Cambodia

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We took a 6 hour bus ride to Phnom Penh in Cambodia. The coach was nice, and crossing the boarder was surprisingly efficient. After checking into a hotel, we took a walk towards the river, through the embassy district. The houses were beautiful, and the tree lined street was full of boutique shops and French bakeries! We took the opportunity to sample the pastries! Fantastic food and coffee! We'd arrived!

That evening we walked past the traditional palaces and temples, through the parks (with locals playing badminton and getting involved in dance classes!), and to the river. Many of the buildings look as if they have been transplanted directly from Paris. The river area is really busy, full of restaurants and bars, and is a place where lots of foreigners spend their money! It's a very vibrant part of town, and is great for people watching! Phnom Penh is a great city, full of interesting architecture, good restaurants and nice friendly people.

We only had 1 full day in Phnom Penh before our bus to Siem Reap (Angkor Wat), and decided to learn more about the country and history. Most people in Cambodia today have been affected by the rule of the Khmer Rouge. To get a better idea of the atrocities, we decided to visit the S-21 museum (Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum). The site of a former high school was transformed into a prison by the Khmer Rouge regime, from its rise to power in 1975 to its fall in 1979. It held 20,000 people. Both men and women were held in the prison for 1-6 months, tortured twice a day, and finally killed in the nearby killing fields. The Khmer Rouge documented everyone they captured and imprisoned, and photos were taken before and after the torture. The prison was the most gruesome, heart renching place we've ever been to.


The Khmer Rouge

The name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, the totalitarian ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan. Within 3 hours of taking office, the Khmer Rouge started to destroy the country. The Khmer Rouge wanted absolute self-sufficiency - wanting the country to grow all of its own food, and produce everything needed, including medicines. The Khmer Rouge didn't see the need for any other industry, other than farming. It forcibly removed everyone living in cities, and either improsoned them, or deported them to the country where they were forced to work in the fields for 15 hours a day. The Khmer Rouge wanted a country of farm workers and peasants.

The Khmer Rouge wanted the rice industry to take off, and planned to sell rice to China to subsidise their Party. However, the growing conditions were not good and the people sent to farm had little experience, resulting in not enough rice being grown. The Khmer Rouge officials continued to sell rice to China, and consume it themselves, meaning that not enough was left over to feed the Cambodian population. This was the case with many crops, and Cambodia was not self-sufficient, causing many people to die of starvation.

The Khmer Rouge wanted to eliminate anyone suspected of "involvement in free-market activities". Suspected 'capitalists' encompassed professionals and almost everyone with an education, including; teachers, doctors, land owners, intellectuals, businessmen, and even those wearing glasses. These people were imprisoned, tortured and killed - along with their wives and children. Children over the age of 6 were tortured until they gave information on their parents, they were then killed. Babies and toddlers were killed by either shooting, or throwing them against trees or walls - often infront of their mothers.

Houses were raided, and inhabitants tortured until they gave information of neighbours that were deemed to be educated. The only way they could save themselves was to incarcerate others.

The Khmer Rouge believed parents were tainted with capitalism. Consequently, children were separated from parents and brainwashed to socialism as well as taught torture methods with animals.

The Khmer Rouge imprisoned, tortured and murdered countless amounts of people. Through this, and starvation, it is estimated that between 1.5 and 3 million people died during the Khmer Rouge years (1975-1979).

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Siem Reap

After a 6 hour bus journey we arrived in Siem Reap, and treated ourselves to a hotel with a swimming pool!! The first of our journey so far! Siem Reap is packed with tourists, and has some great restaurants and bars. We arranged for a tuk-tuk to pick us up at 5pm so that we could see sunset at Angkor Wat. We got our passes ($20 a day each), and drove towards Angkor Wat. Our taxi driver dropped us off, and told us to climb a hill for 1/2 an hour, and at the summit was a temple. We walked through the woods, along with hundreds of other people, and finally reached the summit! The temple wasn't as impressive as we'd hoped - we sat at the top wondering what all the fuss was about...!! It turns out that our taxi driver hadn't properly understood us and had taken us to a completely different temple, not Angkor Wat!! What a relief....!

The next day we were picked up early to explore the main temples, starting at Bayon (the temple with the faces). It was amazing, and still so intact. It was built in the 12th century. Hundreds of faces are carved into the stone, and watch you as you walk around the temple. Bayon is set in a temple area called Angkor Thom, and there are many temples in the same area, lots of which are now in ruins.

After Angkor Thom we went to Ta Prohm, the temple buried in amongst the jungle. It was the setting of Tomb Raider, and is a beautiful temple overgrown with trees. The trees and roots grow up and over the walls of the temple, and seem to be slowly swallowing it. Fascinating to see nature in action.

We spent the afternoon at the main temple, Angkor Wat. It's a vast temple (the largest religious monument in the world), set on acres of land. The temple is surrounded by a huge moat, and has grassland and trees all around it. The temple itself is beautiful, and as you walk in through the main door you realise that all internal stone walls have been engraved and carved, telling stories of war and love. The details on the ceilings and walls are breathtaking. You used to be able to climb to the top of the central temple to get an aerial view of Angkor Wat, but you're no longer allowed. Still, it's an amazing temple. We spent hours there, slowly walking around, and taking in the architecture.

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