Khmer Rouge

I watched a programme called "Cambodia: fields of hope" on television a few weeks ago.

I don't know how old this programme is. I was surprised to hear the narrator say that the film-makers were accompanied by the police; especially when they travelled out of Phnom Penh, because the police felt the need to protect them in case the Khmer Rouge rebels attacked them.

The documentary said that the Khmer Rouge era is over, but the risk was still around.

Is this still true? Or is the documentary simply dated?

Killing animals

I remember reading that more than 90% of Cambodians believe in Theravada Buddhism. Is this number correct?

If so, then comes the question about killing. If I remember correctly, Buddists do not believe in killing, since that prematurely ends the life of another, who is hoping to find the peace of Nirvana through reincarnation.

Ie. will we be able to buy and eat meat in Cambodia? If there are no butchers, perhaps there would be no meat?

What will people think of us, if we were to kill a rat, or swat a mosquito, or spray inseciticide around the house?

Cheap bus ride

My wife read a warning about some cross-country bus rides.

Apparently, some cheap ones do not take you the whole distance as they advertise. They will take you part of the way, and then ask you to pay more in order to continue the journey.

Otherwise, they will take you to some overnight accomodation, where you have to pay for the accomodation.

The alternative is to be left in some place you are unfamiliar with.

Is this true?

ATMs in Cambodia

I read somewhere that there are few ATMs in Cambodia.

However, the ANZ Royal Bank has a few, and one can find out where they are through their webpage.

Even so, having an ANZ bank account from Australia or New Zealand does not help. ANZ will treat transactions as having occurred at a foreign ATM, so there are no exemption from fees. This is because the banks are separate entities, as they are governed differently.

Oh well. Does anybody have any experiences using ATMs in Cambodia that they may wish to share?