The

The
first thing I noticed through the lens was how colourful
Cambodia
is. The clothing, food, markets and landscape all combine to offer
nothing short of street-photography heaven. I found being a fly on
the wall much easier than somewhere like London – locals either
didn’t notice me or thought I was just another nosy tourist with a
camera. One of the only people to clock my presence was a little
boy who saw me coming in a tuk-tuk from a good 10 metres away, and
was consequently ignoring a poor girl’s dancing in front of him.
You can tell by his expression that he wasn’t best pleased – and
she probably wasn’t either.

For a country with such a chequered past, the people are warm
and approachable; they embrace their heritage and are keen to
educate others about the atrocities that occurred in the 1970s. The
Khmer Rouge Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum are both
intense and harrowing but presented in an incredibly respectful
manner and something I would recommend to anyone visiting the
country.

In the space of nine days we travelled to Angkor Wat, Phnom Penh
and the lesser-known island of Koh Rong, which gives Thailand’s
beach offerings a run for their money. A couple of night buses
and day-long journeys were necessary to fit all of this in, but it
was on the buses and ferries where I was able to best capture the
characters of Cambodia.

Reflecting on the trip I feel like I barely scratched the
surface of the country on such a whistle-stop tour. Given the
chance, I’d return to Koh Rong in a heartbeat, and then spend time
away from the tourist attractions trying to immerse myself into the
local community.

www.alrobertscreative.com | @_alroberts