After 3 full days cruising the Mekong in Vietnamese waters we crossed over the border to Cambodia. A completely different experience awaits. 
While wars ravaged both Vietnam and Cambodia, their histories are quite different. Vietnam struggled between east (communist north) and west (capitalist south) with a protracted proxy war between the US and its allies against the Soviets and their communist supporters. Called the domino theory, the West could and would not let one stone fall. Millions on all sides lost their lives over the decades from the 50s to the end of the war. That war ended in 1976 with the US withdrawal from south Vietnam.
Cambodia’s story picks up there with a brutal leader by the name of Pol Pot whom supported by the Chinese tortured and killed millions of Cambodians beginning with teachers, doctors and other educated intellectuals.
Planet Travel Blog 