Phnom Penh

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January 24

Our tour guide picked us up early this morning for our trip back to Phnom Penh from Sihanoukville with a few stops of interest along the way. It was very interesting to talk with our guide as he was very knowledgeable about History, Politics, Culture and Local customs, etc. As this was a private tour we had him to ourselves and he was very open about talking about the problems as well as the many positive things happening in Cambodia. It is very obvious that the country is not very well off financially but things are improving as industry is now coming in and the politicians open up the country. It appears that corruption is still a major problem in some areas and the dollars speaks very loud when you want something done. Most of the industry is kind of a joint venture with government. ( or a least with government officials )

We visited the Royal Palace and associated facilities in Pnom Penh. They have in recent years reinstalled the monarchy even though the king has little to no political power.

We had a very interesting, albeit disturbing, visit to the War Prison and the Killing Fields. This is a very depressing place when you hear of the things that Pol Pot's gang did to the people of Cambodia. It is a place that every socialist should visit to see what a little power can do when you are working "for the people" as was the story of the communists. It is also very surprising that many of the same people actually and directly responsible for these crimes against humanity are now working in senior government positions in the current socialist government. They were only taking orders from above !!!

Off tomorrow morning to Siem Reap

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