Like Vietnam, Cambodia has a thriving capitalist economy. The streets are clogged with traffic. There are small shops everywhere. Cranes suggest a building boom. Motorized bikes, motorcycles, Tuk-tuks (motorized rickshaws) and cars of every kind fill the streets. Traffic lights are in short supply. I have seen McDonald’s, KFC, and other US chains. Many signs are printed in English, including street signs. It is hot, about 90 degrees.

This morning, we went by Tuk-Tuk to the Royal Palace. I have tweeted many of the photos. We have seen beautiful buildings, countless Buddhas, bejeweled Buddhas, glorious grounds.

Although Pol Pot emptied the entire city of Phnom Penh, he left the Royal Palace and its grounds untouched.

His fanatical plan utterly failed, though he and his regime murdered about 1/3 of the populace.

Phnom Penh is larger than ever, and it is booming.

The longer I am here, the more I sense the underlying cultural animosity between Vietnamese and Cambodians. Each reminds us of the depredations of the other. In the National Museum here, there is a map showing the original dimensions of the Khemer Empire, which included present-day Thailand, Laos, and a large part of Vietnam.

Tomorrow we visit the killing fields museum.

It is hard to imagine the atrocities that occurred here, not so long ago.

in case you are wondering, the name of the ship on which we are traveling is the Mekong Navigator. The cruise line company is Uniworld. They do a great job. My brother is a cruise agent, and he insisted we go with them. He was right. We are a group of eight friends, six of whom are retired educators.