a privileged and wealthy family but became disillusioned with his life and left home to embark upon a life of wandering on a spiritual quest. As he sat meditating under a tree he had a profound experience called Bodhi or 'awakening'. He had a deep understanding of the nature of suffering, its cause and a way of stopping it. The Lord Buddha then devoted his life to teaching the way to cease suffering. By his death at the age of 80 he had a considerable following and a well organised community.
The eightfold path teaches the moral principles that all Buddhist should practice. Following this path helps a person realise that greed and selfishness cause all earthly suffering, with this understanding one's own suffering may end. Buddhism is a very peaceful religion that teaches morality, meditation and wisdom.
A brief history of Cambodia
For 600 years powerful Khmer kings dominate much of present-day Southeast Asia, from the borders of Myanmar east to the South China Sea and north to Laos. It was during this period that Khmer kings built the most extensive concentration of religious temples in the world--the Angkor temple complex. The most successful of Angkor 's kings, Jayavarman II, Indravarman I, Suryavarman II and Jayavarman VII, also devised a masterpiece of ancient engineering: a sophisticated irrigation system that includes barays (man-made lakes) and canals that ensured as many as three rice crops a years. Part of this system is still in use today.
As the Angkor period ended, Cambodia's capital moved south to Lovek, then to Udong and finally to the present-day capital of Phnom Penh. Among the main features of the post-Angkorean era, besides the movement of the capital, was a widespread conversion to Theravada Buddhism, illustrated by temple carvings where Buddhist features gradually replaced Hindu features.
The 15th to 17th centuries represented a time of foreign influence, when expansionist Siam and Vietnam fought over Cambodia. By the mid-1800's, Cambodia, like most other countries in Asia came under increasing pressure from European colonial powers. In 1863, the country agreed to protection from France. King Norodom signed a Protectorate Treaty between Cambodia and the French. There are two dynastic families within the Cambodia Royal Family, the Norodoms and the Sisowaths. With the death of King Norodom in 1904, the dynasties switched. The heir apparent, a Norodom, was replaced instead with a Sisowath.
In 1941, the throne switched back to the Norodoms with the crowing of Cambodia's current king, Norodom Sihanouk. He was just 18 at the time. In 1945, the Japanese briefly ousted the French. Encouraged, King Sihanouk campaigned tirelessly and in 1953 he succeeded in winning independence for Cambodia, effectively ending 90 years under French protectorate. King Sihanouk abdicated the throne to his father and took the reins of government himself as head of state. Throughout the 1950's and 60's Cambodia was self-sufficient and prospered in many areas. However, the quagmire of growing war in Vietnam spread relentlessly, and in 1970, as war spilled over into Cambodia Prince Sihanouk was overthrown by General Lon Nol. Then on 17 April 1975, Lon Nol's weakened government was itself overthrown by the Khmer Rouge. They immediately emptied the capital of its residents and brought Prince Sihanouk back, only to hold him under house arrest. The ensuing four years 'reign of terror' under Pol Pot's Democratic Kampuchea resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people.
In 1979 the Khmer Rouge were overthrown and the Vietnamese-backed People's Republic of Kampuchea was established. Throughout the 1980's Cambodia began to rebuild with the assistance of Vietnamese military and political advisers and under Vietnamese political protection.
In 1989 the Vietnamese withdrew the last of their troops and the government renamed the country the State of Cambodia. The SOC ruled independently until the Paris Peace Agreement in 1991 created the United Nations Transitional Authority (UNTAC). Supported by the presence of some 22,000 UN troops, UNTAC in May 1993 supervised general elections in Cambodia. A second general election was held in 1998. Cambodia today enjoys a parliamentary system with one Prime Minister.
A constitution was adopted in 1993, the same year King Norodom Sihanouk returned to the throne. His Majesty remains a symbol of national unity to his people.
Today Cambodia is still a poor country but there is reason to be optimistic about its future. The Cambodian economy is growing quite rapidly. The fastest growing industry in Cambodia is tourism. The country is politically stable and a safe place to visit to enjoy the wonderful Khmer people and the beautiful Cambodian attractions.
Further resources
For an understanding of the recent tragic history of Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge you could simply watch the award winning movie The Killing Fields.
Many books have also been written on the subject including -
First they Killed my Father by Loung Ung - a moving story about a young girls experience under the ruthless rule of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.
Brother Number One by David Chandler - A biography of the Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot.
Ultimate Cambodia - travel guide