Continuing along the Mekong to Phenom Penh, we saw tons of native villagers that were always ready to give us a wave! I couldn't believe how excited they were when we waved back, the simplest things make these kids SO happy! Cambodia is an unusual country. A dark and recent past hides much of the beauty that defines the culture in this nation.
The next day we started to knock off a few of the tourist sights, first stop was the National Museum. On display were religious artifacts dating back hundreds of years to the height of the Khmer empire. (10th to 14th century.)
Babar seemed to have let himself go in the later episodes.
On the way out of town we passed a typical Cambodian family on there way to go somewhere. It's not uncommon to see up to five people riding a motor scooter at once!
The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek are difficult to write about. Nothing on this trip has effected me as much as this site did. When walking around the mass grave, no one speaks above a whisper and the only sound you can hear is the occasional hushed conversation and perhaps someone crying softly from time to time.
When the communist insurgency known as the Khmer Rouge overthrew the elitist, US-backed government in 1975 their leader, a man named Pol Pot, had a vision. The plan was simple. To start the country over again at "Year Zero," effectively erasing any memory of what once was and what would ever be. While Pol Pot's main goal was to turn the country into a peasant-dominated agricultural society, he simultaneously eradicated any resistance to the new regime that would undermine the stability of the new government.
By 1979, almost 2 million of the countries 7 million residents were dead as a result of one of the worst genocides in the century. Most of the dead were either those who were educated, (such as doctor's and teachers,) or were members of an educated person's family. Imagine trying to rebuild a country after the top half of the population, (most of the educated people in the country,) had been massacred?
The fields themselves are horrifying. After men, woman, and children were detained, interrogated and tortured at S-21 in downtown Phenom Penh, they were blindfolded, herded into a truck and brought to a site that was about 15km's away. The victims were then executed like cattle. In order to save bullets, most of the people murdered were simply bludgeoned to death with sticks and clubs. Those still conscious after the beating either had their throats slit or else were buried alive. Of the 129 mass graves, 43 have never been disturbed.
Since I was in Cambodia during the wet season, the ground was eager to unearth what it was hiding. Over the years, the soil has been unable to contain the remains of the tens of thousands of people buried here, so after awhile, the soil gives up the dead. While walking along, it's not uncommon to trip over bones and slip on the clothing of the murdered victims. What really keeps your head in check is that the clothing isn't hundred-year-old disintegrating native shrouds. Instead, the shorts look like they could have been purchased by any western kid at an Abercrombie and Fitch outlet a week ago.
At one point some of the guards, (who by the way were usually brain-washed children and teen aged boys,) refused to carry out some of the executions so the guards, (along with all their families,) had their heads cut off with palm tree leaves like the ones featured bellow.
At first, I was appalled that something like this was allowed to happen. I asked myself, "how did the civilized world continue to turn a blind eye?" Remember, this was right after the end of the Vietnam war and the West simply didn't want anything else to do with South East Asia. Also keep in mind that similar genocides are still taking place today, from Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia in the early 90's to the more recent janjaweed attacks in the Sudan. Back then, the west was more concerned with coming to terms with what had happened in Vietnam and today we are more concerned with Paris Hilton's jail term.
The guards used to pick little children up by their feet and whip their heads against this tree until they were dead.
This white stupa is a memorial that serves as a reminder of the 17 000 people that lost their lives on this spot. The monument holds over 9000 skulls, some of which still have the blindfolds in place.
A femur pokes through the ground amidst a victim's clothing.
A human tooth. There are so many of these decorating the ground that at first you mistake them for pebbles.
Right before I left, I decided to go for a walk by myself. My feet took me to the perimeter of the grounds where I saw a little girl looking in at me and smiling. I walked over to her and asked her what she was doing. She pointed to a small building in a nearby field and replied that this was her house. I asked her if I could take her picture and she smiled a big smile that was all teeth and then gave me a wave. I thanked her and gave her a dollar. Then I walked back to the entrance and left. I don't think I've ever been that sad in my whole life. Winston Churchill once said that, "all that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." He said that almost thirty years before anyone had ever even heard of the name Pol Pot.
My day unfortunately didn't end when I left the Killing Fields. I then headed to the famous S-21, the middle school that was turned into a prison/torture facility during the Khmer Rouge's reign. The above pictures are of some of the leaders of the Khmer Rouge including the former warden of s-21. Many of these people are still alive and well today, living free in north-western Cambodia because governments of all countries have been stalling on bringing them to trial.
When the Vietnamese army finally stormed S-21 during their invasion they were horrified by what they found. Inside the 14 "interrogation" rooms were the remains of the last 14 people tortured to death inside the school. Their bodies were buried in front of the classrooms as a reminder of what took place here.
In each of the 14 rooms is the original iron frame bed and shackles that were used to torture the victims. Displayed above each bed is a glossy photograph of what the Vietnamese army found when they entered each room.
Pictures of some of the victims that either died at S-21 or else went straight to the killing fields.
Something that is still a puzzle to this day is why a regime that wished to erase people from the face of the earth would so carefully document their imprisonment both before their torture and execution....
......and after.
I took this tour with two guys who had been to Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen. For what it's worth, in their opinion this place was worse.
These were the original makeshift cells that were used to hold prisoners before questioning. Some of the graffiti still remains.
