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Published: February 3rd 2007
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Cambodia's Flag
Arriving across the river to Cambodia! Sorry this blog has taken so long to write! I've also got ones for Thailand, Singapore, and Bali to catch up with! I've been having such a great time that i've fallen behind and writing these has become a chore...I'll catch up soon!
Also if any of the information I give below is incorrect you'll have to forgive me, i'm writing from memory and I am trying to learn more.
Anyway, Cambodia was the most amazing place i've ever visited, I loved every second of my time there and left only wanting more and promising myself that i'll return soon. The people there are so friendly and it makes it so much more meaningful when you learn about the very recent history of genocide under the Pol Pot regime of the Khmer Rouge. I think that they are genuinely happy to see westerners back in their country. Some 2,000,000 people died as direct result of the genocide here between 1975 - 79 and hundreds of thousands more as a result of famine in the following years.
First of all Cambodia is much poorer than Vietnam and has much less infrastructure, I arrived in Phnom Penh after travelling on
The Killing Fields Monument
Some of the skulls show how the victims were killed. If possible Bullets were saved. a bumpy bus across the border. I instantly noticed how beautiful the countryside is, it definitely took my mind off being bumped and battered! It's a great shame that Cambodia is one of the most heavily mined (As in Landmine!) countries on earth. It would be great to be able to walk through the country without the fear of stepping on a mine if you left the tracks.
After finding a hotel I decided the next day I would go and see the killing fields & the infamous S-21 museum (Tuol Sleng). It was to be a day i'll honestly never forget.
The killing fields were mass graves used during the genocide and at the centre of them is a large monument filled with the skulls from the people murdered by the Khmer Rouge. Whilst walking around you see bones and clothes poking from the ground of other victims. Everyone visiting are so quiet, it really is hard not to think of the suffering endured there and to not get a lump in your throat. It's so recent and leaves nothing to the imagination, I left wanting to know more.
After the killing fields I had the
S-21 Museum
A view from behind the barbed wire, this was used to stop prisoners jumping to their deaths. chance to fire some guns at a range. I'd just spent the last week learning about the wars and genocide and after seeing the damage caused in this region by probably the same weapons I could be shooting, I politely declined and moved to S-21.
S-21 or Tuol Sleng museum was basically an old school used by the Khmer Rouge after the 1975 takeover, to prison & kill the 'enemies' of the Angkar or the Organisation. These enemies included anyone who previously worked for the old government, anyone who was of different race & anyone with intelligence (Because they could lead the people against the Khmer Rouge), i.e Doctors, Lawyers, Teachers. Believe it or not even people who wore glasses were seen as intelligent and killed. 20,000 people went into S-21 and only 7 came out. It is now filled with the photos of the victims when they were sent there & also you can read the forced confessions of the victims which were meant to justify their deaths. Some rooms have the same beds and torture tools in them that were used between 1975 - 79.
I asked my motorbike taxi guy if he would take me
Phnom Penh
One of the loads of kids happy to say hello while her mother makes me some sugar cane juice. into the countryside the next day so I could see rural Cambodia and maybe meet some people. It was a good day, we crossed the Mekong River and arrived at a nice village with lots of small huts on stilts. The children there all ran up and said hi, I imagine I was quite a novelty to them. I tried sugar cane juice which was nice and watched women spinning thread to make material they would later sell in the city. I had a really great day but unfortunately I was pushed for time and headed to Siem Riep the next day.
8 or 9 hours after I set off I arrived in Siem Reap & paid the $1 for my Dorm room (Or matress on the floor of a hut!) I met an American guy there and some Swedes, we ended up going out and not getting back until 5am, not a good move when i'm getting up at 9am to see Angkor Wat!
I woke early feeling rough, but hopped on the back of the bike and spent half the day looking around the awesome temples. I must admit I would have spent longer there had
Angkor Wat
A view through a passage way to one of my favorite temples I not felt so rough! But the heat got too much and I was almost templed out from the rest of Asia. Admitadly these aren't just your bog standard temples, they are amazing to look at, definitely regret not spending more time here.
That evening I went to a concert which was being held at the local childrens hospital. A Swiss doctor was playing the Cielo and also pausing to explain the state of the health system in Cambodia and also explaining such things like the fact that the WHO currently recommends some drugs to treat diseases (I forget which) in children which actually have been banned in the western world for years and years due to the more severe problems they cause. These drugs are seen as good enough to treat Cambodian children but not Western children. Its difficult to understand, I guess money talks. Its even harder to understand when you realise that the problems were caused either directly or indirectly from Western foreign policy.
The next day I left for Bangkok feeling sad to leave Cambodia. I wanted to spend a while here, but due to flights I had to push on. I bought two
Siem Reap
The concert in the childrens hospital to raise awareness of the ongoing problems in Cambodia. books the previous evening from a guy who lost a leg to a landmine, another examaple of the continues suffering some 30 years on. Hopefully I will learn more from them. I have read one of them though and I recommend 'First They Killed My Father' by Loung Ung, It puts things into perspective. I'll be back here without doubt.
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marcus
non-member comment
Danny, love the photos. Especially the one of the sunset. Nice work. Keep on truck'n.