Cambodia is great from a travel perspective. You're teleported to the start of the 20th century. Instead of carriages lining the dirt streets, it's motorbikes. You're actually travelling by traveling to Cambodia. You're not travelling when you go somewhere to receive western standards, you're basically relocating somewhere new. I see some youtubers claim that Cambodia is the old Thailand but I heavily suspect that's a overexaggeration. They're more conservative than the Thais.
I didn't like their border/customs officials either. The people do have this hispanic feel to them, like they're capable of doing "dirt" if need be. The people are pretty beat up and it clear they feel the pressure from being poor in an increasingly consumerist environment. The one thing that's nice about them is they're country bumpkins and have that simplicity that a lot of us westerners idealize. I actually found them surprising customer service oriented when compared to their regional peers where your accommodations will try to provide you with everything you need. A lot of people complained that the tuk tuks are very aggressive in Cambodia, but they're more pestering than "aggressive". I've been overcharged here and there, but the one thing I respect about the people is they didn't go overboard, at least with me. I didn't feel that they were trying to squeeze me for everything I got, more like they're trying to get premium dollar for standard service. I've been pickpocketed there by a tranny, I've seen travelling hustlers operating and the locals did keep a count on my money and profile me in their head. I've heard opinions how Cambodians are cold blooded, there's violence, virginity being for sale and all kinds of tales from sketchy expats who wake up at dusk. I've also had dreamy liberals tell me how they love Cambodia and want to live in the countryside forever with the beautiful people. A lot of expats also find the place boring and it's not hard to see why. I've also heard the "assimilation" complaint there as well, to be expected anywhere Asian. After many years you're still just a tourist to them.
For whatever reason I liked them. I like the country bumpkin thing, I like how they wear their emotions on their sleeve, and overall, I felt that they were culturally well behaved despite the lack of police presence. Most important of all I actually found that you can befriend them, something lacking severely with Asians. If you hang around Cambodians you grow on them, and they start becoming friendlier. I also felt safe for whatever reason, I was walking home nightly. This kind of goes back to the well-behaved thing, where I felt if someone started bothering me the locals would intervene. Maybe I was delusional? There is a significant crime problem because the locals did lock things up at night and took many precautions. They're pragmatic at their core and culturally conscious so as far wife hunting, it's probably going to be transactional. Not to say that's necessarily a bad thing.
