Blogs from South, Cambodia, Asia - page 338

In the past two days we've vistited two sites linked to the genocidal acts commited by the Khmer Rouge under Pot Pols regime between 1975 and 1979. First we visited the Toul Sleng prison, also known as S21 or Security Station 21, and secondly we visited the killing fields, some of the mass graves where victims from Toul Sleng were executed and buried. S21 was an amazing, and at the same time disgusting place to visit. It was a high school converted into a prison. Some of the class rooms are divided into very very tiny brick or wood cells, while other class rooms are used for torture and interrogation, and other classrooms were group cells, where dozens of prisoners would be forced to lie on the ground, shackled to bars. And the people who were ... read more

We arrived in Phomn Penh yesterday afternoon. We took a bus and had no real idea how long the trip was supposed to take. It turned out to take only about 6 hours with stops. The bus we were on was filled mostly with Cambodian people, and only about 6 tourists. Despite what seat number our bus ticket said, all the tourists were sent to the back of the bus, or over the wheel wells, it was an uncomfortable trip. We arrived in Phomn Penh to insanity. As soon as I got off the bus I was swarmed by dozens of drivers trying to get me to go to their guest house. When Coral got off the bus we couldn't even get close to each other, too many people yelling for our attention. Eventually I just ... read more

I am indulging in one of the many delights of being overseas - traveler romance - and so am currently touring a small section of Southern Cambodia with Eddie, a cerebral Glaswegian. Well, we had an adventure-packed day boating through some mangroves to a tropical island of white sand beaches where we swam and ate freshly grilled barracuda for lunch. I almost had a slimy encounter with a giant (yes giant) jelly fish. Eeuuuk! Then we walked through some jungle (it's a National Park but of course there is heaps of illegal logging and poaching) tracing the steps of many before us. Even though the area was a Khmer Rouge hide-out, there are no landmines. Thankfully. There were no monkeys or elephants to be seen either. Sadly. We arrived at the other side - after passing ... read more

The boat eased up to the dock. It was jammed with Cambodian taxi drivers. There must have been thirty of them. But today was not going to be a good day. There were only ten tourists coming from Sihanoukville to the border with Thailand. As soon as the boat tied up the frenzy began. Hundreds of hands grabbed our bags. Trying to get them off the boat and onto a motorbike before the tourists could take them. Ours was on the bottom of a big pile and by the time we got off the boat there were taxi drivers pulling at the straps of our bags trying to drag them away. Those that weren’t grabbing for the bags were grabbing us by the arms and tugging at our shirts. It was one of the most desperate ... read more

"I was going to the worst place in the world and I didn't even know it yet. He was close. He was real close. I couldn't see him yet, but I could feel him. As if the boat were being sucked up the river and the water was flowing back into the jungle. Whatever was going to happen, it wasn't going to be the way they call it back in Nha Trang." Ok, I'm not losing my mind or heavy into opium at the time of this writing. I'm only reciting quotes from a movie. If you don't know this movie, I am sorrowful for you but will give you a hint...it's from Apocolypse Now. So, after taking 5 different boats and 3 different busses over two days, my journey up the Mekong River and crossing ... read more