Lastly, these were some of the torture implements that were found on site by the Vietnamese army. How a country could accept this as their policy is appalling, how a country could do this to its own citizens is even more bizarre. How a country can survive this and move forward I'll never understand.
That night I went back to my hotel on Boeng Kak lake, poured myself a stiff drink and watched the sun set.
The next day was much more light-hearted! Two friends and I decided to take a tour to the Russian Market. Besides being a great place to get fake Gucci crap for my mom and sister.....and a purse for Fleming, it also had the BEST street food in Cambodia!
Yes I really am sweating that much!!!
Our first stop that afternoon was the Independence Monument, built in 1958 to commemorate those who died during the struggle against French imperialism.
Then of course a little boxing to keep things interesting!
I won a beer when red shorts punched blue balls unconscious! Thanks red shorts!
Then came the kickboxing. I can't believe that two people actually get in the ring with one another with the expressed purpose of kicking their opponent square in the knee cap.
I took a picture of this beer add because this takes sleazy to an all new level. I pray this look wasn't cool even in Cambodia circa late 70's.
The Peace Monument.
The Wat Phnom rises out of the middle of Phnom Penh like a giant boobie! Legend has it that a pagoda was first errected on this site in 1373 to house four Buddah statues deposited here by the Mekong River. These statues were discovered by a woman named Penh which led to the name of the city, (Phnom Penh means Hill of Penh.).........and yeah I did copy this pretty much word for word out of the "Lonly Planet." Bite me.
The view is pretty cool from the top of the Wat.
You just have to watch out for monkeys when you're exploring. Rumor has it they throw their feces.......at me.
So my friends and I were walking along and..........heh heh......last stop of the day was the Roayl Palace and Silver Pagoda.
This place WAS really impressive.
Except you weren't allowed to take pictures inside so I had to act all Mission Impossible like.
This is the only picture I could get of the Silver Pagoda. Apparently the floor is covered with 5 tons of gleaming silver spread out over 5000 tiles.......which are covered in turn by about three rolls of carpet......smart guys.........real smart.
Oh yeah I forgot to mention that I was on my own at this point, my friends having left for Vietnam the previous night. Had they still been around, they might have informed me that you can't walk around the Palace unless you're wearing a long sleeved shirt. Luckily I had a rain jacket.
Which made me sweat like a peopdophile in a playground! After about a half an hour I'd had enough and went for a walk along the river.
Never far from home!
So the next day I decide to get a little CRAZY! I'm by myself, not much to do but I read in the LP, (lonely planet you rookie,) that there's this really cool national park called "Kirorium," that's about 112km's southwest of Phenom Penh. The only problem is that there's no direct way to get there and I didn't have a clue as to how I was going to get back. But since thinking things through has never stopped me before.....
.....off I went! I bought a bus ticket early that morning for the town of Sihanoukville on the southern coast and explained to the driver with lots of hand gestures and little words at a high volume that I wanted to be let off at the town of Kirorm. Once there, I couldn't locate a single person that spoke english but I managed to find a guy who took me into the park 25km's away on the back of his motor bike. Once there I walked around in the forrest for awhile until I came across this 19 year old kid on the side of the road. I explained to him that I wanted to hike up this mountain I heard about called Phnom Dat Chivat (End of the World Mountain) but that I had no idea where it was and I couldn't find a guide. It was at this point that I realized he had no idea what I was talking about and so it was back to hand gestures, small words, and loud voices. Finally we understood each other and he agreed to take me up to the top if I paid him.
It was worth it! An unbroken view of the western mountain ranges at the edge of this 200ft. cliff! Spectacular!!
I call this one, "pondering."
Man it was rewarding!
I actualy got a little nostalgic, all those pine trees started to remind me of home!
Except without all the rain in Muskoka!
When we'd finished the hike, my guide Rie introduced me to his mom and dad and the rest of his family. We chatted in broken English for a few minutes before Rie's brother offered to give me a lift out of the forest and back into town. (For a fee of course!) Once there I didn't have a clue as to how I was going to get the 100 or so kilometers back into Phenom Penh so I did the only thing I could think of. Stuck out my thumb and hoped the 'ol hitchhike express would be along shortly.
And what do you know? Away we go!
While I was greatful for a lift back to the city for the measly price of $2, I started to lose faith in my driver after about the 5 minute mark. Those of you who've hitchhiked before know what I mean. After about 5 minutes you either know that this ride you've just jumped into will either work out great or else you're screwed.
Um..........there seems to be a bug on your windshields!
MOCK.......si.........ING...........si........BIRD.........si.........SI..........si!!!!!! At one point there were about 20 of us in there. Luckily they'd never heard of "shotgun" and since they couldn't understand me they couldn't really argue with my Nelson logic.
When we finally got to the city limits my driver and I had invented a great game! I'd yell out when I saw a cop, and he'd immediatley swerve to the outside lane to that he didn't have to pay the guy off for allowing his shitbox into the city limits! When we finally lost the game I snapped this quick photo of the driver paying off the police......isn't democracy wonderful?
Before I got out I just had to get a shot of the steering wheel. The horn broke along time ago so now when the driver wanted the cows to get the hell out of his way he'd place the live wire on the metal in order to create a current! Outrageous!
And that my friends, was Phenom Penh!
