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Published: March 13th 2006
Nige and his Cambodian language teacher
We were teaching each other numbers 1 to 10. He was a better pupil than me!Along with Laos, Cambodia was another country Nige had also wanted to take me to.
I'll get
The Bad bit over with first... in Phnom Penh, the capital, is a school building surrounded by barbed wire, which stands as a reminder of Cambodian's horrific, and shockingly recent, history. This school building, between 1975 and 1978 was used to detain and torture over 17000 people who the Khmer Rouge regime deemed as a threat (anyone from teachers to farmers). Under the leadership of Pol Pot, these prisoners were then taken to fields 15 kilometres away and killed - The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek.
Between 2-3 million people (mostly Cambodians, but other nationalities too), were murdered under the Khmer Rouge.
We walked around the school, known as S-21 (Security Prison 21), now renamed the Tuol Sleng Museum, where classrooms had been converted into cells, interrogation rooms and torture chambers. There was a huge wooden frame in the grounds which had been used for children's climbing ropes originally, but then had been utilised as gallows for torturing and hanging prisoners. A couple of the larger cells now house photographs of some of the millions of victims of Pol Pot -
S-21
It's hard to imagine the horrors that took place in this school. It's in such a peaceful setting. men, women and children. Looking at these photos was when I started to cry - pictures of children the same age as us in the 70s who were experiencing living hell in S-21 while we were celebrating the Queen's Silver Jubilee.
I'm sharing this with you because the Cambodians want everyone to know. They actively encourage tourists to visit S-21, and ask you to tell you family and friends so this period of their history will never be forgotten.
And now to
The Good... after a couple of days in Phnom Penh, we caught a bus to Siem Reap, the home of the Temples of Angkor. Most visitors come to Cambodia purely to see them. LOTS of visitors come to Cambodia purely to see them! We only began to realise quite how many when we made a trip to Angkor Wat at sunset. As our tuk-tuk pulled up to the ticketing station (reminiscent of those at Disneyworld), along with 100 other tuk-tuks, bicycles and taxis, we knew it wasn't going to be a peaceful experience. When we got to the steps of Phnom Bakheng, a hilltop temple and sunset viewing point, and we saw over 100
Crowds clambering up to Phnom Bakheng
Busier than Oxford Street on Christmas Eve! coaches parked up, we accepted that sunset was going to be a mass spectacle! Watching the hoards climb the hill and settle themselves facing west was actually more entertaining than the sun setting!
The next day, we hired bikes and had a great time, cycling around Angkor, spending time at the breathtaking Angkor Wat, the crumbling and tree-covered Ta Phrom, and watching the fascinating faces of Bayon temple. For the most part, we managed to avoid the hundreds of coach parties and find some quiet spots to admire these amazing ancient buildings and imagine life 1000 years ago. QUICK FACT: In around 1200, Angkor had a population of 1 million when London was a little town of 50,000 (Thanks, Lonely Planet!).
The Beautiful need no explanation. Not only the temples, but check out the photos of the Cambodian children. Enough said.
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steve
non-member comment
takes me back
Surely you mean they fly 28 days a month and then and on the other two either glare at you or burst in to tears saying "It's not that you asked to fly with us, it's the WAY you asked"? Did you stay at Smiley's and how come you didn't take the jet boat? Don't tell me it doesn't run any more, please. Any star gazing and whistling Nige?