Having visited Cambodia several times over the last 20 years or so, both as a tourist with family and recently on business with colleagues, I have very fond memories, hundreds of photos and many treasured souvenirs.
When there I try as much as possible, to enjoy the incredible array of historical sites both ancient and those more recently steeped in infamy.
My first visit included my family and I had a short bucket list.
FCC Phnom Penh
The Foreign Correspondent’s Club in Phnom Penh where I sat for hours overlooking the river which I thought was the Mekong but was actually the Tonle Sap. Here over my G&T I could imagine, even feel the presence of Sydney Schanberg as he wrote about the Vietnam War and later the Killing Fields.
And yes of course we were emotionally shaken at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a former high school where thousands of innocents were tortured and murdered. The next stop was the land mine museum where we were guided by a young man who had lost the lower part of one leg to one of those horrendous devices. The Choeung Ek Killing Fields were next where my good wife and daughter were reduced to uncontrollable tears and my youngest son moved to deep and thoughtful silence.
I exposed my family to these experiences in order that my children would better appreciate their very comfortable western lives and to engender in them a greater empathy for other peoples and their plights. I believe it worked. My son Mitchell, so moved on his first visit, has been back on his own and is now an adventurer, photographer and travel writer which I believe was influenced by his time in Cambodia.
Next stop was Siem Reap and of course Angkor Wat about which has been written so much I can add little except to say if you do one thing in your life do Angkor Wat and do it soon. So much mystery, beauty and monument to mankind’s humanity, skill and artistry in stark contrast to what Pol Pot inflicted. We remember fondly some quiet time in welcome shade outside the Temple, chatting and laughing with the locals then feeding the elephants assembled nearby to provide tourists with rides.
One lasting memory is of an unexpected delight. We were staying at the FCC Hotel (highly recommended) and lazing around the pool one typical steamy Siem Reap afternoon when suddenly a gust of breeze sprung up and filled the air with thousands of flying seeds, so many the sun was almost obscured. They all spiralled down in slow motion like so many tiny single bladed helicopters to settle gently on us, on the ground and to smother the pool surface. We were left squealing with so much delight not one of us thought to take a photo. Very quickly the hotel staff, totally unfazed by this event, scurried around to clean them up and to fetch us fresh drinks.
There have been so many more wonderful life enriching experiences from our times in Cambodia but the everlasting impression has been left by the people. So scarred and yet so positive, so gentle, so kind, and so welcoming.
Local Inter-Office Transport
In more recent times I have had the very real pleasure to partner with HAVAS River Orchid Cambodia, to implement Ntuity across their various companies and activities. HRO are the largest media specialist agency in Cambodia and keenly implemented Ntuity’s full media functions as well as Ntuity’s comprehensive production, finance, project management and collaboration functions.
This quick note from Anthony Keck Managing Director of Havas River Orchid Cambodia illustrates how we partner our clients to deliver tailored solutions that work:
“Dear Marshall, Lovely to see you again and thank you for visiting Cambodia. The revenue tracker KPI is working really well and I’m happy with it, particularly the simplicity of use and the fact that it mirrors the Havas B1 forms.”
Very happy HRO Cambodia staff. Michelle Griffiths (HAVAS Regional) in the centre.
If you want to explore how Ntuity can work for you give me a call, Marshall Duncan +61 2 8425 8888
Or check out our web-site www.ntuity.com
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