The seat of the powerful Khmer empire between the first and fourteenth Centuries, A.D., Cambodia is today among the poorest countries in the world, with a Gross National Product of just US$ 3 billion. Lack of infrastructure makes travel difficult at the best of times and close to impossible at other times. That said, though, there is no better way to see the place than to travel independently in the back of a pick-up truck where you are so packed-in like a sardine with your co-travelers that you have no choice but to make new friends! You'll get to know them quite well too because, wherever you're going, chances are the road is a dirt track and it will take you hours, if not days, to get there!

Cambodia's indigenous, ethnic minorities live mainly in Mondolkiri and Ratanakiri provinces in the Northeast of the country. Combined, they actually comprise the majority population of peoples in these two provinces! Cambodia sees relatively little tourism compared to some of its Southeast Asian neighbors; these two provinces are so remote that they see even fewer tourists. Filter out the percentage of visitors who have an interest in ethnolinguistic minorities and you will understand that they are not accustomed to Westerners in their villages (many times someone told me I was the first white person they'd ever seen). The visitor should be sensitive to this.

Cambodia's indigenous, ethnic minority peoples are undergoing, right now, one of the most dramatic transitions any people can go through: they are being introduced to literacy. In their case, though, this means more than being the first generation to go to school. For the most part their languages are still pre-literate. This means that the speakers of those languages never adopted, adapted or invented writing systems. Now linguists are extending the Khmer alphabet to accommodate the sounds of their ethnic languages not found in Khmer. In a "train-the-trainer" approach some (for example the Tampuan) have already been trained in reading and writing and are now teaching others in their villages using materials developed specifically for their own cultural heritage. Not only will this literacy be the seed of their education, it will allow their history to be captured in written form for the first time after having passed through countless generations by word of mouth only.

Spending time with the indigenous, ethnolinguistic minorities in Cambodia is a very rewarding and educational experience. I have found them very welcoming and hospitable. They were often as interested in and curious about me as I was in and about them!

Yeak Laom Ecotourism Project works with indigenous peoples (mainly Tampuan) in Ratanakiri Province.

One of our advisors, Thomas Weber Carlsen, has made a videoethnographic study of the Tampuan peoples in Ban Lung, Ratanakiri province. Deatils of his film, Anger of the Spirits, can be found here. He has also recently completed filming for a video documentary about the Khmer Rouge.