first day in cambodia.. amazing!

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As soon as you cross the boarder into Cambodia, you instantly notice that this is a very poor country.. i definitely feel for the people here.. they are doing it tough! however, in stark contrast to Vietnam, the people here seem genuinely happy, welcoming and want to share their stories and culture with travelers..

Cambodia, perhaps not wanting to rely on its own unstable monetary system, has made unusual dependence on the use of the US dollar.. you go to an ATM and it will dispense you US dollars.. very quickly you learn that 1USDollar is the smallest US currency, below that, the RIEL (Cambodian currency) is used..
an example would be, to pay for a meal that cost $2.50 you would hand over 2dollars and 2000riel.. i seem to forever have this massive fat wad of cash, however in reality i might be carrying $15..

my first morning in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, i wake up nice and early with the intention of spending the my first day walking around the city taking in the sites, temples and royal palace..

as i walk down the street a motorbike driver yells out to me from way up an alley, "MOTO!" being exactly what i was after at this stage i said yes and started to walk toward him, instantly this excited young guy jumps into business mode, running around getting his bike started and ready to go, as i knew the river front was walking distance to most things i wanted to see i ask to go there and agree on 1500riel (about 35cents) to get me there, at first i thought he was taking me the long way, but, it was just a long way! i know the cost of fuel in Cambodia is the same price as fuel back home and this kid would be lucky to be making a couple of cents of taking me way across town.. as the guilt gets to me on safe arrival i slip him an extra few riel taking my lift to about 50cents and making this guys face light up with gratitude..

my morning started with me walking into a pergoda (monastery), this place was very impressive.. i took my time walking around, looking at the stone carvings, paintings and statues.
on walking up a long set of steps to the main prayer room i was met by a young monk, he greeted me and encouraged me to come inside and have a look around.. as i walk with him he is asking me all the usual questions about where im from, where im going and how long for he then starts telling me about Cambodia, his life, and being a monk..
at this stage we take a seat on some carpet in the front at the main prayer room, in front of me is about 200 Buddha statues of varying sizes and positions.. he continues to ask about my travel plans so i get out my lonely planet and show him on the map where i plan to go..
once he had told me where he had been in Cambodia and where he grew up he then started looking at the book flicking through pages and spotting English words he did not know the meaning of or could not pronounce and i would help him understand or pronounce each word he questioned..
when he came to the last few pages he was fascinated by the pages of direct translations of basic words to and was excited to teach me how to properly pronounce several Cambodian phrases and words.. an excellent start to the day!

as i leave the pergoda, i say my thankyous and goodbyes to the monk and walk out the front gate to be stopped by another tuk tuk driver, this time he was a young guy, quite shy but friendly.. i spent a fair bit of time joking around with him as i was still in two minds if i wanted to go on the tour he was offering.. the more i spoke with him the more i liked him so eventually we agreed on what i thought was a fair price (about $10) and off we went..

before going to phnom pehn i was pretty sure i wasn't going to go to the killing fields or genocide museum, but on meeting some locals and seeing their city i thought it better that i make the effort to understand what the country had been through so recently..

the driver was right, it was a long way out of town to the killing fields, about 45mins on the tuk tuk, stopping to get water from a fountain to keep the motor cool..
as you enter, directly in front of you is a large monument.. as you walk towards it you realise that each level is packed with human skulls.. nothing could prepare you for the scale of death and suffering that had occoured at this place.. the shrine housed the remains of over 7000people who had been murdered during the pol pot regime..
during the regime, to save "precious bullets" most people who were murdered were bludgeoned to death, farming instruments used to cause massive head injuries.. the was no mercy and no discrimination, men, women, children and babies.. all killed and thrown into mass graves..
the most brutal aspect, babies and children were killed to prevent revenge attacks in the future, to do this they used what was known as the killing tree.. babies or small children where held by their feet and swung around, smashing their heads against the trunk of the tree until dead, their bodies then thrown into the pit next to the tree..

the visit to the killing fields.. was.. intense.. to say the least.. however i was very glad i went to see how far people had come in such a short time.. approximately 3million people were murdered between 1976 and 1978..

on leaving the killing fields just up the road was a cafe and i needed some food and to chill out a bit after what id just seen, as my driver wasn't going to eat because it was too expensive i offered to buy him lunch which he was very excited about.. he asked if he could show me his favorite Cambodian dish so i took him up on his offer and got us a serve each of loc lak.. what can i say YUM!
over lunch i had an awesome conversation with the driver (i wish i could remember his name!) he studies marketing at night and moved from the country to phnom pehn to do so.. an old Australian lady who he called his god mother sponsors him to study, so he is a driver during the day to pay for the expense of city life..
one excellent piece of advice he gave me over lunch, "some drivers are bad people, be careful of drivers late at night who wait outside bars.. if they offer you drugs or women you must FLEE! you understand me.. FLEE!"
he then went on to tell me the story of an Australian ''traveler'' who lives in phnom pehn, this guy had become a well known drug addict.. he driver told me he would be well dressed, striped polo shirt and jeans, he would approach you with a story of being robbed, loosing his bag, money, passport and everything he needed, only asking for a few dollars to cover a meal, nights accomodation, and some phone calls.. but then pretty much spend it on crack..

as we ate and had a local beer he told me of growing up on a rice farm in a remote area of Cambodia, he was amazed when i asked if he used buffalo and a wooden plow to prepare the land.. he said he did not like living in the city, he didnt like what it did to people, ''it makes them greedy and untrustworthy''..

we then left lunch and he took me to an old school, which during the time of khmer rouge had been turned into a prison, torcher and interrogation centre.. room after empty room with nothing but a bed frame and a faded photo on the wall of the gruesome result of an interrogation..

after this my driver took me back to the royal palace where i said good bye to him and payed him the agreed and a couple of dollars extra, after all he had waited all day for me by this stage..

the royal palace was an incredible display of misused wealth.. in a country where so many people cannot afford to even eat, here is entire rooms completely made of solid gold, others made of silver.. it was, of course, awe inspiring, but all the while i was thinking one gold chair from there would help sooooo many people in need..

after an incredible day, i was strolling down the river side early in the evening when a man approached me.. well dressed, wearing a blue striped shirt and jeans.. he asked where i was from and when i said australia he said it was so good to meet another australian as he had just had the worst day of his life, someone had stollen his bag which had everything, his money, passport and he was stranded..

I COULD NOT BELIEVE what was happening.. the way it played out was exactly, to the detail, of what the tuk tuk driver had told me would happen! i interupted the guy, told him id been warned about him, and he should keep walking, he just said "oh.... fair enough" and off he walked..

a crazy end to a crazy day!

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